Pammy Wammy

Only a week left now and I am sure that as the days pass I will be busy with last minute details. So I decided to write something before I left to sum up if thats at all possible. I found this quote is a book I am reading at the moment and it seems to sum up travelling, it's by Sir Richard Burton, "One of the gladdest moments of human life, methinks, is the departure upon a distant journey into unknown lands. Shaking off with one mighty effort the fetters of habit, the leaden weight of routine, the cloak of many cares and the slavery of home, man feels once more happy." If asked what I had enjoyed most it would be difficult to answer, as i have enjoyed so many different things in different ... read more

Koh Tao is situated in Surat Thani province, and the name in English means "Turtle Island". The island used to be inhabited by turtles and a few are still seen today. Prior to 1943 Koh Tao was uninhabited, at this time the only people who visited were the local fishermen. From 1943 to 1944 the island was used as a political prison. There were fifty four inmates and fifteen wardens. According to the prisoners the island was a living hell, with shark infested waters, malaria and lack of food. It was 1947 when twin brothers Ta Euam and Ta Oh came to the island from Koh Samui. They sailed here on traditional boats and eventually brought their families here to live. They lived simply fishing and cultivating land for coconut plantations. At that time there were ... read more

After a few days on Phi Phi I caught the ferry back to AoNang, although delayed, no reason given just a sign on the pier that said, "ferry late today", Thai time I guess. The crossing was a smooth one and I spent just one night in AoNang before getting up early to catch the bus and ferry to Samui. This was all plain sailing, the weather was good and I arrived in Koh Samui around lunch time. I was meeting up with Aoife who was from Eire, unfortunately her so called friend who she had been travelling with just decided to go home as she was missing her boyfriend. One of my ex-tour friends Ross had met her while they were on Koh Samui and asked me if I would mind befriending her as she ... read more

Today I booked a trip on a long boat to do some snorkelling and explore a little of the surrounding islands. The long tail boat carried about fifteen people, ten of which I think had just left sixth form. They all came equipped with large handbags, mobile phones and mirrors which you obviously need when on a boat and going snorkelling!! On leaving the main island of Phi Phi Don we headed towards Phi phi Le which is pretty much uninhabited, the First stop was Maya Bay which is where "The Beach" was filmed, very pretty but absolutely packed with boats and people, not my cup of tea at all. however the scenery is quite stunning the limestone carsts rise from the sea almost vertically, very similar to Halong Bay but on a smaller scale. The ... read more

Today I awoke at 4am as we were going to visit Angkor Wat at sunrise. We left the hotel at 4.30am and drove to the entrance where our tickets were checked. When we arrived it was pitch black and we needed torches to find our way to the Temple. We found a good place to stand and waited for the dawn to break. Slowly the light grew brighter, however unfortunately it started to rain and instead of sunrise we just got daybreak. The vendors which included small children were busy even at this time in the morning trying to sell us coffee postcards and scarves. We went back to the hotel for a well earned breakfast and shower then off to seek more temples. We did three more temples in the Angkor complex which covers twenty ... read more