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Published: December 16th 2006
Brothers in Arms
Big and Little Monkey hit the streets. It's amazing what they're teaching at Monkey SchoolWe have been propelled across a continent to meet up with Vicki, Cyril and Will and finally enjoy some warm weather and quality relaxation time. We arrive in Ao Nang at around midday and do some brief reconnaissance work on our bike that we hired as soon as we arrived.
We meet the others at the lovely "Golden Sands Resort" for dinner and more catching up on things in general and any relevant political developments that we've missed while being away. It was a good re-introduction to reality for us I think as we are nearing the end of our journey and have to start thinking about life back home.
After dinner the three kids head off to check out the finest night life that Ao Nang has to offer and are able to introduce Will to the practice of playing Jenga and Connect Four with the bar staff - a practice that we firmly believe should be introduced to Australian pubs. After a few quiet beers and what seemed to be a sneaky tequilla on Will's behalf, we left the Luna Bar and headed home.
DAY TWO - Where's the cave?
Slippery bamboo ladders are a breeze for Andrew 20TH Nov - Ao Nang
Well it seems that the sneaky tequilla on Will's behalf was to undo the young man as we were to discover over a buffet breakfast the next morning. So with a shakey start to the day we attempt some admin duties and arrange for Will to move up to the budget "Dream Valley Bungalows" where he will be able to experience the 'other side' of travelling and the smaller bathroom floors.
One task down, the next is attempted - the infamous trip to the tailors. It seems that Ao Nang is happy to rival Bangkok when it comes to tailors and with a wedding approaching (no, not ours) the family stocked up on suits, pants shirts etc. After a perusal of 2 of Ao Nangs finest garment makers and some extensive bartering.
The afternoon was spent relaxing by the resort pool and watching the latest and greatest movie to come out of hollywood - Borat - aquired on DVD by Will whilst in Bangkok. Mum was in stitches which was quite surprising considering the subject matter and we headed out to dinner for some traditional Thai Pizza before turning it in earlyish.
Will hits the track
Good thing these were primed all-terrain vehicles Well at least the oldies anyway...
DAY TWO - 20TH Nov - Ao Nang After a brief lesson from the big brother, Will joined us in hiring a bike and the young ones took the opportunity to speed off to the nearby waterfall (well it looked close on the map). Enduring a sizeable downpour along the way which didn't dampen our spirits too much except for the fact that we stopped in somebody's bamboo shack and Andrew pretty much went straight through the floor - so much for bamboo being the strongest building material known to mankind!. We made it to the falls eventually only to find that our mission had been fruitless as they had closed the waterfalls cos all the rain had made them too dangerous. Begging and pleading with the NP. beaureacracy didn't seem to help either... strange nothing had been declared too dangerous in Thailand before???
We decided instead to do the caves tour of the area, the first proved to be quite an adventure given that we had to negotiate flood waters on a dirt track that saw our bikes at times buried up to their exhaust pipes in muddy sludge. Arriving
Cave men
Cave men unite and beat one another with sticks at a clearing we searched for the grand entrance to the cave but all we found was a bamboo ladder leading up to the heavens. Andrew was nominated to make the slippery climb in his all-terrain thongs but to his disappointment all he found was a small hole barely big enough to fit through - and on return to terra firma it was discovered that meanwhile the other 2 jokers had been taking photos of his bum on the way down - hahahaha!
Back on the road and we decided that another cave was in order this one apparently had a few relics from cave man times and it wasn't long before the 2 boys reverted back to cavemen status as well. Some Germans arrived at the scene and before we had a chance to avert our eyes, the larger of the pair stripped his wet clothes in the middle of the road (as opposed to the shelter of the cave) and stood with his large frame, hairy back and crack poking out of his otherwise see though wet underwear. Clearly we were outdone on the cave man front! A quick remark about deja vu from Borat the previous
Caveman find wife
Andrew gets to act out his favourite fantasy - "me strong, I take wife" day, and we were back on the bikes giggling about it for the next few kms.
The trip home was pretty wet too, and we had to take shelter for extended periods of time while the heavens unleashed their fury, but we made it home just in time for the clockwatchers who were about to notify the authorities about our absence. Phew! 😉
DAY THREE - 21ST Nov - Ao Nang The next morning the girls decided that they'd do what they did best (shopping, manicures, pedicures etc.) while the boys went off to play at the local rifle range and Cyril played on the internet. Can't really comment on the girls morning except for the fact that there was a big pile of dead skin that had come off their feet on the floor of the beauticians when we returned (oh joy!), Cyril was stoked cos he tracked down a wireless connection, while Will and I managed to boot around on the bikes for a while before we got our hands on a .45 and a shotgun and blew some holes in targets. Phwoarrr, he's really gotta work on his aim though.
The afternoon was
Headland between Ao Nang and Tonsai
We start our paddle in the afternoon heading for Railey Beach spent relaxing some more as we prepared ourselves for the most strenuous piece of exercise the oldies had encountered for quite some time - a kayak trip around to Railey Beach and PhraNang that evening.
