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Published: April 27th 2006
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Before we left Phuket we got to do many more things that we had always wanted to do. We went Elephant trekking, Ox Cart racing, Sea Canoeing, visited the floating Muslim village in the middle of the Andaman sea and went to James Bond island which was cool (always wanted to see this place). Songkron (Thai new year) in Phuket was excellent and everyone got very wet. We were on the roof with one of our neighbours', we got the hose pipe out and sprayed all the people below. Songkron can also be a dangerous time for people riding bikes, because people drink too much and buckets of water and ice are thrown at them when riding past. The first casualty was a 56 year old foreign man who got so drunk he decided to try and park his motorbike inside his house. He naturally died when trying to drive through his brick wall, i could not help but laugh at this on hearing about it ("honey i'm home"). That was at 6 in the morning on the 13th of April, there were many more accidents over the 3 day period.
We met a lovely couple while in Phuket called
Steve and Tu. They run the Siamese tattoo studio in Rawai. Gemma got a tattoo there of a snake and flower on her back, it is very impressive. Steve and Tu are the nicest people you will ever meat (Steve is American and Tu is Thai), they love surfing (good surf in Phuket, Nai Harn Beach) and are very laid back. They paid for lunch on the day Gem had her tattoo done, we had Mexican in the tattoo shop. I would 100% recommend the Siamese tattoo studio to anyone who wants a tattoo whilst visiting Phuket, it is the best tattoo shop we have ever been to and the tattoo's are so cheap in Thailand. Everyone, and i mean everyone in Thailand has either come here with a tattoo or has had one while out here. Tattoo's are a way of life in Thailand and are very important in the Thai society and culture.
On leaving Phuket (very sad to leave this place, met so many nice people) we travelled to Koh Phangan to meet up with our pal Brian. It took us 5 hours by mini bus to reach somewhere called Surat Thani, then 4 more hours
by boat to reach Koh Phangan. Koh Phangan is a small island next to Ko Samui in the south of Thailand. This place is a tropical paradise, there is hardly anyone here [unlike Ko Samui} and everyone is very chilled. If you do 3 things when travelling to Thailand you must visit Koh Phangan, you must stay at the "Sea Gate Resort" and you must go to Haad Rin for a "mushroom shake". Haad Rin is the biggest beach party you could ever go to, and is alive with music 7 day's of the week. We were there for the half moon party and had such a good time (we had so many Thai whisky buckets, they get you so drunk). We met some lovely people at our resort (i say resort but we were staying in tiny wooden bungalows with cold water only and a basic fan), we all partied and chilled together and we managed to gain loads more email addresse's. We are meeting one of our new friends later on in our trip (Richard from Leeds). I need to mention also that we went crab fishing with a spear and deep sea fishing. I caught about 16
crabs along with Brian and 4 Grouper fish and 1 snapper fish. We took the fresh catch back to our resort where the manager, a man called Boom, cooked the catch up for all of us to eat (it was damn tasty as well). Lot's more to say about this place but don't want to bore you any further.
On leaving Ko Phangan we travelled to Bangkok by boat and coach. It took us 5 hours on the boat to reach Surat Thani, then 12 hours on the coach to get to Bangkok. We arrived in Bangkok at 4:30 in the morning and everyone here was still partying. After a day or so we realised that people here party all day and all night, it is so weird but becomes normal after a day or two. We have seen a lot of homeless people here and street kids running around at all times of the night (selling flowers, tissue's etc for money). That aside, Bangkok is a very cool place to visit. We both really love it and the people here are as friendly as the people in Phuket or Koh Phangan. We travelled to a sacred temple called
Wad Bang Pra the other day which was well worth the visit. We went to a couple more the following day and saw the biggest Buddha statue in the world. I let off some baby birds for good luck at this temple, it was pretty cool. We will try to see and do as much as we can when in Bangkok. I need to also mention that Bangkok is the cheapest place we have been so far, we can't believe the low prices of everything. We have done a lot of shopping whilst here, there are a lot of nice clothing and jewellery shops. There are a million places to party, eat and drink as well.
Thailand is certainly the place you can get to do the things that you have always wanted to but for a fraction of the price. This place can make your dream's come true and then some. We love it here and we would certainly love to stay for ever.
We would like to mention also that when in Thailand you have to have your wits about you. There are millions of way's that someone can con you, so just be careful:- Jewellery,
Gemma and i
Sea Gate Resort beach clothing and electronics are just some of the things you have to be careful with when buying.
We give Thailand a 10 out of 10 overall.
We leave in 5 day's to go to Sydney, Australia. We will really miss this place though. Before we go we will visit the old capital of Thailand, the water park (Siam Park) and the Thai Boxing Twins factory.
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Nessa
non-member comment
Hello
Glad your both enjoying yourself keep the updates coming take care and be safe miss you both - Gem that tatoo is a monster make sure you get an open back wedding dress. xxx