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January 1st 2009

Published: January 23rd 2009

Greetings Rat Fans,

Well it's been a month at least since I put anything in this blog thingy. I have to say I have been very very lazy. Such is the life of a traveler I suppose. Things are good we are currently in Sihanoukville, Cambodia sunning ourselves in the baking heat. While typing this I am trying to upload all the photos onto Google Picasa for your viewing pleasure.

To pick up from after Koh Lanta, we have done quite a lot in between then and now. I will keep it short and try to add to the blog more frequent, like.

We hit Ao Nang, also on the coast and were shocked at how much more busy it was. We stayed in a really nice bungalow just off the high street. It had T.V (T.V is a curse where ever you are!!!), and had our own little balcony. Ideal for sipping large bottles of Chang Beer (Thailand's favourite, got the T-Shirt!).
Whilst there we took a long tailed boat trip out to Railey Island, well nice it was. There was a big walk through the island to come out the other side. Loads of climbers were there, so we chilled out on the beach and watched them scale the cliffs for a while. There was also a big climb up to a vantage point by way of a rope, so I thought I would be adventurous and scale the heights. It took me a while but I made it up to be rewarded with a great view of the bay. The sweat was dripping off me though and I hadn't a lot to eat. So down I went back to see my beautiful wife at the bottom. Of course when I got down there, there was an empty bag where the coconut cake we had bought as I snack had once been and when I asked it had been accidentally eaten. How we laughed. After I recovered we headed on round to the bay itself and got food from a floating snack boat. Well good.

After Ao Nang we headed up to Phuket for Christmas and to see B.J, Boasty, Mc Caffs (buddies who are dive pros) and meet up with fellow travellers Emma and Rick. We got the bus up there and the journey was O.K, no problemos. I was excited about seeing my buddies and doing a bit of partying over the Xmas hols. We got to Kata, Phuket in the mid day sun (hotty hot hot) and I wasn't sure where B.J was or how to get in touch with him. Such are my skills in preparation and arrangement. So Lorraine kicked back in a cafe while I scouted about sweating and walking aimlessly around. Once I got back Lorraine suggested that I call him on the telephone number we had and that worked. B.J picked us up on his motorbike and we headed up to McCaffs' apartment. It was really strange meeting up with the guys so far from home. Strange but true (and nice).

Lorraine and I stayed at B.J's place for six nights which was really good of him and that saved us having to pay. Although there was a large black scorpion in the bathroom one day. I came home and found Lorraine in her bikini in the living room quite scared about the creature in the toilet. Not one to see a lady ill at ease I, not very confidently, strode into the bathroom to see the blighter in the corner. Man in sandals versus scorpion with stinger. Not sure what to do I took off my sandal and smashed it over the head. It's stinger was jabbing away as it was dying but I was just waiting for the little bugger to come at me all messed up for a final sting. Luckily it was dying proper so I continued to smash it from a distance. Man wins.

We met up with Emma and Rick a couple of days into being at Kata and it was great to talk to fellow travelers about how things were going with each other. I had only met Rick at our wedding once before so it was good to get to know him. We were pretty much in tune and the Chang became a sport for a while. The four of us took to going for cheap meals as everything was over priced being a resort type area. The food places were great, little stalls at the side of the road that we could smuggle Chang into. Cheap food, cheap beer. Sweet. It was less than a pound to eat a meal and all of it was exceptional.

We did a lot of beaching there and 'bat and ball' became sport of the fortnight. Rick and I had 111 as a high score, we were going for numbers, whereas the girls were pretending to be playing ladies tennis from the seventies. We were lording it up until near the last day the girls scored a whopping 123. There is no justice.

I managed to do my PADI Open Water diving course in Kata, Boasty was Dive Master and a friend of his was the instructor. It was excellent getting under the water and having a look at the world down there.
I was swimming with schools of fish and traversing coral and the like. Learning all the detail about the activity was brilliant as well. I got my lifetime qualification so I will be able to dive on the rest of the trip. Result.

Christmas day was on the beach. We had a secret Santa between the for of us. Max spend was a pound. Everyone was weirded out at having Christmas day in the heat and swimming in the sea. Couldn't complain though. That night Boasty had a party and we took a bottle of whiskey with us as payment towards the BBQ he put on. Everyone could reasonably drunk and we partied till the wee hours. BAMM.

We celebrated Lorraine's 30th birthday and New Year in Kata. We started off in the room, we had balloons and cake and the girls had some wine coolers, while the guys stuck to the Changs. We went for Italian food, which was excellent. I hadn't any western food in ages and it went down a treat. Lorraine was wearing her new party dress and she looked a million dollars. We had a great time on the town, apart from some guy who took a liking to me and started trying to hug me, Lorraine had to get between us, he was off his head on something, but you can't blame the guy what with my looks. Come midnight the whole place erupted in fireworks, they were going off everywhere. You didn't know where to look. The sky was full of light. People were cheering and setting off fire crackers on the streets, car alarms were going off and everyone was hugging each other. It was the maddest New years I have seen. Coolios, Joolios.

Next day we had a nice lunch - hot dogs and hit the beach.

What a life.

Next time - Bangkok and Cambodia

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