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Published: October 17th 2008
Craig and Lucy
One of the aussie guysI have so much to write about i may be here a while!
Right now i am sat in the Sabah Hotel in Sandakan, Borneo. i arrived this morning from Kota Kinabalu* (west Borneo) and have had a very relaxing day pampering myself. That means using a hair dryer! i havent dried my hair since Safari so its a complete mess, however i didnt quite realise how bad it was till i tried to do someing with it! When i get to Melbourne its straight to the hairdressers!
So how did i get from Phi Phi to here?
Well after my last blog entry i headed off to speak to Paul about taking Shaggy the dog back to the main land. She has been effectionately named Shaggy for the simple fact that she got.....well.......you can guess.
He said he would have everything sorted but that he would be there the next day to help as he was busy. i started to doubt the reliability of this guy and his friends and went away knowing there was a good chance i would be left alone at Phuket Port with a sick dog. So i asked the powers that be to make sure
it works out for Shaggy and i and that this guy keeps his promsises. i went to find some dinner and came across Matts Grill (know it Emma?) and for the 98th time (so many times i have lost count) i ordered a table for one!
i sat right next to two Aussie guys and we got talking. Gavin and Craig are from Melbourne, around 33 yrs old and Awesome! We chatted over dinner and i told them i was heading down to the beach for a drink if they wanted to join me. They did and we wandered down to find the beach bar closed. we were about to turn back when we saw twinkling lights further along and headed to what resembled a very cute little bar built from Thai Long boats. Craig and Gavin were on the island for a 2 week holiday and had travelled with a friend James who just so happened to be sitting at a table 6 feet from us! So we went and joined him and his two friends Sam and Todd. as we got talking it transpires that Sam is here doing some research on cats and has been "counting" them
James
The aussie guy that used to work in Hampton! to tally up the population post Tsunami. it also transpires that she is working in conjuction with the Soi Dog Rescue Centre in Phuket. You know where this is going right? I told her that i may need her help with something, as i started telling my story of Shaggy the dog she said "oh my god its you!, you're the traveler taking her to Phuket!" She (and almost everyone) had heard that a traveler had offered to transport the dog and they couldnt believe someone would do it! She told me she had met the dog yesterday and that if the guys didnt take it off the island in the next two or three days she would do it. The guy that was supposed to be meeting me at the other end was her colleague! Well she was overwhelmed we had ended up sat next to each other and still cant believe we happened to meet the way we did. i of course knew that this had occured purely because i had asked for it to, i had asked for the plan to work and now i had direct contact with the rescue centre.....and some help!
Well the 6
Todd and Sam
Been together since high school! sweeeet! of us sat there for a few hours talking like old friends. Craig had worked in Runnymead hotel in Egham not so long ago and when James lived in England he worked in Hampton!!! Unreal.
So we all headed off the beach in search of a happening place and ended up in a bar watching Thai Boxing! This particular place encouraged what i would call the Kareoke of Thai boxing! basically anyone from the crowd could get in the ring and fight. Obviously not all at once, but matched in height two people would don the gear and head into the ring. I though this was a great way to sort out any drunken disputes that often occur in some drinking establishments in the UK!!
We partied till late and drunk god awful stuff out of mini buckets from the bar and suffered the next morning! To ease the throbbing head i spent the morning in the boys hotel pool with them and we arranged some time to hang out when i get to Melbourne. Being Melbourne Cup week (Horse Racing) the city is in a rather festive mode and no one goes to work the mon and tues so
it looks like i have picked a good week to be in Melbourne!
Then came the time to collect Shaggy.
The guys at the dive centre had her and had not only managed to get a box and cart sorted, the guy at the English bar had also left me a note detailing the plans and enough money to get everywhere i needed to go. It seems he not only kept his promise, he exceeded my expectations.
