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Published: January 2nd 2007
Hello Everyone... I have 3 new blogs for you, as to write it all in one would be boring! The first one is dedicated to our last night in Phuket at the Sunshine Bar and our trip to Lanta incl a stopover at Phi Phi Island, the second on New Years Eve and the third will be a round up on Ko Lanta....
Rawai Beach and The Sunshine Bar Rocks!
Our last night was spent down at our favourite part of Phuket - Rawai Beach. We started off with Seafood on the Beach again then headed to the Sunshine Bar to meet up with the other that were attending Richards Friday Night BBQ.... what a night! We met some really great people and we had such a fantastic time with the girls, ladyboys and the camp-est Thai boy we have ever had the pleasure of meeting!! :-) Andrej, I got plenty of photos and even a video with him going "Andrej, I love you long time!" Hehehehehe!
Dinner was superb.... deep fried fish, massive tiger prawns and papaya salad.... We forgot to take photos for you all, but managed to get some 'after shots' just for your
Speedboat Heaven
Phi Phi is lined with speedboats....amusement!
We met up with a heap of people from Trip Advisor (Lesley and Terry from Adelaide, Cindy from Perth... a few others... argh me and names!)... Like I said in the previous blog the Sunshine Bar is such a great place... we could of stayed there all night but with a 7am pickup for the ferry we reluctantly headed home about midnight. I cant say much more but the photos speak for themselves! :-)
Ko Phi Phi
We decided to spend a few hours on Phi Phi on our way to Ko Lanta. We arrived on Phi Phi around 11am and had to be back at the Pier for a 3pm ferry to Lanta. Arriving at the Island was pretty impressive... it was very beautiful and the ferry stopped quickly in Maya Bay (where the movie The Beach was filmed) for people to take a quick few photos. Nothing special considering it was covered in tourists and speedboats.... Not quite the photo opportunity you hope for!! Hard to picture it being the same place as in the movie!
Once in Phi Phi we set off in search of the Tsunami Memorial. Heath was
Dinner at Rawai Beach
great food and atmosphere! keen to see the memorial as he knew Troy Broadbridge, who most of you would of heard of. Troy died in the Tsunami while there on his honeymoon. The little village was quaint but the amount of tourists was pretty bad. We have found in our travels that Thailand is a huge destination for Europeans and we hate to categorise but the majority we have come across are just plain rude, arrogant and very ignorant of thai culture... no hate mail please... its just our personal experience (but more on that later!)
Phi Phi has a main area of the island that is a thin strip of land with a bay on each side. The ferry side is quite deep and is where all the speed boats moor. The other side has a tide that goes out quite far and it is a fair walk to have a swim... Although we have never been to Phi Phi it was easy to see the Tsunami damage and imagine what it would of looked like prior. Unfortunately though it really wasnt the paradise we were expecting. There was rubbish laying around everywhere with bottles and condom wrappers strewn all over the
beach! Behind the beach there was a large amount of rubbish.... almost like a rubbish tip... alot of the material was obviously stuff from the Tsunami (alot of building material) however a great proportion of it was just plain rubbish... this was also the case in the other bay with no rubbish bins to be found.... just piles of rubbish!! It was pretty disgusting and sad.
We had some lunch at a little cafe and then grabbed some water and a map and set off for the memorial. We found it... a little garden tucked away behind the beach and while it was nice I expected something more. It was a very sad place and we took a few moments to reflect on the devastation just two years ago. Afterwards we decided to walk to the viewpoint but it was damn hot and after 3-4 minutes we said bugger it and turned back for some relief in the water! As the tide was out pretty far we decided to head to the Ferry side of the bay and walked through the little village to get there... I bought the most gorgeous silver and mother of pearl ring in a
little shop for just 900 baht ($30)... very stunning but forgot to take a picture for you! :-)
The bay where the ferries land was really crowded with people and speedboats... they lined the whole shore and it was hard to find a spot to swim... we spent half an hour in the water and then it was time to get to the ferry. I always find it fascinating the amount of tourists that travel to a country like Thailand and sunbathe topless and walk around the town in their bikinis or speedos. I have nothing against either if you are somewhere like Europe or Australia... but in a place like Thailand where both are a sign of disrespect it is really sad. Why do these people think it is ok to travel to someone elses country and act like they would at home?! It is so disrespectful. It makes us really angry to see these ignorant people being rude and not respecting the Thailand culture (and I guarantee they are all europeans doing it!). When in Rome....... Cover up for god sakes!
