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Published: January 6th 2010
So after publishing the last blog entry we went out for our barbecued beef kebabs, and yes, they were indeed delicious.
On our last full day on Koh Tao was spent doing more relaxing on the beach. You'll be glad to hear mam that i went for a haircut, and you'll be even happier to hear that the lady took off a bit more than i wanted. My curls hardly cover my ears anymore, but it does feel a lot better now that its not constantly in my face. James went off scuba diving in the afternoon and came back with stories of sea snakes and other weird and wonderful creatures of the deep. In hindsight I kinda wish I had given it a go myself. I would have had to pay a fair bit more do do it as i dont have a PADI licence but apparently its one of the cheapest places on the planet to do it.
That night we went out for food. Me and James opted for a fancy looking tapas place with a Michelin star Scandanavian chef, while the others went to a cheaper place. James and I had a lovely time. It was a
bit weird being the only male couple in the place sitting at a candlelit table, but we sucked it up and had a delicious meal. Afterwards we headed straight to the lotus bar again for some pre-club drinks and more fire-dancers. Spoke to a few folk and ended up heading to the Castle for a bit of a boogie. On my way to the toilet i saw a group of people getting a picture taken on a ledge below where i was walking so i stopped, gave a thumbs up and pulled a stupid face and managed to sneak into the picture without them knowing. Later on in the night when i was heading to the toilet again they shouted me down as theyd recognised me, and thats how we met Alex (an English graduate looking to teach abroad) and Blaize (a fine art graduate, aspiring underwater videographer and full time foot care specialist). They were 2 English girls that were travelling round the islands too. They are both keen divers and had spent quite some time on Koh Tao making the most of the cheap diving rates but they had decided they should probably venture further afield, so like
5 desperate lonely men we managed to persuade them to come with us to Koh Phi Phi the next day. We gave them our address and sure enough they showed up bang on time to go and catch the boat to the mainland that night. They had been warned by a few people that the crossing was going to be a rough one. This news coupled with a stinking hangover was not music to my ears. We caught the boat from the harbour. There were 2 decks of people lying beside each other in rows like smelly hairy sardines. We found our allocated spots, opened the windows above our heads incase our dinner decided to make a second appearance, held on for dear life and set sail. Within about 5 mins the horizon was yo-yoing up and down and there were a few concerned faces dotted about the place. Being a hardy sailor I quite enjoy the sensation but when we started seeing flashes of lightning ahead I quickly lost my cocky confidence and lay down flat with my eyes shut like the rest of the punters for the remainder of the journey. Fortunately the storm came to nothing and
after the first couple of hours the sailing got a lot smoother. Didn't hear one person be sick all the way. So well done everyone. Good hustle.
We arrived at Suratthani and transferred onto a bus to take us over to Krabi on the West coast where we would stay a night before heading to Phi Phi the next day. Finding accommodation for the night was a bit of a mission. The taxi driver was a grumpy old bugger. We asked him if he could bring us to a hostel reccommended in Blaize's Lonely Planet guide. Instead he took us to some random place and tried to get us to stay there. We duly refused which seemed to anger him somewhat. The girls who were in the front of th pick up with him, while us guys were in the back, were ordered to shut up. "No speaking!" barked the driver. He put the pedal to the metal, sped us round town for a bit then when hed had enough he dropped us off at the roadside. He didn't offer us his business and neither Blaize or Alex asked for it either. Our search would continue by foot. We
finally deciphered the map and found a few cheap rooms for the night, wayhey!
Our day in Krabi was spent, you've gusessed it, chilling on the beach. Towels in bag and football and frisbee underarm we set off. The girls lay on their towels and watched in awe as our athletic physiques successfully managed to keep an inflated rubber sphere off the ground using nothing more than our feet, knees and fore-heads. We could tell they were impressed but i wasnt prepared to stop there. After catching my breath i proceeded to build the most awesomely designed sand castle ever. It had a moat, a bridge, a tower, a hut for the slave maid, a set of stairs and a communal fire. The perimeter was impenetrable thanks to a row of protective barbs and the watch tower had clear views in all directions. Alex tried to rival my creation but only managed to make something resembling a half buried Bumble Ball. In her bitterness she threw a rock at my masterpiece....then a football....so i stamped on hers.
Through fear of burning our precious skin me James, Dave and Alex sat in the shade of the trees. A student from
a local school came over and asked us if we could help her with her assignment by writing about our time in Thailand. Always happy to help we switched on our best handwriting and wrote a paragraph or 2 on how awesome the place is. We got our picture taken with the girl before she set our looking for more subjects.
In the evening as it was Blaize's birthday we went for a nice meal followed by the obligatory banana pancake. The girls were quite stunned at how many bananas i consume. Fully justified as that morning for breakfast i had a fruit salad (containing 1 whole banana), banana porridge (containing 1 whole banana) and a banana shake (containing 1 whole banana). My potassium levels must be through the roof. May not be a bad thing though. If my funds dont last out as long as id hoped, i could start selling off my limbs as scrap metal.
The following afternoon we caught the boat to Koh Phi Phi. Only an hour and a half on the ferry and we were there. Dave had been there 2 years ago and was quite surprised at how much more developed the place
was now. Its an island run purely on tourism and its plain to see. We were pestered by a lot of folk when we got off the boat trying to get us into their guesthouses. The place we were recommended was full but we found a cheap place nearby with air conditioning (always a massive bonus). The one drawback was the mosquitos. A couple of days in i circled all the bites on my legs with a pen and counted them. 37 on my right and 38 on the left. It was only when i came to wash them off that i realised what a stupid idea it was. It was far too itchy to clean off the ink and so i spent the following couple of days walking ropund looking like a mental who likes drawing circles on his legs.
