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Published: July 14th 2007
After packing my whole life into a backpack and saying goodbye to loved family and friends it was time to walk through customs at the airport! Yay we were finally on our way after months of reorganizing our lives and planning the big trip OS.
All we have to do now is pass customs and we can relax……..but wait a second…..I have a bottle of Moe Chandon Champaign in my carry on luggage! Bugger, I forgot about the new airport rules prohibiting bottles of liquid on a plane more of than 200 ml. After much argument with customs officials we could do nothing but watch them dump the whole bottle in the bin, it was totally shattering. The guy next to us lost a bottle of expensive whisky; I think I saw tears in his eyes! Finally we get on the plane and take off….wohoo!
First stop Bangkok, after 9 hours on the plane we stagger outside the airport and get hit by a wave of hot humid heat and it was only 7am in the morning. After hunting through many cab drivers we find one who will drive us 3 hours to Ban Phe on the coast south
east from Bangkok. Once we get to Ban Phe we get conned into buying a return ferry ticket to the island of Ko Samet at a ridiculous price. Oh well at least we got there in one piece! Mind you our so called speed boat was this tiny little boat and every time we went over a swell the boat would get air and then crash down onto the sea with a sickening thud.
After getting dropped off on the beach we had to lug our packs up the beach until we found somewhere to stay for the night……the first place we came across we booked because we were so hot and tired and our packs so heavy we didn’t care where we stayed. Our room cost was $5 for the night and consisted of a double bed that was as hard as the floor, a fan and a toilet outside…welcome to paradise!
The next day we hunted out a place with air-conditioning and hired a scooter and went exploring. The beaches are awesome…the best I have seen in Thailand!
Our second night consisted of lots of drinking from buckets, literally and playing pool with the locals! Lots
of fun!
By the third day the sunburn was starting to take a toll on our delicate Melbourne winter skin. So we spent the day lying on the beach alternating between our beach chairs in the shade and our towels in the sun and eating! What a life…could this get any better we thought…..the answer was yes.. Dinner involved sitting on mats on the beach while we were served up a massive variety of seafood freshly cooked on the bbq and drinking ice cold Chang beer, entertainment for the night were fire twirlers performing on the beach in front of us at no extra cost, I love this place!!!!
The following day we decided we would hire a four wheeler motorbike and explore the whole island, now this was great fun, especially when the puddles are as big as the road and you have no option but to go through the middle of them as fast as you can go, hehe.
But our time in paradise is ending and we are off to Bangkok to watch the Asia Federation Cup (soccer) Australia vs. Thailand at their national stadium, so until next blog. Farewell!
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Marion Jon
non-member comment
Champange tears
Hi guy's, Well, us left at the airport could have done with that bottle to celebrate the parting of you two. Finally???? Phew....now we can relax???