(Island) hopping mad

---

Our last few weeks have generally been very lazy (as have I) so I thought id leave it a while for this blog.

The first island we landed on was not actually an island at all but a peninsula. You couldn't actually get there by land though so to all intents and purposes it was indeed island life.

East Railey, near Krabbi boasts the most beautiful beach i have ever been on, and we spent a few days sunbathing, frolicking and generally chilling out. This was only really interrupted by a trip to a salt water lagoon that which was easily the most dangerous thing we've done on this trip to date.

Free climbing with only a frayed rope and slippery rocks to help us we ascended about 150ft or so up a cliff, some of which was vertical. and then down the other side which was equally slippery. Luckily for me i had the foresight to wear flip flps instead of trainers so discarding them and climbing barefoot was really easy and not in the least bit painful as jagged rocks cut up my feet. Luckily this was all worth it as we arrived at the lagoon. It looked as if nobody had ever been there before, a notion I entertained until we were joined by a chubby and friendly Dutchman whose name i have now forgotten. After basking in this scerenity for half and hour Daniel decided it was too much and took a lovely dump in the middle of the lagoon. The three of us and the dutchman beat a hasty retreat and risked life and limb getting back to the beach.

After a few days we became restless so decided to head to Ko Phi Phi. This was maybe the worst decision of the trip and a definate low point. The island was pretty much decimated during the Tsunami and there were still a lot of places that hadn't really been cleaned up at all. This coupled with some bad weather and dirty beaches made for a pretty annoying few days.
The cabin fever we had experienced was broken by a nice day trip in which the PADI qualified Danny and Adam did some diving and Marsh and I took to some snorkelling. This was cool and the crystal clear waters which Phi Phi is famed for was finally showing itself.

After an enforced extension to our stay on the island due to the boat only leaving on 'odd'?! days we headed to Ko Lanta and met Danny's friend Hugh, who owns a stake in a bar out there. The weather wasn't up to much really but we had a cool time playing football on the beach with locals and chilling in hammocks.
During the football we made friends with a Thai lad named Aun who it turns out is a bit of a big deal in Thialand. His Dad (now deceased) was a massive Thai film star and had set Aun up in business as a music producer. And it transpires that Aun is pretty much The Pharrell of Bangkok.
A lovely bloke, he is also incredibly generous to boot and took us out in his hired pick up to a music venue where we drank Johnnie walker Black label (good for scoring with chicks over here apparently) and listened to some of the best acoustic covers i've heard in a long time.
Aun's attitude to women is hillariousm if not bordering on total chauvenism, but nethertheless we kicked back and allowed his 'girlfriend' for the holiday to keep topping the glasses up and remaining silent.
Aun has also insisted we stay we him in Bangkok when we return, which we definately do so. Should be an interesting night.

A few days later Aun took us to 'Miss Thai Ladyboy' 2006 which was as you can imagine hillarious! They were some of the most horrific things weve seen since our trip began (coming a close second to the pickled babies of Vietnam) *see picture

From the chilled out vibe of Lanta we headed to Ko Samui which is pretty rough and there really isnt anything of note to write about apart from a big Tesco. Nethertheless marsh and i toured the island before he took to his bed stricken with the 24hour fever I had given him from lanta.

We are now on Ko Phagn Nang awaiting the Full Moon party, which i fully expect to be a chavtastic affair full of British 16year olds getting hammered on buckets of Thai whisky. Still our beach huts are out of the way and have a terrific view over the bay so it will be a cool few days before the journey back to Bangkok and then eventually home.

This will probably be the last entry, but a may write another when i get back.

---