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BACK TO THE BIG BAD BK
Entry 4 of 5 | show all | print this entry |
On the 9th of April Jess and I thought it was high time to do something with our lives. We were rudely awoken by our neighbours at 8am reminding us that the boat for Koh Phangan left at 9.30 and neither of us were packed yet. Not great when we'd each had about half an hours sleep on a bed covered in sour cream and onion pringles. I dragged myself out of bed and packed in record time, even managing to do up my suitcase with relative ease. I;m definitely getting better at this travelling lark. We made it to the pier on time where i happened to bump into a girl i'd been with on my spanish exchange in lower 6, Becky Ward. The world felt even smaller when we arrived at our hostel in Koh Phangan and bumped into a girl from my drama class at Hills Road who happened to be leaving that moment for Koh Tao. Fortunately i slept on the 50 minute boat journey but in such an awkward position that it undid all of the good work from my Thai massage the day before. Our hostel, Coral Bungalows, was cheap, 200 Baht a night each but definitely the nicest place i've stayed in in Thailand. I shared a triple room with Jess and Reilly, our Canadian friend, and we had a large room which resembled a library with wood-clad walls and an enormous bathroom with both hot and cold taps!! Seeing two taps is definitely a rareity in this part of the world, as is a flushing toilet. I was in heaven.
At 11.30 we decided pizza was needed. I then spent the whole day lounging around by the pool and reading. I fell asleep in the sun on a sun lounger and woke up with the imprints of the slats on my legs and absolutely dripping in sweat. I felt very attractive. I didn't really like my first impressions of Koh Phangan - on the bus on the way to the hostel the island looked barren with sparse trees and rubbish dumps, and the pool was populated by chavs chainsmoking and wearing thick chains about their necks. I felt like i was back in Kavos. I returned to my book after a boy called "Zaz" tried to talk to me. Snobbery was definitely the way forward. I was later joined by some of my travel buddies and had a few japes with Jon in the pool, such as "underwater-hold-your-breath" contests which i lost every time, and trying to convince Jon that he'd drank too much sang som and the dog really did only have three legs.
I was so tired that my only night on a new island was spent in the hostel restaurant eating myself silly and watching movies. Jess and I shared a Burmese curry, vegetables and cashew nuts, pad thai, spring rolls and rice. Very delicious as for some reason i was ravenous. We watched a range of movies culminating in Rambo 4, which was horrendous. The worst one i've ever seen as it was horrible violent, and apparently "so true, ask any of the waiters 'ere, tha' is STILL 'appenin te-day" according to a boy we met who later asked me if he could come to Australia with me so that i could fall in love with him. That definitely marked bedtime. Alone.
The 11th was a busy morning - packing, yet again, sorting out money for Jess who lost her bank card and putting photos onto CDs and other mundane tasks. Every taxi i found refused to take me to Thala Song, the pier from where i needed to get the catamaran, and this was very stressful for someone who likes to be everywhere early. Pops would have been a fuming wreck in this situation. Eventually i found transportation and after many hugs from Jess was on my not so merry way, feeling quite teary. Luckily i arrived at the pier with enough time to buy myself a whole sweet mango, a pineapple and two bottles of water. Result! Lots of people laughed at me struggling with my backpack and some kind Thai ladies helped me. Westerners are so cruel! Once on the air conditioned Lomprayah, i went from being a sweaty mess to a shivering wreck. The cabin crew took a little fancy to me and wrapped me in a blanket. I spent the few hours watching a Nancy Drew film and then something awful with Chris Rock in it. Quite mind-numblingly boring. The highlight of my trip was when the bus stopped at a roadside restaurant - i had pumpkin with vegetables and chicken curry with rice for a mere 30 Baht, or 48p. Delicious!
So after a long, boring boat and bus trip from Koh Tao, i arrived in Bangkok at about 1.30am. Not great, i was shattered and in desperate need of sleep. I checked into the first hostel i came across and was faced with my first experience of... SHARED toilets and showers. Among being a bit icky, it was just really annoying having to go one way down the corridor to go the loo and the other way to get to the showers. Definitely not keen on doing that again. Memories of my plush suite at The Salisbury YMCA in Hong Kong seem distant. The bus was late in arriving, as i thought we would be in Bangkok at around midnight i had arranged to meet my friend Michael from Hong Kong so rather than going to bed, i forced myself to get on the internet and see what was cracking. I wandered to the meeting point he had suggested and of course he wasnt there, me being over and hour late, but lo and behold he wandered in front of me about five minutes later. So brilliant that all the backpackers in the world seem to gravitate to the same small road in Bangkok. We spent about an hour together catching up and people watching before it really was time for some shuteye. My room had aircon, which felt like such a luxury after dealing with "fan rooms" for two weeks. I even got cold during the night - how novel.
This morning i was up at the crack of 9.30 to get some different accomodation. Communal bathrooms just arent for me. After wandering all over in the blistering morning heat with only half a pineapple and some sesame biscuits for sustenace i settled on the first place i had seen, the nearest hostel to my previous hostel on Rambuttri Road which runs parallel to Koa San Road but is just a bit cheaper and quieter. Now i feel like i'm living in style with both air conditioning and a fan, not to mention an en suite shower.
I met Michael at midday and we sat on the roadside for a spot of pad thai with egg. Not the best i've had but you can't really fault it for 48p. I covered mine with crushed peanuts but steered well clear of the chilli. I still dont know how people eat hot food in the heat. This "it cools you down" theory is absolute rubbish - it just makes me sweat into my food. After another wander up and down Koa San (you can never tire of it, so much to be seen!) we jumped in a tuk tuk and headed to Pantip Plaza, the place to be in Bangkok if you are an electrical item. I needed a new camera and trawled the many "cheap cheap" shops looking for the best deal, which i am certain i eventually found. I am quite ashamed that i now get excited over things such as a free 4G memory card and spare battery. Not okay. I thought i needed a bit of real retail therapy. So i indulged. Probably a little too much... The less said about that the better!
I spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out around Koa San and Rambuttri and got talking to a guy from the Isle of Man called Robert, who now lives in Koh Tao and builds houses there. Fascinating how so many people i meet have the same story - buying a round the world ticket and just ending up staying in a random country for years on end. We met over two plates of rice with steamed chicken with a few slices of cucumber. Very boring and bland you might say, but not once you taste it. I was just keen for something cooked in a way that wasnt fried for the first time in about a month, but as it turns out the chicken is actually steamed in the rice so the rice tastes delicious too. I might try that once i get home but knowing me i'd probably overcook the rice and undercook the chicken.
I met Michael again this evening and we are currently waiting for the arrival of five of his friends from America. Slightly daunting thinking about being the only girl with six men but im sure after a few buckets of sangsom and red bull we'll all be the best of friends.
Tomorrow, the 12th of April marks the first day of Songkran, the Thai new year. I think i'm unbelievably lucky to have witnessed Chinese New Year and now this. Tomorrow most shops will be shut but there will be an enormous waterfight filling the streets - i definitely need to invest in a waterpistol. Bikini at the ready i will take no prisoners!
Where I stayed:
Green House Hostel
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