Erin's new alarm went off at 7:45, she almost didn't wake up from it. It was going for about 30 seconds before it finally roused her. We got up at 8:30, packed, showered and got in the back of a pick-up to get taken to the boat at 10:00.
Cloudy again today.
Waited at the boat terminal. There are lots of mudskippers here, fish that can also breathe oxygen and can live out of water for periods of time. The flippers most fish would use to swim, they can use as feet to push and jump themselves around on land. They are very important evolutionary-wise too. They were very cool.
The boat left about 11:50. The boat goes to Koh Lanta, but makes a stop at Koh Jum.
When the boat got to Koh Jum (pronounced Jam), it stopped in the middle of the water, and a bunch of long tail boats from the various resorts on the island pull up beside the big boat and transfer passengers and cargo going to/from Koh Jum. It was quite a sight. There were four long tails pulled up along side, bags being thrown all over, people climbing all over, trying to get to the right boat. Erin and I were the only ones going to the Sun Smile Bungalows.
As we boated along the island, you could tell is was remote and quite undeveloped. A few bungalows scattered along the beach, with thick jungle on either side, hardly anyone on the beaches. It was awesome.
As we got close to our bungalows, I said to Erin that I'm so glad we came here. Even before we touched the island, I had found my paradise in Thailand 2008. A short time later, Erin said the same thing.
Our bungalow is awesome. Very big, just off an amazingly quiet, serene, beautiful beach. The bungalows have no power during the day, at about 5:30, they start up a generator. We paid 500 baht for our bungalow.
Once we settled in, we went to the beach, Erin tried to sunbathe in the partly cloudy skies, I snorkelled and saw a massive school of fish, thousands of them, a black mass. Awesome.
After snorkelling, I laid in the sand and fell asleep. The day got cloudier as the afternoon went on.
After the sun went away completely, we went to the restaurant, Erin updated her diary (she hadn't updated it since Feb. 14), and about 6:00, we had supper, amazing barracuda. We had the last two fillets.
We then hiked to the road behind the bungalows to find a thriving local island community, houses, shops, motorcycles. Nothing touristy. We hiked a kilometre or more to another bungalow for dessert, then back to our bungalows. It was dark, and there's certainly no streetlights, bought I brought my torch.
At night, you can see phosphorescence in the water as the waves come to sure.
This island is even less developed than Koh Lanta was 5 years ago. On our stretch of beach, which is perhaps 1-1.5km long, there are three small bungalows. One of them isn't even open now. I'm sure in 5 years time I wouldn't recognize it anymore. :-(
Friday, February 29, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Elephant Trek
Slept like crap last night. My sinuses were draining, kept swalling, then got a nasty headache, took a couple of Advil in the middle of the night, which took forever to kick in, and because of my cold, I was hot and sweaty all night.
Woke up at 8:30 to alarm. Got ready and caught the minivan to Nosey Parker Elephant Trek at 10:00am. We got the elephant trek and Erin was quite excited.
Spent about 45 minutes or so on the elephant, as we meandered through the jungle. At one point, the elephant wasn't going where it was supposed to, and the trainer grabbed a bamboo stick and smacked the elephant on the face/forehead, the elephant squealed in pain. That soured Erins mood, and she was quite upset after that. After that, Erin continually stroked the elephants neck with her foot, hoping to sooth it. Fortunately, that was the only incident.
After the ride, we fed some elephants and watched our elephant bath in the river nearby, squirting water over itself with her trunk. Erin bought some elephant souvenirs at the gift shop, then we went for a small walk into the forest and I swam in the jungle stream. We then saw a water snake, perhaps 18 inches long.
The day was mostly cloudy but a few rays of sun poked through periodically.
About 1:00, they took us to Ao Nang, a very touristy area and beach along the ocean. It's quite nice, not touristy like Koh San Road, but more like Banff would be touristy. Lots of shops to browse, and lots of tourists mulling up and down the streets. Erin bought an alarm. She's been relying on me to wake her up all along, but we'll soon be parting ways. She's a very heavy sleeper, her new alarm may not be enough!
We shopped and hung out at Ao Nang, I went to the Burger King and had a double cheeseburger meal (yum!) and I bought a Vii game (Elebits) for $10. I hope it works on my Wii. :-)
In Ao Nang, it rained lightly for most of the day. Later in the afternoon, 4:00-ish, we caught a bus back to Krabi town (40 baht). He dropped us off somewhere that looked kinda familiar, so we had to walk around for a while to finally figure out how to get back to our hotel.
I used the internet, searched for liveaboards for the Similan Islands. There are tons of places to liveaboards, and they are always leaving, it think my best bet would be book something on the internet if/when the times comes that I can do it. We shopped for a bit, the night food market wasn't running, presumably because of the rain, and the night shopping market wasn't there either, once again, presumably because of the rain. I bought a Chang t-shirt at a shop on the street. He gave me a price of 180 baht ($6), which I was willing to pay, then he voluntarily gave me a discount to 150 baht, which I didn't even ask for. Erin also bought a dress for her niece, and he did the same discount for her, without her even asking.
Back at the guest house, Erin made friends with Pee, a child of one of the women who works at the guest house. She game him one of her elephants to play with, and he ended up wrecking it, throwing it all over and smashing it on the ground.
We also booked a boat to Koh Jum (pronounced Jam) for tomorrow, it's supposed to be very laid back, not yet really developed, kind of like what Koh Lanta was 5 or more years ago. The island is between Krabi and Koh Lanta.
On the walk back to the hotel, we stopped at the Old West Bar (looks like a saloon) for a number of beers. They played Bram Bam 3000, "Drinking in L.A." in the bar. I simply can't keep up to Erin in the alcohol consumption category. A few guys from the Power Beach Resort on Koh Phangan came in later too. About midnight, I called it a night, Erin hung out with the Power Beach guys and made it back to the hotel about 5:30am. After the Old West Bar, they went with a few locals to a dance club that was filled with all locals, they were the only tourists there. Erin thought she was going to die, the driver was screaming through the streets of Krabi at high speeds.
Woke up at 8:30 to alarm. Got ready and caught the minivan to Nosey Parker Elephant Trek at 10:00am. We got the elephant trek and Erin was quite excited.
Spent about 45 minutes or so on the elephant, as we meandered through the jungle. At one point, the elephant wasn't going where it was supposed to, and the trainer grabbed a bamboo stick and smacked the elephant on the face/forehead, the elephant squealed in pain. That soured Erins mood, and she was quite upset after that. After that, Erin continually stroked the elephants neck with her foot, hoping to sooth it. Fortunately, that was the only incident.
After the ride, we fed some elephants and watched our elephant bath in the river nearby, squirting water over itself with her trunk. Erin bought some elephant souvenirs at the gift shop, then we went for a small walk into the forest and I swam in the jungle stream. We then saw a water snake, perhaps 18 inches long.
The day was mostly cloudy but a few rays of sun poked through periodically.
About 1:00, they took us to Ao Nang, a very touristy area and beach along the ocean. It's quite nice, not touristy like Koh San Road, but more like Banff would be touristy. Lots of shops to browse, and lots of tourists mulling up and down the streets. Erin bought an alarm. She's been relying on me to wake her up all along, but we'll soon be parting ways. She's a very heavy sleeper, her new alarm may not be enough!
We shopped and hung out at Ao Nang, I went to the Burger King and had a double cheeseburger meal (yum!) and I bought a Vii game (Elebits) for $10. I hope it works on my Wii. :-)
In Ao Nang, it rained lightly for most of the day. Later in the afternoon, 4:00-ish, we caught a bus back to Krabi town (40 baht). He dropped us off somewhere that looked kinda familiar, so we had to walk around for a while to finally figure out how to get back to our hotel.
I used the internet, searched for liveaboards for the Similan Islands. There are tons of places to liveaboards, and they are always leaving, it think my best bet would be book something on the internet if/when the times comes that I can do it. We shopped for a bit, the night food market wasn't running, presumably because of the rain, and the night shopping market wasn't there either, once again, presumably because of the rain. I bought a Chang t-shirt at a shop on the street. He gave me a price of 180 baht ($6), which I was willing to pay, then he voluntarily gave me a discount to 150 baht, which I didn't even ask for. Erin also bought a dress for her niece, and he did the same discount for her, without her even asking.
Back at the guest house, Erin made friends with Pee, a child of one of the women who works at the guest house. She game him one of her elephants to play with, and he ended up wrecking it, throwing it all over and smashing it on the ground.
We also booked a boat to Koh Jum (pronounced Jam) for tomorrow, it's supposed to be very laid back, not yet really developed, kind of like what Koh Lanta was 5 or more years ago. The island is between Krabi and Koh Lanta.
On the walk back to the hotel, we stopped at the Old West Bar (looks like a saloon) for a number of beers. They played Bram Bam 3000, "Drinking in L.A." in the bar. I simply can't keep up to Erin in the alcohol consumption category. A few guys from the Power Beach Resort on Koh Phangan came in later too. About midnight, I called it a night, Erin hung out with the Power Beach guys and made it back to the hotel about 5:30am. After the Old West Bar, they went with a few locals to a dance club that was filled with all locals, they were the only tourists there. Erin thought she was going to die, the driver was screaming through the streets of Krabi at high speeds.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
James Bond Island Tour
Up shortly after 7:00, tired to wake Erin up 4 times. She finally got up at 7:30.
I'm feeling crappy today, I think I have a head cold. Bugger. Scratchy throat and a general suckiness feeling.
I had breakfast, then we waited for our bus to pick us up for the tour to James Bond Island, named so because the 1970 James Bond movie, "Man with the Golden Gun" was filmed there (at least partially). I'm going to have to rent the movie now.
First we passed mangrove forests, then Tham Lod, a cave that the boat passes through. Then past a Muslim floating fishing village, then made our way to James Bond Island. Spent some time there with lots of other tourists, then we boated back to the floating village and had lunch. The floating village has a mosque and has been there for 200 years.
We then got back on the bus and went to Wat Suwankhuha, a very cool cave that's a Buddhist temple and has a HUGE lying Buddha that is made of 30% gold. Lots and lots of monkeys here as well, stealing people's food.
Next stop was a national park, where we took a short hike in the jungle and were able to swim in a nice, clean stream and saw many small waterfalls.
When we got back to the guest house, Burger Chef was parked just outside. He had read my mind, I was saying to Erin I could totally use a burger. Bought a burger, showered, then walked around and found Erin having a drink and eating at a restaurant near the waterfront.
Erin and I are not going north. Erin figures everything she wants to see she can see down south, and with only a week left, doesn't want to spend time travelling, and also LOVES the ocean. And, she has a bazillion other excuses.
Me, I want to do a Similan Island liveaboard diving trip, which consists of 4 days and 4 nights on a boat, diving around the very remote Similan Islands, some of the best world class diving in the world. So, I need to hit up a bunch of dive shops down south to see about making arrangements.
We decided to do an elephant trek tomorrow (something else on her list to scratch off) and go to Koh Lanta the next day.
After Erin ate, we walked to a night shopping market located in a park along the waterfront. Locals selling all kinds of clothes, handbags and stuff like that. After that, went for dessert at the night food market (handmade coconut and chocolate ice cream...yumyum).
On our walk back to the guest house, we stopped at another pub and had a beer while we sat on beach chairs on the street. We watched two Brits almost get into a fight. One was drunk, and was threating the other one, when all of a sudden he would break into a weird dancing routine or threaten to take off all his clothes. It was funny and bizarre.
We then hit the sack.
I'm feeling crappy today, I think I have a head cold. Bugger. Scratchy throat and a general suckiness feeling.
I had breakfast, then we waited for our bus to pick us up for the tour to James Bond Island, named so because the 1970 James Bond movie, "Man with the Golden Gun" was filmed there (at least partially). I'm going to have to rent the movie now.
