Day 80 - Wednesday 19 December Last night I thought I was staying in an ordinary hotel that just happened to be in the red light district. This morning I discovered I was actually staying in a brothel where most rooms are only rented by the hour. However with checkout in just under half an hour I was going to have to pay for another night anyway and it is very handy for the airport. It feels safe enough so i've decided to stay. First stop of the day was the battlebox which was an underground bunker built into a hill [View Full Entry]

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Day 75 - Friday 14 December After only three hours sleep the alarm woke me. It was 7am and in half an hour we get picked up and driven to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Although I was tired, amazingly I didn't have a hangover. Reluctantly I got up and got ready. I could hear so many reasons why I should stay, but then maybe somewhere else i've yet to visit will be equally as good if not better. As soon as we got into the minibus the heavens opened and it rained for most of the day. See even Thailand is crying [View Full Entry]

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Day 74 - Thursday 13 December Late morning the bus finally dropped me off in Phuket town centre. As Russ arrived yesterday he's already got us a room in Patong Beach the party area of Phuket. As its 15km away it should cost me up to about 50 Baht in a taxi. The taxi drivers all wanted 250 B so I headed to the bus station which according to the lonely planet map I've got is only 400m away. I'd obviously made the right choice as every 100m the price kept coming down another 50 B. At the bus station a [View Full Entry]

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Day 73 - Wednesday 12 December We arrived in Bangkok just after five in the morning. Far has been teaching me some basic Thai over the past few days, so when I got off the bus and all the Thai taxi drivers swarmed around me I put my new skills to the test. It worked they believed I could speak Thai and left me alone. My usual guesthouse in Bangkok was full and I couldn't be bothered walking around finding somewhere that was both open and had vacencies, so I went to the one next door and paid double the price [View Full Entry]

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Day 68 - Friday 7 December I'd ben told when booking the tickets, that we'd arrive in Ko Phi Phi at 11:30am, however by 11:30 we had only made it as far as Krabi. We still had to catch the ferry from Krabi over to the island of Phi Phi. Being a friday, for some reason the ferry was departing an hour later than usual at 4pm. This meant that for the next 4 and a half hours we had to sit at the ferrry station with absolutely nothing to do. Not a great start. Finally at 4 we could board [View Full Entry]

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Day 65 - Tuesday 4 December I woke up all excited, I don't know what it is about Bangkok but I like the place. It already feels like my second home. With the Kings birthday tomorrow, I spent the remainder of the morning on the internet researching what events are taking place and where. I also got a copy of the Bangkok post. Although there was nothing detailing tomorrows events in, there were some western companies advertising for accountants. Interesting maybe I'll investigate further later in the year. I think working here would be awesome. As I've had many a great [View Full Entry]

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Day 60 - Thursday 29 November As usual although I'd like to stay in Sumui it was time to move on again. Yesterday I'd arranged to go to Ko Tao for a few days so I could do my advanced open water diving course. At 9am the minibus picked us up from the hotel to the ferry point where a ferry was waiting to take us to Ko Tao. In Ko Tao if you do a diving course you get your accommodation for free so all afternoon we walked down the beachfront trying to secure the best deal for our course. [View Full Entry]

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Day 58 - Tuesday 27 November After checking out and getting a taxi back to Hat Rin, we caught the ferry over to Ko Samui. On arrival we headed straight for Cheweng beach where all the nightlife is. Like Ko Pha Ngan though because of the numerous tourists, accommodation is expensive and it took us a couple of hours to secure something in our price range. Walking around in the midday sun with your backpack isn't ideal. It was only after checking in and paying for 2 nights accommodation that we realised our hotel was right next door to an absolutely [View Full Entry]

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Day 52 - Wednesday 21 November On saturday its the full moon party on Ko Pha-ngan, and the only way I can get there from Pattaya is to head back to Bankgkok. So this morning I took the bus back to Bangkok. It wasn't long before I was back on the Kho San Road. Instantly I didn't like it, it feels different to the last time I was here. I dont know if its because i'm now tanned or just dont look like a new arrival but all the hustlers and traders ignored me. Last time I couldn't go anywhere without [View Full Entry]

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Day 55 - Saturday 24 November After being rudely awoken at half six so that we could change from the bus to the ferry, it was just after 11am when we arrived in Ko Pha Ngan. Instantly I took a dislike to the place, not wanting to sound like a travelling snob but it was full of tourists on a fortnights vacation. They stand out a mile away. Not only are they quite willing to pay extortinately high prices which then screws the rest of us but they also act like they do back home, as if they own the place. [View Full Entry]

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