Thailand Time!!!

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Wow time for another update. Hello all from Ko Pha Ngan. I will update you on our last couple of weeks. The last time I wrote we were in Jakarta Indonesia. We said our good byes to Graham and headed for the airport. The trip to the airport took a lot less time than we had planned so we sat and waited for our flight to appear on the departures board. When you purchase your flights online it is always a little unnerving because all you have is a receipt and a confirmation number. Who knows if your flight even exists and after our 5 hours of searching for flights we both could barely remember our own names so what are the odds that we got the right day, time etc. We waited and eventually our flight appeared and we were off to Malaysia. We have adjusted so much to the heat that when we were in an air conditioned environment on the airplane we both almost froze to death.

We arrived in Penang Malaysia which is in the northwest corner of the country. We drove to a place named Georgetown and as it was quite late we found some food and headed for bed. The next morning we walked to the ferry terminal and hopped on a boat to an island named Langkawi. It was a beautiful relaxing spot and we were excited to actually see other tourists. We spent a couple days on the beach relaxing and swimming. Malaysia is very different from Indonesia and traveling from place to place is very easy. We stayed in a very cute little place that had a kitchen table so we were able to pick up fresh fruit and stuff for dinner and breakfast. Things in Malaysia are very colorful. The rooms in our place were painted Barbie pink. After two days we were getting pretty excited to make it up into Thailand and see my parents so we headed off. After missing the ferry by 5 minutes we found ourselves in close range of a starbucks with free wireless internet. Feeling slightly bad about drinking Starbucks we justified it with our wireless use haha. Seemed quite silly to be sitting in a Starbucks all the way down here.

We got on the ferry, crossed the border into Thailand and made our way up to Krabi and planned where to go next. My parents flew into Bangkok and we made plans to meet in Ko Phi Phi. We had a couple days to pass so decided to go to the highly recommended area of Railay. Thanks to all for the recommendation as we sure loved it. Limestone cliffs surrounding white sand beaches. We found a place to stay in a cute little hut in the jungle. We decided to rent a kayak and head for some islands a ways off shore. Our little kayak adventure turned into an epic day of padelling. We made it to some islands including one named chicken island as the limestone has eroded into the shape of a chicken. The further we went the more beautiful sights we saw. Once we realized how tired we were and how far we had to go to get home the paddle home seemed to take forever. The would paddle 100 strokes and then rest. Our arms were so tired but we found singing ridiculous songs helped take our minds off the pain our arms were in. We made it home and paid for the 5 hours we had the kayak for and headed to our little hut to rest.

The next morning we got on a boat and headed for Ko Phi Phi. We beat Mom and Dad there who were coming over from Krabi so while we waited we began to search through the hundreds of accommodations in which to stay. I have never seen such unique beauty as these island. The cliffs shoot straight up out of the water sometimes hundreds of feet in the air. Mom and Dad arrived and I was very excited to see them. Although it has only been a month seeing familiar faces is always a nice treat. We left Dad with our bags having lunch and a much needed beer and Mom, Stacey and I set out to find a place. It is very busy here so we found a little place up on the hill with a nice view over the town. We walked back to get Dad and our bags. While we were gone he learned that if you order a beer and don’t specify size they bring you a very large one and if you don’t specify that you don’t want spicy they bring you a meal that will burn your face off haha. Due to the spicyness he of course needed another beer to help with the pain. We got settled in our place and went to check out the beach. Not a very impressive beach and quite grungy so we decided to book a tour to some of the other beaches and islands surrounding for the next day. We had dinner at a very cute little garden restaurant that’s walls are covered in pictures of the devastation of the tsunami. There were pictures of where the restaurant was after the tsunami in which there were only a couple of boards remaining. There were pictures and thank you notes to those who helped and pictures of many of the people who were killed.

