Yes, you will never believe it. To our despise we are in sdijffjdfi[gjiogj[ijg Bangkok again. Its 4am we just arrived from an overnight bus from Koh Tao and we just spent an hour debating on whether or not we are going to get accommodation or not. We decided with not- we are catching a bus to Laos in 15 hours, its 4am may as well save some money. We have parked ourselves in an Internet cafe which killed an hour, then on to make our way to sleep in Subway for 3 hours only after buying a bottle of water. Lets just say the walk out of there was Awkward.
This time wasn't so bad, we were hot and sweaty but the tour agency let us keep our bags there which was a massive weight off our shoulder and target off our backs.
We decided it was about time we seen the Grand palace and finally got there so you know what they say 3 times a charm.
7 pm rolled around and not just in time because we weren't prepared to tell the 15 hundredth person we do not want a bloody suit. We got on the bus which had 5 people and we departed on the road again as happy as can be.
We are on our way to Laos and quite excited, now everything so far has always seemed to be amazing but there is always some sort of glitch. We got to the Thai- Laos border only to be taken from the massive line, walked straight through thinking 'how great is this' only to be brought into border control as we overstayed a day of our visa and were fined 500 baht each. (good thing we used subway as our accommodation eh)
Finally, got the bus into Laos' capital city Vientiane (which is where we are now, but haven't been the whole time) We spent 2 nights here at Mixay guest house- the feeling in this town, there is something that clicks in your head that makes you move 10 times slower than normal, the people are much friendlier than in Thailand we have noticed but will rip you off. Can we complain when we are still only spending the equivalent of about 20 American dollars a day and their wages is less than 1 dollar a day. We have to remind ourselves sometimes as when spending kip your money goes fast.
We exchanged 100 American dollars into Kip and got the fattest wad of cash I have ever held in my hand, it was great.
We are heading tubing tomorrow, in Vang Vieng- Wait until you hear.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Koh Tao
Hello everyone! Now I know we have been falling behind and we have so much to tell so this could potentially be a long one.
At the moment we are sitting in an Internet cafe outside of our Guesthouse in the Capital of Laos, Vientiane. Lots to get us here and we will update you on Laos as soon as we finish with Thailand.
Koh Tao is where we found our paradise, and thankfully so as we got off that wonderful fishing boat journey at 7am with no sleep, both tetchy, sweaty and the last thing we want to do is set off with our big bags in the scorching heat to find a place to put our feet down.
We walked around for ages with Katerina and Tadej to find a place to stay, we ended up in Triple B bungalows for 300 baht a night (6 pounds) for a lovely bungalow made of completely bamboo. This was a place to relax, close to the beach but we didn't even need to leave the premises and sat in the sky bar in hammocks with a wonderful view and of course a few Chang.
This was also the place our problems started, both of us having dodgy belly's, not having gone to the toilet in quite a few days despite trying, and me growing a massive mountain on the side of my thigh.. thigh bad enough but also on my face and this was no little thing. We went to the doctor who was a little Thai lady who was sitting in her nighty selling us pills for 500 baht and we had no idea what they were, just told us to eat them if we want 'big boom boom' AHH okay. Luckily enough these rabbit pellets worked only for me to end up being sick outside of every restaurant we seemed be in, lovely few days, I was in bed by 7 30 or 8 every night while the others were playing pool and having a jolly time, my mountainous face still growing.
We rented motor bikes with Kat and Tad and to my delight Tom had to sit on the back hehehe. We took them around the island and went to the most beautiful places for snorkeling, the coral, the colours and the fish were wonderful to see. We also went to shark bay which to our disappointment we didn't see any sharks (or to my happiness). This is the bay http://stophavingaboringlife.com/shark-bay-koh-tao-thailand-is-paradise/
''F dem sharks''
Now our trip to Koh Tao is split up by the full moon party which in itself is a whole different story and will be the next thing you hear about. Knowing this was the next day we had to return our motorbikes, with no scratches and returning it exactly the same we needed to go and exchange money to pay, Tom took the bike a few feet down the road to the bank and came back just as it started pouring rain. We were all awaiting in the enclosed bit where the bikes are kept watching him come up and watching him what seemed like in slow motion BAIL!! Right in front of the shop, first thing we thought was Tom are you okay, rushing over picked him up, had a sore ankle but okay. Our next port of call was how much money this is going to be,8000 baht and she cut us a deal but 160 quid is still a massive imprint when your paying 6 quid a night.
Tom had to go back to the bank accompanied by a staff member ( again on the back)---- I think the best place for him ;) hah shh..
While we were waiting the lady was really nice, let us use her Internet for free, offered us lunch and thank goodness for Tadej who bought us our first of many rounds of Chang.-- This was the same morning we went to the doctors and she charged us 1550 baht for medicine and now 8000baht for damaged goods it was quite an expensive and stressful morning considering it wasn't even midday yet.
T.
The wallets were feeling it, and to right any wrongs said before i shouldn't be on the back.
It was raining, slippy, i was going too *cough*fast*cough*, so all in all a learning curve. Albeit an expensive one.
We were then faced with a dilemma. We'd really wanted to do the scuba diving course on Koh Tao (the scuba training centre of the world) but after the bike we weren't really sure if we could. I said to Kels that she should do it because i was the one who spangled the bike, but she knew how much i wanted to do it, and of course being bloody lovely offered the same.