Trying to get Shaggy into the box was not easy. we had to tie her up in a sarong and load her in. we then wheeled her through the village and lifted her onto the Ferry. i managed to get her in the shade and keep her in the box the whole way. She sat up, head out of the box watching the world go by bless her. Many of the passengers noticed her and came to pet her, on two occassions men came up and started tapping her on the nose or bashing the top of the box on her head and laughing.........you can imagine my reaction! i hit one of them pretty hard! they didnt bother us again, i think they
Gavin
Another of the aussie guys were so shocked i went for them they werent quite sure what to do!
The note said i was to calll some guy called Woody as the boat docked and he would deal with the taxi etc. having called Woody he told me Mr LEk was going to meet me there with his Tuk Tuk! GREAT!
Well Mr Lek was a hoot! He kept calling the dog Lucy and me Shaggy! He helped me get Shaggy into the Tuk Tuk and off we went to the Vet. Shaggy LOVED the Tuk Tuk ride! she loved the wind blowing in her face and she kept looking round at me with this big smiley face, its the brightest i had ever seen her. I met with the Vet and it turns out her hip has dislodged. he would have to out it back in but its quite damaged and could slip out again easily. He also said she may be about to give birth any day. He took her in and will treat her for a week or so then send her onto the Soi Dog resuce.
i had no accomodation booked that night and i had a very early flight to
Kuala Lumpur the next morning so having delivered the dog safely i asked Mr Lek to take me to the Airport hotel, a little place i had heard about close to Phuket airport. Luckily they had room and after a bit of negotiation on the price i bedded down for the night. As i closed the curtains to my room i saw Mr Lek talking to his Tuk Tuk! i went to make sure he was alright and he said "oh yes miss Lucy Tuk Tuk need to cool down, happen all the time!" The next day i flew from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur and then on to Kota Kinabalu in Borneo. i stopped there over night in a packpackers lodge in some industrial part of town before flying an hour east ths morning to Sandakan.
Some of you may have seen Been's comment on the last blog about how the only thing doing any real backpacking was the backpack itself? (Cheeky bugger) Well this last week i really have been just heading to the next destination and figuring it out as i go along, so it was great to be met at the airport by the Borneo Nature Tour
Thai Boxing!
a bad pic but very hard to photograph through the ring...or was it the 5 beers i had already consumed?? company. They went through my itinerary for the next 3 days and made sure i had everything i needed before driving my to the hotel. The hotel is nice, it has a pool gym a couple of places to eat and a BATH! so i spent the day relaxing and reading before the three day adventure begins tomorrow. They had an activites list, youknow me.... I love a bit of water volly, however iwhen irealised it was Tennis and Ping Pong, all games you needed two people for, i lost interest! I am reading a couple of books on Buddhism. I have always been facinated by it and whilst i am here i intend to learn a little more about it. Tomorrow i leave the hotel early to go to the Orang Utan Sancturary!!! i cant tell you how excited i am! We will experience feeding time ( i imagine a bit like tea time at Frinton!) and then head on up the river. we stay in a jungle lodge over night and return the next day to board a boat to Turtle Island. The following day we have two site seeing tours and some other bits and bobs, so
Sam and Craig
Craig was deciding which drinken boxer to wage a bet on....bloody aussies they'll bet on anything! a very busy three days which means i will have a lot to write about when i reach Koh Samui....which by the way is where i think i will head to next. i have 10 days Between finishing the Borneo tour and flying out of Bangkok to Australia so i will head to Samui (thanks for the tip debs) and Ko Pha Ngan in the hope of hitting one of the famous Full moon beach parties!
Well thats all from me for now, it will be about 4 days before i can write to you again and this time i hope to get the pictures on. once again the pc is so slow it just wont play ball.
Some of you have asked why i am not in many of the pictures? Well you have to be very trusting to hand a stranger 500 pounds worth of camera to ask them to take a pic of you and the sunset, but in the next installment i have many of me taken by Craig and Gavin so you wil all be happy. i however will be dreading them as i am a little red!
It was great to get all your
messages today, thank you so much........
I am off to monkey around!
Over and out. xx
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Debs
non-member comment
Wow, an awesome installment Lucy! Be careful at those parties, they get a bit wild apparently, and dont get on the boat if its too full! xx