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Published: February 10th 2010
Koh Phi Phi
This is not taken with a blue screen Arrive in Bangkok in daylight, and arrange a bus to our accommodation down Sukhumvit. Now when they tell you about the traffic being bad, you think yeah right, you haven't seen the M25 in rush hour. But no Bangkok is a lot lot worse!! There is continually 12 lines of traffic trying to push in front of one another in 3 just lanes. So we're stuck in traffic for a long time, and the driver has cranked the air-con up big time. Its freezing! Brendon and I both put our hoodies on to try and get warm, but failed. I felt the best thing to do would be sleep. So I did! So 3 hours/20kms later we arrive at our hotel (Bangkok Legacy Suites) in the pitch black. Not realising prior to arriving in Bangkok how much accommodation you can get for your baht, so we have booked a massive suite for about £35 for the night, it has its own kitchen and lounge area. So we cherish the luxury, and use the free wifi to upload photos, and watch TV for a bit. We didn't get to explore the city too much, because we have an early flight
to Phuket tomorrow, but we will be returning towards the end of our visit to Thailand.
Phuket The next morning we fly to Phuket for Brendon's birthday which is the following day. We drive through the island Ko Phuket, and pass through Patong. It is massively busy and is a bit too British for our liking. We're staying 2 beaches down from Patong, in a place called Kata. The stretch of beach our hotel had was beautiful. Fine white sand, and turquoise waters. The Hotel was more like a resort, but the whole of Phuket is a bit like this to be honest.
Whilst in Phuket we went swimming in the sea a lot and just chilled out. Nice! However we did experience a bit of stinging sensation all over when we were swimming, you want to itch it like mad (later into the trip we asked our dive instructor what this was, and he advised us it was a small organism that they call a mini jellyfish). But that didn't put us off, the water was so inviting.
The afternoon of Brendon's birthday, we did the touristy thing and had a Thai massage on the
beach. Because so far our travels have been pretty stressful!?!?! hehe Then in the evening we head to a beautiful beachfront restaurant called 'The Boat House' meant to be the best food on the Island. The meal was great, Brendon because it was his birthday had Australian steak and lobster, and I had a rump Steak. Right at the end of the meal, the waiter rushed over, and advised he could see a storm heading over, and because we we're sitting outside, we hurried us in. He was right, seconds later, down came the rain (torrential). So we paid up, and jumped in a minibus heading our way.
We sat in the hotel lobby, played a bit of cards, ordered a couple of Cocktails, and listened to a local Thai band performing some English classics. We we're amazed, they sung pretty well, but was ruined by the English tourists trying to join in. Unfortunately the Hotels Singapore slings could not match up to the raffles.
The next morning, Brendon feeling all old (33), decided he would get up early and go for a run on the beach. He came back an hour later and I was still in
bed. SO I let him have a shower, then decided to wake up :-D
Phuket was just a relaxing break, and felt like we were on holiday rather than our travels. Next stop is PhiPhi.
Phi Phi Don and Leh So anyone seen the Film 'The Beach' with Leo in!? Well this is where it was filmed. From Phuket we grab a ferry over to Phi Phi, and it is packed full of people. The food served on the boat was Pot Noodle style, so we ordered 2 as our bellies were rumbling. When we arrived in Phi Phi everyone was a bit confused, but because the boat was an hour late they were ushering off the people who had to jump onto a connecting boat to Ko Lanta which should have left half hour ago.
We arrive at the pier in Phi Phi and locate our Long Tail boat driver, who will take us to Ao Tok Oh Bungalows, which is on the other side of the Island. So Brendon and I have our first experience in a Long Tail boat, they are great. They are like big canoes, with an old car engine stuck
on the back, with a propeller attached to a scaffold pole. However I think that our driver, acquired his engine from an old Nissan Micra, because we were being over taken left right and centre.
It takes about 30 mins to get there, and when we arrive we realise the trip is totally worth it. There are about 30 bungalows inc the staff to a private beach. The accommodation was really basic, but perfect for us. The owners we're great, really welcoming, and we met a lot of nice people on this resort who gave us a lot of advice. We met a couple called Chris and Jess (funnily enough - Jess was about my age, and Chris was Brendon's) they advised us to take the 30minute walk to the view point over the Island to watch the sunset. So we cover ourselves in bug spray, put on our trainers, and start our 'walk' to the viewpoint. My ass- it was a bloody hike up a big hill into the jungle. Brendon knew I wasn't enjoying the walk - when I kept repeating 'This is not fun'. To put it nicely we were both puffing out our backsides by the time we reached the top. We reached the top, and admittedly, the trek was worth it to watch the sunset, and the view was spectacular over Ton Sai Bay and Loh Dalum Bay. Both Phuket and Phi Phi were both badly hit by the 2004 Tsunami, but it is hard to spot any signs of the destruction caused seeming as 70%!o(MISSING)f the buildings were totally destroyed.
