Mis-adventures in Thailand! Bangkok, Ko Phangan and Koh Samui

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After a smooth flight from Penang, we're soon in a taxi hurtling towards the bright lights of Bangkok! The taxi driver speaks very little English, but that doesn't stop him prattling away in Thai and cackling to himself. After roaming around Samsen street for 20 minutes, he finally locates our guesthouse and we jump out. It's about 9pm and we're down a dark alleyway, hoping that we're in the right place. All the buildings seem to be attached to each other with Metal roofs, so it's hard to know where they start and end. We're finally welcomed by our hosts at the guesthouse and shown to a massive double bedroom! For 10 quid, you couldn't ask for much more.

Later that night we walk down Samsen street and spot a bustling restaurant down a side alleyway. I say restaurant, we thought it was a street vendor at first, but it seems really popular so we sit down. We order some pad thai and some Changs, before taking in the surroundings. There's an undeniable energy (sorry to use the phrase!) about Bangkok, even more so than Malaysia and we're both very exited about the next few days. We wait about an hour for our food (the food is good, but not very prompt!) so we manage to get through about 3 or 4 beers whilst we're waiting. I can vaguely remember stumbling home later on - the Chang works a treat!

The next day we have a nice breakfast, cooked for us by the family who run the guesthouse and we strap on our bags ready for Kho San Road. It's hard going in the heat and we have to squeeze through the crowds of people and market stalls. The food being cooked looks and smells amazing, from spicy meat to sweet smelling biscuits. We're sweating buckets when we finally arrive at the famous street and try to take it in as we traipse along.

To the uninitiated it's hard to sum up what's so great about Kho San Road. It's loud, busy, smells a bit funny, but has an undeniable feeling of excitement, with all sorts of craziness going on. As soon as we drop our bags off at the hotel we rush out to check it out properly. There's market stalls lining the streets selling all kinds of knock off goods, from sunglasses to CDs. I stock up on cheap T-shirts and get to haggle over a pair of sunglasses. I get him down from 300 B to 240B, saving me about a quid! He has the last laugh though when the Ray Bann logo wipes off under my finger a few minutes later! ha ha

The reason we had to be in Bangkok by today is because our friend Vicky is meeting us for a holiday in Thailand for a week. She has travelled overnight from Abu Dhabi, so is meant to be sleeping in the hotel, however she comes and finds and suggests we go for a few beers. Sounds good to us. It's really nice to see a friend from home and we have a good catch up over several beers.

The following morning, I get up with the intention of sorting our our transport to the southern islands. I set off for the train station with my trusty guide book in hand...this is where I get my pants pulled down (not literally). Whilst referring to my guidebook, a local man approaches, he asks where I'm trying to get to. I tell him I'm walking to the train station. He tells me the ticket office is shut on a Sunday and I need to book through the TAT (Transport Authority of Thailand). He flags down a Tuk-Tuk and tells the driver where to take me, apparently the TAT is just around the corner. I go along with the idea, unaware I'm now part of a very well practised scam.

I arrive at the official looking building and a smiling lady in a smart uniform talks to me in good English about our plans. She says the trains are fully booked (this is actually true), so we'll have to take a sleeper bus. She tells me how much it is, I pay and walk home feeling like I've achieved something. It's only when I get home that I look at the receipt and realise the company are called Unseen Travel...a bit of internet searching later reveals that 'Unseen' is a very apt name for the company. The bus might turn up but there's no guarantee. Plus people who have used the company tell horror stories about their experiences. In short, there's nothing official about them and I don't feel comfortable taking our chances with their bus.

So we head to the train station (which is open, surprise surprise) and book through the actual TAT. I feel stupid for being taken in, but more astonished that everyone was in on the scam. Especially the guy waiting on the street corner prying on tourists - it's hard to believe that people can lie like that. I guess in the grand scheme of things we only lost about 40 quid and god knows what would've happened if we'd got on the 'Unseen Travel Bus'.

That evening we return to our favourite Bangkok restaurant(from the first night) and have a delicious feast of food and beer, before working our way round the bars of Ko San Road. I think the night ended (Clio had to tell me because I can't remember) with us trying to get into the hotel swimming pool (it was shut), talking to lots of crazy people, before trying to get in the hotel swimming pool again. No wonder I woke up in my swimming shorts...with a massive hangover. Kho San Road has claimed 3 more victims!