First we passed mangrove forests, then Tham Lod, a cave that the boat passes through. Then past a Muslim floating fishing village, then made our way to James Bond Island. Spent some time there with lots of other tourists, then we boated back to the floating village and had lunch. The floating village has a mosque and has been there for 200 years.
We then got back on the bus and went to Wat Suwankhuha, a very cool cave that's a Buddhist temple and has a HUGE lying Buddha that is made of 30% gold. Lots and lots of monkeys here as well, stealing people's food.
Next stop was a national park, where we took a short hike in the jungle and were able to swim in a nice, clean stream and saw many small waterfalls.
When we got back to the guest house, Burger Chef was parked just outside. He had read my mind, I was saying to Erin I could totally use a burger. Bought a burger, showered, then walked around and found Erin having a drink and eating at a restaurant near the waterfront.
Erin and I are not going north. Erin figures everything she wants to see she can see down south, and with only a week left, doesn't want to spend time travelling, and also LOVES the ocean. And, she has a bazillion other excuses.
Me, I want to do a Similan Island liveaboard diving trip, which consists of 4 days and 4 nights on a boat, diving around the very remote Similan Islands, some of the best world class diving in the world. So, I need to hit up a bunch of dive shops down south to see about making arrangements.
We decided to do an elephant trek tomorrow (something else on her list to scratch off) and go to Koh Lanta the next day.
After Erin ate, we walked to a night shopping market located in a park along the waterfront. Locals selling all kinds of clothes, handbags and stuff like that. After that, went for dessert at the night food market (handmade coconut and chocolate ice cream...yumyum).
On our walk back to the guest house, we stopped at another pub and had a beer while we sat on beach chairs on the street. We watched two Brits almost get into a fight. One was drunk, and was threating the other one, when all of a sudden he would break into a weird dancing routine or threaten to take off all his clothes. It was funny and bizarre.
We then hit the sack.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Rai Lay Beach
Up sometime after 8:00. We had an inside room (no windows), so it's just darkness. We had no concept of whether it was even daylight out.
Erin went to find a place to get her legs waxed, I went for breakfast, then used internet and found out that Courtney, Chris and Shabana were in Krabi as well. They arrived this morning. They are flying to Chaing Mai tomorrow. Courtney mentioned the guest house they were in, right beside the Chan Cha Lay. Erin and I decided to go to Rai Lay Beach today, known for it's amazing limestone cliffs. On the way to the pier, we stopped at Courtney's guest house, but they were not there.
We went to the pier, a tout asked us where we were going, we told him, and he told us to wait, he was trying to fill a long tail boat with enough passengers. After about 15 minutes, enough people showed, so we were getting ready to get on the boat, and we spied Courtney, Chris and Shabana. They were just going to hang around Krabi today, but instead decided to come to Rai Lay Beach with us, so we asked the boat driver to wait 5 minutes while they got their things. 15 minutes later, they hadn't arrived, so we told the boat driver to just go, they could get the next boat. After the boat left the pier, they showed up, so he turned around and let them get on.
The boat ride was about 30 minutes. On the way to the swimming beach, we stopped at the viewpoint to get a nice view, and then started to traverse our say down to an inland lagoon. Courtney and I were here 5 years ago, we made it to the lagoon, but missed the viewpoint at that time. We didn't make the lagoon this year, it was crazy steep. I can't believe we actually rapelled our way down to the lagoon 5 years ago.
After that, made it to Hat Phra Nang beach, did some swimming, monkeys showed up and started stealing food from the tourists.
We had to catch the boat back to Krabi at 5:00. Erin and I bought a day trip to James Bond Island for tomorrow, then we all went to the night market for supper, a must do for anyone in Krabi. After supper, we said goodbye to Shabana and maybe Courtney and Chris.
I started feeling like crap, sore throat and my lymph nodes swollen.
I used internet, then to bed sometime after 10:00.
Erin went to find a place to get her legs waxed, I went for breakfast, then used internet and found out that Courtney, Chris and Shabana were in Krabi as well. They arrived this morning. They are flying to Chaing Mai tomorrow. Courtney mentioned the guest house they were in, right beside the Chan Cha Lay. Erin and I decided to go to Rai Lay Beach today, known for it's amazing limestone cliffs. On the way to the pier, we stopped at Courtney's guest house, but they were not there.
We went to the pier, a tout asked us where we were going, we told him, and he told us to wait, he was trying to fill a long tail boat with enough passengers. After about 15 minutes, enough people showed, so we were getting ready to get on the boat, and we spied Courtney, Chris and Shabana. They were just going to hang around Krabi today, but instead decided to come to Rai Lay Beach with us, so we asked the boat driver to wait 5 minutes while they got their things. 15 minutes later, they hadn't arrived, so we told the boat driver to just go, they could get the next boat. After the boat left the pier, they showed up, so he turned around and let them get on.
The boat ride was about 30 minutes. On the way to the swimming beach, we stopped at the viewpoint to get a nice view, and then started to traverse our say down to an inland lagoon. Courtney and I were here 5 years ago, we made it to the lagoon, but missed the viewpoint at that time. We didn't make the lagoon this year, it was crazy steep. I can't believe we actually rapelled our way down to the lagoon 5 years ago.
After that, made it to Hat Phra Nang beach, did some swimming, monkeys showed up and started stealing food from the tourists.
We had to catch the boat back to Krabi at 5:00. Erin and I bought a day trip to James Bond Island for tomorrow, then we all went to the night market for supper, a must do for anyone in Krabi. After supper, we said goodbye to Shabana and maybe Courtney and Chris.
I started feeling like crap, sore throat and my lymph nodes swollen.
I used internet, then to bed sometime after 10:00.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Off too Krabi
When Erin got back to the hut, she said to set the alarm so we can checkout today. I set it for 10:00. I wasn't tired, and couldn't sleep, so around 9:00, got up, and took my motorbike into the jungle to clean it up. It was covered in mud from my accident and wanted to clean the evidence off. After I found a secluded spot and started cleaning it, it started raining, and I had to drive the motorbike back in the driving rain. I was soaked.
At 10:00, my alarm went, and I tried to wake Erin. She wasn't budging. I gave her another 15 minutes, and tried again. Out like a light. Another 5 minutes. Got a moan from her, and she said 10 more minutes. At 10:30, I forced her to get up. Once up, I asked her if she had arranged a transfer to Krabi last yesterday (I had asked her to, as I was going motorbike riding). No, she didn't, so I went and made sure we could get boat and bus to Krabi, which wasn't a problem.
We checked out and waited for the taxi to the pier, and talk about a mass exodus! It seems everyone was leaving the island immediately after the full-moon party. Lots of people still had glow-in-the-dark paint on them, and everyone looked hungover and tired. It was quite a sight.
The boat was packed to the rafters. They even had to turn away people because the boat was full. All the seats were taken, everyone was standing outside, trying to find a spot out of the wind and rain. We got to Surat Thani, and the bus company had 7 busses coming to bus everyone to their destinations. They kind of pressured us to reserve a place in Krabi right there, because there were so many tourists going to Krabi. I had the guy call the Chan Cha Lay Guest House and see if they had rooms, but they were full, so we bought this guys room, 450 baht/night. On the boat, I was sitting on the deck, another guy was sitting on a little ledge, his head in his hands, trying to sleep. He then fell over right on top of me before waking up. He had a dazed look in his eyes, he didn't know where he was, until he came out of his sleep and realized what had happened. He apologized. It was pretty funny.
When our bus finally arrived, it was overbooked. There were three people left standing, me, Erin and another guy. The tour company manager told Erin and me to move to a minivan instead, which we did. A number of others eventually joined us in the mini-van, and off we were. Our big backpacks were on the main bus, we hoped we were all going to the same destination!
It poured and poured the whole way from Surat Thani to Krabi. Thunder, lightning, rain. At one point, the highway was even submerged in about 12 inches of water, cars were stopped with their flashers on.
We got to Krabi around 8:00pm, and the big bus with our backpacks arrived about 20 minutes later. We hopped into the back of a pick-up and were whisked away to our guest house, P. Guest House. Ok guest house. When I saw it, it brought back memories, I'm sure that Courtney and I stayed there for one night 5 years ago before moving to the Chan Cha Lay.
We had supper and were in bed by 10:00pm.
At 10:00, my alarm went, and I tried to wake Erin. She wasn't budging. I gave her another 15 minutes, and tried again. Out like a light. Another 5 minutes. Got a moan from her, and she said 10 more minutes. At 10:30, I forced her to get up. Once up, I asked her if she had arranged a transfer to Krabi last yesterday (I had asked her to, as I was going motorbike riding). No, she didn't, so I went and made sure we could get boat and bus to Krabi, which wasn't a problem.
We checked out and waited for the taxi to the pier, and talk about a mass exodus! It seems everyone was leaving the island immediately after the full-moon party. Lots of people still had glow-in-the-dark paint on them, and everyone looked hungover and tired. It was quite a sight.
The boat was packed to the rafters. They even had to turn away people because the boat was full. All the seats were taken, everyone was standing outside, trying to find a spot out of the wind and rain. We got to Surat Thani, and the bus company had 7 busses coming to bus everyone to their destinations. They kind of pressured us to reserve a place in Krabi right there, because there were so many tourists going to Krabi. I had the guy call the Chan Cha Lay Guest House and see if they had rooms, but they were full, so we bought this guys room, 450 baht/night. On the boat, I was sitting on the deck, another guy was sitting on a little ledge, his head in his hands, trying to sleep. He then fell over right on top of me before waking up. He had a dazed look in his eyes, he didn't know where he was, until he came out of his sleep and realized what had happened. He apologized. It was pretty funny.
When our bus finally arrived, it was overbooked. There were three people left standing, me, Erin and another guy. The tour company manager told Erin and me to move to a minivan instead, which we did. A number of others eventually joined us in the mini-van, and off we were. Our big backpacks were on the main bus, we hoped we were all going to the same destination!
It poured and poured the whole way from Surat Thani to Krabi. Thunder, lightning, rain. At one point, the highway was even submerged in about 12 inches of water, cars were stopped with their flashers on.
We got to Krabi around 8:00pm, and the big bus with our backpacks arrived about 20 minutes later. We hopped into the back of a pick-up and were whisked away to our guest house, P. Guest House. Ok guest house. When I saw it, it brought back memories, I'm sure that Courtney and I stayed there for one night 5 years ago before moving to the Chan Cha Lay.
We had supper and were in bed by 10:00pm.
Full Moon Party!
There were a lot of people at the hotel going to the full moon party, so the hotel had their minivan, a songthaew and a pickup truck to take everyone. I was on the songthaew with a bunch of British guys. Erin was in the mini-bus, and I didn't know if I'd see her again at the full-moon party. It was a 15 minute ride to Had Rin, where we all got off. Erin was just buying a bucket. FYI, a "bucket" is a pail that a child would use at a beach to build sand castles. But instead of building sand castles, it's filled with Red Bull (Thai Red Bull, which is illegal in Canada), your choice of soft drink (Coke, Sprite, Diet Coke, etc.) and your choice of alcohol. Most often the alcohol is a mickey of Sangsum, nasty Thai whisky. Many places sell buckets with vodka or rum or what have you, but the Sangsum buckets are always the cheapest!
I ran over to Erin, and bought myself a bucket too. I had recollections of buying a bucket at my first full moon party, and then not remembering most of the night, so I was kinda concerned about it. As a side note, at my first full moon, I remember when I bought the bucket, dude asked me if I wanted something in it....I thought he said ice, but now I'm thinking he may have said something else (ecstacy?)....which is why I was all screwed up on my first party. I inadvertantly drugged myself!
