JennJimmy

We got off the boat at the pier on Koh Tao to an onslaught of hawkers and diving 'touts' selling taxi-rides and diving packages. Since we'd nothing booked accomodation-wise, we decided to have a chat with one of the diving touts and for 9300 baht, Jimmy signed up for his PADI license and we got ourselves a bungalow with cable tv for 4 nights. Nice deal. We'd no lecky from 2-4pm each day which wasn't a problem, but the water was only on from 6.30am til 9am, and then not again until the evening at 5pm. Took a bit of getting used to. Koh Tao was defo the most chilled place we've been to to-date. We stayed in the Old Town for our 8 days on Koh Tao cos the rooms were way cheaper than Sairee ... read more

We'd nothing booked when we landed off the bus in Chumphon, and the only people in sight were 4 lads smoking fags & playing some form of drafts with bottle tops, and a guy driving what looked like a bigger version of the tuk tuks we'd seen in Bangkok. We pulled out the lonely planet and asked him if he could take us to Thung Wua Laen, where we knew there was a beach and a nice place to stopover before we hit the islands. For a small fee of course, he dropped us off at the first place we thought we'd like to stay in but they were full, so he waited with us and drove us round until we did find a place we were happy with. Everyone in Thailand is so helpful and ... read more

We decided to take the public bus with "air conditioning" from Bangkok, south to Hua Hin since it was quarter the price of the VIP bus . The air conditioning consisted of one of those little blower things you get above your seat on a Bus Eireann bus, but without the cold air. There was a hole at the front where an old tv used to be and a picture of a buddha now stood, with a video player beside the hole. Also at the front of the bus was a bed, where pressumably the driver slept on longer journeys....pure speculation tho! I wish I'd taken a photo but since we were the only tourists on the bus and the rest were locals, it seemed rude. As it was, I was wearing a string vest top ... read more

So we travelled with Air Berlin from Dusseldorf to Bangkok. We'd a two seater to ourselves so at least we could get comfortable. Landed in Bangkok at 9.30am and took a local bus straight to Khao San Road. Stayed in the Rikka Inn right on Khao San Raod - KSR is a mad aul spot but not half as crazy as we were expecting, so pleasantly surprised there :) No insects in our accomodation which was also a pleasant surprise! Tuk tuk drivers and guys trying to sell you a custom made 'Armani' suit could drive you scatty, but smiling and walking on by normally did the trick. I'd a manicure done for 150 baht which is less than 4 euro. Sweet. Had a tuk tuk race across the city of bangkok with another lunatic driver. ... read more