Off To Phuket
Trip Start
Aug 23, 1996
1
322
452
Trip End
Ongoing
Chalong Bay,
Thailand
Monday, April 9, 2007
I hate being fucking jetlagged. The best way to combat it is to stay up, slip into the local timezone and live the life
After getting our room, we went back to Dave's and met another couple of people who were doing the boat trip. Brent the Kiwi and Lisa the Pom. Dave left Nan to close the shop and he took us around near the river to a place called Hemlock for dinner. He ordered shitloads of food. All good as you would expect from Thai food when in Thailand, washed down with copious amounts of Singha. It went down a treat. As it neared 23:00, we parted ways, I had my usual Thai dessert of cornetto, and then we went back to the room.
We lay there trying to sleep. It didn't work. Hour by hour passed us by. Somehow I did eventually fall, and into a deep coma I went
The Kok Day Two
I hate being fucking jetlagged. 13:45 we awoke. That blew day two away. Shit, showered but not shaved, up to Dave's we went. Said hello, then fucked off. I needed a coffee badly. Dave sent us up this alley way, where there was a coffee bar. Fuck Bangkok has changed. I remember the good old days when there was no butter, cheese, coffee blah, blah, fucking blah !!! Ice coffee, went down a treat. We walked off and had a look at a fort and a couple of Wats before we went back to Thanon Khoasan. Now this place, it used to be good. Really dirty/seedy, kind of like Sultanahmet in Istanbul, but they have cleaned the place up and placed pavers on the ground. Not my cup of tea, maybe because underneath it all, I am a dirty/seedy type of person? Lucy made some purchases the back to Dave's for the airconditioned comfort of his shop. Brent and Lisa were waiting, and wanted to go to dinner. We had decided on the fish restaurant we always go to. Remember that one Paul and Julie? The blinder last year? There were a couple of girls, French Sarah and Dutch Mieke in the shop asking about Myanmar, so Lucy was telling all. Brent asked them to come out to dinner, with us, so the six of us went. BBQ'd Red Snapper. Mmmmmmmm. Washed down with loads of Singha. Stories of travel were being told, it was a great night and it rolled on so quickly, then it was dessert time again. Cornetto as usual. Lucy wanted more beers, so we grabbed the two Euro girls and hit a bar for more Singha, plus one sneaky little Beer Lao which went down a treat !!!
The Flight
I hate being fucking jetlagged. I still can't sleep, so when the alarm went off, I was fucked. We had breakfast with Coffee then met Brent and Lisa. We grabbed a cab and went to the airport. Met up with Dave and Nan and found out that the Ryanair of Asia, Air Asia was running an hour late. Once in the waiting hall, the time eventually arrived to line up. The flight was full of Euros and they were milling around, wanting the best seats. I wasn't in the mood for a Ryanair style pushing and shoving, so I accepted my fate and still managed to get ok seats. Luckily, the guys at work had given me loads of movies and series, so I sat back and watched an episode of Boston Legal, and then it happened. I knew we were on a budget airline, we didn't so much as land, but bounced down the runway !!!! Bags picked up, a taxi was waiting for us to take us to our next location
Chalong Bay
There was no hotel waiting for us, but we found one quick enough. Dave, obviously thought that the Jewboy in me was a joke, so he got us an airconditioned room !!! Complete with bar fridge !!! So we demolished it !!! A late lunch was had, and dinner came upon us really quickly. We tried to get back into the same Thai hole, but the kitchen had closed early. We accepted this and went to an Italian restaurant instead. We were joined by the co-owners of the yacht, Frank and Alex. I had met Alex years ago on Koh Tao, so it was good to catch up. A couple of Germans, Karsten and Meike were also there. It seemed like we would have a good crew. Beers were flowing, and the pizza we had, actually, I believe it was the best pizza I have ever had in Thailand !!! To full to go to bed, still suffering from fucking jetlag, we walked the streets of Chalong Bay. There were a lot of karaoke places open, but nobody inside. It didn't take long, so I had my usual cornetto for dessert, and we went back. I tried to sleep, but it's this fucking jetlag. Tomorrow will be a different day, we are climbing aboard the yacht and we will be setting sail, destination unknown.