Anyway, so Erin and I and a bunch of others from our hotel started making our way along the streets of Had Rin towards the beach. Throngs and throngs of backpackers, and everyone selling alcohol, mainly buckets. We finally made it to the beach, and you could barely move. That's when I got a huge grin on my face and knew I needed to go. I just left Erin and started walking, people watching, drinking my bucket. One of my first interesting sights was seeing two girls walking out of the ocean with nothing but their panties on. Harhar. At any given time, there are dozens of people (both guys and girls) using the ocean as their personal toilet. People stumbling and falling all over the place. Super loud dance/club/rave music emanating from the numerous clubs dotting the beach. Most of the people would gather round these places, dancing, dancing, dancing. I walked up and down the beach so many times, just seeing what I could see. It was very surreal being there a second time, and it was exactly how I kinda remembered it the first time. My impression was that there were more people this time around.
As I'm walking around, locals keeping whispering to me in hushed tones, "Ecstacy?", "Marijuana?", and other various drugs, all of which I declined.
At one end of the beach is a club setup on a big rock, and when you take the staircase up, there's a sign telling you if you want mushroom shakes, to take the stairs on the right, otherwise stay left.
I had a disposable camera, and took a number of pictures. I was drinking from my bucket for more than 3 hours, and still wasn't finished and was getting sick of it, so left it in a bar with a bunch of other buckets. I had had a few beers at the hotel before leaving for the party, so was kinda drunk, but still very comprehensible. I drank lots of water all night (and had to pee lots....yes, I used the ocean).
At one point, some guy was laying on the beach, looked pretty much passed out. His friend was sitting beside him, looking whacked. Buddy #2 wanted his friend to have another drink from the bucket, so tried to get him to move. He moved all right, he stood up, stumbled about 10 feet backwards and fell on top of someone else, and passed out right there. Buddy #2 laughed and asked me if I could help him drag him back. So, we went over, each grabbed an arm and pulled him back to his bucket. Hilarious.
Lots of fire shows on the beach all night long, which are way cool. You can typically see fire shows on any of the islands in Thailand, always worth seeing.
At about 5:00am, I was getting tired. I hadn't seen Erin all night, and decided to get a taxi back to the resort. I made my way back up to the taxi (songthaew) area, a guy asked me where I was going, I told him, he told me wait in a specific taxi and climbed in the back. There was another girl waiting to get back to her resort as well. The taxis won't leave until there's enough people, so we had to wait about 15 minutes before more people stumbled along and were going to resorts near mine. I got back to the room about 6:30am. I tried to sleep, but was totally not sleepy, and just layed there. Erin stumbled in about 8:30am.
That's all I can recall about the full moon party. I didn't lose my wits about me this time, and it was a fantabulous time. I'm happy I went again!
I ran over to Erin, and bought myself a bucket too. I had recollections of buying a bucket at my first full moon party, and then not remembering most of the night, so I was kinda concerned about it. As a side note, at my first full moon, I remember when I bought the bucket, dude asked me if I wanted something in it....I thought he said ice, but now I'm thinking he may have said something else (ecstacy?)....which is why I was all screwed up on my first party. I inadvertantly drugged myself!
Anyway, so Erin and I and a bunch of others from our hotel started making our way along the streets of Had Rin towards the beach. Throngs and throngs of backpackers, and everyone selling alcohol, mainly buckets. We finally made it to the beach, and you could barely move. That's when I got a huge grin on my face and knew I needed to go. I just left Erin and started walking, people watching, drinking my bucket. One of my first interesting sights was seeing two girls walking out of the ocean with nothing but their panties on. Harhar. At any given time, there are dozens of people (both guys and girls) using the ocean as their personal toilet. People stumbling and falling all over the place. Super loud dance/club/rave music emanating from the numerous clubs dotting the beach. Most of the people would gather round these places, dancing, dancing, dancing. I walked up and down the beach so many times, just seeing what I could see. It was very surreal being there a second time, and it was exactly how I kinda remembered it the first time. My impression was that there were more people this time around.
As I'm walking around, locals keeping whispering to me in hushed tones, "Ecstacy?", "Marijuana?", and other various drugs, all of which I declined.
At one end of the beach is a club setup on a big rock, and when you take the staircase up, there's a sign telling you if you want mushroom shakes, to take the stairs on the right, otherwise stay left.
I had a disposable camera, and took a number of pictures. I was drinking from my bucket for more than 3 hours, and still wasn't finished and was getting sick of it, so left it in a bar with a bunch of other buckets. I had had a few beers at the hotel before leaving for the party, so was kinda drunk, but still very comprehensible. I drank lots of water all night (and had to pee lots....yes, I used the ocean).
At one point, some guy was laying on the beach, looked pretty much passed out. His friend was sitting beside him, looking whacked. Buddy #2 wanted his friend to have another drink from the bucket, so tried to get him to move. He moved all right, he stood up, stumbled about 10 feet backwards and fell on top of someone else, and passed out right there. Buddy #2 laughed and asked me if I could help him drag him back. So, we went over, each grabbed an arm and pulled him back to his bucket. Hilarious.
Lots of fire shows on the beach all night long, which are way cool. You can typically see fire shows on any of the islands in Thailand, always worth seeing.
At about 5:00am, I was getting tired. I hadn't seen Erin all night, and decided to get a taxi back to the resort. I made my way back up to the taxi (songthaew) area, a guy asked me where I was going, I told him, he told me wait in a specific taxi and climbed in the back. There was another girl waiting to get back to her resort as well. The taxis won't leave until there's enough people, so we had to wait about 15 minutes before more people stumbled along and were going to resorts near mine. I got back to the room about 6:30am. I tried to sleep, but was totally not sleepy, and just layed there. Erin stumbled in about 8:30am.
That's all I can recall about the full moon party. I didn't lose my wits about me this time, and it was a fantabulous time. I'm happy I went again!
Motorbike Accident
I woke up about 6:45, got up about 7:00. No Erin. I got dressed, went outside, Erin was in the pool, doing backflips and talking to a couple of guys. A bunch of people from the resort went to Had Rin beach last night and partied all night. She didn't sleep at all. She saw me, and told me the worst thing happened. Some girl accidentally deleted ALL the pictures on her camera! She was pretty upset, and very drunk and somewhat non comprehensible, especially when I told her we could probably recover the pictures from her memory card.
I went for a long walk along the beach and left the key with Erin. Cloudy today. After an hour of walking, I got caught in a downpour and took shelter under a palm tree, then had to move to am overhang of a restaurant for 30 minutes while the rains came down. It finally started to let up, so started walking back, it started to rain some more, so took shelter in an abondoned building by the beach. I found an old plastic bag to wrap up my camera, then continued walking back.
Got back to the hut, and Erin was not there and she had the key. I had breakfast, then lounged around the hut waiting for Erin. I needed to get back into my room, so asked the staff if they could open up. They grabbed their ring of keys and tried to open it, but couldn't find the key for our room. He said "Please wait one minute.", left, and came back with a bigass screwdriver. He broke into the hut for me, took him about 5 minutes. :-)
I hung out, read, used internet, etc. Erin finally showed up about 2:30, we rented motorbikes and went into town to get money, buy disposable cameras for tonight and look at getting Erin another memory card.
Erin was in a very crabby and crusty mood today. She was still kinda drunk, sleep deprived and quite out of it. All she said all day "What are we doing?"..."Why are we here?"..."I want to go back to Phi Phi.".....not pleasant. :-) I just ignored her. Haha.
We got back to the bungalow, I decided to ride around on my bike for a while. Headed toward Had Rin (town and beach where the full-moon party happens), and saw a sign to waterfalls, so decided to take that road. I then took another side road that looked interesting, started taking it, it was very steep. I turned around, and trying to go up the steep hill, the engine got starved of gas because of the steepness of the hill. I had to push the damn motorbike up the hill. I made it back to the road, then headed back towards the main road and filled up on gas, then went back to the original waterfall road. After about 2 km, the waterfall road turned into a dirt, mud road. The road was very hilly and steep, and I came up one section, slipping and sliding, then had to go back down the other side. I had full rear brake happening, but the tires are bare, and the bike just slid down the hill, I'm bouncing all over, going faster and faster. I started to freak out, then made the mistake and putting on my front brake about 3/4 of the way down the hill, and flipped the bike. As soon as I landed, I started laughing. I was completely covered in mud, the bike upside down above me. I would've loved to see that in slow motion! Especially the expressions on my face. Another guy on a motorbike stopped and asked me if I was alright, I told him ya, I was fine. He waited for me to get my bike down to the bottom of the hill and get it started. Then another guy in a pickup drove by and asked if I was ok, told him ya, then he offered to put the bike in the back of his pickup and drive me the rest of the way. I declined, told him I think I'll just turn around and go back, it was too crazy.
So, that's what I did. All I had to show of my accident was me and my bike covered in muck, and a couple of tiny scrapes on my legs.
I turned around, and almost wiped out again going back down the other side of the hill. I finally made it back to the paved road, and continued on to Had Rin. The drive to Had Rin is pretty impressive, very hilly, the bike would barely make it up some of the hills and there was some impressive views.
Made it back to the bungalows around 5:00, I had supper, and Erin and I napped before the full-moon party. I had trouble waking Erin up, she was out. I played some pool with some British guys, then about 11:00, the taxi came to take us all to the full-moon party.
Full-moon party stories to follow in the next entry!
I went for a long walk along the beach and left the key with Erin. Cloudy today. After an hour of walking, I got caught in a downpour and took shelter under a palm tree, then had to move to am overhang of a restaurant for 30 minutes while the rains came down. It finally started to let up, so started walking back, it started to rain some more, so took shelter in an abondoned building by the beach. I found an old plastic bag to wrap up my camera, then continued walking back.
Got back to the hut, and Erin was not there and she had the key. I had breakfast, then lounged around the hut waiting for Erin. I needed to get back into my room, so asked the staff if they could open up. They grabbed their ring of keys and tried to open it, but couldn't find the key for our room. He said "Please wait one minute.", left, and came back with a bigass screwdriver. He broke into the hut for me, took him about 5 minutes. :-)
I hung out, read, used internet, etc. Erin finally showed up about 2:30, we rented motorbikes and went into town to get money, buy disposable cameras for tonight and look at getting Erin another memory card.
Erin was in a very crabby and crusty mood today. She was still kinda drunk, sleep deprived and quite out of it. All she said all day "What are we doing?"..."Why are we here?"..."I want to go back to Phi Phi.".....not pleasant. :-) I just ignored her. Haha.
We got back to the bungalow, I decided to ride around on my bike for a while. Headed toward Had Rin (town and beach where the full-moon party happens), and saw a sign to waterfalls, so decided to take that road. I then took another side road that looked interesting, started taking it, it was very steep. I turned around, and trying to go up the steep hill, the engine got starved of gas because of the steepness of the hill. I had to push the damn motorbike up the hill. I made it back to the road, then headed back towards the main road and filled up on gas, then went back to the original waterfall road. After about 2 km, the waterfall road turned into a dirt, mud road. The road was very hilly and steep, and I came up one section, slipping and sliding, then had to go back down the other side. I had full rear brake happening, but the tires are bare, and the bike just slid down the hill, I'm bouncing all over, going faster and faster. I started to freak out, then made the mistake and putting on my front brake about 3/4 of the way down the hill, and flipped the bike. As soon as I landed, I started laughing. I was completely covered in mud, the bike upside down above me. I would've loved to see that in slow motion! Especially the expressions on my face. Another guy on a motorbike stopped and asked me if I was alright, I told him ya, I was fine. He waited for me to get my bike down to the bottom of the hill and get it started. Then another guy in a pickup drove by and asked if I was ok, told him ya, then he offered to put the bike in the back of his pickup and drive me the rest of the way. I declined, told him I think I'll just turn around and go back, it was too crazy.
So, that's what I did. All I had to show of my accident was me and my bike covered in muck, and a couple of tiny scrapes on my legs.
