Thailand - Part 1. Starring Leonardo DiCraprio

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The journey from Kuala Lumpur to Thailand was possibly the worst bus journey ever! All looked good as we set off with big comfy seats and loads of legroom and we were sat right at the back so no-one behind us either. That was until we went over the first bump in the road, of which there would be many. Because we were right above the back wheels and the seats were knackered we'd get mild whiplash from the back of the seats moving up and down everytime the road was the slightest bit uneven. This wouldn't have been such a big problem travelling during the day but this trip started at 10.30pm and ended 12 hours later. The hour and a half to get through immigration at 9am was great fun aswell in our deprived state.

The bus dropped us at an inland town called Hat Yai from where we would get another bus to Krabi on the coast. The thing we'd most being looking forward to about Thailand was the food - Curries, Pad Thai, Fresh Seafood etc. So we headed straight to McDonalds just in time for bacon and egg mcmuffins - in our defence it had been several weeks since we'd eaten pork.

The trip to Krabi took about 4 hours plus about another 30 minutes by Tuk Tuk to Ao Nang, Krabi's main beach resort. We checked into our apartment at a complex called Wanna's Place which was great value for £12 a night. Huge bed, mini bar, air con, cable TV, WIFI, swiming pool, room service. Proper backpackers eh?
On the first night we ordered a Thai Red Curry which was offered "Thai Style" or "Tourist Style" the difference being Thai Style was more spicy. Naturally, being from the curry centre of the universe and thinking we're "hard" when it comes to hot food, we went with the spicy option. After double & triple checking we were sure, the waiter/waitress (yes, you've guessed it) trotted off with an amused/worried look on his/her face. About ten minutes later we were about a third of the way through the curry and half way through the box of tissues on the table. "All my family love spicy food except my brother, it make him cry just like you!" said the giggling ladyboy who'd served us. Defeated, we left the rest and headed off for a few drinks.
The bar area here was reminiscent of Veronica's in Tenerife albeit full of middle aged men with Thai prostitutes rather than drunken young chavs but with the same crap music. Drinks weren't too cheap either and after the first night we discovered it was much more fun to buy a few cans from the Seven Eleven for a fraction of the price and sit on one of many benches with a view of the beach one way and the main street the other.
There's not a lot else to say about Ao Nang really. Very developed tourist wise, it'd be OK for a package holiday but not really what we were after travelling. The food was great though, moreso from the roadside stalls that folded up into the sidecar of a motorbike at the end of the day than the restaurants. The beach was alright, the seawater so warm it was like taking a bath and next to the beach were about 20 stations where you could have a massage for about £2.50 right next to the sea which we did twice. A nice place to relax for 4 days though after being in a big city like KL.

From Ao Nang we got a boat to Ko Phi Phi which is described as one of the most beautiful places on earth and we weren't to be disappointed.
The boat journey took about 2 and a half hours with loads of stunning looking islands along the way. The water was already a beautiful emerald colour from about half an hour out and the views of the islands white sand beaches on the approach to the harbour had us practically salivating. When you get off the boat you're attacked by what seems like hundreds of people touting for hotels & guesthouses but we headed off on our own and found somewhere for an enormous £4 a night called Snow White Guest House. This after reading in the Lonely Planet guidebook the line "budget accommodation on Ko Phi Phi? There isn't any". I want that job for the next edition!
We spent the first afternoon wandering the all over the island (literally) stopping for a few drinks along the way and snacks from the hundreds of foodstalls that occupy the streets. There are no roads here so no cars and it takes about 45 minutes to walk a circuit round the whole part of the island that's accessible by foot. On the night Rachael ate a plate of huge Tiger Prawns and I had a yellow curry (yellow curry is milder than red!) then we had a few drinks on the main beach then headed to a bar on the other sides beach called Hippies where they had a fire show which was quite good. A lot of the bars have tables actually on the sand where you can lie back with your legs underneath. From here we ended up in a bar owned by two English lads one of whom had been there the day the Tsunami hit and told us all about it. There are signs up in many of the bars and restaurants here where the owners give thanks to companies who helped them re-open their business and, in some cases, even to specific people who pulled them from the debris which were quite moving.

The following day we spent mainly in bed nursing major hangovers only once venturing out for food!

The next day we spent sunbathing but didn't get to go in the sea as the tide was way, way out until about 6pm. Rachael spent practically the whole day in the shade under the umbrella but somehow still managed to get burnt. On the night we went to see another fireshow, this time at a bar on the main beach and got stranded in the bar when the heavens opened for about an hour. Suppose there're worse places to get stranded.

The next day was our last on Ko Phi Phi (for now) and probably one of the best ever. We'd booked a trip to Maya Bay which is the beach from The Beach, (if that makes sense(?)) with several other stops along the way. After leaving the harbour we first stopped a few hundred yeards out from Monkey Beach whose name pretty much speaks for itself. To get to the beach and see the monkeys close up you could either swim in, kayak, or take a motorboat with the guides. Rachael (wimp) took the motorboat and I jumped from the top deck & swam in which was great fun until I got stuck trying to negotiate my way over/through the coral between the shore and where I'd got to and had to be rescued by someone with a kayak.
The monkeys on the beach are wild and can be quite aggressive and immediately one of them jumped on one of the girls in our group but no harm was done. Another stole a can of beer off somebody and proceeded to drink it and a few who were totally disinterested in us humans decided to go for a swim - did you know monkeys could swim? Me neither.

Next stop was at some caves where people live for 6 months of the year looking for and collecting the sparrows nests from which birdsnest soup is made and then we stopped at a lagoon where you could have a swim, take out a kayak or snorkel. I chose snorkelling which is something, at the age of 32, that I'd never done before as it had never really appealed. Idiot! Once I'd cracked it and stopped getting nosefuls, mouthfuls and maskfuls of water, it was one of the best things I'd ever done. The number of and colours of the different types of tropical fish that were down there was unbelievable and it's one of the most peaceful, calming experiences I've ever had. I can't wait to do it again am even thinking about scuba diving lessons (something else that's never appealed).

After this was the main event where we had to walk across the island to get to "The Beach". Again I jumped off and swam in while Rachael took the boat which was great until I realised I couldn't carry on with the rest of the swimmers and arrive there first because Rachael had my flip flops. Without even having rewatched the film before the trip (I think I've only seen it the once) the place was instantly recognizable with it's white sand and crystal clear emerald water. We stayed for about an hour having a kickabout on the sand, swimming and kayaking and then headed back to the boat where we finished off a great day with a sunset meal on the water, albeit with no sunset due to the clouds.

After a quiet night we headed off the following morning by boat to Phuket.

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