In the end we decided to just forget the bike. It had happened. We were poorer because of it, but dammit it wasn't going to ruin our holiday and stop us having fun.
So we both did it, and man are we glad we did.
We registered at a place called Buddha View which we found out about at the full moon (story continues after a brief overview of the full moon party)
Full moon party (in a nutshell)
The full moon party is a massive beach long rave that happens once a month. Loads of bars, dancing, drinking and loads of tourists crammed onto the beach.
Got ridiculously drunk (tadej, kat, kels and i)
Skinny dipped (first time for me!)
Jumped a fire rope (kels)
Jumped through a fire hoop (me)
Danced with Indian guys (at first Kels, then me. Bloody hilarious. They were all down on one knee etc!)
Drunk too many buckets of whiskey and rum
Fell asleep on the beach.
Woke up the next day.
Back to Koh Tao.
So Buddha View...
As i've said, we found out about Buddha View from a couple of guys who were leafleting for it on Koh Phangan and with hotel included they did the best deal. (170 quid each which 4 nights accommodation and lunches).
Now firstly if you could imagine a private beach, with a bunch of people who are all there just to have a good time, you still wouldn't come close to the awesome feeling that this place kicked out. Everyone was happy to see you, the bar was cheap and regularly had a guy jamming with an acoustic guitar (if not Jack Johnson was being played) and in the night times the bar men/women were picking their favourite songs which ranged from Led Zeppelin all the way to some really chilled out acoustic, a bit of country and back to Zepellin.
Heaven.
We started our four day course in the classroom and once things like buoyancy and weight distribution had been explained to us by our instructor (James- also what a dude. Had lived on Koh Tao for 8 years, in East Ham for 4 before that) we headed out to the swimming pool.
Having mastered the basics, and learned some skills (taking your mask off and the clearing it. Mastering your buoyancy by hovering, that kind of stuff) we headed out on the second morning to the sea.
The water was crystal clear and had a visibility of about 25m at some points. We started with a basic dive where the instructors helped our group of 6 (3 instructors) to feel comfortable in the water and just get accustomed a little bit more to the feel of being 12m under the sea.
By the end of the fourth day, we were all scuba-ing like pros. We'd seen some brilliant stuff, stingrays, massive groupers, (oooooh) barracuda and shoals of over a thousand fish. It was just breathtaking. The whole experience made us really want to do it again. And to be a part of this community.
We toyed with the idea of doing the divemaster course which takes a month, but after realising what it would've been at the expense of, thought better of it.
So now we were headed up to Laos, the end of our Thai adventure.
We'd had a fantastic time in Thailand and if people were ever thinking of doing it but were unsure... DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT!!!!
We would happily go back, but first we'd have to endure another day in Bangkok....
I think Kelsey wants the microphone now, so i'll let her tell you about Bangkok (again)
At the moment we are sitting in an Internet cafe outside of our Guesthouse in the Capital of Laos, Vientiane. Lots to get us here and we will update you on Laos as soon as we finish with Thailand.
Koh Tao is where we found our paradise, and thankfully so as we got off that wonderful fishing boat journey at 7am with no sleep, both tetchy, sweaty and the last thing we want to do is set off with our big bags in the scorching heat to find a place to put our feet down.
We walked around for ages with Katerina and Tadej to find a place to stay, we ended up in Triple B bungalows for 300 baht a night (6 pounds) for a lovely bungalow made of completely bamboo. This was a place to relax, close to the beach but we didn't even need to leave the premises and sat in the sky bar in hammocks with a wonderful view and of course a few Chang.
This was also the place our problems started, both of us having dodgy belly's, not having gone to the toilet in quite a few days despite trying, and me growing a massive mountain on the side of my thigh.. thigh bad enough but also on my face and this was no little thing. We went to the doctor who was a little Thai lady who was sitting in her nighty selling us pills for 500 baht and we had no idea what they were, just told us to eat them if we want 'big boom boom' AHH okay. Luckily enough these rabbit pellets worked only for me to end up being sick outside of every restaurant we seemed be in, lovely few days, I was in bed by 7 30 or 8 every night while the others were playing pool and having a jolly time, my mountainous face still growing.
We rented motor bikes with Kat and Tad and to my delight Tom had to sit on the back hehehe. We took them around the island and went to the most beautiful places for snorkeling, the coral, the colours and the fish were wonderful to see. We also went to shark bay which to our disappointment we didn't see any sharks (or to my happiness). This is the bay http://stophavingaboringlife.com/shark-bay-koh-tao-thailand-is-paradise/
''F dem sharks''
Now our trip to Koh Tao is split up by the full moon party which in itself is a whole different story and will be the next thing you hear about. Knowing this was the next day we had to return our motorbikes, with no scratches and returning it exactly the same we needed to go and exchange money to pay, Tom took the bike a few feet down the road to the bank and came back just as it started pouring rain. We were all awaiting in the enclosed bit where the bikes are kept watching him come up and watching him what seemed like in slow motion BAIL!! Right in front of the shop, first thing we thought was Tom are you okay, rushing over picked him up, had a sore ankle but okay. Our next port of call was how much money this is going to be,8000 baht and she cut us a deal but 160 quid is still a massive imprint when your paying 6 quid a night.
Tom had to go back to the bank accompanied by a staff member ( again on the back)---- I think the best place for him ;) hah shh..
