LucyBugler

So much done in so little time... Luxury travel from KL to Hat Yai, as ever Hat Yai excelled in being the dump town we first experienced and the bus to Phuket involved plastic seats, no air con and people having to stand for the whole trip... life of luxury. Spent from 3am to 6am in Phuket "bus station", should be a bus shack, however the molded plastic seats provided a comfortable nap spot for an hour when all the power went out and reading was no longer an option. Time on Phuket was spent avoiding the scary naked man on the beach... nudists over 50 should please seek secluded spots for tanning and avoid beach strolls. Avoiding the 6 foot waves which seemed to stalk us up the beach no matter how far we tried ... read more

Have been somewhat MIA on the blog front. Sorry! Basically spent the time under the sea/ worshipping the full moon by drinking from buckets and covering myself in body paint. Made a Koh Phangan sandwich. Went and did our Open water- was amazing. Then off to Koh Phangan for epic messiness of the neon variety... 22 is too old to bounceback quickly from a 12 hour+ drinking session. I returned home @ 7:30am with non matching shoes, covered in paint, having been paddling in the sea, watching the sunrise and discussing (boring the pants off a poor guy) about the localised weather out at sea! In a few words full moon was: lunging, sliding, fire, buckets, Sangsom, hungry giraffe, neon, shorts! Saw Ibbo the next morning with a quote of the trip: "I woke up in ... read more

So in Pai it is the most chilled out place in the world... the bars and cafes are all so cute and quirky, loads of books and swings as seats, cushions and futons. Amazing to just sit and relax whilst they have monsoon style rain in their dry season!! Trekked this morning to a temple up about a million stairs, it was shut. Amazing views back over Pai though. Then found the cutest tea place where we were guinea pigs for the various cookies and spinach filled bread rolls. YUMMY, even better when they are free. Last night sat and drank Sangsom and coke (Thai rum/whisky) whilst playing Jenga, met some really cool people in our bid to escape the lizzard that was the size of my face and the spider the size of my hand ... read more

Matatu- mini bus/ public transport here in Kenya... only way I can describe is like the clowns in a car trick. When it looks full people find space. The conductors elegantly and skillfully hope in and out, contort their bodies to fit around the doors, like skilled tube riders, and whilst on the move easily slide open the doors! Nuts but an experience.... that was half an hour away to town.... tomorrow one to Nairobi, I am told however they can't overcrowd those, small mercies! The older boys are back from school for Easter, yesterday Sammy took me on a bike ride- he had been back all of an hour before we cycled to the garage to see some of the boys working (the garage is part of Sure 24) then went off on an adventure ... read more

This has played a huge part in everything here, religion is key here and you can see why faith is so important to them. I am undecided on whether I think almost blind faith is healthy in terms of it driving so much of their lives, but I guess it is not for me to judge. What I can say is that African Church is a welcome relief from the hymns, silence and monotone vicars of the U.K, today I was there for 4 hours (new endurance level, I may not have been concentrating for all that time, but I was present). Here the Church is called Cornerstone Christian Church and it is held in the school. Removal of the temporary wall between class 4 and 5- by wall I mean panels of wood creates ... read more