Amazing Thailand.... south islands

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Travelling through Thailand is like a dream... After practically starving myself in India, arriving into Thailand was like arriving into a Paradise. All the streets are lined with fruit stalls, making every imaginable fruit shake under the sun, fruit topped pancakes, sliced mango and pineapples on stick. Everywhere I turned there was something delicious to choose from. Let's just say my jeans no longer hang on me.
As I made my way down the tube walkway from the airplane, a bronze coloured girl, Viviane from Brazil, asked me whether I knew where I was going to go in Bangkok. I had to reply that "I had absolutely no idea" and she too had no clue, so we teamed up for moral support... arriving into town early in the morning with barely any sleep, two tired minds are always better than one when negotiating cab fares or asking for directions in sign language.... We were standing in line at passport control and I noticed another friendly face behind us. We struck up a conversation with her, Kate was going to be an English teacher in Thailand and had visited Bangkok before... Just minutes later the three of us were admiring the view out of our taxi and ended up in a hostel near the famous Koh San Road, sharing a room for the next few days.
Viviane and I travelled together for the next few weeks and met up with Kate for the Full Moon party on the islands down south.

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Photos

Amazing Thailand
Photo taken on the eve of the Full Moon party, 14th April, Koh Phang Ngan.

Fruit Juice stall
Outside the guesthouse, Bangkok, our first photo: Viviane on the left & Kate on the right, my travel buddies in Thailand.

Yellow Scooter, Phuket
That's a few hours after my scooter accident, I'd gone back to the hotel to cover up. I wish I'd taken a photo of my bruse, it was as vivid as the sunset we rode out to see. It was huge, every day a different colour of the rainbow, and it took two weeks to heal. Driving back in the dark from the lookout, Viviane and I had to battle with crazy traffic and millions of insects headed straight for our eyes. This was one ride from hell, I drove the whole day on one brake (the back one), because the front brake was guilty of treason and the bike rental shop failed to explain that you can use both brakes at once.

License to Kill ?
Oh no no, Viviane didn't have her license on her. She had an encounter with the local police instead. I escaped with my wallet intact, Viviane on the other hand purchased a one-day "license to kill" and we were back on the road!

Koh Phi Phi Island
View over the main beaches of Koh Phi Phi from the lookout. This beautiful island was badly struck by the Tsunami, many dead trees are still scattered around the place, but the island's beauty still draws loads of tourists to its beaches.

At the beach bar
Chilling out with a drink at the beach, Koh Phi Phi.

Bob Marley's corner
...with raggae music and an owner, who could be his identical twin.

Koh Phi Phi
Taken near the first snorkelling point on our day trip to Koh Phi Phi (Lei), the sister island of Koh Phi Phi (Don).

Fish
...we saw many colourful fish. We ate many too, the BBQ'd variety. I was in heaven.

Along the way to Ma Ya Bay...
...We had to swim to the small opening in the rock face, then crawl through to the other side and walk a short distance through a tropical forest to arrive at "The Beach".

"The Beach" beach
You know, from the movie. It's as beautiful in reality. You see the boats at the end of the bay? One of them was ours, we were given the option to kyak or swim out to it after Sunset on the way back. To my own demise, I took the swimming option,.. about half way to the boat I remembered the Shark! scene from the movie, you know the one when the guy lost a leg... It was getting dark, I still had about 15 minutes of swimming left to go. Then I remembered something about sharks being Nocturnal predators, and I started to panic a little... and to swallow water a little.

Our neighbour on Jungle Hill
His name is Two, he has a kayaking business on Phi Phi island. He told us about the Tsunami. We ate watermelon and listened to his songs.

Vivie & I
Getting ready for a night out. I'm wearing my new Aladin pants from India.

Viviane, Fillipo, Fabio & I
Our friends from the boat trip. We may meet again in Brazil or Italy.

Railey beach near Krabi
...I forget the name of this cave, but inside is the largest collection of sacrificial penis sculptures, left in devotion to the Goddess of Fertility (or something like that).

My little Thai friend
She was like a little kitten, naughty and just wanted to play. I gave her my friendship necklace.

My bungalow on Koh Phang Ngan
Haad Gruad resort with private beach... one of the best family run guesthouses I've stayed at. It has its own private beach with snorkelling, and the friendly staff cook great Thai food for their guests. A bonus was the bunch of great people we met during our stay there. Viviane, Kate, myself and a bunch of other backpackers had a great few days together over the Thai NY Sonkran (water) festival and Full Moon party celebrations.

Comments

[Viviane]

No words to tell u how much I loved the time we spent together in Thai... I´m missing u... xoxo