Bangkok- Southern Thailand
Trip Start
Jan 23, 2008
1
8
9
Trip End
Aug 21, 2008
Ko Phangan,
Thailand
Saturday, February 16, 2008
on a plane from siem reap to bangkok beware of the $20 departure tax! very annoying. we decided to fly with Bangkok airways it was a lovely flight. in bangkok by 12, headed straight to the main train station to find the next train to Surat thani wasn't until 3, beware of all the ticket touts only buy your ticket from the counter. decided to wait have some food and buy some supplies as it was14 hours. the train was really bad we went for the cheapest option was very very basic. just looked out the window until it got dark then got attacked by mosquito's and read my book. we were about 2 hours later than our ticket said but we arrived in one piece. there we got a taxi to Surat thani, it was freezing in the back of the truck and took about 40 mins. surprisingly there were loads of people around the night market was open, with women selling all sorts of food and flowers. finally found a hotel with some room but we were surprised to find it has HOT WATER SHOWER!we had been coping for the last three weeks with a freezing cold dribble. i was very relieved to be in a normal plane apart from all night i felt like i was still on the train.
Sunday
got up at about 10 and had a really long shower. we booked our boat to the island through reception at the hotel. we started trying to ring some guest houses on the island with a phone card wed bought but no one we tried answered or had any room. then we made the mistake of trying to find somewhere open for breakfast. we walked and walked and finally found a 7 eleven then we couldn't find our way back to our hotel. we walked around and had to ask some people as we needed to pack as the bus picked us up at 11! a nice stranger lead us back to the side entrance that we had walked past about 5 times! back at the hotel i was getting some water from the bar and i saw 2 massive rats gross. our tuk tuk picked us up and took us to a tour office where we sat for 30mins looking through brochures of samui 5 star resorts and spas. they also charged me for using the toilet before getting on the bus how very enterprising. on the bus we met 4 girls all from London the same age as us. we got chatting and they said the place they were staying seemed very chilled out when they has called they said we should come and see if there's some room for us. it was listed in lonely planet and was on the opposite side to hat rin beach(where the full moon parties are) lonely planet described it as rustic beach shacks on the hill side, we thought it couldn't be that bad. the boat over was a large ferry and didn't make me feel that boat sick, took forever though and got a bit sun burnt. when we got to the pier we all decided to share a taxi into hat rin. the driver dropped us off and pointed for signs to Lelia beach. the road was soo steep and it was backing hot carrying all our rucksacks completely nackered us. when we got there we realized we could have cut down and walked along the beach! the shacks really were shacks and they were totally gross, i don't even want to think back about it. the others didn't seem to mind too much and it was the cheapest place we could find near the beach and a close walk to hat rin. i think we made the mistake of going for the cheapest option as we wanted to spend our money on having a good time. we got changed and met in the bar for a few large Chang beers, then off into hat rin beach. the Thai buckets of mixed spirits were only 6pounds very easy to drink. the actual beach was great. there were loads of people all really friendly, the music was different in every bar so everyone was happy. after a few more buckets the people in one of the bars started playing with a skipping rope that was on fire. it was very entertaining to watch very drunk people jumping in messing it up and burning people. i wasn't that drunk to have a go but i did have a really great night. we someone managed to leave our key with some other people so had to sleep in a hammock on the beach. probably better than staying in the hut.
Monday 18th Feb
a very chilled out day for all of us, catching up with some sleep on the beach. we also had a good swim and looked at some of the more classy resorts on our beach they looked lovely. also realised all the people in th posh resorts were beautiful. we stopped there for lunch and to use their toilet. i needed some proper sleep so had a afternoon nap in our hut. that night we all went out for a meal and some chilled drinks on the beach, we met some really great people it was a lot of fun. all needed some extra sleep so an early night for all.
Tuesday
at about 11 we all went into town to get some breakfast and decided to do a boat trip called dicks. it turned out to be a complete rip off and the man running the boat was horrid. we complained when we got back to the main land and only managed to get 70b back per person don't know if it was really worth the bother. anyway back in hat rin we bumped in to 3 boys the girls had met in bangkok. we decided to show them our lovely beach had a few beers and got changed. had a really cheap pad Thai from a street stand where you could see exactly what they were doing, it was amazing. we bought some glow paint and finger painted all over was good fun. there was a big pool party on around the other side of hat rin beach, we met some other people who were also walking so it was a good laugh with the help from a few buckets. when we got to the party the music was good we all started dancing and started splattering the glow paint all over each other, gave a great effect. the drinks weren't that cheap but we shared buckets. at about 1am we wanted a swim so had some fun in the pool meeting loads of people. i managed to loose all my friends but i made new ones. finally found my friends at 4am and got a tax bus home, back up the winding hills. the driver was going so fast i was suprised i didn't fall out the back.
Wednesday
everyone needed some time this morning to chill out and relax. at mid day we headed down to hat rin beach to meet the boys, they were in a football competition run on the beach for all the tourists. the surf was pretty rough on the other side of the island. our friend got stung by some kind of jelly fish but it went down in about 2 hours. i just chilled out people watching and eating ice cream. that night we went down to the main beach again and there were people with snakes and lizards trying to get you to give them money for a picture was really scary.
Thursday
today we found out the full moon party had been moved due to Buddha day(a Thai day of no alcohol) and due to the Thai elections so it got moved from the 22nd to the 24th. we decided this would actually work better for us as we wanted to go to ko tao to go diving. this meant we could leave our main rucksacks in our hut and only take our small rucksacks. we would still have to pay for our hut but thats ok. the diving there is meant to be great value compared to the rest of Thailand. spent the rest of the afternoon in the hut recovering all i could taste was the weird red bull mixed with Samson rum. my friend had taken a walk up to the light house and found a great bar called the chill house. we all met there for sunset drink. there was a really good view over the beach lit by the massive full moon. we all had a fun night and then realised we still hadn't eaten anything.we went into the main strip to watch friends and i got some simple overpriced fried rice whilst watching the simpsons in one of the many bars. booked our early morning boat over to ko tao so needed an early night.