Our first afternoon on Koh Phi Phi we had lunch on the north beach then walked along it to check out the place. It was very touristy and had lost a lot of its natural beauty with bars, clubs and guest houses lining the whole beach. Dave said the whole area was untouched only 2 years ago.
We headed
out to sample the nightlife that night. Every 2 steps we were getting flyers shoved in our hands by Brits shouting "free buckets". We headed to Legacy first where we had some of the free buffet, washed down with a free bucket of whisky coke. It wasnt really to any of our tastes but when you leave a bar fed and watered after not spending a penny you cant really complain. Blaize sorted out all the flyers into piles and we planned where we could get free drinks for the rest of the night. Apache was our next stop. Apparently we weren't the only geniuses with the idea of drinking for free the whole night. When the bar started taking the vouchers for free buckets the place filled for about an hour then emptied when somewhere else started dishing them out. During this hour Luke bumped into a guy called Chris he went to school with. He was travelling round with his girlfriend Stacy. We stood and spoke to them for a while and they tagged along with us for the night. After Apache we headed into the town centre where all the bars were. It was disgusting. It felt
like we were rats in a sewer. There was a place called the Reggae Bar that has a boxing ring in it where voulenteers can get in and kickbox each other. It sounds awesome but it really wasnt. Blaize was probalby the most disgusted and sat outside among the sea of drunk, young, noisy Brits. We came outside again and and when Blaize suggested we find somewhere quieter we only too happy to agree. We headed back to Legacy where we were the only people. We sat at a table on the beach and chatted away for a while. When we returned to our pad (minus Dave who had gone with Chris and Stacy in search of some beats) Alex and Blaize wanted to show us the bio-phosphorescence in the sea so we donned our swimwear and hit the beach in the middle of the night. It was amazing. The sky was clear and the stars were out in their thousands. We waded out for a bit until the plankton was ll around us. If you wave your arms and legs about under the water the plankton emit bursts of light and it looks like your movements are making loads
of little green sparks. It was totally awesome dude! Once wed had enough we headed back to shore singing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Our search for the Christmas spirit had begun. Next to our accommodation was one of the dozens of tattoo parlours on the island. Me and Craig went for a look while punters got skillfully inked up with sharpened bits of bamboo. Craig got a massive Pikachu across his back and i got a map of the world on my forehead, starting to regret it now though.
The following day was a hot one. The girls went for massages while the boys stayed in the coldness off our rooms until it was cool enough to go to the beach. That night we went for pizzas then headed to Stones Bar for a diet coke and some pool.
Our last day on the Thai islands was spent taking a must-do boat trip between a few of the islands. We set off half an hour late as some muppet had been out the night before and had slept in. We picked ourselves some snorkels and took our seats on the rickety little boat. Our first stop was for
the snorkeling. The captain dropped the anchor and attracted a shoal of fish with bits of bread. We were let loose among them and had about 45 mins to go exploring. It was probably the best site wed been too, tonnes of fish and clams and other strange looking things. Even saw a couple of bright purple crown of thorns starfish. Blaize warned us not to touch them as we would probably be spending the following week or two in hospital. From here we headed up to Bamboo Island. The weather had turned and the wind had picked up. We were all loving it and sat at the front of the boat attempting to avoid the spray coming over the sides. It worked to a certain extent but other folk weren't so lucky. We spent quite a long time laughing quite hard at a couple who were taking an absolute pounding by the waves. The woman was hating it. She was wrapped up in a black bag and had her head held over another one. She looked so miserable it was untrue. We arrived on the Island, had lunch and had an hour to walk up and down the beach.
The water was bright blue and the sand felt like flour. Magic.
Our final stop was Maya Beach on Koh Phi Phi Ley, the location where they filmed The Beach. For anyone who has seen the film you'll understand how beautiful the place is, it was just a shame it was a bit overcast on the day. The place was understandably quite busy. I might sound like a bit of a hypocrite but its a shame that places like these are becoming more commercial. True unspoilt paradise is becoming a lot harder to find. On our way back, while getting another good soaking (this time by rain too), we entertained the passengers with more acapella Christmas caroling. The big day was only a few sleeps away!
After we got back to terra firma, we showered the salt off ourselves and went to one of the fancy looking shoreside restaurants for grub. The kebabs once again captured my taste buds. Craig on the other hand wasnt feeling very well and ordered a simple cheese sandwich with fries. The poor boy ate two chips, then left to go back to the room. The remaining 6 of us polished off our plates (and his) then headed for the Stones Bar again. This time one of the bar men challenged one of us to a couple of games of pool. I stepped up and got well and truly served. This guy was a pro.
The following morning was an emotional one. We had to part ways with the girls. Between mouthfulls of my banana based breakfast i bubbled tears into a napkin and James was so inconsolable the nearby monkeys thought he was trying to communicate with them.
But on a serious note girls, it was awesome that you stuck with us for a few days, your company was muchly appreciated. Maybe same time next year.
So it was goodbye to Alex and Blaize, and it was goodbye to Thailand. Kuala Lumpur was where wed be for Christmas.
Other points to note: The Thais love their Bob Marley. I dont know how many hours of his voice we've heard in the past month. To be honest i dont think anybody does, i dont think theres a number that large.
Seem to have fallen a bit behind on the blogging. Still have xmas in KL and New year in Singapore to write up. Il try and get that done soon although it might be a slightly condensed entry. Also, the memory card for my camera has been corrupted somehow and i cant access the pics on it, hence the reason there are only a few on this entry (courtesy of James). Iv got a new one now but the KL/Singapore might have slightly less pics on it too.
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hazelaitken
non-member comment
hi
Good to hear fae you. I've forgot what the sun feels like on my skin - we've had snow or ice for the past three weeks so I'm really envious-it sounds great and looks beautiful where you've been-roll on summer!