Koh Lanta We headed to Ko Lanta, on the ferry. We got absolutely soaked. You have to sit out on deck, no seats, and the waves come crashing up against the side for the hour journey. But it was so hot we didn't complain. We were only in Ko Lanta for one night, but wish we could have explored the Island for longer. We spent the night at the bar on the beach, and watched the barman perform fire poi on the beach. The bungalows we stayed at was mainly a scandinavian holiday bungalows, and Hannah was always confused for a Swedish Lady.
Koh Jum We caught the boat very early the following morning to Ko Jum. Again we were only staying for one night - but we hadn't planned to visit at all so squeezed it in to our itinerary last minute. We caught the boat which was heading towards Krabi, and halfway through the journey, the local longtail drivers met us on the water. We have to locate our luggage, and throw it down to the longtails, and clamber across to the boat heading our direction. We hoped we had enough cash with us, as the island is so remote it doesnt have its own ATM. On our arrival we were greeted by a really nice lady, served us a welcome drink and checked us in to our bungalow. Next thing we know - the resorts very own lady boy was taking our bags to our room, and handing us a torch. This is because there is not any electricity in our room currently, but its daylight so it doesn't matter.
So its about 9am in the morning, and the beach is pretty deserted. The owner said we can use the kayak for free, so we took advantage of it, we dragged it down to the beach and head out to sea. We can see a small island in the distance, and decide we will row towards it. Took us bloody well over an hour to get there. But it looks like our own bit of paradise. Until we spot another couple already there. They were obviously super fit German hippies, as they had swum over from a closer point of the beach on ko jum. The poor lady had wanted to catch an all over tan, because when we arrived she was putting her bikini top back on. We felt a bit bad that she had lost her privacy, but didn't want 'Don't worry, You can take you top off' to get lost in translation. So we just wandered in the opposite direction, to the other side of the island. Then we head back, at this point i'm knackered, and Brendon is getting the 'ump with me cos i'm paddling on the wrong side, and my left arm is stronger so we keep heading in the wrong direction. We head back to the bungalows, and Brendon plays with the kittens (he denies it but I have photographic evidence). So that night we sleep in our bungalow, and the electricity is on at this point, but wht the owner failed to point out was that it goes off at midnight, so we're sleeping under mosquito nets, in a 4foot bed, and the fan cuts out. It was hot!!!
Krabi We headed to Krabi after Ko Jum, and we really liked it, sadly we were only there for about a day and a half again. But we arrived around lunch time, and signed ourselves up for rock climbing in the railay peninsual. An hour later the minibus picked us up. We arrive and were paired with another couple, an american and a thai lady. We're quickly shown the ropes (no pun intended honest), but I'm glad I didn't go first because I didn't really take all the info in, but it seems Brendon did luckily. SO we start on a small rock, and we learn how to climb, and belay for other people. I tackle this ok, and luckily we have a bag of chalk behind us, because my hands are sweating big time.
Next, we kind of get thrown into the deep end. The next rock is 27 metres, that might not sound that high, but when you look at the pics, you will realise it is!!
Brendon masters it, and makes it to the top like spiderman, Blooming 'Rock Spiders'. I'm not quite so graceful. I lose my grip about 5 metres up, and swing around into the rocks. Bashing my knees, shins, and cutting my fingers. I lose a bit of my confidence (and my rag) at this point. Brendon and the guide are telling me to grab the rock on my left, which I can't see. So I'm shouting at Brendon 'I can't do it, if I say I can't f*#@ing do it, then it means I can't f*#@ing do it, let me down'. So after my tantrum, I start again from the beginning, and make it about 20 metres up.
The next one, Brendon aced it again, making it look as easy as Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible 2. Again me, not so elegant, I have both Brendon and the guide pushing me up by the bum just to reach the first ledge. That night, we head to a spot all the local hang out at, 'The Night Market'. We love it, we walk up and down the stalls searching the busiest stall, with a good menu and the most amount of locals. Managed to have three meals and drinks for about £1.80, sweet! We stayed at Chan Cha Lay guest house. Really cheap, but comfortable stay.
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Mummy
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MY POOR BABY!
Brendon! Don't let my baby do these things - she's like her mum, a Princess remember! If her knees, shins and fingers are scarred she may need plastic surgery!! :0)