We fight through the hangover and take a tuk tuk to a few temples, including a massive standing buddha statue and a huge reclining buddha at Wat Pho temple. The temples are amazing to look at, although they seem a bit too touristy sometimes. We finish off the afternoon with some spa treatments. Vic has a facial, whilst clio and I have a 'Fish Spa', so called because you put your feet in a tank of fish and they nibble at your feet taking the dead skin away. It feels a but like Pins and Needles, in a nice way. At 3 quid for 20 mins, it was money well spent!

We set off for the bus station and on the way a taxi driver runs over Vics bag - is this an omen?

We arrive at the bus station, a little nervous about the epic journey that awaits us. When we finally board the VIP bus at 7pm, we realise there's nothing VIP about it! It's old, cramped and little rusty, with flies buzzing around the lights. It'll be our home for the next 10 hours.

I'm ecstatic to find out my seat won't recline and I'm sat next to a grumpy Austrian man who hacks his guts up every couple of minutes. I hope I don't catch whatever horrible illness he's got . To add to our catalogue of mishaps, Vic has had an allergic reaction to something she's eaten and he eye is beginning to look a bit like Rocky after 10 rounds with Apollo Creed.

After about 30 mins of sleep each, we arrive at the bus station at 5am, hoping to jump on the boat to Kho Pangnan, but our journey is far from over. We are made to wait in the dirty bus station/halfway house for 3 hours with all the other forlorn, weary looking backpackers, sipping tea and trying not to make eye contact with anyone else. This must be what it's like to be a refugee!

Due to a mixture of fatigue (and laziness) we stumble into our 2nd scam of the trip whilst at the bus stop. A very friendly man speaks to us about his bungalows on the island. He has a particularly nice one for 3 people on the scenic east coast which is only 10 quid. We're pretty sure it's a scam as we have to pay him up front. He throws in a free taxi ride to his beach (which usually costs about a fiver) so we agree. If it's rubbish, we've at least got a taxi ride out of it. Shortly before this, Clio sat down in one of the airplane-style seats at the bus station which collapses on her...proving we weren't in the right mental state to be making decisions!

A bus arrives at 8am to whisk us to the ferry port, which takes another hour. It's now started to rain heavily and we're sat on the ferry for 2 hours before it sets off...slowly. We finally arrive at the grey and murky shores of Ko Pangnan at midday. Our 18 hour journey is almost over...

We pile into the back (as in 'on the back') of a truck with 6 other guests (or 'scam-ee's) and drive to our accommodation. The driver pulls up at the beach, gets out and spits out a massive lob, as if to say 'welcome'. The Bungalow is exactly what we feared- an absolute shit hole. The girls are polite about it, but you can tell they are terrified of staying one night there. We tramp around the beach until we find a fantastic bungalow about 500 metres away. It's about 30 quid but it's clean, comfortable and owned by a really nice family. The guy in charge is actually called 'Nice'! We move straight over and set about banishing the horrific journey from our minds. Unfortunately the damage is done health wise. I've got the beginnings of a throat and chest infection (thanks Mr Austrian) and everyone is exhausted.

Over the next few days, when the sun finally comes out we do as much relaxing as possible. The beach is beautiful and the water is clear and warm. Perfect for unwinding and shaking off an illness. Vic sorts out some antibiotics from the pharmacy and after a few days I'm feeling better. Unfortunately, not in time for the Half Moon Party, but Clio and I decide we'll make the trip back for the Black Moon Party in a weeks time.

Vic only has a couple of days left so we bid a fond farewell to Nice's Beach resort and catch a superfast Catamaran to Ko Samui. Ko Samui is definitely more touristy than Kho Pangnan, but we find a nice enough stretch of beach on Chaweng and have a really relaxing final evening with Vic. We drink cocktails and watch fireworks and lanterns in the sky. It's sad to wave her off the next day, after such an eventful week.

So that's Thailand so far...still 2 weeks to go, so who knows what scrapes we can get into! Sorry I've rambled on so much in these past few blogs but I've had so much to talk about and I didn't want to miss anything out. Hope you're all well and enjoying life back in England. Only 11 weeks to go before we'll be seeing you all again!

Ali and Clio xx

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