While we were waiting the lady was really nice, let us use her Internet for free, offered us lunch and thank goodness for Tadej who bought us our first of many rounds of Chang.-- This was the same morning we went to the doctors and she charged us 1550 baht for medicine and now 8000baht for damaged goods it was quite an expensive and stressful morning considering it wasn't even midday yet.
T.
The wallets were feeling it, and to right any wrongs said before i shouldn't be on the back.
It was raining, slippy, i was going too *cough*fast*cough*, so all in all a learning curve. Albeit an expensive one.
We were then faced with a dilemma. We'd really wanted to do the scuba diving course on Koh Tao (the scuba training centre of the world) but after the bike we weren't really sure if we could. I said to Kels that she should do it because i was the one who spangled the bike, but she knew how much i wanted to do it, and of course being bloody lovely offered the same.
In the end we decided to just forget the bike. It had happened. We were poorer because of it, but dammit it wasn't going to ruin our holiday and stop us having fun.
So we both did it, and man are we glad we did.
We registered at a place called Buddha View which we found out about at the full moon (story continues after a brief overview of the full moon party)
Full moon party (in a nutshell)
The full moon party is a massive beach long rave that happens once a month. Loads of bars, dancing, drinking and loads of tourists crammed onto the beach.
Got ridiculously drunk (tadej, kat, kels and i)
Skinny dipped (first time for me!)
Jumped a fire rope (kels)
Jumped through a fire hoop (me)
Danced with Indian guys (at first Kels, then me. Bloody hilarious. They were all down on one knee etc!)
Drunk too many buckets of whiskey and rum
Fell asleep on the beach.
Woke up the next day.
Back to Koh Tao.
So Buddha View...
As i've said, we found out about Buddha View from a couple of guys who were leafleting for it on Koh Phangan and with hotel included they did the best deal. (170 quid each which 4 nights accommodation and lunches).
Now firstly if you could imagine a private beach, with a bunch of people who are all there just to have a good time, you still wouldn't come close to the awesome feeling that this place kicked out. Everyone was happy to see you, the bar was cheap and regularly had a guy jamming with an acoustic guitar (if not Jack Johnson was being played) and in the night times the bar men/women were picking their favourite songs which ranged from Led Zeppelin all the way to some really chilled out acoustic, a bit of country and back to Zepellin.
Heaven.
We started our four day course in the classroom and once things like buoyancy and weight distribution had been explained to us by our instructor (James- also what a dude. Had lived on Koh Tao for 8 years, in East Ham for 4 before that) we headed out to the swimming pool.
Having mastered the basics, and learned some skills (taking your mask off and the clearing it. Mastering your buoyancy by hovering, that kind of stuff) we headed out on the second morning to the sea.
The water was crystal clear and had a visibility of about 25m at some points. We started with a basic dive where the instructors helped our group of 6 (3 instructors) to feel comfortable in the water and just get accustomed a little bit more to the feel of being 12m under the sea.
By the end of the fourth day, we were all scuba-ing like pros. We'd seen some brilliant stuff, stingrays, massive groupers, (oooooh) barracuda and shoals of over a thousand fish. It was just breathtaking. The whole experience made us really want to do it again. And to be a part of this community.
We toyed with the idea of doing the divemaster course which takes a month, but after realising what it would've been at the expense of, thought better of it.
So now we were headed up to Laos, the end of our Thai adventure.
We'd had a fantastic time in Thailand and if people were ever thinking of doing it but were unsure... DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT!!!!
We would happily go back, but first we'd have to endure another day in Bangkok....
I think Kelsey wants the microphone now, so i'll let her tell you about Bangkok (again)
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
The boat bus boat trip to Koh Tao
So we booked our ticket, the taxi boat was to take us to the mainland pier at 2pm, where a bus was to pick us up, drive us 4 or 5 hours to Chumphon where we were to catch an overnight ferry at 11:00pm to arrive on the Island of Koh Tao.
Ok, first things first, they dropped us off at a massive long pier which took 15 minutes to walk down where there was 3 buses waiting in which none are ours and all the other people climbed onto and carried on leaving us in the dust in the middle of a nowhere road.
After almost giving up hope our deluxe air con van pulled up with only the two of us jumping in- now a bit skeptical we picked up another passenger Matt and he took us all the way to the pier.
Now the traveling bit of traveling is always a little bit tougher than anything else but this was luxurious, the 3 of us cruising in the back watching Minority report all the 4 hour way to Chumphon where we were to catch a night ferry over to Koh Tao.
Now we thought we had it made, our night ferry was going to be the sweetest thing ever, only to our surprise turned out to be taking off again from the middle of nowhere, not even a pier and it was a dinky old fishing boat/ tug boat that was green white and blue with a layer of thin mattresses for us to sleep.
Now we had a laugh to begin with, because hey- this is pretty cool, however Matt then told us we could potentially be robbed or chucked to sea or something horrible. When travelling you generally tend to be wary of your things ( all our money/ passports) always kept in our packsafes on our body at all times but this was a 6 hour night ferry departing at 11pm and going all through the night with the only passengers being us, another couple ( Katerina and Tadej) and Matt who were all asleep within 5 minutes of the journey. Tom and I wary that 7 Thai men were walking around us all night and barely slept at all. Quite the ride, we eventually fell asleep cuddling our big bags and awoke at the pier safe and sound with our bags and packsafes in tow. Phheeeuuuff!
Ok, first things first, they dropped us off at a massive long pier which took 15 minutes to walk down where there was 3 buses waiting in which none are ours and all the other people climbed onto and carried on leaving us in the dust in the middle of a nowhere road.
