Khaos

 Today I have already been wondering what direction to go with myself. I've lived in Khao Lak for a while now and I still haven't seen 1 / 2 of what's available in this place; I'm sure there are loads of Khao Lak Tours that I would be going on. Every now and then I'll look around and think "Wow, I'm in Thailand and this is beautiful!", but also for the most part I live my life like everyone back home in the UK. I get fully up, go to work, come home at night (avoid doing any cleaning), relax in front of the TV and then go to sleep and repeat. Khaos

What I need to start doing is venturing out of my bubble. I need to awaken and appreciate the place that I'm surviving in - I need to awaken and really see Khao Lak, not just go through the motions of living here.

I'm planning to develop an idea right now. I'm going to begin taking myself on walking tours and I'm going to begin exploring this beautiful place where I live. Firstly I need to explore Khao Lak Beach more. It's 10 minutes away from my house and yet in the 6 years that I've lived here, I've spent about 10 days altogether on that beach. So many people would kill to stay my shoes living here, but it appears as though it's wasted on me right now. Experiencing tropical paradise is the realms of possibility for my lifestyle, so I'm going to grasp this particular reality and sit on the sand and ingest the sun, sea, palm trees, cocktails and those other cliches you see in travel magazines and I'm going to appreciate it.

Nature walks. I enjoy nature; I'm a bit scared of snakes and frogs, but in theory I enjoy nature. Travelling Khao Lak National Park is something that's perfectly possible and could possibly be very exciting; I wouldn't know as I've never been. I need to devote time each week for exercise and walking tours will be perfect. I can kill 2 birds with one stone, get fit and learn to appreciate the jungle life on my doorstep.

I do believe I want to get my camera out more too. I was once a keen photographer, I don't know what's happened. I recall enough time when I'd travel with an SLR and a few cameras just so that I will be covered in just about any photographic eventuality. Now I'll be lucky if I take my ancient smart phone out of my bag to press the touchscreen display button and hope that the picture is worth facebook. Did facebook kill photography? I digress.

The most ironic thing about this, is that my partner owns a tour company here in Khao Lak; I could carry on as many free Khao Lak Tours as I love, but I never take up the opportunity. I actually do know a terrible lot about the area and the area culture, but I don't document it or even notice it a lot of the time. As an example, the other day I went along to the Chinese Temple every day to consume just as much vegetarian food as possible throughout the Gin Jeh (Vegetarian) Festival. I'd bump into people I knew and I felt such as a part of the Thai community; how many westerners surviving in Thailand can say that?

So this is my action plan:

1) Visit Khao Lak Beach often

2) Walk around Khao Lak National Park often

3) Take more photos

4) Go on more Khao Lak Tours with Green Andaman Travel

Let's see what happens! I'll register again in a few days with all my news from the beach, national park and a few snaps to show you from all the tours I've been on.

To learn more about Khao Lak Tours and the surrounding area please visit Khaos