While the pictures of Phi Phi are beautiful we were pretty disappointed in the Island
Dont you love his microphone made out of a bendy straw?!
The girl to his left (our right) is a ladyboy... can you believe it?! She was stunning! in general... for such a paradise it was hard to see the piles of rubbish, the tourists pushing and shoving, and the masses of speedboats lined along the best swimming spots..... Not what we had imagined... nice for a day trip but glad we didnt book to stay.
The Ferry Ride From Hell
Anyway once on the ferry and getting highly annoyed at the pushy europeans (for god sakes stop acting like children on a school bus pushing and shoving to get on the ferry!) we settled in on the side of the boat for some fresh air and sun.... it was looking a little cloudy out towards Lanta area but we figured we would jump inside if and when it rained! About half way to Lanta it started to spit and then about 30 seconds later a torrential downpour started!We all jumped up to get inside... next to us blocking our way in was a european family (surprise surprise)... the father and a child dived in through a window to inside. I looked to my window where a german man was sitting... he promptly shut the window on me... ok fine I will use the
Lesley & Terry
a couple from Adelaide door.... the lady and another child were still sitting down blocking our path.... the wind picked up to the point that my favourite cap flew off my head and over the roof.... I caught it somehow.... very quick reflexes... we are saying 'excuse me' and the lady is still sitting there .... everyone who had been behind us had dived through windows into dryness... hmmmm ok.... she finally got up when I almost screamed 'move' at her, dived in the window her husband and other child had gone in, then slammed it shut! *ok almost about to lose it now*... we ran up the back of the boat and couldnt get inside as a bunch of europeans (are you seeing a theme yet?!?!?) were trying to get their luggage inside.... seriously if it was a bunch of aussies the women and kids would be safely inside and the boys would be hurling the luggage down the stairs as quick as possible.... but no - no Aussies on board... except for the two drowned cranky rats.... these people actually had the hide to be pointing to their luggage at the back and at the bottom and slowly sorting through it for
their own.... everytime I tried to duck inside people would push me out of the way for their luggage... I snapped.... "for gods sake just throw all the f%&king luggage down there if its that important" I screamed! They all just stopped and looked at me like I was SOOOO RUDE! What the! I pushed past a few and tried to make it to the upstairs cabin, where I was greeted by a few more europeans coming OUT of the cabin and standing promptly in the doorway! Ummmmm hello?! Its pissin down mate get out of the way!!!! They would not move!
One of the Thai dudes came up and said "inside inside"... I was like "yeah i wish!!!" and they had the nerve to say (in a european accent of course) "no we want to stay just here".... again I just lost the plot..... I was starting to look like a right bitch! I finally made it downstairs (all luggage down there safe and sound - of course ours was outside getting drenched!)... and the rain decided to stop! We were pretty pissed.... Once at Lanta surprise surprise, it was a mad rush to get off the boat....
A lady boy!
Yes really! This ladyboy was just stunning! And very sweet. We stood our ground near where our luggage was (as it was at the back and bottom of this pile) and werent surprised to be constantly pushed out of the way! I swear they do not know what "excuse me" means! And a smile?! Forget it!
Anyway we were finally in Lanta and looking forward to arriving at our resort... a beautiful bungalow with sea views..... ahhhhhh if only we knew what lay ahead!!! Watch out for the blogs to come - "Finding Nemo and Evil Bucket of Fun" & "Ko Lanta - From the pits of Hell to a slice of Paradise!"
Love ya and miss ya all
Reet & Heath
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Alan
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Rude Europeans
Hi Reet, they weren't JUST Europeans, they were English who heard there were only 2 Aussies on board and thought "Ah, Ashes revenge!!!" LOL Living this great holiday with you! Arandora