PHUKET, LET'S TAKE A HOLIDAY!

  Bangkok, Thailand
Saturday, February 16, 2008

CCWT Day 6, Bangkok airport



Sawasdee everyone!



Well, here we are, six days into our world trip and today we farewell Thailand.



But let's backtrack a bit...

Goodbye Sydney

We departed Sydney on Monday afternoon and had a nine-hour flight to Bangkok.

Chris: beer #4

Caroline, the virgin traveller that she is, was highly impressed with the tiny TV screens on the back of each chair and took full advantage of the movie channel. Chris, meanwhile, took full advantage of the free booze.

Food, glorious food!

We arrived in Bangkok just before midnight and spent the night in a dodgy hotel before flying to sweaty Phuket the next morning, checking into the lavish Duangjitt Resort, complete with three giant pools, two pool bars and enormous gardens.

"Cocktails, Michael!"

Quickly learning the linguistic essentials, "sawasdee" (hello), "kawp khun ka" (thank you) and Singh sawng ("two beers please"), we got to work doing what we do best - eating, drinking and lounging by the pool.

Paradise Lost

The day of our two-year anniversary (which also happens to be Valentine's Day - Chris, the cornstar apparently planned it that way), we took a boat trip out to Phi Phi Island and went snorkeling. We also visited Maya Bay, the famous beach from The Beach. No sign of Leo Di Caprio, but we were able to share in the serenity with at least 1000 other people, who, like us, were all trying to get the money photo but couldn't see the water for the boats. Kind of ironic considering everyone there was part of a tour organised around visiting the scene of a movie that was all about trying to keep paradise a secret...

Whities' day in the sun

So, after tut-tutting the immorality of the tourist trade, we took a few happy snaps and had a little paddle in the bay, with Caroline secretly wondering whether it was wrong to hope that Leo had peed right where she was swimming.

Caroline finds a home away from home

The rest of the time we spent, pounding the main drags of Patong, and politely refusing offers of custom made suits/pirated DVDs/tuk tuk rides/ping pong shows. Though, we do give the hawkers credit for knowing their customers. After greeting us with the familiar "G'day mate", Mr Krish, the eager proprietor of "David Jones Fashions" on the infamous Bangla Road, quizzed us on our knowledge of Australia and we hate to say it, but he would have done far better in a citizenship test that we.

Monster prawns from the deep

Last night, our final in Phuket, we cracked the bottle of Moet we had carefully transported from Sydney, applied aloe vera to our sunburn and shared war stories from our time on the island fondly referred to as the "Pearl of the Andaman Sea". Like, "remember that time Mr Krish quizzed us about Australia? Man, that was a blast."

















Currently we are sitting at Bangkok airport awaiting our flight to Hong Kong. We've booked two nights at the Kowloon New Hostel for a slightly worrying $8.30 each a night. We'll let you know how that pans out...



Talk soon,

Chris and Caroline xx

Thailand's one road rule

THINGS WE LEARNED IN...THAILAND:

1. Men don't look good in Speedos, no matter what nationality they are. And no, oiling up your wrinkled, sagging European skin doesn't make you look any hotter, aiiit.

2. A LOT of women forgot to pack the top half of their bikinis. At least 90 per cent of them were over 50. Symptom of dementia?

3. There is only one traffic rule in Phuket - "Drive fast".

4. When it's hot, you can drink all day and not get drunk. And it's good for you.

5. Zac Efron is still a ponce, even when he's dubbed in Thai.

Paradise found

THIS WEEK'S TRAVEL TIP:

If you want to avoid having someone sitting next to you on cheap domestic flights that don't allocate seating, try to appear as fat as possible and look as though you are on the verge of vomiting any minute. Works every time.















P.S.

Thanks to everyone who came to our farewell pub run, everyone who saw us off at the airport and for the thoughtful gifts and last minute goodbyes. A special thanks to our parents, Josey, John and Joyce. For everything.



Simon: Happy Birthday for next week dude!



Antonina: Not sure exactly where you are currently (perhaps already here in Bangkok?) but we just wanted to wish you all the best for your trip. You are going absolutely to love Patong and all it's tackiness. Oh, and we hope you gave the breakfast buffets at your resort as good a working out as I did - Caroline.



Bel: Hope our little baby has settled in and isn't giving Boonie too much grief.



Ness: Got your email. Excited to hear you are returning to Australia but bummed we won't be able to have a proper catch up for a couple of years! Enjoy the last rays of sunshine and we'll see you soon-ish.



We probably won't have a telephonic device until we reach London in late April but we'll still have email and will regularly update this blog - which is also Fakebook compatible, for those that care, meaning your news feed will let you know every time we've updated!

Run for your lives!

Seems everyone's cashing in...