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Published: January 5th 2010
So I have finished my tours of the Southern Islands of Thailand. I have had plenty of sun, sand and sea and now its up north to do some trekking in the mountains and see a completely different part of Thailand and travel into Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
The Islands were brilliant, after Phuket, which was all a bit sleazy, came Phi Phi. This was a stunning island with two beaches running parallel to each other connecting two jungle covered rocks. It was an island that was devastated by the Tsunami but seems to be over iit now as it is full of shops, tattoo parlours and, of course, bars and clubs! and the drink flows by the bucket load everywhere you go, literally! so, needless to say, i had a great time in Phi Phi!
After Phi Phi i wentr across to Krabi which is part of the mainland. It was a lot quieter in Krabi. There was a beach called Tonsai which has a massive rock climbing community. i wish i had done some now as i think i would have loved it but im sure there will be more opportunities. Railay beach was also just round the corner which is white sand and clear waters so was good to relax abit around here.
After Krabi i went south to an island called Koh Lanta. Lanta is a quiet island, however, this was not the case for me! i went straigh to the bar and thats basically all i remember!!! haha. I really enjoyed Lanta as we had a bit of a crew there and everday and every night we would do something different, nights usually revolved around drink but everyone just seemed to have such a good time. i was there for a week and then 4 of us, a lad called Oli from Morecomb and 2 girls from Derbyshire, Jodie and Nicole and myself went to Koh Tao fro Christmas.
it was my second time in Koh Tao, it was my first trip after Bangkok and didnt get to see much of it as i did my Open Water Diving Course here, so it was good to go back and see the rest of the island. i stayed on the south part of the island and obviously went back to see Yaou, a Burmese lad who owned mine and Oli's favourite bar, Easy Bar.
Christmas Eve was mental, on Sairee Beach, packed full of people from everywhere. Fire shows a plenty, drink and dancing was never far away. and we even set of Chinese Lanterns with message on. aren't we sweet!!!!!!!! 😊 i have to say, it felt nothing like christmas eve, nor did christmas day feel like it. Sat at Easy Bar, right on the beach with the sun beating down and a berr in hand, that is not how i am used to spending christmas day, apart from the beer!
The day after me and Oli booked an adventure dive and a fun dive. this adventure dive counts as a fifth of my advanced divers course and lets me go to 30m deep, so now i can go 30m deep underwater anywhere in the world. the dive was brilliant, we went deep, had to do an exercise on the sea bed then we did a bit of exploring. The instructor was ahead of us and turned around, he put his hand on top of his head forming a fin on top of it, the sign for a shark. then, out of the mist, coming towards us came a Bull Shark, 2.4m long, it was a big basta..... (sorry mum)! it swam towrads us, its nose about 3m away from us then turned slowly and to our left then back on itself and disappeared into the mist again. i was amazed, i thought if i saw a shark i would panick, but i was so relaxed, i wanted to go after it and see it again, but some daft woman was running out of air and so we had to surface, but it was still a great experience. the fun dive afterwards was good as well as we had freedom to tour ourselves swimming through coral caves etc. but i think seeing the shark was the highlight of the day. the beer and the buckets tasted even sweeter that night.
time at koh tao came to an end and it was time to head over to Koh Phangan tio get ready for the Full Moon Party on New Years Eve. All 4 of us went across and i was meeting my mate and his girlfriend there from Sale as well. The party beach was Haad Rin on the south part of the island. we were staying in Thong Salad, about 20minutes drive north of Haad Rin.
Haad Rin was packed everynight with travellers and holiday makers. I was on the beach everynight, (and sometimes morning!) leading up to New Year. New Years Eve was absolutely crazy! apparantley the biggest ever Full Moon Party as it was the first time in 20+ years the Full Moon coincided with New Years Eve. People have estimated 80,000 people were on the beach,i have no idea how many there was but looking over the crowd, there wasnt a piece of the beach uncovered. it was some way to celebrate new year and was so glad i was there.
For New Years Day, we spent it in the most English of English pubs known to man. it was inland on the island and we had drove past it in a taxi one time and thought why not get a slap up meal in there, so i did with a pint of Kronenburg. Not what i expected in Thailand but, you can take the boy out of Manchester....
i had one more night in Koh Phangan then i had to head back up to Bangkok, so i headed to haad rin for one last time. the next day was the end of my islands tour.
i fully enjoyed my time in the Southern part of Thailand, although i'm sure my liver didnt, and my bodyclock has never been so confused, i think i became nocturnal down there so now i am really looking forward to seeing some different sites up north and heading into the other South East Asian countries.
its off to Kanchanaburi tomorrow, staying on a floating guesthhouse on the River Kwai.
i will keep you posted on my trip as often as i can and try my best to put photo's up when i can. it takes a while so i get a bit bored sat in front of the computer screen, but i suppose its not like im in a rush, ive not got work in the morning!!!!
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Dad
non-member comment
Hangover
All I need is a Hangover and I could have almost have been there with you. Really enjoyed your blog, especially the shark!!!!!