Advertisement
Published: December 13th 2006
Hello everyone,
We finally made it down south to Ko Pha Ngan! It took us 24 hours and consisted of the 4 methods of travel but it cost us less that $100 each and was so much fun!
Goodbye Chiang Mai
We were both sad to leave CM as we didnt spend half as much time as we would of liked... it seriously is a great place that could keep you busy for at least 2 weeks! We spent the last night shopping at the Night Bazaar, which was extra lively as they had the Mardi Gras - Opening of Tourist Season - happening on the night with concerts etc... we didnt last too long though as we overspent in the first hour... so it consisted of Maccas for the first time, a sh*tload of shopping then home!
We arrived to the Night Bazaar around opening time (cant remember exact time now) but in Thailand they have a tradition that they must sell to their first customer as it brings them good luck... well little did we know that we were to be quite a few of there 'first customers' and we got some good
bargains, and some great bargains! We started with some tshirts for Trent of course... We paid 150 baht for Billabong tshirts, and 175 baht for some Lacoste (little Alligator) polo shirts... bargain since we paid minimum 165 in BKK for surfie stuff.... next Trent picked up some Diesal Cargo Pants (with the zipoff at knees) for 330 baht... the guy started at 1300 baht on these! We then got me 3 Billabong tops + Trent 2 Billabong Tshirts and we paid 950 baht... that was an 'ok' deal... we were almost finished when a guy pulled us up for more tshirts... We told him we were all shopped out having just paid the 150 baht so he says "I give you for 140 baht" - we couldnt resist at that price!!!! Every single one of these people were saying "you first customer, you buy".... We pigged out on our first Maccas meal (I really wanted to try some of the street stall stuff as it all looked awesome, but we were so tired it was just easier!)... Anyway we were on our way out and we stopped to look at the watches... this guy was not going to let me
go! I was looking a Guess Watch and everywhere else it was around 800 baht... I said to him I loved it but I couldnt afford it as I had run out of money (which was totally true!!!) I was just standing there in silence as I felt bad not buying it but I couldnt really afford it! He got right down to 330 baht without me saying a word so I bought it! When I handed him my money he ran it over all his watches for good luck! The first customer thing really does work... so my tip for anyone travelling to Thailand .... try to shop early!!!!
Our Overland Adventure
We left CM yesterday at 12pm, us and all our luggage in a tuk tuk... he literally tied our backpacks to the back of the tuktuk with rope... it was hilarious but at 80 baht just what we needed! A private transfer was 250 baht! We flew with Fly 12 Go to Bangkok, and the flight was due to depart at 2.15pm... I had heard they can be running late so we were prepared but thought we must of got lucky when we
boarded on time.... I was sh*ttin though as I was expecting a normal sized plane.. instead we got a massive old 747! It was huge and it was packed out! We ended up sitting on the plane for over an hour before takeoff, not sure what the delay was but right before takeoff the air hosties all look worried then started moving all the passengers from the back of the plane to the front and to the top section! the girl sitting next to Trent and I said some random comment like "looks like we might be a little bottom heavy" and I almost started hyperventilating!!! I was freaking out... I took some pill that I had for my flu that is meant to make you drowsy and tried to knock myself out!
We got to BKK around 5pm and were taken off the plane somewhere out on the field and bussed to the terminal.. strange for a new airport.... our luggage took almost an hour to get to us... then we realised it was 6pm and we had a little over an hour to get to the train station! Started to feel a little panicky considering it was
peak hour!
We walked outside to the Meter Taxi Rank and grabbed a cab... suprisingly he got us there 300 baht and 45 min later! Whew! Just enough time to grab some KFC, some snacks and get on the train! We happened to be seated across from one of your typical English 'sex' tourists who delighted in telling us about how his hotel were cool with him bringing woman back! Ewwww thanks but way too much information... he then tried to tell me my son would love it in a couple of years! I dont think so buddy!!!!!!! He made for interesting conversation most of the way to our destination put it that way! :-(
We had a pretty rough ride on the train overnight... we were the 2nd last carriage and also the last set of beds at the end... all night the two train carriages bashing into each other was like a drill to the forehead! It happened to stop halfway through the night so we figured the track must of smoothed out... I went to the toilet early on and then stopped drinking... I didnt want to experience another toilet like the last one... First
thing in the morning about 5am I decided I was going to be a brave girl and 'just do it'.... I walked to the door, undid the lock (why was it locked all of a sudden?!) then went to walk through to the toilet only to realise that there was now no carriage behind us! It was taken off sometime during the night which would explain the quiteness we were suddenly experiencing! Luckily I was awake enough to look where I was going... I decided to go to the toilet the other end of the carriage but about 3 beds from the end I realised that I could smell that dreaded toilet and thus I held on until an hour out of Ko Pha Ngan.... yep 11am!!! Proud?! Hehehehe!
When we arrived into Surat Thani at 7am, an hour late, the transfer couldnt have been better... there were people saying "where you go?" to which we would reply "already have a ticket" then they would say "what company?" to which I would reply "Songserm" and they would all say "oh ok over to the 2nd bus"... easy as that! On our bus we jumped for a 20 min ride
to the Ferry! Once we got to the Ferry we were herded on and given Pink stickers for our tops to say we were getting off at Ko Phangan and then we were off... Trent and I went up the front and stood there for the 3 hours to Ko Samui... after that we found another spot to sit for the hour ride to Ko Pha Ngan....
Milky Bay Resort - Our own little piece of paradise!
Again when we arrived in Ko Pha Ngan a lady approached us and quoted the correct amount of 50 baht to drop us to our resort... wicked!!!! We were at the resort and being served cold juices at Reception in no time!
So our journey now sees us at the Milky Bay Resort on Ko Phangan for the next 4 nights. We dont have too much planned as we are quickly running out of money! We spent the afternoon in the swimming pool, ordering pool side service of drinks and cocktails and food, swimming in the ocean (warm like bath water) and playing a couple of games of pool... yep Trent kicked my a$$! I also managed to
burn myself to within an inch of my life! I am sooooo sore tonight! Too many cocktails and not enough sunscreen!!!
Milky Bay Resort is great.... a bargain at 1200 baht per night... the only thing I was unimpressed with was the 2000 baht key deposit! Are you serious?! Oh well forced savings I guess!!! The rest is unbelievable! I will leave you all with some photos of the trip over on the ferry and goofing around at the resort this afternoon!
Love to you all.... Hope everyone is well! If you are reading these blogs and havent left a comment yet please do so we know you are!
Reet & Trent xxxxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.316s; Tpl: 0.026s; cc: 23; qc: 119; dbt: 0.1681s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.5mb
Laura
non-member comment
I am really enjoyong all your reports.Sound like your having a whale of a time looking forward to meeting you when you get to phuket will see you at the social on 22nd