I turned around, and almost wiped out again going back down the other side of the hill. I finally made it back to the paved road, and continued on to Had Rin. The drive to Had Rin is pretty impressive, very hilly, the bike would barely make it up some of the hills and there was some impressive views.
Made it back to the bungalows around 5:00, I had supper, and Erin and I napped before the full-moon party. I had trouble waking Erin up, she was out. I played some pool with some British guys, then about 11:00, the taxi came to take us all to the full-moon party.
Full-moon party stories to follow in the next entry!
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Off to Koh Phangan
Up at 7:30, Erin and I packed and headed to the pier. Saw Rob and Colleen and Tahnie and Sterling on the way and said goodbye to them.
We took a boat from Phi Phi to Krabi, found the tourist agent who we booked through and got bus ticket and a receipt. First we hopped on a mini-bus, which took us to a main bus stop, were we hopped on a big bus with a bunch of other tourists, which took us to Surat Thani (or somewhere close to there). I think the ride was about 3 hours. Both Erin and I slept on the bus. At Surat Thani, they kicked everyone off the bus, then it was mayhem. Half the bus wanted to go to the train station, the other half wanted to go to Koh Samui, and there was Erin and I destined for Koh Phangan.
The non-natives were getting restless, as there were no other busses waiting to take anyone anywhere. He organized a mini-bus to take the Koh Samui people somewhere, and when there were two seats left, told me and Erin to get on as well. The mini-bus left, drove for about 5 minutes, onto a main road, then pulled over and stopped, and started peering out his door behind the mini-bus, looking at traffic coming. AFter a few minutes he told everybody to get out. WTF? Then he said the regular bus was coming. So, another bus change, there wasn't enough seats on this new bus, and I had to stand (along with a bunch of others). A local Thai mom moved over in her seat to Erin could sit down. I had to stand for 1+ hours for the ride to the pier. And the A/C on the bus wasn't working. We got the pier about 3:45, got on the ferry and sat up top. A hotel tout came along and sold us a room at a resort with a pool, weight room, pool table, etc. for 500 baht a night. Accomodations are relatively cheap here. It's called the Power Beach Resort. We are to meet him on the pier when we arrive on Koh Phangan.
As we moved further east, the day got cloudier and cloudier.
At Koh Phangan, we found our hotel tout who got everyone going to the Power Beach resort into a mini-van (and our backpacks loaded into the back of a pick-up) and we headed to the resort.
Quite nice, very funky, they play music all day long, in the evenings, it's typically dance/club style music to keep everyone going.
Erin and I walked around, had a few beers, had supper, then watched Borat on the tv. Erin slept through most of the movie. I could barely keep my eyes open. I went to bed about 10:30, Erin decided she was going to try to stay up a bit longer in the bar/restaurant.
We took a boat from Phi Phi to Krabi, found the tourist agent who we booked through and got bus ticket and a receipt. First we hopped on a mini-bus, which took us to a main bus stop, were we hopped on a big bus with a bunch of other tourists, which took us to Surat Thani (or somewhere close to there). I think the ride was about 3 hours. Both Erin and I slept on the bus. At Surat Thani, they kicked everyone off the bus, then it was mayhem. Half the bus wanted to go to the train station, the other half wanted to go to Koh Samui, and there was Erin and I destined for Koh Phangan.
The non-natives were getting restless, as there were no other busses waiting to take anyone anywhere. He organized a mini-bus to take the Koh Samui people somewhere, and when there were two seats left, told me and Erin to get on as well. The mini-bus left, drove for about 5 minutes, onto a main road, then pulled over and stopped, and started peering out his door behind the mini-bus, looking at traffic coming. AFter a few minutes he told everybody to get out. WTF? Then he said the regular bus was coming. So, another bus change, there wasn't enough seats on this new bus, and I had to stand (along with a bunch of others). A local Thai mom moved over in her seat to Erin could sit down. I had to stand for 1+ hours for the ride to the pier. And the A/C on the bus wasn't working. We got the pier about 3:45, got on the ferry and sat up top. A hotel tout came along and sold us a room at a resort with a pool, weight room, pool table, etc. for 500 baht a night. Accomodations are relatively cheap here. It's called the Power Beach Resort. We are to meet him on the pier when we arrive on Koh Phangan.
As we moved further east, the day got cloudier and cloudier.
At Koh Phangan, we found our hotel tout who got everyone going to the Power Beach resort into a mini-van (and our backpacks loaded into the back of a pick-up) and we headed to the resort.
Quite nice, very funky, they play music all day long, in the evenings, it's typically dance/club style music to keep everyone going.
Erin and I walked around, had a few beers, had supper, then watched Borat on the tv. Erin slept through most of the movie. I could barely keep my eyes open. I went to bed about 10:30, Erin decided she was going to try to stay up a bit longer in the bar/restaurant.
Friday, February 22, 2008
One More Day on Koh Phi Phi
Woke up at 7:00. Got up at 7:45 to see about changing our ticket. Got to the ticket place, and had to wait for someone to show up. She called the bus company, and it's not a problem. She changed the dates on the tickets, so we're here for one more day.
Walked around a bit, ran into Rob who told me Erin was looking for me. Ran into Erin and One and told Erin the news. Then we ran into Court and Chris and Shabana. We went for breakfast, Erin and One left, and they were all asking me what up with Erin and One.
After breakfast, moved into the room with Erin, as Shabana, Chris and Courtney are off to Koh Lanta today. Erin and I hung out for a bit, then she started getting ready for her date with One at 1:00. He was going to take her on a boat tour.
I walked up to the viewpoint for some great views of the Koh Phi Phi islands. I was sweating bullets, it's quite a hike up, up, up in the beating sun. Had a orange pop at the first viewpoint, then hiked to the next viewpoint for some more pictures. From up here, you can still see lots of damaged areas that resulted from the tsunami wiping out huge parts of Koh Phi Phi. Then walked some more paths that didn't really lead to anything good. I ran into three guys (backpackers) on the top of the mountain that didn't know how to get down. They had to ask me for directions back down.
I then walked over to Long Beach, the best swimming beach on Koh Phi Phi Don. Quite nice, but kinda busy, and still not as nice as Long Beach on Koh Lanta.
Got back to the room and Erin was back. One got his schedule mixed up, he didn't have a boat trip to do today, so him and Erin just hung out at the beach for an hour or so.
Tahnie and Sterling are getting tattoo's done here on the island before heading back home, so I popped up to the tattoo parlour to see how things were going, but they hadn't started yet. Back to the room, Erin and I went for supper, I had a New Zealand steak, quite delicious.
After supper, we headed back to the tattoo parlour and hung out while they got their tats done. The tattoo parlour is right beside a beach bar, so had a few beers while we watched. Here on Koh Phi Phi, tattoos are done with bamboo. They attached needles to the tip of a bamboo stick, dip the needles into ink, then dab the ink into the skin by hand. Apparently it's not nearly as painful as the typical way.
Apparently the guy doing the tattoo's (Mr. Jay) is one of the top 3 tattoo artists in Thailand.
I got to bed about 10:00.
Walked around a bit, ran into Rob who told me Erin was looking for me. Ran into Erin and One and told Erin the news. Then we ran into Court and Chris and Shabana. We went for breakfast, Erin and One left, and they were all asking me what up with Erin and One.
After breakfast, moved into the room with Erin, as Shabana, Chris and Courtney are off to Koh Lanta today. Erin and I hung out for a bit, then she started getting ready for her date with One at 1:00. He was going to take her on a boat tour.
I walked up to the viewpoint for some great views of the Koh Phi Phi islands. I was sweating bullets, it's quite a hike up, up, up in the beating sun. Had a orange pop at the first viewpoint, then hiked to the next viewpoint for some more pictures. From up here, you can still see lots of damaged areas that resulted from the tsunami wiping out huge parts of Koh Phi Phi. Then walked some more paths that didn't really lead to anything good. I ran into three guys (backpackers) on the top of the mountain that didn't know how to get down. They had to ask me for directions back down.
I then walked over to Long Beach, the best swimming beach on Koh Phi Phi Don. Quite nice, but kinda busy, and still not as nice as Long Beach on Koh Lanta.
Got back to the room and Erin was back. One got his schedule mixed up, he didn't have a boat trip to do today, so him and Erin just hung out at the beach for an hour or so.
Tahnie and Sterling are getting tattoo's done here on the island before heading back home, so I popped up to the tattoo parlour to see how things were going, but they hadn't started yet. Back to the room, Erin and I went for supper, I had a New Zealand steak, quite delicious.
After supper, we headed back to the tattoo parlour and hung out while they got their tats done. The tattoo parlour is right beside a beach bar, so had a few beers while we watched. Here on Koh Phi Phi, tattoos are done with bamboo. They attached needles to the tip of a bamboo stick, dip the needles into ink, then dab the ink into the skin by hand. Apparently it's not nearly as painful as the typical way.
Apparently the guy doing the tattoo's (Mr. Jay) is one of the top 3 tattoo artists in Thailand.
I got to bed about 10:00.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Slow Day
Got up, not sure when. During the course of the day, I was checking the accomodations on Koh Phangan. I'm concerned about going to Koh Phangan on the day of the full moon party and not getting accomodations! After doing some quick searching, there are literally hundreds of guest houses and resorts on the beaches near the full moon party beach, and tons more a little further afield. I'm sure we'll find something. I've decided I won't go to Koh Phangan today, but Erin and I will just go there tomorrow and we'll wing it!
Later in the day, Courtney, Shabana and I beached it. Chris, Rob and Erin are on the last day of their PADI Open Water course.
After diving, Erin came to the beach, and we decided to buy tickets to Koh Phangan for tomorrow.
At about 6:00, we all went to Viking Divers for a celebratory beer for Erin, Rob and Chris for graduation from the diving course. We all then went to a nice restaurant.
We also found out tonight that the full moon party has been delayed to Feb. 24 because of elections on Koh Phangan! That's great, it gives Erin and I little more breathing room to find accomodations before the big party!
After supper, Tahnie and Sterling and Erin and me walked around. We were going to watch the fire show and tourist muay thai boxing at the Reggae Bar ("beat up your friend in a boxing ring and get free buckets!"), but everything is closed down. It must be a Buddhist holiday today, hardly anything is open. We ended up partying with One, our cliff jumping guide and a bunch of other locals. We drank outside of One's office on the streets, then moved to a bar that was open at the very end of the beach. Long night, and a lot of fun, the locals are very funny and friendly.
As we were all partying, Tahnie and Sterling really, really wanted us to stay an extra day, and Erin wanted to as well. So tomorrow morning, I'll try to get our tickets changed to leave the following day, Feb. 23.
As we were partying at the beach bar, Tahnie needed to go pee. She had no desire to use the bars toilets, so she found a nice park area and squatted and did her thing. Later in the evening, Sterling pointed out that the park area where she did it was a tsunami memorial site! Tahnie felt soooo bad for peeing on their memorial.
Walk to the beach, there are bats in the streets on Koh Phi Phi. Tahnie is terrified of bats, she was screaming and ducking the whole way there, with everyone else laughing at her.
I finally went back to my room at 4:00am.
Later in the day, Courtney, Shabana and I beached it. Chris, Rob and Erin are on the last day of their PADI Open Water course.
After diving, Erin came to the beach, and we decided to buy tickets to Koh Phangan for tomorrow.
At about 6:00, we all went to Viking Divers for a celebratory beer for Erin, Rob and Chris for graduation from the diving course. We all then went to a nice restaurant.
We also found out tonight that the full moon party has been delayed to Feb. 24 because of elections on Koh Phangan! That's great, it gives Erin and I little more breathing room to find accomodations before the big party!