After almost giving up hope our deluxe air con van pulled up with only the two of us jumping in- now a bit skeptical we picked up another passenger Matt and he took us all the way to the pier.
Now the traveling bit of traveling is always a little bit tougher than anything else but this was luxurious, the 3 of us cruising in the back watching Minority report all the 4 hour way to Chumphon where we were to catch a night ferry over to Koh Tao.
Now we thought we had it made, our night ferry was going to be the sweetest thing ever, only to our surprise turned out to be taking off again from the middle of nowhere, not even a pier and it was a dinky old fishing boat/ tug boat that was green white and blue with a layer of thin mattresses for us to sleep.
Now we had a laugh to begin with, because hey- this is pretty cool, however Matt then told us we could potentially be robbed or chucked to sea or something horrible. When travelling you generally tend to be wary of your things ( all our money/ passports) always kept in our packsafes on our body at all times but this was a 6 hour night ferry departing at 11pm and going all through the night with the only passengers being us, another couple ( Katerina and Tadej) and Matt who were all asleep within 5 minutes of the journey. Tom and I wary that 7 Thai men were walking around us all night and barely slept at all. Quite the ride, we eventually fell asleep cuddling our big bags and awoke at the pier safe and sound with our bags and packsafes in tow. Phheeeuuuff!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Railay and Jackulvin
We left Phi-Phi completely relaxed and with two new wicked mates on board.
Jack and Kulvin were briefly touched upon by Kelsey in the last blog (steady now...) but i just wanted to give them as much mention as they deserved.
It's strange to come to the other side of the world and meet people who you think you would genuinely go out of your way for straight away. Normally you do the whole, "oh hey where are you from? What do you do? Blah blah" But by the end of our 8 days together these boys could have a kidney of mine each.
They were chilled as hell, (which isn't too hard in paradise) but hugely switched on. Their friendship for each other was infectious. And massively down to them, our transition from Bangkok stress to Phi-Phi horizontal happened almost instantaneously.
They had already been to Railay but because we were getting on so well, they decided to come back with us for a day (at first).
We will definitely make the effort to see these guys back in England. So boys, if you're listening, unfortunately you've made mates to stay.
THAT'S BETTER! Brighton New Year. Done.
We'd never heard of Railay before, and without them we wouldn't have gone. Railay (http://www.railay.com/railay/intro/intro.shtml) is part of mainland Thailand, but because of it's location, is only accessible by boat. We got a ferry from Phi-Phi and it dropped us off in the middle of the sea, to jump in a little rickety long-tail boat (a water tuk-tuk) which carried us the rest of the way to the East Railay beach.
Now to be honest, when we first pulled in i thought, 'we left Phi-Phi for this?!'. Muddy sand, building work and to be honest not much to look at.
But our belief In our fellow man (Jackulvin) made us stick it out.
And man, are we glad we did.
We booked into a fantastic resort, a/c, TV, a swimming pool, for about a tenner a night, and already we felt right at home.
The boys showed us their favourite places on the island. Skunk bar, Lucky restaurant... you'll hear about more as we speak to you. But it was amazing.
We walked through the island, to the West beach and honestly, hands down, the most beautiful beach i think i will ever see.
Golden sand, water more blue than the eyes from that guy in Eastenders (Martin Kemp i think), and rocky craggy outbreaks all over the horizon. Jealous yet? It was amazing.
We swam, snorkeled, frisbee'd and smoked the days away.
We played pool nearly every day, and by the end of it we were getting half decent. Jack and I finally accepted that our unbeaten run was going to come to an end, but not before seeing off 3 more Thai pairs.
The guys were originally only there for one night, but we persuaded them/they persuaded themselves to stay for one more, which we didn't say at the time but we were so happy they did, because in all these situations you never know when you are going to see each other again.
They guys left, and we stayed in paradise for another couple of days. And then begrudgingly we also had to leave, after so much relaxation, we prepared ourselves for the next leg of our journey. Up and east to Koh Tao. The place we always wanted to see.
But if you take one holiday destination away from this blog, then so far, please let it be Railay.
They know they want to be fairly touristy, so there are bars, restaurants, water sports etc. But they don't have the tourists in Railay, to charge too much yet, and if I'm honest, Kels and I saw 10 other tourists during the duration of our 5 days there.
We booked the boat, bus, boat journey to Koh Tao, and now we we wait and see.
Love to all. Next update soon!
xx
Jack and Kulvin were briefly touched upon by Kelsey in the last blog (steady now...) but i just wanted to give them as much mention as they deserved.
It's strange to come to the other side of the world and meet people who you think you would genuinely go out of your way for straight away. Normally you do the whole, "oh hey where are you from? What do you do? Blah blah" But by the end of our 8 days together these boys could have a kidney of mine each.
They were chilled as hell, (which isn't too hard in paradise) but hugely switched on. Their friendship for each other was infectious. And massively down to them, our transition from Bangkok stress to Phi-Phi horizontal happened almost instantaneously.
They had already been to Railay but because we were getting on so well, they decided to come back with us for a day (at first).
We will definitely make the effort to see these guys back in England. So boys, if you're listening, unfortunately you've made mates to stay.
THAT'S BETTER! Brighton New Year. Done.