As we were walking around the town Stacey and I were bombarded with leaflets advertising all the parties for the night, ones advertising free buckets (a bucket includes a small mickey of vodka, rum, whisky etc. and a pop and some redbull, all mixed in a sand pail with ice and 10 straws haha). Some were even advertising fire shows and wet pants competitions (don’t think I want to know what that is). We decided since we have been in such secluded places with not a lot of opportunity to party that we would have a night out. At 10:00pm we both were yawning and tired and debating whether or not we should leave our house. Decided we better and off we went. Figured we should try out the famous bucket and bought one from one of the many street vendors selling them. Stacey chose the cheapest one in which all the writing was in Thai. We were told that it was whisky by the guy working there but later discovered that they call all hard alcohol whisky. Anyways we stood in the street and had our first sip which to me tasted somewhere between caramel and feet???? Hmmm how are we going to drink a whole bucket of this stuff??? Soon the look of yuck on our face attracted a group of people that needed to know what we were drinking before long with the help of our new friends the first discusting bucket was gone and we were off to go watch some Thai boxing.

The place we went offer a free bucket to any tourists who are willing to get into the ring and fight eachother. From past experience I know that many guys after a few drinks want to beat up someone or something so really putting them in a ring with gloves and a helmet weirdly seems like a safer option haha. So we laughed for a while at the drunk fools trying to fight and then cringed when the real Thai boxers came in to fight. After that the red bull (energy drink) had kicked in and we were off to the beach for some dancing. We had a blast, met lots of people and before we knew it we were stumbling home and it was 5am.

We got 3.5hr of sleep and then had to get up to go on our snorkeling boat trip. After 3L of water, some ibuprofen and peptobismal we were off. We loaded into a long tail boat with Mom, Dad and about 10 others and headed to our first stop. Our driver didn’t speak much English so he would basically stop and boat and we would try and figure out where we were, what we were doing there and for how long. First stop was some great snorkeling as the water here is so clear. Then we went to bamboo island for lunch and some more swimming. The water was the most beautiful light green color. We stopped at some other beaches and islands and went of course the famous Maya beach made famous by the Leonardo Dicaprio film “The Beach”. We watched the sunset and then made our way home and out for dinner. We did some booking of flights and then headed for bed.

The next day Mom and I were up bright and early again to go scuba diving. We left at 7am and headed for our first dive site. After a quick review for Mom since she hasn’t dove for over a year we were off. The visibility here is better than I have even seen. So many fish and such healthy reefs. I have learned to conserve my air better and not use it up so fast so we were able to stay down for over an hour. We had lunch and jumped off the boat a couple of times and prepared for our second dive. We saw some very exciting things on our second dive including turtles and a leopard shark. We purchased the video of Mom and I diving as I doubt we will ever see conditions that clear again. Stacey went rock climbing while were diving and said she had a great time. It is cool to be in a place that has something for everyone to do. That night I went and had a drink with some new friends we had made and made it home by about 2am. Lots of fun on PhiPhi but I think a little too loud for Mom and Dad. The next morning we had breakfast and said our goodbyes to Mom and Dad. They are heading for Ko Lanta and Stacey and I headed up to Ko Pha Ngan for the full moon party.

After a long day of traveling we arrived to the most beautiful secluded part of the island. We are staying in a little bungalow right on the beach in the northern part of the island. We are going to head down to the busy area for the full moon party in a couple of days but we met a girl from England named Lee who was coming here and had hear good things. The area is called Bottle Beach. We arrived in the dark, had some dinner and had a fire on the beach with a mix of people from England, Australia, Brazil, the US and even some Canadians from Port Coquitlum and Nova Scotia. There were a couple people with guitars and one with a bongo drum so we had a little sing along. I can now see why Mitch’s guitar was such a hit when he traveled. Then we headed for bed. I have never slept on something so hard in my life, Stacey and laughed pretty hard when we climb onto what feels like a lumpy cement slab. Can’t complain though because what we awoke to the next morning was worth it. We open our door and are about 20 feet from the water. This morning we hiked up to a viewpoint over looking the bay and surrounding area. A simply spectacular view from the rock face up on top. Now we are laying on the beach catching up on some writing and some emails. Another day in absolute paradise. So once again, all is well. Still can’t believe these beautiful places exist and are so easily accessible. It sure was nice to see Mom and Dad, although hard to believe we were all here together.

More to add…..So last night we had a great time with some new friends. It started with a seafood bbq right on the beach and was followed by a bonfire, fireworks and the send off of huge paper lanterns. A little flame was lit under the lantern and once there was enough hot air it was propelled up into the air. Soon lots of little flying lanterns filled the sky. It was so cool. We listened to some great music and hung out sitting in the sand around the bonfire. This morning we woke up and have spent the day doing nothing but reading on the beach. Right now I can look out the window of my bungalow and can see Stacey sleeping in the hammock with the teal water in the background. Think I will be coming back to this place as it is so peaceful and relaxing.