After supper, Tahnie and Sterling and Erin and me walked around. We were going to watch the fire show and tourist muay thai boxing at the Reggae Bar ("beat up your friend in a boxing ring and get free buckets!"), but everything is closed down. It must be a Buddhist holiday today, hardly anything is open. We ended up partying with One, our cliff jumping guide and a bunch of other locals. We drank outside of One's office on the streets, then moved to a bar that was open at the very end of the beach. Long night, and a lot of fun, the locals are very funny and friendly.
As we were all partying, Tahnie and Sterling really, really wanted us to stay an extra day, and Erin wanted to as well. So tomorrow morning, I'll try to get our tickets changed to leave the following day, Feb. 23.
As we were partying at the beach bar, Tahnie needed to go pee. She had no desire to use the bars toilets, so she found a nice park area and squatted and did her thing. Later in the evening, Sterling pointed out that the park area where she did it was a tsunami memorial site! Tahnie felt soooo bad for peeing on their memorial.
Walk to the beach, there are bats in the streets on Koh Phi Phi. Tahnie is terrified of bats, she was screaming and ducking the whole way there, with everyone else laughing at her.
I finally went back to my room at 4:00am.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Diving!
Up at 6:30, we had to be at the dive shp at 7:30. Had breakfast, Erin ordered a big breakfast and made the boat wait. Haha.
The diving was awesome, saw lots and lots of fish and coral and saw a few turtles. Courtney and I had our own dive master. Erin said she saw a large octopus, and it changed colour right in front of her. I'm jealous!
Erin likes to get accidentally naked. :-) When we were cliff jumping, she lost her bikini top on one of the jumps. Then, after the first dive today, her bottom fell off. She was quite embarassed.
We finished diving and got back about 1:30, Shabana, me and Erin went to the beach.
I left the beach about 4:00, showered and used internet, then ran into Erin, and we walked around for a bit, we ran into Rob, Courtney and Chris, had a bite to eat with them. At 6:30, Erin, Rob and Chris had to go to diving class, so Court and I walked around a lot and had a chocolate banana pancake. After their class, Rob and Chris went home, and me, Erin, Court and Shabana went to a restaurant, used internet, then watched a fire show on the beach. Very good.
We also came up with a game plan. Erin and I are going to go to Koh Phangan tomorrow for the full moon party and hang out there for a bit. Everyone else will go to Koh Lanta and Krabi, then we'll all meet up later and go up north.
My only concern is finding accomodations for the full moon party on such short notice. But I guess we'll wing it.
The diving was awesome, saw lots and lots of fish and coral and saw a few turtles. Courtney and I had our own dive master. Erin said she saw a large octopus, and it changed colour right in front of her. I'm jealous!
Erin likes to get accidentally naked. :-) When we were cliff jumping, she lost her bikini top on one of the jumps. Then, after the first dive today, her bottom fell off. She was quite embarassed.
We finished diving and got back about 1:30, Shabana, me and Erin went to the beach.
I left the beach about 4:00, showered and used internet, then ran into Erin, and we walked around for a bit, we ran into Rob, Courtney and Chris, had a bite to eat with them. At 6:30, Erin, Rob and Chris had to go to diving class, so Court and I walked around a lot and had a chocolate banana pancake. After their class, Rob and Chris went home, and me, Erin, Court and Shabana went to a restaurant, used internet, then watched a fire show on the beach. Very good.
We also came up with a game plan. Erin and I are going to go to Koh Phangan tomorrow for the full moon party and hang out there for a bit. Everyone else will go to Koh Lanta and Krabi, then we'll all meet up later and go up north.
My only concern is finding accomodations for the full moon party on such short notice. But I guess we'll wing it.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
\
James brought a prostitute home last night. They came in, I remember them laying in his bed together (we have separate beds, thank God), then she got up and sent to the foot of my bed. Not sure what she was doing. I was feigning sleep. James kept asking "Are you a man? Do you have a penis?" to her. I remember after a while that he got up, fell to the floor, then moved to the foot of my bed with her. Then after a while more, she got up, made a remark about money or being paid, then left. Very weird! I'm glad he'll be leaving tomorrow.
I got up that morning. Erin, Chris and Rob were starting their diving course today. Me, Shabana and Courtney hung out at the beach. I stayed under a beach umbrella all day, but still got a bad burn on my legs. What the heck is up with that?
It was a pretty uneventful day.
After the beach, we met up with everyone else and went for supper. Court and I decided to do a dive tomorrow, from the same boat the others are doing their course from. I went back to my room to dig up my diving certification card, and as I was looking for it, realized I was missing $280 US. Very suspicious that it was the prostitute. When she was hanging out at the foot of my bed, that's where my backpack was.
We booked our trip, and later in the evening, I confronted James about this. He got all apologetic, remarked that he wouldn't be able to find this person now, and didn't really know what happened last night. He did say he would pay back the $280.
I got up that morning. Erin, Chris and Rob were starting their diving course today. Me, Shabana and Courtney hung out at the beach. I stayed under a beach umbrella all day, but still got a bad burn on my legs. What the heck is up with that?
It was a pretty uneventful day.
After the beach, we met up with everyone else and went for supper. Court and I decided to do a dive tomorrow, from the same boat the others are doing their course from. I went back to my room to dig up my diving certification card, and as I was looking for it, realized I was missing $280 US. Very suspicious that it was the prostitute. When she was hanging out at the foot of my bed, that's where my backpack was.
We booked our trip, and later in the evening, I confronted James about this. He got all apologetic, remarked that he wouldn't be able to find this person now, and didn't really know what happened last night. He did say he would pay back the $280.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Cliff Jumping and Shark Swim
Got up about 7:00. I've stayed in a lot of guest houses and dormitories in my life, and The Rock Backpacker has to rank near the top of being the worst. The dorm was super hot, fans don't work, it's packed the rafters with backpackers, the mattresses are superbly uncomfortable, the pillows are hard and sweat inducing. And in the morning, the toilets were something else. I had a hard time trying to find one that wasn't overflowing with poop or something else. I decided I had to move to another place, even though I booked for two nights here.
Erin, Shabana, Courtney, Chris and James were coming today too, and I told them I'd book something at The Rock, but after last nights experience, that'll be a no.
Hooked up with my parents, and had breakfast, then went in search of new accomodations. Tried Anita Guest House, which are beach huts, they had two available, but when they went to show me, they were both locked, and they didn't have keys for them. So much for that. Kept looking, and found Oasis Guest House, nice, large rooms, and they had three rooms available, so I booked them all.
Then pretty much waited for everyone to arrive. I didn't know what boat they were on, so my plan was to go to the pier whenever a boat from Phuket was scheduled to arrive. They weren't on the first boat, then my parents and I decided to find a place to have lunch. They were just getting ready for their boat+bus trip back to Bangkok. As we were looking for a restaurant, we ran into all of them (except Rob and Colleen). I guided them to the Oasis and took Tahnie and Sterling to the PP Casita. Then we booked a cliff jumping and shark swim tour for later in the afternoon.
We just hung out, then went on our tour. It was on a long tail boat, we first stopped at Monkey Beach, but no monkeys around, so headed on to the cliff jumping area. Holy cow, the cliff jumping was fun and soooooo terrifying! We did three jumps, first from 8 metres, the second from 12 metres, the third from 14 metres (45 feet!). Shabana chickened out on the 8 metre jump, Courtney almost didn't do it. She'd get to the edge, then get scared and back off. She eventually did jump, but only when Chris jumped with her. 14 metres was terrifying. I didn't know if I could do it, but I did. Our guide also had a video camera and video taped us jumping.
AFter cliff jumping, we went to Shark Point and snorkelled and saw plenty of black-tip reef sharks, some fairly large as well. After that, we went to Maya Beach (The Beach beach) and hung out there for a while. Then we watched the sunset on a choppy ocean. Once we got back to the tour office, we watched the video our guide made for us, it was awesome. We ordered a copy.
We ran into Rob and Colleen and Tahnie and Sterling and James, had supper and a beer tower at a pub. Erin and Chris then booked a PADI Open Water dive course for tomorrow.
Courtney, Chris, me, James and Erin walked to the beach and stopped at a beach restaurant and had a bite to eat and a drink. Erin, James and me started on buckets. Holy cow, they are potent. Courtney and Chris went home, and the three of us partied with our buckets. We each had two buckets throughout the night.
One of the bars had a fire show (which I tried, and got my pants all black and sooty). Erin was doing backflips on the sand and a local wanted Erin to teach him how to do that. He was totally playing her, I think.
I left the beach at 1:30am, I was wiped and getting tired. I told Erin I was going, but she wasn't ready to quit yet, so she stayed out, as did James.
Erin, Shabana, Courtney, Chris and James were coming today too, and I told them I'd book something at The Rock, but after last nights experience, that'll be a no.
Hooked up with my parents, and had breakfast, then went in search of new accomodations. Tried Anita Guest House, which are beach huts, they had two available, but when they went to show me, they were both locked, and they didn't have keys for them. So much for that. Kept looking, and found Oasis Guest House, nice, large rooms, and they had three rooms available, so I booked them all.
Then pretty much waited for everyone to arrive. I didn't know what boat they were on, so my plan was to go to the pier whenever a boat from Phuket was scheduled to arrive. They weren't on the first boat, then my parents and I decided to find a place to have lunch. They were just getting ready for their boat+bus trip back to Bangkok. As we were looking for a restaurant, we ran into all of them (except Rob and Colleen). I guided them to the Oasis and took Tahnie and Sterling to the PP Casita. Then we booked a cliff jumping and shark swim tour for later in the afternoon.
We just hung out, then went on our tour. It was on a long tail boat, we first stopped at Monkey Beach, but no monkeys around, so headed on to the cliff jumping area. Holy cow, the cliff jumping was fun and soooooo terrifying! We did three jumps, first from 8 metres, the second from 12 metres, the third from 14 metres (45 feet!). Shabana chickened out on the 8 metre jump, Courtney almost didn't do it. She'd get to the edge, then get scared and back off. She eventually did jump, but only when Chris jumped with her. 14 metres was terrifying. I didn't know if I could do it, but I did. Our guide also had a video camera and video taped us jumping.
AFter cliff jumping, we went to Shark Point and snorkelled and saw plenty of black-tip reef sharks, some fairly large as well. After that, we went to Maya Beach (The Beach beach) and hung out there for a while. Then we watched the sunset on a choppy ocean. Once we got back to the tour office, we watched the video our guide made for us, it was awesome. We ordered a copy.
We ran into Rob and Colleen and Tahnie and Sterling and James, had supper and a beer tower at a pub. Erin and Chris then booked a PADI Open Water dive course for tomorrow.
Courtney, Chris, me, James and Erin walked to the beach and stopped at a beach restaurant and had a bite to eat and a drink. Erin, James and me started on buckets. Holy cow, they are potent. Courtney and Chris went home, and the three of us partied with our buckets. We each had two buckets throughout the night.
One of the bars had a fire show (which I tried, and got my pants all black and sooty). Erin was doing backflips on the sand and a local wanted Erin to teach him how to do that. He was totally playing her, I think.
I left the beach at 1:30am, I was wiped and getting tired. I told Erin I was going, but she wasn't ready to quit yet, so she stayed out, as did James.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Sunset Tour on Koh Phi Phi
When I went to bed last night, a huge cockroach came into my room underneath my door. I kicked it back out, it scurried in again, I kicked it back out again, and it stayed out this time.
Got up around 7:00am, walked to the beach, no one on the beach this early, just a jogger and a few locals. Went over my parents, they were having breakfast, so I went for breakfast.
I then checked out of the Moon Light Guest House and into the dorms at the Rock Backpacker. I paid for two nights at The Rock.
Parents and I walked around, went to the beach, I swam for a bit. My parents relaxed in a couple of beach chairs, which they had to pay to use (50 baht a chair). Walked around a bit more, and decided to do a sunset tour. It leaves from the tour place at 2:30. My parents also booked a boat and bus ticket back to Bangkok for tomorrow, they are anxious to get up and see northern Thailand.