We'd never heard of Railay before, and without them we wouldn't have gone. Railay (http://www.railay.com/railay/intro/intro.shtml) is part of mainland Thailand, but because of it's location, is only accessible by boat. We got a ferry from Phi-Phi and it dropped us off in the middle of the sea, to jump in a little rickety long-tail boat (a water tuk-tuk) which carried us the rest of the way to the East Railay beach.
Now to be honest, when we first pulled in i thought, 'we left Phi-Phi for this?!'. Muddy sand, building work and to be honest not much to look at.
But our belief In our fellow man (Jackulvin) made us stick it out.
And man, are we glad we did.
We booked into a fantastic resort, a/c, TV, a swimming pool, for about a tenner a night, and already we felt right at home.
The boys showed us their favourite places on the island. Skunk bar, Lucky restaurant... you'll hear about more as we speak to you. But it was amazing.
We walked through the island, to the West beach and honestly, hands down, the most beautiful beach i think i will ever see.
Golden sand, water more blue than the eyes from that guy in Eastenders (Martin Kemp i think), and rocky craggy outbreaks all over the horizon. Jealous yet? It was amazing.
We swam, snorkeled, frisbee'd and smoked the days away.
We played pool nearly every day, and by the end of it we were getting half decent. Jack and I finally accepted that our unbeaten run was going to come to an end, but not before seeing off 3 more Thai pairs.
The guys were originally only there for one night, but we persuaded them/they persuaded themselves to stay for one more, which we didn't say at the time but we were so happy they did, because in all these situations you never know when you are going to see each other again.
They guys left, and we stayed in paradise for another couple of days. And then begrudgingly we also had to leave, after so much relaxation, we prepared ourselves for the next leg of our journey. Up and east to Koh Tao. The place we always wanted to see.
But if you take one holiday destination away from this blog, then so far, please let it be Railay.
They know they want to be fairly touristy, so there are bars, restaurants, water sports etc. But they don't have the tourists in Railay, to charge too much yet, and if I'm honest, Kels and I saw 10 other tourists during the duration of our 5 days there.
We booked the boat, bus, boat journey to Koh Tao, and now we we wait and see.
Love to all. Next update soon!
xx
Monday, September 5, 2011
Koh Phi Phi
Ahh Bliss, absolute Bliss,. http://beachthailand53.blogspot.com/2010/04/ko-phi-phiisland-phi-phi.html
After our adventures in Bangkok this is absolute heaven. We took a very rough boat ride from Krabi over to Koh Phi Phi and checked into our deluxe bungolow. We were in love, hammock outside, pool and our own place to call home for a few days. It felt so good to get our bags off and just settle our feet into some ground for a decent amount of time. We didnt know how long we were going to stay at this point, maybe 3 days or so and move on.
Our first night we met Will '' The machine/ the Wizard'' who was staying in a room around ours and Tom excitedly dragged us to an English bar in hopes of seeing West Ham against Nottingham Forest which to his dissapointment they couldnt get.
Oh yes, IT WAS POURING RAIN when we arrived. I guess that is what we get for coming in the middle of Monsoon season, I dont think I have ever seen rain like it.
We stayed in and witnessed the amazing photgraphy skills of Will and we were entertained for hours drawing pictures of stick men and houses with a flashlight when the camera was on a very slow shutter speed.
The rain quickly subsided and the next day it was beautiful. The sun had totally transformed the Island, water as blue as blue can be, long beaches on all sides, beach bars, long boats, sand and what would soon to be some great friends.
We met Jack, Kulvin and James playing frisbee and as the tide was going out we headed to another beach which the tide was heading out there as well so we ended up sitting in the much in which should have been the middle of the sea.
That night we hiked up to viewpoint number 3 ( let me tell you I barely made 1) and James doing it SHOELESS!! We were all going up for what would be a beautiful romantic sunset- Me and the 5 boys. It was wonderful except the trek back after a few cheeky Chang's through a pitch black jungle with no torch and a million paths. Luckily we made it down and headed on to the Stones bar which would become our second home for the next 7 days.
We then went out to dinner in the back of the market, a place where not alot of tourists will go and had amazing Pad Thai, it was run by Samee Soda the man who survived the .9 Tsunami and he had sad down to tell us all about his experience December 26 2004.
We were in awe, he had taught us no matter what happens the best thing to do is dust the sand from your ears, heal your wounds and get back on your feet, which is what he did and is now quite a successful resteraunt owner.
I don't think since being here I have ever been so relaxed, to do nothing yet do everything is the most wonderful thing.
We everyday were at Stones bar except for our Kayak renting experience when we took out 3 double kayaks and made our way out into the big ol ocean to find monkey beach. We arrived with James and Will the wizard still trying to get their rhythem. Haha. We went for a swim in the sea to see a massive school of fish which were swimming in a big swarm and another large fish trying to eat them. We turned around to our amazement a wild monkey sitting on our Kayak and drinking our water. Cheeky bugger, and then there were loads. Just strolling their beach inspecting us strangers who dared to tresspass.
It was an amazing sight to see.
We then took off back towards the bay which seemed to be a struggle and we were in the middle of the deep DARK blue ocean thinking about sharks and scary things underneath us. We got to some clearer water a little outside of our bay and decided to tie our kayaks together and just lounge. We had a few laughs and couldnt get our kayaks untied so Kulvin and Jack on the left and Tom I on the right made attempts to get us moving back to shore ( took us a a few hours)
In Koh Phi Phi they sell you alcohol in sand buckets, you can buy them from a street vendor for 120 baht for the cheapest rum/ whisky/ mixed spirit and you get redbull and a coke, (they sell Vodka and more but quite an expense) all in one bucket that one would make a sandcastle with.
