Thailand: days 5-6

Day 5:
Day 5 we were picked up early from our resort and were taken on a beautiful drive up through the mountains for our elephant ride. The drive itself was amazing. So many beautiful sites. Once we arrived at the site we got to meet our Elephant, TiTi. Part of ride was spent with TiTi's owner leading him while Coy and I sat on a small seat. We were then able to each take a turn guiding the elephant...SO MUCH FUN.
After our ride, we had a photo shoot with a leopard. A little scary, but definitely worth it.
We then took a pick up truck up the mountain to Waterfall I and II. Taking a short hike to both was fun, and a little scary on the small, rickety, boards we walked on. At the last waterfall Coy took a swim...which probably led to the ear ache he got the next day and lasted until well after we got home.

 

Day 6:
On Day 6 we took a day trip to Koh Tao. We were picked up at our hotel and taken to the site we departed on our 2 hour speed boat ride to Koh Nang Yuan, a private island off the coast of Koh Tao. This was one of the most beautiful sites I have seen. A small island where two sides of Gulf of Thailand come together. We found private spot and the snorkeled for a few hours before taking a short hike around the island (again on small boards which were a little scary!). Following this we boarded our speed boat and rode to the island of Koh Tao where we had a lunch and got to tour the little village before we were taken to a final spot where we snorkeled again. The water here was absolutely gorgeous and is known all over the world because of this. It was so clear and the fish were incredible. So colorful and amazing! This is a MUST do!

                             (this quickly become our favorite treat...coconut shake...amazing!)

That evening we took the long, hot walk to Arun. I had done some research and heard great things about this restaurant in Maenam Beach. Sue was great. She makes everything by herself and uses fresh ingredients - you can see in one of the pictures below she is making a salad in the bowl behind me. We started out appetizers of spring rolls and fried prawns. Coy had prawn pad thai and I had Curry served in a coconut.