A Day in Suratthani

Yesterday, on 02/19/18, we drove from Phuket to Suratthani at 12:00. First, we had to get to the local bus station with our backpacks. Fortunately, we still had the scooter from the day before, so we could use it. First, I had my big and small backpack on. Tim had his small one in front between his legs. So we drove to the bus station :D Tim dropped me off, then got his backpack, and then returned the scooter. After a short time, a bus arrived that went to Terminal 2. There were already some locals on the bus who helped us store and hold our backpacks :D There were 4 grandmas on board who constantly smiled at us and put the backpack back on the seat when it slid off during a turn. That was very sweet! Another person noticed where we had to get off and pressed the stop button for us since we had no idea where to get off :D Everyone also helped us lift out the big backpacks, and then we went into the bus terminal. There we waited for 1 hour for the minivan. It was another terrible ride. First of all, we had no space and we sat in the back row where the air conditioning didn't reach. So it was quite hot and tight for 4.30 hours, but we arrived and then went to the hostel :) This time it's completely different, everyone has their own cabin that they can close and there's plenty of space in here :D It's almost like being on a ship. In the evening, we walked along the street and ate street food. It was very delicious and I had a large portion of rice with fried chicken, peanuts, and vegetables and a cola for €1.45. It's amazing how little money you can get full here!

Today we rented a scooter and drove to the Nature and Wildlife Park. It's a 400 hectare forest where many animals live. From the top of the mountain, you have a beautiful view and it was very quiet. There are still monkeys, tigers, jaguars, and more living there. But the only things we saw were squirrels and giant spiders :D

Afterwards, we went to the Monkey School. In Thailand, monkeys are still used for coconut harvesting. They can harvest many more coconuts than humans can. Unfortunately, they are often taught this with cruel methods. In this school, it's done with love. A monk opened this school. Unfortunately, it was closed today and we had to turn back :(

Next, we went to a huge supermarket and felt at home for a moment. We bought fresh Kaiser rolls and paprika lyoner, and we'll have them for breakfast tomorrow. Wonderful! There's nothing else to see in Suratthani, so we're going back to the hostel to have dinner and tomorrow we're going to the island of Koh Phangan. It's the neighboring island of Koh Samui, just cheaper :D

We're really excited, especially because we found a really cool hostel. They are small wooden bungalows right on the beach. Hopefully, it will be as beautiful as it looks in the pictures!