We have been to the reggae bar twice which is a popular place where the undefeated Jack and Tom wagered 100 Baht on a game of pool against two Canadian's and WON!!!!! They also have Muay Thai which you can volunteer and get a free bucket which we all highly considered.
These buckets did us well on all occasions we had them and ususally would end up in bed before midnight, except Will's last night in which he was the only one.
We had made will a Wizard stick- we drank cans of Chang and used all our surgical first aid tape to tape them togeteher to make him a staff he needed to carry around. It was great, such a good laugh, we once again went to the reggae bar with our buckets and Will and his wizard stick to play pool and watch the muay Thai when Will's stick went missing- the deal was for every can that was missing he had to drink double which led to him downing his bucket, and Jack, Kolvin, Tom and I all turned around for two seconds and Will was sleeping on the bench, bless him.
Taking him home was exciting with Tom and Kolvin carrying Will who was deadweight. Jack and I followed closely behind but somehow got stuck at the bottom of our hill as Jack fell off the deck sideways taking plants with him and all, fell straight into a bush.
The next day we went on a tour of the islands which started off with snorkeling at Mosquito Island( Not a nice name for a tourist attraction) here we saw loads of 'Nemo' and rainbow fish it was beautiful.
We then went snorkeling at SHARK point but we were unlucky and didnt spot any ( Or really lucky) although other people on the boat had.
We also went to MAYA BAY, the filming spot if the film the beach. It sparked many conversations about Leonardo DiCaprio and even Will Smith- Great Genes. It was stunning, just as in the film which we then carried onto the banana rooftop bar to watch the film.
The banana bar with cushions all over the floor and the only place with a roof terrace. Was a great place to chill and opne of our faves.
Phi Phi has been amazing, the longest time we had stayed in one place so far and it was longer than expected because of the wonderful people.
Our next plan was to leave Phi Phi but were not sure where to go, other then the full moon party on Koh Phangan on the 12th we have no plans so we said goodbye to James( one day early as he had to go back home to work) and Will and Kolvin, Jack, Tom and I headed for Railay (their second time and our first).
The next part of our adventure begins.
After our adventures in Bangkok this is absolute heaven. We took a very rough boat ride from Krabi over to Koh Phi Phi and checked into our deluxe bungolow. We were in love, hammock outside, pool and our own place to call home for a few days. It felt so good to get our bags off and just settle our feet into some ground for a decent amount of time. We didnt know how long we were going to stay at this point, maybe 3 days or so and move on.
Our first night we met Will '' The machine/ the Wizard'' who was staying in a room around ours and Tom excitedly dragged us to an English bar in hopes of seeing West Ham against Nottingham Forest which to his dissapointment they couldnt get.
Oh yes, IT WAS POURING RAIN when we arrived. I guess that is what we get for coming in the middle of Monsoon season, I dont think I have ever seen rain like it.
We stayed in and witnessed the amazing photgraphy skills of Will and we were entertained for hours drawing pictures of stick men and houses with a flashlight when the camera was on a very slow shutter speed.
The rain quickly subsided and the next day it was beautiful. The sun had totally transformed the Island, water as blue as blue can be, long beaches on all sides, beach bars, long boats, sand and what would soon to be some great friends.
We met Jack, Kulvin and James playing frisbee and as the tide was going out we headed to another beach which the tide was heading out there as well so we ended up sitting in the much in which should have been the middle of the sea.
That night we hiked up to viewpoint number 3 ( let me tell you I barely made 1) and James doing it SHOELESS!! We were all going up for what would be a beautiful romantic sunset- Me and the 5 boys. It was wonderful except the trek back after a few cheeky Chang's through a pitch black jungle with no torch and a million paths. Luckily we made it down and headed on to the Stones bar which would become our second home for the next 7 days.
We then went out to dinner in the back of the market, a place where not alot of tourists will go and had amazing Pad Thai, it was run by Samee Soda the man who survived the .9 Tsunami and he had sad down to tell us all about his experience December 26 2004.
We were in awe, he had taught us no matter what happens the best thing to do is dust the sand from your ears, heal your wounds and get back on your feet, which is what he did and is now quite a successful resteraunt owner.
I don't think since being here I have ever been so relaxed, to do nothing yet do everything is the most wonderful thing.
We everyday were at Stones bar except for our Kayak renting experience when we took out 3 double kayaks and made our way out into the big ol ocean to find monkey beach. We arrived with James and Will the wizard still trying to get their rhythem. Haha. We went for a swim in the sea to see a massive school of fish which were swimming in a big swarm and another large fish trying to eat them. We turned around to our amazement a wild monkey sitting on our Kayak and drinking our water. Cheeky bugger, and then there were loads. Just strolling their beach inspecting us strangers who dared to tresspass.
It was an amazing sight to see.
We then took off back towards the bay which seemed to be a struggle and we were in the middle of the deep DARK blue ocean thinking about sharks and scary things underneath us. We got to some clearer water a little outside of our bay and decided to tie our kayaks together and just lounge. We had a few laughs and couldnt get our kayaks untied so Kulvin and Jack on the left and Tom I on the right made attempts to get us moving back to shore ( took us a a few hours)
In Koh Phi Phi they sell you alcohol in sand buckets, you can buy them from a street vendor for 120 baht for the cheapest rum/ whisky/ mixed spirit and you get redbull and a coke, (they sell Vodka and more but quite an expense) all in one bucket that one would make a sandcastle with.