At 2:30, we went back to the tour office and a guy picked us up and we headed to the pier. The sunset tour was on a big boat, there's not that many tourists on it, though, which is nice. First we stopped at Monkey Beach, a beach with monkeys. We were given to choices, either swim to shore or take a kayak to shore. I jumped in a started swimming. I thought my dad would be behind me, as there's no way my mom would either swim or take a kayak. I got to shore, and about a dozen monkeys all taking food from tourists. As I'm snapping pictures, I see my mom. I was in a moment of shock for a minute. "Mom, how did you get here?". She laughed, my parents actually kayaked in. The urge to see the monkeys overruled the fear of kayaking. When we got back to the boat, she said she'll never be getting in another kayak again.
We then stopped at a beautiful bay with huge cliffs and did some snorkelling there, and my dad and I kayaked into the bay.
Then on to Maya beach, where the movie The Beach was filmed. We had to jump ship and swim to a rocky shore and grab on to a rope line, climb through a crevace, which opens up into the lush island paradise and eventually leads to Maya beach. It was quite something.
Mom found a boyfriend while dad and I were at Maya Beach. Some old man started chatting her up, then when she saw us coming back in the kayak, she said, "Oh, here comes my husband now", he took off.
After that, we had supper on the boat while we watched the sunset.
Got back from the tour, and I walked around for quite a bit, as I wasn't really tired. Went to bed around 11:00, and soon after, a bunch of noisy Brits started partying just outside the dorm room. I was the first in the dorm to go to bed.
Got up around 7:00am, walked to the beach, no one on the beach this early, just a jogger and a few locals. Went over my parents, they were having breakfast, so I went for breakfast.
I then checked out of the Moon Light Guest House and into the dorms at the Rock Backpacker. I paid for two nights at The Rock.
Parents and I walked around, went to the beach, I swam for a bit. My parents relaxed in a couple of beach chairs, which they had to pay to use (50 baht a chair). Walked around a bit more, and decided to do a sunset tour. It leaves from the tour place at 2:30. My parents also booked a boat and bus ticket back to Bangkok for tomorrow, they are anxious to get up and see northern Thailand.
At 2:30, we went back to the tour office and a guy picked us up and we headed to the pier. The sunset tour was on a big boat, there's not that many tourists on it, though, which is nice. First we stopped at Monkey Beach, a beach with monkeys. We were given to choices, either swim to shore or take a kayak to shore. I jumped in a started swimming. I thought my dad would be behind me, as there's no way my mom would either swim or take a kayak. I got to shore, and about a dozen monkeys all taking food from tourists. As I'm snapping pictures, I see my mom. I was in a moment of shock for a minute. "Mom, how did you get here?". She laughed, my parents actually kayaked in. The urge to see the monkeys overruled the fear of kayaking. When we got back to the boat, she said she'll never be getting in another kayak again.
We then stopped at a beautiful bay with huge cliffs and did some snorkelling there, and my dad and I kayaked into the bay.
Then on to Maya beach, where the movie The Beach was filmed. We had to jump ship and swim to a rocky shore and grab on to a rope line, climb through a crevace, which opens up into the lush island paradise and eventually leads to Maya beach. It was quite something.
Mom found a boyfriend while dad and I were at Maya Beach. Some old man started chatting her up, then when she saw us coming back in the kayak, she said, "Oh, here comes my husband now", he took off.
After that, we had supper on the boat while we watched the sunset.
Got back from the tour, and I walked around for quite a bit, as I wasn't really tired. Went to bed around 11:00, and soon after, a bunch of noisy Brits started partying just outside the dorm room. I was the first in the dorm to go to bed.
Lost my Camera. :-(
Up at around 7:00am, packed and went and waited for the songthaew. He picked us up about 8:00 and took us to the pier. Buddy at the pier asked as where we were going when we got to Krabi, I told him to Koh Phi Phi, he said "Ew....boat leave for Koh Phi Phi at 10:00." We might not make it. He said he'd call ahead and have the boat to Koh Phi Phi wait for us.
This is the first run on this route today. Hopefully no icebergs. They played a Scorpions live DVD on the tv during the trip.
The boat trip was about 1:45. The boat to Koh Phi Phi was waiting for us when we arrived, so we hopped off and hopped on the other boat and it started to get ready to go. Meanwhile, another boat full of farang came up and just after we left the pier, locals started yelling, more backpackers wanted on the boat to Koh Phi Phi. So, the captain circled around and loaded everyone else on, then we left at 10:30.
Uneventful boat ride. Got to Koh Phi Phi about noonish. Once there, we unloaded and started trekking through all the touts trying to get people to come to their guest houses. We ignored them all, we knew we were going to PP Casita. Along the way, some of the dive shops were handing out brochures with a map of the town, showing a lot of the hotels and guest houses. I picked one up, and asked the chick where the PP Casita was. She had heard of it, but couldn't place it immediately. Then we say in the top right, which jogged her memory, she told us to walk until we hit Island Divers, then turn left. She said it was about a 12 minute walk. When we hit Island Divers, more hot chicks sitting out handing out maps, I asked once again which direction the PP Casita was, and she pointed me left, told me to keep going, then go right, then left. That's exactly how it looks on the map too! She mentioned it was about 10 minutes.
So, we kept walking. Blistering hot. My parents had to stop and rest a few times in the heat. We finally made it, and my dad had trouble with his reservation. He never did get a confirmation from the website he booked through, so they didn't have his reservation. He got all grouchy (because of the reservation thing and because their Visa machine wasn't working, and they didn't have any money to pay cash for the room, so they had to find a bank machine), and they ended up getting a A/C bungalow for 2000 baht a night (they had originally tried to reserve a fan room for 1000 baht).
While they checked in, I tried the Rock Backpacker, and it was full. I asked at a few other places near there, they all wanted too much (600 baht or more). Finally found a place, Moon Light Guest House, 500 baht for a tiny hole, fan and shared bath. Fine for me.
I went back to my parents, saw their place, then showed them my awesome room. My mom was like, "Oh my God. How can you stay in a place like this?" My dad thought it was awesome, because the sheets were clean. He said he stayed in worse places in India.
We walked around a bit, my dad found a place selling wireless internet, then he went back to the bungalow to play on the internet, and my mom and I walked to the beach and then went shopping. I bought a pair of crocs (much nicer than flip-flops) and a cool, long sleeve shirt, for sun protection. Then, I lost my camera. When I realized I didn't have it, I immediately retraced my steps, stopping at all the places I had stopped it, but it was nowhere to be found. I believe that I took it off when I was trying on shirts, and forgot to pick it up. None of the shopkeers had seen it. We searched over and over, and I started looking at other peoples camera cases, thinking somebody stole it. Ugh! That sucks!
Anyway, my parents have three (3!) cameras, so I took my moms camera (my old one, I sold it to her last year). My dad has a bunch of memory cards for it too. So, I'm back in business, but still, all the pictures I had taken already, gone. I'll file a police reports, for insurance purposes, hopefully I can get it replaced when I get back to Canada.
That evening, mom, dad and I went to an all-you-can-eat BBQ supper at a restaurant, they had chicken kabobs, sausage, salmon, baked potatoes, lots of salads. Very good.
I think I retired to my tiny hole about 9:00, read for a while, then went to sleep.
This is the first run on this route today. Hopefully no icebergs. They played a Scorpions live DVD on the tv during the trip.
The boat trip was about 1:45. The boat to Koh Phi Phi was waiting for us when we arrived, so we hopped off and hopped on the other boat and it started to get ready to go. Meanwhile, another boat full of farang came up and just after we left the pier, locals started yelling, more backpackers wanted on the boat to Koh Phi Phi. So, the captain circled around and loaded everyone else on, then we left at 10:30.
Uneventful boat ride. Got to Koh Phi Phi about noonish. Once there, we unloaded and started trekking through all the touts trying to get people to come to their guest houses. We ignored them all, we knew we were going to PP Casita. Along the way, some of the dive shops were handing out brochures with a map of the town, showing a lot of the hotels and guest houses. I picked one up, and asked the chick where the PP Casita was. She had heard of it, but couldn't place it immediately. Then we say in the top right, which jogged her memory, she told us to walk until we hit Island Divers, then turn left. She said it was about a 12 minute walk. When we hit Island Divers, more hot chicks sitting out handing out maps, I asked once again which direction the PP Casita was, and she pointed me left, told me to keep going, then go right, then left. That's exactly how it looks on the map too! She mentioned it was about 10 minutes.
So, we kept walking. Blistering hot. My parents had to stop and rest a few times in the heat. We finally made it, and my dad had trouble with his reservation. He never did get a confirmation from the website he booked through, so they didn't have his reservation. He got all grouchy (because of the reservation thing and because their Visa machine wasn't working, and they didn't have any money to pay cash for the room, so they had to find a bank machine), and they ended up getting a A/C bungalow for 2000 baht a night (they had originally tried to reserve a fan room for 1000 baht).
While they checked in, I tried the Rock Backpacker, and it was full. I asked at a few other places near there, they all wanted too much (600 baht or more). Finally found a place, Moon Light Guest House, 500 baht for a tiny hole, fan and shared bath. Fine for me.
I went back to my parents, saw their place, then showed them my awesome room. My mom was like, "Oh my God. How can you stay in a place like this?" My dad thought it was awesome, because the sheets were clean. He said he stayed in worse places in India.
We walked around a bit, my dad found a place selling wireless internet, then he went back to the bungalow to play on the internet, and my mom and I walked to the beach and then went shopping. I bought a pair of crocs (much nicer than flip-flops) and a cool, long sleeve shirt, for sun protection. Then, I lost my camera. When I realized I didn't have it, I immediately retraced my steps, stopping at all the places I had stopped it, but it was nowhere to be found. I believe that I took it off when I was trying on shirts, and forgot to pick it up. None of the shopkeers had seen it. We searched over and over, and I started looking at other peoples camera cases, thinking somebody stole it. Ugh! That sucks!
Anyway, my parents have three (3!) cameras, so I took my moms camera (my old one, I sold it to her last year). My dad has a bunch of memory cards for it too. So, I'm back in business, but still, all the pictures I had taken already, gone. I'll file a police reports, for insurance purposes, hopefully I can get it replaced when I get back to Canada.
That evening, mom, dad and I went to an all-you-can-eat BBQ supper at a restaurant, they had chicken kabobs, sausage, salmon, baked potatoes, lots of salads. Very good.
I think I retired to my tiny hole about 9:00, read for a while, then went to sleep.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Touring around Koh Yao Noi
Got up about 8:00, hung out until James got up, then we went for breakfast. I then took my backpack and started walking to Sabai Corner. About half way there, a local stopped and gave me a ride on the back of his motorbike to the hotel.
I dropped my stuff in my parent room, then went down and rented a motorbike (250 baht/day) and scooted down and got my laundry, then stopped back at James and told him I'd go up to where Erin and Shabana are staying and talk to them and get their plan sorted out. So, up to Erin and Shabana's place, they didn't really know what the plan was, and Erin wanted a ride on the motorbike, so I took her down to James, and it was decided that instead of James waiting for them in the taxi, he's start walking to the pier. Erin then drove the motorbike, she has never driven one, then we went back up to Erin and Shabana's place, then Erin and I went up to the pier to see when the boat from the Paradise would arrive. It was coming in just as we got there.
After seeing them all off, I went back to my parents place, and my dad tried the motorbike. He was kinda wobbly, but didn't fall. He decided to rent his own bike.
With two bikes, we went and scooted around the island. My mom hopped in my bike, as my dad didn't feel comfortable doubling anyone yet. My mom has NEVER been on a motorbike before, and was totally freaking out. After a while, she said to me, "I hate to admit this, but I'm actually enjoying this!" On our motorbike trip, we stopped at the main pier to check out boats to Krabi, there is one leaving at 8:30 tomorrow morning.
