Aonang - Wot no Mince Pies

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On the bus in Laos, off the bus at the Laos border, back on the bus and over the Mekong River via the Friendship Bridge, off the bus at the Thailand border, back on the bus at Nong Khai and we were at our next destination for a few days – piece of cake. Because we loved Laos so much, and thought we might suffer withdrawal symptoms, we decided to book at the Mut Mee Guesthouse so we could sit on the riverside terrace and gaze across the Mekong at lovely Laos! Okay that was not the reason, but rather a really good recommendation from Rough Guide and almost everyone on Trip Advisor who raved about its relaxing atmosphere. As we were now well and truly into relaxing mode this seemed like the place for us.

All those who recommended the guesthouse were right, it was a great place full of atmosphere and travellers of all nationalities and ages from families with children to interesting older chaps spending their retirement travelling throughout Asia. Some seemed to be regulars and were full of good advice about where to eat and what to do. The owner and everyone who worked there were really helpful and friendly and the food service was done on an honesty system, everything you ordered you wrote into a little book given to you which you settled up at the end of your stay. As with most of these systems, it never seemed to get abused. The only downside, was the Wifi which was slow, slower and slowest. Some of the younger visitors were getting quite annoyed by the end of their stay as they were unable to sort out their onward journeys or, more likely, get onto Facebook. All in all though a great place to sit and relax on the garden terrace.

We would like to say that we explored Nong Khai thoroughly, but that would be a fib. We did, however, explore the big Tesco Lotus thoroughly (as do many Laos nationals because of a reciprocal arrangement with Thailand which enables them to come over the border for day trips) for some festive goodies (although I am sure the Laos weren’t shopping for the same stuff as us). Those of you who know me well, know how much I like Christmas and all the paraphernalia that goes with it – lots of decorations (one of the gaudiest Christmas trees you are ever likely to see), lots of calorific stuff to eat, Christmas songs and films etc – the list goes on. So here we found ourselves in Tesco Lotus in search of something which would help satisfy my festive needs – mince pies. After about an hour of searching high and low it was painfully obvious that mince pies weren’t going to be on the menu so instead I had to purchase a small, not too gaudy, gold Christmas tree! I vowed, however, that the search would continue – poor Chris.

Although after a few days in Nong Khai we didn't actually see much we did try a few different eating places, the most expensive being the Vietnamese restaurant which, while was delicious, left us needing a snack on the way home. We were ready to head south so after a short mini van ride to Udon Thani airport we hopped on another stupidly cheap Air Asia flight to Phuket.

We had planned to be in Phuket Town for just a few days to organise our ferry trip over to our Christmas destination, Aonang. While in PT we did at least manage to get out a bit and explore the ……. yes you guessed it …….Tesco Lotus (to no avail I am afraid) and the outlet mall, which looked like it was straight out of the good old US of A. Not very busy though and with prices which didn’t resemble anything like those we found in the outlet malls in America it was no wonder that the shoppers weren’t buying. As part of the negotiation with our tuk-tuk driver, who ferried us around for the morning quite cheaply, we had to have a quick stop in a shop on the way back so he could get his Christmas bonus. This turned out to be a very nice (and I mean very nice) jewellery store. Unfortunately what with the rise in gold prices and the quality of the lovely gems it looked like I was not going to be able to persuade Chris to dig deep into his pockets for something sparkly for Christmas – hey ho.

23rd December and it was time for us to make our way to our Christmas destination and hit the beaches. So we got on the ferry for the 2 hour ride to Aonang. The town itself, to be quite honest, is nothing much to write home about, a bit of a faceless tourist resort which has an overpowering smell of sewage every now and again (more now than again), but it does provide you with everything you want in the way of eating and drinking places and what it lacks in charm the nearby beaches of the Railay Peninsula more than make up for. This was what we had come for, oh and the Guinness in the local Irish bar (for Chris of course). So after unpacking the Christmas Tree, Christmas Eve found us laying on Hat Ton Son (Railay’s western beach) soaking up the sun, on a white sandy beach surrounded by limestone karsts which looked like a scene from the prehistoric era - absolutely fabulous. It turned out to be so hot that dips into the refreshing Andaman Sea were a must, in order to stop ourselves from being fried to a crisp and turning into an interesting shade of lobster, which seemed to be a problem that many of the sun worshippers had succumbed to. Not for us that just cooked look, we were staying with the factor 50. This was going to be a great way to spend the festive season (and almost made up for the lack of mince pies- almost).