We have been to the reggae bar twice which is a popular place where the undefeated Jack and Tom wagered 100 Baht on a game of pool against two Canadian's and WON!!!!! They also have Muay Thai which you can volunteer and get a free bucket which we all highly considered.
These buckets did us well on all occasions we had them and ususally would end up in bed before midnight, except Will's last night in which he was the only one.
We had made will a Wizard stick- we drank cans of Chang and used all our surgical first aid tape to tape them togeteher to make him a staff he needed to carry around. It was great, such a good laugh, we once again went to the reggae bar with our buckets and Will and his wizard stick to play pool and watch the muay Thai when Will's stick went missing- the deal was for every can that was missing he had to drink double which led to him downing his bucket, and Jack, Kolvin, Tom and I all turned around for two seconds and Will was sleeping on the bench, bless him.
Taking him home was exciting with Tom and Kolvin carrying Will who was deadweight. Jack and I followed closely behind but somehow got stuck at the bottom of our hill as Jack fell off the deck sideways taking plants with him and all, fell straight into a bush.
The next day we went on a tour of the islands which started off with snorkeling at Mosquito Island( Not a nice name for a tourist attraction) here we saw loads of 'Nemo' and rainbow fish it was beautiful.
We then went snorkeling at SHARK point but we were unlucky and didnt spot any ( Or really lucky) although other people on the boat had.
We also went to MAYA BAY, the filming spot if the film the beach. It sparked many conversations about Leonardo DiCaprio and even Will Smith- Great Genes. It was stunning, just as in the film which we then carried onto the banana rooftop bar to watch the film.
The banana bar with cushions all over the floor and the only place with a roof terrace. Was a great place to chill and opne of our faves.
Phi Phi has been amazing, the longest time we had stayed in one place so far and it was longer than expected because of the wonderful people.
Our next plan was to leave Phi Phi but were not sure where to go, other then the full moon party on Koh Phangan on the 12th we have no plans so we said goodbye to James( one day early as he had to go back home to work) and Will and Kolvin, Jack, Tom and I headed for Railay (their second time and our first).
The next part of our adventure begins.
Trains, Tuk Tuk's and Boats
After an exciting 3 day Jungle trek- which was just absolutely amazing, the second day we had stayed at a waterfall camp, where we played the most hilarious game where we had to save our village form being attacked by werewolves ( hard to explain by typing) and watched Nat cook frogs, Tom tried rice whiskey, I cooked our Curry (It was pretty amazing).... although I am hesitant to tell everyone all I did was stir.
We got back to Chang Mai, and a shower and clean clothes was amazing!
We went out to the city centre with our group for one more night out before we said goodbye, all except Meike who had to fly off to Chang Rai, slightly further north.
We took everyone, and when i say took i mean walked for an hour and a half in vague directions, to the bar we'd been to the first night in Chang Mai, the Zoom Bar. Now we'd been bigging up the zoom bar massively all the way there, and from our memory it was fantastic. 2 big screens, free pool tables, reaaaally friendly staff (watch out).
We got there, and it was a brothel. No word of a lie, a brothel. And with this knowledge the little things started to make sense... The ugly old English guys witting with beautiful Thai girls on their laps, the disappearing and reappearing of staff members....
How did you miss it first time, i hear you cry. Well... we were battered...
We left Chang Mai at 2pm Friday afternoon to catch the train departing for Bangkok which would arrive 12 hours later, now after thoroughly enjoying the ride up there we were quite looking forward to this train only to our disappointment had the worst 'lady boy' waiter and the worst meal we had eaten since we have been here, we arrived in Bangkok stressed with no sleep due to uncomfortableness and the thought of having to spend the day in Bangkok with our bags on once again we walked off the train a little disheartened and exhausted.
Tom -
So after another 12 hour train we arrived in Bangkok again, only to find we were 4 hours early. For everything.
We met another couple who apparently had missed the memo too, and shared a cab to the MBK centre.
The only things open were a McDonald's and an Internet cafe, and by the time we'd used the cafes bathroom as our own, and had 2 breakfasts each in McD's... Bangkok started to wake up.
We took a quick look round the MBK centre (a huge shopping mall in the city centre) realised that there was nothing we wanted and jumped on a bus supposedly bound for the Grand Palace.
We got off the bus where it was meant to be (or so the ongoing disagreement stands...) and had a good old mooch around. We ended up stumbling across the Golden Mount, an amazing Buddhist shrine overlooking Bangkok, and a fair few breathtaking temples, photos coming soon i promise, promise promise.
We then started a second attempt at finding the Grand Palace.
Sweaty, knackered and lost, we walked around Bangkok for a further 2 hours with our big bags on. Needless to say we were pretty fed up!
We then met the first nice person in Bangkok, and to our knowledge the only nice person in Bangkok. Now I'm sure there are lots of nice people somewhere in Bangkok, but just not the length and breadth that we walked.
Looking very much the hapless, hopeless tourists he took us to a Tuk-Tuk driver and arranged every sight that we wanted to see for the equivalent of 75p. Lovely Jubbly!
Or not, as the case may be.
I'm just gonna put it out there, we aren't fans of Bangkok.