We headed back to the hotel about 3:00pm. Very warm. I showered, then my dad and I decided to zip up to the north pier and see if there's any boats to Krabi from there. There is, 150 baht/person, so we decided that's what we'd do. The north pier is quite a bit closer to our hotel.
Back to the hotel and had supper, and told the hotel staff lady that we were leaving, she asked us where we were going, then she made a few phone calls and came back and told us there were two boats, one from the north pier, one from the south pier. The north pier was 150 baht, the south was 350 baht. But the north pier boat goes to an old pier in Krabi, we'd then have to take a local bus down to the new Krabi pier. Alternatively, the boat from the south pier (which is the maiden voyage tomorrow!) goes direct to the new pier in Krabi, so we can just switch boats. We decided to do the latter.
Supper at the hotel was home made lasagna, amazing! After supper, we walked up the road to a pub (Teupee (?) Pub and Restaurant) and had a beer with the cool ocean breeze blowing on us. Very nice night.
Back to the hotel and to bed around 9:00pm.
We checked on a boat to Krabi from the main pier, there is one leaving at 8:30.
I dropped my stuff in my parent room, then went down and rented a motorbike (250 baht/day) and scooted down and got my laundry, then stopped back at James and told him I'd go up to where Erin and Shabana are staying and talk to them and get their plan sorted out. So, up to Erin and Shabana's place, they didn't really know what the plan was, and Erin wanted a ride on the motorbike, so I took her down to James, and it was decided that instead of James waiting for them in the taxi, he's start walking to the pier. Erin then drove the motorbike, she has never driven one, then we went back up to Erin and Shabana's place, then Erin and I went up to the pier to see when the boat from the Paradise would arrive. It was coming in just as we got there.
After seeing them all off, I went back to my parents place, and my dad tried the motorbike. He was kinda wobbly, but didn't fall. He decided to rent his own bike.
With two bikes, we went and scooted around the island. My mom hopped in my bike, as my dad didn't feel comfortable doubling anyone yet. My mom has NEVER been on a motorbike before, and was totally freaking out. After a while, she said to me, "I hate to admit this, but I'm actually enjoying this!" On our motorbike trip, we stopped at the main pier to check out boats to Krabi, there is one leaving at 8:30 tomorrow morning.
We headed back to the hotel about 3:00pm. Very warm. I showered, then my dad and I decided to zip up to the north pier and see if there's any boats to Krabi from there. There is, 150 baht/person, so we decided that's what we'd do. The north pier is quite a bit closer to our hotel.
Back to the hotel and had supper, and told the hotel staff lady that we were leaving, she asked us where we were going, then she made a few phone calls and came back and told us there were two boats, one from the north pier, one from the south pier. The north pier was 150 baht, the south was 350 baht. But the north pier boat goes to an old pier in Krabi, we'd then have to take a local bus down to the new Krabi pier. Alternatively, the boat from the south pier (which is the maiden voyage tomorrow!) goes direct to the new pier in Krabi, so we can just switch boats. We decided to do the latter.
Supper at the hotel was home made lasagna, amazing! After supper, we walked up the road to a pub (Teupee (?) Pub and Restaurant) and had a beer with the cool ocean breeze blowing on us. Very nice night.
Back to the hotel and to bed around 9:00pm.
We checked on a boat to Krabi from the main pier, there is one leaving at 8:30.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Wedding!
We got up about 7:30am. I went in search for a laundry place, found one, but there was no one around.
Walked up my parents place, head breakfast, booked a taxi to the Paradise. We wanted to take a boat, but it's low tide, and the boat is stranded. We could've probably took a taxi to the pier and just got a boat up to the Paradise, but whatever.
Went back to my hut and walked around some more with my laundry and finally found a place. 10 baht/item. It's actually the same place I was at earlier, but there's someone there now.
When I got back to my place, James was nowhere to be found. I left a note telling him to be at my parents place at 11:30. James locked the door when he left, fortunately the window was not latched, so I could break in. I walked back to my parents, and we left in the songthaew at 11:30. Mr. Don is our driver. It was a very rough ride up the Paradise, very pot-holey and dirty and dusty. We got there about 12:30 and swam in the ocean and pool until 3:00, when the wedding started. It was a traditional Thai wedding, very nice. It was sooo hot today (as every day is).
The Paradise is a $300-$400/night resort with it's own beach and lots of bungalows for rent. Very amazing.
We had a candle-lit supper at 6:30, then we took the songthaew back about 9:00. Erin and Shabana came with us, the others were going to stay at the resort tonight too.
We were deciding whether to take a taxi back or hire a boat instead. We asked at the hotel if it was possible to get a boat back, they were going to check into it. In the meantime, Shabana wasn't sure about taking a boat in the dark. So, we decided to call our taxi guy (Mr. Don) instead. Dad went to the hotel counter to ask them to call Mr. Don, and we found out that he's been at the hote since 5:00, sitting at the bar! We're not sure if he was drinking or not, but we didn't say anything.
We discussed a plan today. Everyone is going to Phuket tomorrow, me and my parents are going to stay on the island for one more day and meet up with everyone on Koh Phi Phi in two days time.
Walked up my parents place, head breakfast, booked a taxi to the Paradise. We wanted to take a boat, but it's low tide, and the boat is stranded. We could've probably took a taxi to the pier and just got a boat up to the Paradise, but whatever.
Went back to my hut and walked around some more with my laundry and finally found a place. 10 baht/item. It's actually the same place I was at earlier, but there's someone there now.
When I got back to my place, James was nowhere to be found. I left a note telling him to be at my parents place at 11:30. James locked the door when he left, fortunately the window was not latched, so I could break in. I walked back to my parents, and we left in the songthaew at 11:30. Mr. Don is our driver. It was a very rough ride up the Paradise, very pot-holey and dirty and dusty. We got there about 12:30 and swam in the ocean and pool until 3:00, when the wedding started. It was a traditional Thai wedding, very nice. It was sooo hot today (as every day is).
The Paradise is a $300-$400/night resort with it's own beach and lots of bungalows for rent. Very amazing.
We had a candle-lit supper at 6:30, then we took the songthaew back about 9:00. Erin and Shabana came with us, the others were going to stay at the resort tonight too.
We were deciding whether to take a taxi back or hire a boat instead. We asked at the hotel if it was possible to get a boat back, they were going to check into it. In the meantime, Shabana wasn't sure about taking a boat in the dark. So, we decided to call our taxi guy (Mr. Don) instead. Dad went to the hotel counter to ask them to call Mr. Don, and we found out that he's been at the hote since 5:00, sitting at the bar! We're not sure if he was drinking or not, but we didn't say anything.
We discussed a plan today. Everyone is going to Phuket tomorrow, me and my parents are going to stay on the island for one more day and meet up with everyone on Koh Phi Phi in two days time.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Off to the Island
Erin and I got woken up before 6:00am by Courtney, telling us to get up. We had a flight at 10:50am to Phuket. We had planned on leaving at 8:30 for the airport. Shortly later, Chris came into the room, Jenny (the Thai ladyboy who works the night counter at the hotel) told him we should leave at 7:30 because of traffic.
We got up, I walked to my parents hotel to warn them. It was raining this morning. Back to room, showered and packed, then we all split into groups and took a taxi to the airport. Our taxi driver was crazy, driving 140km/hour along the expressway, tailgating every car, only inches away. My mom didn't say anything, but she told me later she was totally freaking out.
We got the airport about 8:30, lots of spare time, and our flight was delayed by almost an hour.
Flight was unventful. At Phuket, we hired a minivan to take us to the pier. Rob and Colleen took taxi, only room for 10 in the minivan. We made it just in time for the 2:30 boat to Koh Yao Noi. It was about a 1 hour boat ride, got to Koh Yao Noi and we hopped on a songthaew to take us to accomodations. Parents reserved at Sabai Corner, me and James tried Coconut Corner, but was full. We asked the Coconut Corner dude about other places near, he mentioned Koh Yao Chukit, 400 baht. Songthaew driver called and they had rooms. We weren't sure where everyone else was staying.
We got settled in, then walked back along the beach to Sabai Corner and met my parents on the way.
Incidentally, there's lots of tsunami warning signs all over, telling people to go to high ground and showing evacution routes.
We went to parents place for supper, I had barracuda steak steamed in a lemon juice. It was AMAZING!
Found out road to Paradise is horrendous. We decided we need to take a boat up there instead. We probably won't see anyone else either, so the four of us will go it alone.
James and I walked back to our hut, we were wiped. I went to bed about 8:00pm.
Mom mentioned she doesn't like their place. She see our place and likes it better! And it's less than half the cost. My parents have a squatter toilet. Harhar!
We got up, I walked to my parents hotel to warn them. It was raining this morning. Back to room, showered and packed, then we all split into groups and took a taxi to the airport. Our taxi driver was crazy, driving 140km/hour along the expressway, tailgating every car, only inches away. My mom didn't say anything, but she told me later she was totally freaking out.
We got the airport about 8:30, lots of spare time, and our flight was delayed by almost an hour.
Flight was unventful. At Phuket, we hired a minivan to take us to the pier. Rob and Colleen took taxi, only room for 10 in the minivan. We made it just in time for the 2:30 boat to Koh Yao Noi. It was about a 1 hour boat ride, got to Koh Yao Noi and we hopped on a songthaew to take us to accomodations. Parents reserved at Sabai Corner, me and James tried Coconut Corner, but was full. We asked the Coconut Corner dude about other places near, he mentioned Koh Yao Chukit, 400 baht. Songthaew driver called and they had rooms. We weren't sure where everyone else was staying.
We got settled in, then walked back along the beach to Sabai Corner and met my parents on the way.
Incidentally, there's lots of tsunami warning signs all over, telling people to go to high ground and showing evacution routes.
We went to parents place for supper, I had barracuda steak steamed in a lemon juice. It was AMAZING!
Found out road to Paradise is horrendous. We decided we need to take a boat up there instead. We probably won't see anyone else either, so the four of us will go it alone.
James and I walked back to our hut, we were wiped. I went to bed about 8:00pm.
Mom mentioned she doesn't like their place. She see our place and likes it better! And it's less than half the cost. My parents have a squatter toilet. Harhar!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Patpong - Bangkok Red Light District
Court and Chris woke us up about 9:00. Both Erin and I are feeling kinda hung over! We have no windows in our room, so have no concept of whether it's light or not out. We got mobile and everyone was deciding what to do . Everyone was going to go shopping at the Platinum and MBK shopping centres in downtown Bangkok. My parents and I decided to do our own thing.
So, we tried to walk to the Dewit area of Bangkok, not too far, but we missed a turn and ended up very far away on Ratchadamnoen Nok Road. This is a very wide road that houses a bunch of Thai government buildings, the main Muay Thai boxing arena in Bangkok and the UN. I imagine that the huge UN building there is the headquarters for much of the work they do in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. We kept walking, and after a couple of hours, made it to the Dewit area, and there was a HUGE graduation celebration happening at the main square there. Thousands and thousands of people all dressed up. It was soooo hot and humid.
We caught a tuk-tuk back to Koh San Road and had lunch, then took the tourist boat down to the central to the central dock, where it meets up with the Skytrain. We grabbed the Skytrain to the new shopping centre, Siam Platinum. It's HUGE and brand new (wasn't here 5 years ago). The third floor was the automall, with Porche, Maserati, Lambourgini, etc. dealers. The skytrain is awesome, super modern and efficient. Calgary Transit, learn some lessons!
After our window shopping, we caught the Skytrain back to the pier and caught a boat back to our area and met up with everyone else.
At 8:00-ish pm, everyone headed to Patpong area (Red Light District) in Bangkok. We didn't go to any of the shows, but there were tons of touts offering us ping-pong shows. (Court and I went to the shows last time.) We then found a place for supper, super slow service, then cabbed it back. I got to bed around midnight.