Unfortunately, even though we had been extremely careful under the unforgiving sun, Chris was unwell by the end of the day. Christmas Day turned out to be another scorcher, maybe even hotter, and with Chris still unwell with extremely bad man flu, or some other equally nasty illness, it was obvious that we would not be staking our claim to a portion of the beach that day. Never mind there were other days and the beach wasn’t going anywhere. However, we did have an appointment which couldn’t be broken and that was our Christmas dinner at the Irish Rover. Full Christmas fare, complete with brussel sprouts (yuk) and roast potatoes (yummy). We had popped in here the day we arrived to book our table and also for Chris to satisfy his need for a Guinness, or 4, and ended up staying for a number of hours listening to the live music (very good indeed) and chatting to two English girls. The Christmas dinner turned out to be a very pleasant surprise, both in its delicious taste and the huge portions and with only 3 brussel sprouts to shift from one part of the plate to another I was a happy girl.

Unfortunately with Chris’ mystery illness not getting any better the beach didn’t play much of a part of our Christmas, luckily the hotel had a really good TV channel selection, so not much browner than when we arrived we eventually left Aonang for Phi Phi, our New Year destination. One thing I would like to mention before we leave Aonang is the hotel we stayed in, the Aonang Goodwill. Luckily the room was okay as we saw more of ours than we usually would, and the staff were really sweet and helpful, although they probably thought we were a bit strange to start with not leaving our room much, that or we were totally loved up!!! It was a good 10 minutes walk from the boats to Railay, but the staff were so nice we would definitely recommend it. Another ferry ride and we found ourselves on Phi Phi Don.

A crazy, crazy place where pedestrians pick their way through the winding tourist-made alleyways colliding with locals pushing carts jam packed with luggage shouting “beep beep” and people on bicycles frantically trying to swerve through the jumble that is Phi Phi. The town is an ideal creation to satisfy every hedonistic desire; full of shops selling holiday paraphernalia, massage parlours, cafes and restaurants and bars and on top of that you have lovely beaches. So even when it rains, a mosey on round the town can probably relieve you of some of your hard earned cash. And relieve you it does, because one thing Phi Phi is, is more expensive than a lot of other places we have been to in Thailand, with bottles of water being treble or quadruble what we paid for them in Aonang it was probably going to turn out to be an expensive few days. Our first stop would be a call to the local hospital and get Chris sorted out as the mystery illness showed no signs of getting better. After moving from one chair to another in the hospital a diagnosis of an intestinal virus was given, some tablets were paid for and we were on our way. Hopefully all should be well within a few days.

Phi Phi Don, what would we do with our time? Well, probably sit, or lay, or both, on some of its lovely white sandy beaches, whilst looking at the dramatic karst scenery that dominates this area and every now and again dipping into the cool, clear sea. So that is exactly what we did. For the first few days the weather wasn’t great, but not complaining because at least we weren’t in the snow, and with the afternoons came the rain but when the sun came out boy did it come out. So the next few days basically we alternated between lying on the beach and cooling off in a café in the town and people watching. Not a bad way to spend New Year. New Years Eve itself was crazy, with many of the beach clubs providing entertainment which seemed to be much of the same i.e. drinking games and fire dancers. The most popular places seemed to be on the beach of Ao Loh Dalum where the beach bars were offering very good deals on buckets of cocktails (buy one get two free), the party games were in full swing, the fire dancers were a little risk averse in their show (meaning that every now and again the spectators would be sent scurrying for cover from a fire stick mis-thrown by one of the dancers) and random fireworks would be going off on the beach. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, but definitely something to be appreciated after a few drinks. It was a good night though and everyone seemed to be having a great time. New Years Day, and what a scorcher, meant another day on one of the beaches which would be our last beach day until we met up with Diane and Richard in February (no violins please).

Our next instalments will see us back in Bangkok and travelling north in search of such refinements as history, nature and food. But until we see everyone again we wish you all a very happy New Year.

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Photos

Railay Rocks
Happy Xmas

Railay Shopping
Not much to keep you happy for long

Another day in Paradise
well nearly

NYE2010
Not a bad venue

Comments

[Anna]

The one positive of being back at work-I can catch up on your travels! Hope Chris is better now, Happy New Year to you both. Anna x