Krabi New years & Singapore

---

This is a bit of a late update as we have had little time to update the blog over the last week. As I write this im sitting infront of a computer in Daves house in Frankston Australia nursing a hangover from the night before :-s. Kim is packing to go and see her friend in Tasmania and I am off to the beaches tomorrow with Dave, Paul, and Stacy ( Daves girl friend) its also gone 12 at night so there may be many mistakes!

After Christmas we all went away to Krabi and stayed in a place called Ao Nang on the coast. Its very nice area and full of tourists from Norway and Sweeden. Kim, Sandra, Siobhan, Jenn and I were sharing two small hut style rooms along one of main roads in Ao Nang which backed on to a huge mountain that we didnt even notice for at leat a day! Poor Sandra got a blood infection from a mosquito bite and we were worried that it may have been a worm! (picture included sorry Sandra!). Jenn was worrying over sorting her flight home, that is now hopefully sorted while also already fixing up an Itinery for our visit to States. Siobhan cut everyones hair, thanks again! Kim was her usual party animal self while I was trying to save money and suffering from withdrawal symptoms from not being able to find any decent spring rolld since Ko Pha Ngan !


On the 29th we went out on day trips, Kim, Sandra and Siobhan went on a day boat trip to the Phi Phi islands are which is also the island where the film the beach was made called 'Maya beach'. They went snorkeling and got to visit some of the best beaches thailand had to offer. They also got a look firsthand at the devastation cuased by the Tsunami that had hit the islands a year ago. She told me that you cant comprehend the damage that must have been caused. The water level was marked in a hut and it was at roof level while and the hut was raised fairly high from the ground in the first place. There was also damaged hotels in which all the furniture inside had been swept away and the windows and doors missing. Alot of toursist and locals died on the island. The Thai people however had rather positive rememberence ceremonies which were not of the same depressing kind we have in western countries.

Jen and I went sea kayaking which was a fantastic experiance. We toured around large canyons and very small river estuaries along the coast. I was also happy to do some exercise as ive done little since leaving england! A local called 'Bud' was our guide and he was very informative and funny. We got to feed monkeys from our kayak aswell as fish, we were told about the history the the area aswell as shown remains of some old thai tribes who used to live along the coast known as 'sea gypsies'. The views were amazing and I was told that I had quite a talent for Kayaking , so ill have to take that up as a hobby when I get home. I must apologise to Jenn though for hitting her on the back a few times, sorry! During the trip we also got to eat fresh pineapple and melon along the way as well as a free meal at the end of the trip which lasted all day and cost less than 10 pounds!.

**New years eve**

Ned and Jess who we met previously in Ko Pha Ngan came out to stay with us for new years so there was a good sized group of us and I wasnt the only guy in the group any longer which was good as I was fed up of getting dragged around clothes shops! We spent alot of the day down the beach working up our tans ( sorry about the snow back home by the way :-P) and played some football and frisbi which was funny, then in the evening Ned and I headed out to have some drinks and watch the football. After a fair amount of Jack Daniels later we met the girls down the Irish bar and then went to the 'Lunar Bar' to ring in the new year and got to watch some fire eaters and set off fireworks into the sky. It was all a bit of a blur after that but we all had a great night though missed our friends back home.

New years day however was not a nice experiance. We had previously booked a coach that would take us through Malaysia to Singapore but we couldnt get any other booking but for one at 6:20 am on new years morning! We both slepped through the alarm at half five (we only got in at 4) and awoke to a banging on the door from the bus driver! We had to get out the room in less then 5 minutes still drunk. so 24 hours on a bus to Singapore wasnt the best experiance we have had on our travels so far even though it was air conditioned we felt pretty bad the whole way there.

***Singapore***

We arrived at about 6am in Singapore very very tired. We got in a taxi and managed to find a place to stay in China Town, in a hotel called the Royal Peacock. The room was so niced compared to what we had been used to in Thailand. We both had our first warm shower in over a month and air conditioning which we hadnt had since ourfirst few days in Bangkok, aswell as flushing toilets! After sleeping for 4 hours we spent the day around the city visiting the Esplande centre, Marina Square, Suntech City and Kim even found a topshop which made her day! The shopping in Singapore is very good and still cheaper than at home in England! The transport system was great we used the MRT (mass rapid transit) which is 10 times more modern than the london underground, even the buses were easy to use and everything person we talked to could speak almost perfect english! We only spent a day in Singapore which was probably a good thing as it was far more expenive than Thailand.

I think I have included most of the main events over the last week or so, so the next update will cover our first week in Australia. Ive already had alot of fish and chips and drank some decent beer and have some funny stories to tell already!

Trev

P.S. Sorry for any spelling mistakes!

---