We were picked up at 4pm and shown the ropes of how to paddle a kayak before we chose our teams and headed out into the open water. Will and Michelle seemed to lag behind most of the way while Cyril and his guide powered on ahead. Andrew and Vicki meanwhile held up the middle of the pack content to preserve their energy for a strong finish and did not disappoint as others ended up stranded on the rocks that were slowly revealed as the tide went out. Unfortunately Cyril's dismount from the kayak did not go as planned and he ended up cutting his feet on the coral which required a little bit of patching up when we hit the shore. However we were able to enjoy a glorious sunset after a brief exploration of some local caves up one end of the beach. One of which seemed like a 'girls only' cave where replica penises were stacked up at an altar to
Paddling to Railey
Ah, the glorious sun before the approaching storm clouds hit praise the god of fertility (or did something else go on after dark...?)
We headed back as the light faded to Railey Beach for a good feed of local Thai delacacies before the damaged oldies hopped on a longtail boat, while the youthfully exuberent members of the group did the paddle back to Ao Nang in the dark. The bioluminescence on the way back was awesome and each paddle stroke created swirls of shimmering light which lingered briefly before fading into stillness. The ability to conjure up 'spirit fingers' did not go unnoticed by adoring fans of 'Bring it On' in the other kayak and fish jumping around the boat added to the ambience.
We made it back to Ao Nang where we pretty much turned it in, knackered after all our relaxing!!
DAY FOUR - 22ND Nov - Tonsai Bay Well it was a chance to get away from the hectic pace of Ao Nang for Michelle, Will and Andrew while the oldies quietly did all the partying that they were unable to do in our company. We gathered a few supplies and headed across to Tonsai on the boat where we moved into
some cheapish beachfront bungalows and awaited the notorious 'Sea-Boxing' that was to happen laterthat night. Billed with the inviting slogan of "Never See, Never Know" we were on the edge of our seats with anticipation as dusk fell. It was to be perhaps one of the best improptu spectacles I have witnessed lately as some drunken Americans plopped themselves down on the beach next to us and started on at one another in some loud drunken banter that was mildly amusing. They were soon to get more amusing asone declared that he'd be the guiea pig for the first bout of sea boxing.
Instantly the crowd favourite as the weedyman took on an Aussie that had a more substantial physique and had "last boxed 8 years ago..." Yeah right... Charlie (US) was clearly the underdog and we were torn between patriotism and Aussie egalitarianism as to who to support. Chalie won out in the end as he climbed aboard the slippery horizontal log and edged his way to the middle so the boxers were about 1m apart and in deep enough water to fall into without breaking your neck. Sure enough he lasted about 20 secs before copping a
The beach with the cave... what's it called?
The kids run wild as the sun goes down and the wind picks up substantial right hook to the jaw and he was in the water.
Several more of these followed, including a kick in the balls and Charlie was done. Short but sweet. Exhausted and a little damaged he hauled himself back to the beach where about 1/2 an hour passed of him lying prone complaining of dodgy tactics and a sore jaw before the banter started up again and he challenged his mate, equally as weedy, and also named Charlie, to round 2! A better match up indeed - both of them gloved up and waded back out to the log only to find it had collapsed after the fury of the first bout and so proceeded to just fight it out in the shallows in front of the bar - awesome entertainment! Enthusiasm like that could not be dampened. By this stage a huge crowd had gathered and cheering for Charlie only seemed to egg both fighters on. This continued for some 10-15 mins with a similar bout again about an hour later. Who said Tonsai Bay was going to be quiet?
DAY FIVE - 22ND Nov - Tonsai Bay We woke up fairly late and Will and
Andrew made their way to a rockclimbing appointment on the North wall of Tonsai, where the last fragments of their energy were put to the test climbing some 20 - 25m high walls. Meanwhile Michelle sipped cocktails and took pictures from below - gee its a tough life!
We jumped on a boat not long afterwards and headed back to check back in with the rest of the family and settle back in to life in Ao Nang.
DAY SIX - 23RD Nov - Phi Phi and Islands All of us headed out on an island tour taking in some snorkelling at the first island, some open water snorkelling and a visit to the stunning bays around Phi Phi including Maya Beach where the film the Beach was made. We had about 1/2 an hour at each which allowed for a brief dip before were back on the boat. There were some lovelyplaces which were only marred by the sheer number of tourists (yes, like ourselves) that swarmed all over them.
We had lunch on Phi Phi's main island in the midst of a construction site where Andrew bought a frisbee that would keep him and
The beach with the cave... what's it called?
From within the cave looking out. Can't stay long, too many mozzies anyone willing to play occupied for the rest of the afternoon. The next stop Monkey Bay where Cyril and Vicki did a little snorkelling while the boys entertained the hoardes and Michelle, by throwing random frisbees and clearly disturbing the serenity of the sunbathing tourists.
It was to be our last stop, as the boat zipped back to Ao Nang and we had a quick dinner before the younger ones attempted to go to the Muay Thai boxing only to find that it was ridiculously overpriced and opted for another night at the Luna Bar instead. We ran into some cool people including Steve, Miss Laura, a girl from Sweden with a deep dark secret that we couldn't get out of her, and some other funny German blokes. The highlight of the conversation was indeed the Swedish girls opening line ' So what do you think about love?' which had me stumped for a while before we all realised she'd said Laos instead of love. Ping Pong and Pool also kept us amused for the rest of the night.
DAY SEVEN - 24th Nov - Ao Nang Not much to report here except a lot of
sleeping and relaxing again. We finally managed to get a result out of the tailors!
DAY Eight - 24th Nov - Ao Nang The last supper, well breakfast, was enjoyed with the family before wishing them a fond farewell as they jetted off to the airport and we hopped straight back on a boat to Tonsai Bay.
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