It Begins....

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I never really considered myself to be the blogger type, but I had a revelation. If Bob Loblaw can have a Law blog, then Matt McFarlane can have a travel blog (anyone get the joke there?). So it has nearly been 7 months since I arrived in this 'Land of Smiles,' and there have definitely been a lot of them. However, none so much as can be found in the southern tip of Thailand.

We arrived on the 28th of March after a very 'restful' night of sleeping in the beautiful Suvarnabhumi Airport. If the P.A.D can sleep there for 2 weeks we figured one night wouldn't be all too bad. Personally I believe that the air-conditioning was a little too high...then I was informed that I had wedged myself on the floor between two air output units. We flew into Phuket from BKK and it was very pretty. Spent the night in the old town which was quiet but we wanted to get an early start so we could catch the 2 hour ferry to Koh Phi Phi Don. - Side Note - I forget that not many people know who 'we' are and that would be Scott Robinson (buddy met in Wales) and Tami Laird (fellow teacher...American...not her fault). - From Phuket we went to Phi Phi Don, famous for the movie "The Beach" which was filmed on the islands baby sister Phi Phi Lei. I was fortunate enough to dive on the southern islands off Phi Phi Lei and then again in the actual bay where the movie was filmed...needless to say it was incredible. Turtles, sharks, morays and many other types of fish.

To top off our Phi Phi trip we indulged a little in the infamous Thailand buckets. Though we are vets right now when it comes to drinking these nasty little concoctions I still managed some how to get a little drunky. So much so that Tami was able to write some very vulgar things on my back in neon orange glow paint. But not to worry, she'll get hers.

Phi Phi Don itself is very pretty and has reached a level of new development previously unseen after the destruction that hit it in December 2004. The Tsunami may have wrecked to place but now it’s pretty hard to tell. It was almost a little difficult to get used to the amount of falangs or whitey's kicking around. I almost felt a little homesick for Ban Phe, were you can be the only white guy on the block.

From Phi Phi we hit up Krabi, famous for Raleigh and its limestone cliffs. It is a Mecca for climbers and hippies, but mostly a combination of the two - 'Clippies.' I didn’t get to do much in Krabi because I managed to get the wrong Visa upon coming over and spent one full day in a van driving to Malaysia on a Visa run. Which was almost a fun as climbing...9 hours with a driver who drove like a pissed off teenager. We did get to stay in Ao Nang and me and Scott went over to Pra nang beach were there is a famous cave. Lucky for us we went to see a cave on the day that it 'sheeted' rain (think French accent on sheeted). It was amazing how the cliffs rose out of the sea in this area and I was able to hike around the main Princess Cave on Pra nang. I was also lucky enough to make a wish to the spirit of the Indian Princess who inhabits the cave, but i forgot to bring my huge phallic offering to place on the alter. This cave was literally filled with carved wooden penis's.

But that’s all i can handle to write right now, so hopefully you didn't black out or fall asleep. I know all of you subscribers can't wait to hear more but you will just have to bear it... Hello? Anyone?

Mommy please make other people to read this.

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