So, we tried to walk to the Dewit area of Bangkok, not too far, but we missed a turn and ended up very far away on Ratchadamnoen Nok Road. This is a very wide road that houses a bunch of Thai government buildings, the main Muay Thai boxing arena in Bangkok and the UN. I imagine that the huge UN building there is the headquarters for much of the work they do in Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar. We kept walking, and after a couple of hours, made it to the Dewit area, and there was a HUGE graduation celebration happening at the main square there. Thousands and thousands of people all dressed up. It was soooo hot and humid.
We caught a tuk-tuk back to Koh San Road and had lunch, then took the tourist boat down to the central to the central dock, where it meets up with the Skytrain. We grabbed the Skytrain to the new shopping centre, Siam Platinum. It's HUGE and brand new (wasn't here 5 years ago). The third floor was the automall, with Porche, Maserati, Lambourgini, etc. dealers. The skytrain is awesome, super modern and efficient. Calgary Transit, learn some lessons!
After our window shopping, we caught the Skytrain back to the pier and caught a boat back to our area and met up with everyone else.
At 8:00-ish pm, everyone headed to Patpong area (Red Light District) in Bangkok. We didn't go to any of the shows, but there were tons of touts offering us ping-pong shows. (Court and I went to the shows last time.) We then found a place for supper, super slow service, then cabbed it back. I got to bed around midnight.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Wat Phra Kaew and Grand Palace....leading to a late night!
Up about 8:30, crappy sleep, woke up in the middle of the night, it's so hot and humid.
Erin and I got breakfast, then we went over to my parents hotel. Dad is trying to get his ticket sorted out.
I went and got a haircut, then our whole group met up at noonish to go see Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) and the Grand Palace. 11 of us, we had quite a time keeping track of everyone!
We took a water taxi to the temple. It's VERY impressive. Something to definately see. Court and I tried to go and see it when we were here 5 years ago, but we got befriended by a scam artist, and didn't go. We hired a guide, Sunny, to give us the tour. She was hilarious. She kept pinching Rob's nipple, and rubbing dads stomach and calling him Happy Buddha. She was great.
Tour ended about 3:30, after about 2 hours under the hot sun. We're all pretty wiped. We got a water taxi back to the hotel, showered and lounged and I wrote in my journal.
We went for supper (minus my parents) at an Indian place, then back to the room to nap. Tahnie and Sterling (Tahnie is Courtney's sister, Sterling is her husband) are arriving around midnight tonight, so they all wanted to be up when they arrived.
Mom and Dad went to the Calypso Cabaret tonight. It's a Thai lady-boy Vegas-style show.
We all napped, and Erin woke up about 11:30pm and woke everyone else up. Tahnie and Sterling arrived shortly after midnight.
After they checked in, we all walked around Koh San Road and had a beer at a pub. Everyone started crashing about 1:00am, except Erin and I. We were completely wide awake, after the nap. We stayed up, and decided to go clubbing. On our way back to Koh San Road, a couple from China were trying to find Koh San Road, so we took them with us. They were very grateful. We headed to Gullivers Pub, the main backpacker club. We got a drink, and shortly after, it closed up, it was already 2:00am.
We left, and there was all kinds of touts offering cheap tuk-tuk rides to an after-hours club for 10 baht. Erin and I were still wide awake, so we went to the after hours club (Spicy). It was about a 10 minute tuk-tuk ride. The club was awesome, great music, but was obviously a front for a brothel. Tons of Thai girls looking to pick up guys. It was 300 baht cover, but that included one drink. We had three drinks altogether and danced and watched the hookers ply their trade with the backpacker guys. We got a good buzz happening.
On the way to Spicy, another tuk-tuk beside us had a couple of guys from Turkey going to the same club. We ran into them again at the club, and one of the guys his arms around a girl from Iran. He came over to me and said he came to Thailand to get with Thai girls, and he ends up with a girl from Iran, and then he started laughing. It was funny.
In this club, when you go to the washroom, as your pissing, guys start giving you a massage. Then they turn on the water tap for you to wash your hands, and give you a towel. Of course, they want a tip after that. I had no money (Erin was paying for me), so they were kinda annoyed with me. :-)
After who knows how long, we left Spicy and got a metered taxi back to Koh San Road, went to McDonalds for grease, then to the hotel. Got to bed about 5:30am.
Erin and I got breakfast, then we went over to my parents hotel. Dad is trying to get his ticket sorted out.
I went and got a haircut, then our whole group met up at noonish to go see Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) and the Grand Palace. 11 of us, we had quite a time keeping track of everyone!
We took a water taxi to the temple. It's VERY impressive. Something to definately see. Court and I tried to go and see it when we were here 5 years ago, but we got befriended by a scam artist, and didn't go. We hired a guide, Sunny, to give us the tour. She was hilarious. She kept pinching Rob's nipple, and rubbing dads stomach and calling him Happy Buddha. She was great.
Tour ended about 3:30, after about 2 hours under the hot sun. We're all pretty wiped. We got a water taxi back to the hotel, showered and lounged and I wrote in my journal.
We went for supper (minus my parents) at an Indian place, then back to the room to nap. Tahnie and Sterling (Tahnie is Courtney's sister, Sterling is her husband) are arriving around midnight tonight, so they all wanted to be up when they arrived.
Mom and Dad went to the Calypso Cabaret tonight. It's a Thai lady-boy Vegas-style show.
We all napped, and Erin woke up about 11:30pm and woke everyone else up. Tahnie and Sterling arrived shortly after midnight.
After they checked in, we all walked around Koh San Road and had a beer at a pub. Everyone started crashing about 1:00am, except Erin and I. We were completely wide awake, after the nap. We stayed up, and decided to go clubbing. On our way back to Koh San Road, a couple from China were trying to find Koh San Road, so we took them with us. They were very grateful. We headed to Gullivers Pub, the main backpacker club. We got a drink, and shortly after, it closed up, it was already 2:00am.
We left, and there was all kinds of touts offering cheap tuk-tuk rides to an after-hours club for 10 baht. Erin and I were still wide awake, so we went to the after hours club (Spicy). It was about a 10 minute tuk-tuk ride. The club was awesome, great music, but was obviously a front for a brothel. Tons of Thai girls looking to pick up guys. It was 300 baht cover, but that included one drink. We had three drinks altogether and danced and watched the hookers ply their trade with the backpacker guys. We got a good buzz happening.
On the way to Spicy, another tuk-tuk beside us had a couple of guys from Turkey going to the same club. We ran into them again at the club, and one of the guys his arms around a girl from Iran. He came over to me and said he came to Thailand to get with Thai girls, and he ends up with a girl from Iran, and then he started laughing. It was funny.
In this club, when you go to the washroom, as your pissing, guys start giving you a massage. Then they turn on the water tap for you to wash your hands, and give you a towel. Of course, they want a tip after that. I had no money (Erin was paying for me), so they were kinda annoyed with me. :-)
After who knows how long, we left Spicy and got a metered taxi back to Koh San Road, went to McDonalds for grease, then to the hotel. Got to bed about 5:30am.
Off to Thailand
Ryan drove me to the airport in Calgary. Of course, there was a blizzard, the roads were awful, the traffic crap, and it took quite a while to get there, but I gave myself lots of time. Had to wait around fir a 3 hours for my flight, but because of the bad weather, my flight was delayed almost two hours. We finally took off and I got to YVR and found my parents, and we hopped on our Eva Airways flight from Vancouver to Taipei. Long flight, I managed to sleep maybe 5 hours, out of the 12 hour flight, which was nice. From Taipei, got our connecting flight to Bangkokm arrived in Bangkok about 11:00am on Sunday.
Bangkok airport is brand new, but very drab, it's all grey and that's it. It needs some colour.
We got a taxi from the airport to Koh San Road area, and got dropped off at my parents hotel, Viengtai Hotel. While they checked in, I went to find my hotel, just a block away, the Thai Cozy House. Decent place, a little more expensive than what I usually go for, but oh well. Courtney and Chris's room was right across the hallway from my room.
I went back to the my parents hotel, picked them up, and we started walking. I introduced them to the Banglamphu area (Koh San Road area), where we are staying. We walked and walked all over. It's pretty warm today, probably mid-30's and humid. We stopped at a restaurant and had a beer and just sat for an hour or so.
My mom was complaining about an ear ache, she thinks she has an infection. 5 years ago, when Courtney and I were here, Court had an ear infection, and we went to see a doctor who stuck a needle in Courts ass and cleared up her infection. I remembered where that doctors office was, so we went by to see if it was open, but it was closed for the weekend. Opens up tomorrow (Monday) at 10:00am.
We then went back to our hotels, and when I went to get my key, the hotel chick told me that Erin was here, she is upstairs. Erin is Courtney's friend, and we're sharing a room together. I was surprised, because she wasn't supposed to arrive until tonight. I went upstairs, and met up with Courtney and Chris and James and sure enough Erin was there. She arrived the previous night, and had no where to stay, so her and two other guys she didn't know shared a room at the hotel for that night.
I went downstairs to the tailor shop, where Courtney, Chris, Rob (Courts dad), Colleen (Courts mom) and James (Courtneys friend from Australia) were all getting tailored suits made. The tailors gave all us guys a beer while they went to work measuring everyone and doing a fitting test for their clothes.
Mom and dad headed back to their hotel, I went upstairs and had a shower, then over to my parents hotel and we had supper at their hotel. Then we walked around Koh San Road in the evening (very busy!), but I could barely keep my eyes open. I headed back to the hotel and went to bed about 9:00pm.
Remember the Thai Lady Boy walking around Koh San Road, super flamboyant, short, tight red dress, fake boobs, flinging his/her hair all over the place, trying to pick up some tourists. Funny!
Bangkok airport is brand new, but very drab, it's all grey and that's it. It needs some colour.
We got a taxi from the airport to Koh San Road area, and got dropped off at my parents hotel, Viengtai Hotel. While they checked in, I went to find my hotel, just a block away, the Thai Cozy House. Decent place, a little more expensive than what I usually go for, but oh well. Courtney and Chris's room was right across the hallway from my room.
I went back to the my parents hotel, picked them up, and we started walking. I introduced them to the Banglamphu area (Koh San Road area), where we are staying. We walked and walked all over. It's pretty warm today, probably mid-30's and humid. We stopped at a restaurant and had a beer and just sat for an hour or so.
My mom was complaining about an ear ache, she thinks she has an infection. 5 years ago, when Courtney and I were here, Court had an ear infection, and we went to see a doctor who stuck a needle in Courts ass and cleared up her infection. I remembered where that doctors office was, so we went by to see if it was open, but it was closed for the weekend. Opens up tomorrow (Monday) at 10:00am.
We then went back to our hotels, and when I went to get my key, the hotel chick told me that Erin was here, she is upstairs. Erin is Courtney's friend, and we're sharing a room together. I was surprised, because she wasn't supposed to arrive until tonight. I went upstairs, and met up with Courtney and Chris and James and sure enough Erin was there. She arrived the previous night, and had no where to stay, so her and two other guys she didn't know shared a room at the hotel for that night.
I went downstairs to the tailor shop, where Courtney, Chris, Rob (Courts dad), Colleen (Courts mom) and James (Courtneys friend from Australia) were all getting tailored suits made. The tailors gave all us guys a beer while they went to work measuring everyone and doing a fitting test for their clothes.
Mom and dad headed back to their hotel, I went upstairs and had a shower, then over to my parents hotel and we had supper at their hotel. Then we walked around Koh San Road in the evening (very busy!), but I could barely keep my eyes open. I headed back to the hotel and went to bed about 9:00pm.
Remember the Thai Lady Boy walking around Koh San Road, super flamboyant, short, tight red dress, fake boobs, flinging his/her hair all over the place, trying to pick up some tourists. Funny!
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