After showing us some truly stunning sights (a massive 50 foot Buddha being the jewel in the crown) he took us to a fashion outlet. Now, he'd pre-warned us that one stop would be here and because he'd been so lovely we didn't begrudge it at all. We went in, had a look, but as you can imagine didn't need/buy anything. Unless the boys decide ska is the new route, write 15 new tunes, get massive and i have to fly home to play Wembley, what use am i going to have for a suit for the next 3 months around Asia?
We got back into the Tuk-Tuk, whose final destination was still the Grand Palace. Then! The cheeky schmuck tried to take us to another fashion outlet.
Now normally, as i hope you all know, we are fairly patient people. Well Kelsey is, and even the lovely Kelsey had had enough of the hard sale we'd just endured for the last 30 mins. So we weren't going to go to another one. And i told him as much.
Now i know it's probably his cousin's sister's brother-in-law's shop, but we want ballgowns as much as we want 13 genuine leather belts for the price of 12.
He then kicked us out in the middle of nowhere, in the rain, and demanded his money. After gently moving Kels behind me, i told him to stick it. Once he realised that there was no way he was getting his money, he wheeled away cursing us under his breath.
We then took the next logical step which was get to our final destination (Hua Lampong Train Station) and jumped in another Tuk-Tuk to get away from where we were.
We thought we'd be at the station ridiculously early, but thanks to the torrential rain, Bangkok's one way system and bus deciding to ignore it, at rush h
Don't do Bangkok for too long.
We got back to Chang Mai, and a shower and clean clothes was amazing!
We went out to the city centre with our group for one more night out before we said goodbye, all except Meike who had to fly off to Chang Rai, slightly further north.
We took everyone, and when i say took i mean walked for an hour and a half in vague directions, to the bar we'd been to the first night in Chang Mai, the Zoom Bar. Now we'd been bigging up the zoom bar massively all the way there, and from our memory it was fantastic. 2 big screens, free pool tables, reaaaally friendly staff (watch out).
We got there, and it was a brothel. No word of a lie, a brothel. And with this knowledge the little things started to make sense... The ugly old English guys witting with beautiful Thai girls on their laps, the disappearing and reappearing of staff members....
How did you miss it first time, i hear you cry. Well... we were battered...
We left Chang Mai at 2pm Friday afternoon to catch the train departing for Bangkok which would arrive 12 hours later, now after thoroughly enjoying the ride up there we were quite looking forward to this train only to our disappointment had the worst 'lady boy' waiter and the worst meal we had eaten since we have been here, we arrived in Bangkok stressed with no sleep due to uncomfortableness and the thought of having to spend the day in Bangkok with our bags on once again we walked off the train a little disheartened and exhausted.
Tom -
So after another 12 hour train we arrived in Bangkok again, only to find we were 4 hours early. For everything.
We met another couple who apparently had missed the memo too, and shared a cab to the MBK centre.
The only things open were a McDonald's and an Internet cafe, and by the time we'd used the cafes bathroom as our own, and had 2 breakfasts each in McD's... Bangkok started to wake up.
We took a quick look round the MBK centre (a huge shopping mall in the city centre) realised that there was nothing we wanted and jumped on a bus supposedly bound for the Grand Palace.
We got off the bus where it was meant to be (or so the ongoing disagreement stands...) and had a good old mooch around. We ended up stumbling across the Golden Mount, an amazing Buddhist shrine overlooking Bangkok, and a fair few breathtaking temples, photos coming soon i promise, promise promise.
We then started a second attempt at finding the Grand Palace.
Sweaty, knackered and lost, we walked around Bangkok for a further 2 hours with our big bags on. Needless to say we were pretty fed up!
We then met the first nice person in Bangkok, and to our knowledge the only nice person in Bangkok. Now I'm sure there are lots of nice people somewhere in Bangkok, but just not the length and breadth that we walked.
Looking very much the hapless, hopeless tourists he took us to a Tuk-Tuk driver and arranged every sight that we wanted to see for the equivalent of 75p. Lovely Jubbly!
Or not, as the case may be.
I'm just gonna put it out there, we aren't fans of Bangkok.
After showing us some truly stunning sights (a massive 50 foot Buddha being the jewel in the crown) he took us to a fashion outlet. Now, he'd pre-warned us that one stop would be here and because he'd been so lovely we didn't begrudge it at all. We went in, had a look, but as you can imagine didn't need/buy anything. Unless the boys decide ska is the new route, write 15 new tunes, get massive and i have to fly home to play Wembley, what use am i going to have for a suit for the next 3 months around Asia?
We got back into the Tuk-Tuk, whose final destination was still the Grand Palace. Then! The cheeky schmuck tried to take us to another fashion outlet.
Now normally, as i hope you all know, we are fairly patient people. Well Kelsey is, and even the lovely Kelsey had had enough of the hard sale we'd just endured for the last 30 mins. So we weren't going to go to another one. And i told him as much.
Now i know it's probably his cousin's sister's brother-in-law's shop, but we want ballgowns as much as we want 13 genuine leather belts for the price of 12.
He then kicked us out in the middle of nowhere, in the rain, and demanded his money. After gently moving Kels behind me, i told him to stick it. Once he realised that there was no way he was getting his money, he wheeled away cursing us under his breath.
We then took the next logical step which was get to our final destination (Hua Lampong Train Station) and jumped in another Tuk-Tuk to get away from where we were.
We thought we'd be at the station ridiculously early, but thanks to the torrential rain, Bangkok's one way system and bus deciding to ignore it, at rush h
Don't do Bangkok for too long.
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