More to add again. So we are having a hard time finding wireless so more time has passed since I last wrote. The day of the full moon party Feb 10th. We spent another day enjoying our time on bottle beach. Played a couple matches of volleyball on the beach and had a nap in preparation for the full moon party. We had dinner with some of the new friends we made and began to prepare for our night out. Our shuttle didn’t leave bottle beach to head for the full moon party till 10pm. Already past my bedtime haha. We had a late dinner and painted our arms and legs with glow in the dark paint. It was very fun. We headed to Haad Rin and were pleasantly surprised with the organization of the whole thing. Of course I would be lying if I said it was anything more than absolute chaos but there were more safety precautions and security than I had planned. We met a great group of people so spent the night dancing and laughing and taking loads of pictures. As the sun started to come up we were exhausted and were able to return to our tranquil beach paradise and get some sleep.

We spent the next day just relaxing and sleeping. We had a farewell supper that night and the staff sang thai songs for us around the fire until we slowly all turned in. The next morning we headed out and spent the day making our way over to Koh Sok National Park. We met a girl named Lee who is traveling alone for 6 months that decided to join us for the next little while. As well as that a guy named Jon from Edmonton has joined us for the next couple of days in Koh Sok, and a guy named Henry from England has also joined us for Koh Sok. It has been so much fun traveling with all these people. So once in Koh Sok we booked a guided tour of some of the area. The tour left early the next morning and headed for a huge lake that is surrounded by peak after peak of limestone. We drove on the boat for an hour to a secluded place in which you can stay on floating bungalows right on the water. We were only here for our lunch stop which was really nice. We swam and had a great lunch. After lunch we headed off by boat to a trail head that lead us into the jungle. We began walking and after an hour we came to the opening to a cave. We put all our belongings into water proof bags and began into the cave. It was 800meters from the start till we came out the other end. I never thought I would enjoy something like this but with my head lamp and a good guide it was really neat. We climbed, swam, and traversed our way through the cave. We saw bats, weird looking toads and some huge spiders. It was so high in places that we couldn’t see the top with our lights. We were all a little glad when we saw the light at the end of the tunnel but amazed with what we had just seen. We made our way home and had our last dinner with Jon and Henry and headed to bed.

Today we are flying up to Chang Mai. After assessing how long it would take to get up there and how little money it would cost to fly, the choice was easy. Didn’t get to see everything I wanted to see in Thailand so I think at the end of my trip I will be coming back down for some more.
love you all and thanks again for all your comments.
Love,
Alicia

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Photos

Railay
East beach in Railay

Kayaking
Our 5 hour epic adventure

Poda Beach
A spot we found on our kayak adventure

Chicken Island
Stacey and the chicken head haha

Sunset in Ko Phi Phi
Long tail boat in front. Watched sunset with Mom, Dad and best friend. Can't get much better than that.

Thai Boxing match
Nice shot from ringside Stace

Rock Climbing
Stacey climbing in Ko Phi Phi

Ko Phi Phi
Looking down from Stacey's climb

Parents!!!
YEAH!! dinner at garden restaurant with Mom and Dad!!!

Amazing water
On our day cruise with Mom and Dad. Bamboo Island

Stacey under water!
Thanks so much for letting us borrow your under water camera Drew!!!

Feeding the fish
Pineapple seems to be their favorite

Volleyball match
Bottle beach nightly event!

Lookout over bottle beach
only an hour up to the top!

Our cottage for the 5 days!!
10 feet from the water, hammock on the porch

Flaming sign
One of the many decorations

Full Moon Party
Tanned and a little tipsy

Our group from bottle beach
spent 5 days with some great people.

Lantern lighting
Bottle beach

Comments

[Mitch]

It's tough to read these and not fly out there to meet you. Your pics from Railay look just like the ones Brent and I took. I'm glad you're experiencing first hand all the things I experienced too, it's so tough to describe this stuff to people without them actually being there. Congrats on getting through a full moon party, I think you guys did the right thing and stayed further away. If you go back to the island make sure you go to Ton Sai, that was my fav place of my whole trip. Love you! Have fun in Chang Mai!