Friday
9am pic up from coco hut, a posh resort a few places along the beach. it was really windy and not a good day for going on a boat. managed to fall asleep on the boat. we decided to book with a company called easy divers right off the main pier. they sorted us with discounted accommodation if we booked our tour with them. they started the dive at 1 so we checked out our room. the girls back in ko phangan would have been very jealous it had a lovely shower. as the shower on kopayang was tied to a coconut tree. we had a small lunch and met the dive instructor. we decided to go for just a fun dive as we didn't have time or funds to do the paddy certificate. it was a short boat ride out, we ran through all the equipment. our dive was only 40mins even with a wet suit i was pretty chilly as you only kick your legs and don't get your blood moving. we saw loads of very pretty fish and other sea creatures. we were really lucky to see so much. after the dive we sat on the beach and looked up some good places to eat and drink tonight. also managed to catch some sun and take some nice photos of the sun setting over the sea. got washed and changed and headed off through the island to a small inlet called Ao Chalok Ban Ko. most of the island was pretty dead it was a longer walk than we had thought but when we got there it was worth it. as we got nearer the sea there were more people and bars. we walked out to the sea and saw the long pier into the water at the end was some pretty lights and music. as we walked along i turned round to look at the massive moon and very nearly fell off the pier. had a nice meal but it took forever i still wasn't feeling great but there was a pretty cat that sat on my lap and made me think of home. the moon was massive and reflected in the bay made a great photo.walked back to our place and forgot to set an alarm for the nest morning as we were only staying one night.
Saturday 23rd
woke up late and needed to check out at 10. it worked out well as we only had our small bags we didn't need to worry about leaving our bags anywhere. we walked up the west coast of the island to find even nicer beaches. we had a simple fruit salad for breakfast then chilled and listened to music and swam in the warm sea. on the way back to the pier we ordered some lunch but we didn't leave enough time and nearly had to run back to the pier and nearly missed the boat. this time it wasn't that rough but packed full of people coming over for the full moon. when we got back to ko phangan we got a moto bike but it was a mistake as the hills were too big for the three of us on one bike. my boy friend henrik had to get off the bike and walk up one hill as the bike couldn't make it, going up was bad but coming down was worse. when we got to hat rin we sat on the beach and needed some time to get over the journey. went on the Internet and started feeling really ill feverish and sweaty. that night broke out in really bad flu right before the full moon party typical.
Sunday
day of the full moon hat rin was packed. the beaches were full of large neon stages and themeing. there were massive speakers all over the beach. chilled most of the afternoon on Lelia beach and tried to get as much sleep as i could. sat in the bar downstairs drinking energy drinks and pro-plus to try and get some energy and forget i was ill. the other girls did a great job of distracting me of thinking about it. we all had fun with more glow paint i wore my only white top still covered in paint from the pool party.that evening i booked the bus from ko panyang to krabi, was kinda suprised i didnt lose it. hat rin was packed it was a fantastic night we danced so much and it started to rain at about 3. id lost my voice by 4 and tried eating ice lollies to try help i went back at about 5. the noise from our resort wasn't as bad as id expected slept surprisingly well.
Monday
woke up early in the morning to the sound of rain coming in through the roof. our hut wasnt that waterproof. the water was only falling on the specific place we had put our rucksacs, had to get up and move them. the girls and their boy friends came past to say goodbye and return some of the things they had borrowed. it was now about 7 so got up and packed up our things. the rain only got worse and walking down the muddy hillside with a massive pack on was very dificult. i went to pay at reception, somehow they only tried to charge me for one night. i think the rain gear distracted them. however when henrik came down they knew him and made us pay for the full 9 nights. that sucked. thats when i noticed henrik had fallen and was covered in mud. we had arranged to be picked up form coco hut resort as it was easier to get to by car. i felt stupid standing there soaking wet and with a boyfriend covered in mud.The drive to the peir was very scary as the driver was drving so fast at one point i thought he was going to kill a child that ran onto the road. the boat was really bad we both were trying so hard not be sick,the water was really rough dur to all the rain. at surait thani port we were pushed onto a random bus heading for surait thani town. when we arrived my fever was getting much worse and we really just wanted to get far away from surait thani as it was completely rubbish. henrik booked us on the next bus to krabi, while i managed to buy 2 small bottles of water and some chocolate buscuits. im really glad i bought them as the bus didnt stop anywhere for the whole journey all 8 hours! as soon as we climbed on the bus we noticed it was full and we had to stand in the middle of the bus. i was feeling so ill i made friends with a nice thai couple and manged to perch on their seat. luckily about 4 hours in a few people got off and henrik myself and a random american shared 2 seats of our own. arriving in krabi we were dropped at a bus station then got a collective taxi into krabi town. we looked through lonely planet but all the places we tried were full or really terrible. it also strated to rain thai style meaning thunderstorm. walking around a strange town about 8pm with the flu in pouring rain was really not the way to get better. we finally found a place that had a bed so we just took it as we were so tired, the place was weird but i was so glad to lie down. after dosing up with more paracetamol we really needed some proper food as all we had eaten was half a packet of chocolate buscuits. we found a lovely restaurant and had a nice dinner, after i went straight to bed. henrik played on the internet and somehow i was so fast asleep he had to get the owner to come and open the door.
