Tom and Hali's Thailand Adventure

We haven't been particularly good at updating the blog, but I think this is a good thing as it shows we have been busy having fun! I also put it dow to us trying to fit so much into such a short space of time, but the easiest way to digest our island adventure's will be under subheadings which is what I will do now, starting where we left off in Koh Samui.....

Koh Samui
Compared with Koh Tao it was a bit of a shock, Koh Samui is huge, there are big roads, big hotels and a Tesco's, Mc Donald's, Starbucks, all that malarky that we have been trying to avoid! There's also quite a bit of sex tourism which is not really the vibe we are going for.. We decided to opt for Hat Lamai, our guide book tells us that it is the second biggest beach in Koh Samui, after all the drinking we did in Tao we thought we should probably get a bit of peace, but maybe sometimes you can have too much peace! We chose 'Beers House' from the internet as they had a load of affordable rooms at 300b a night, after being in a dorm it was very nice to have our own space, even if that space was a bed and nothing else, it was comfortable. The family that run Beers are great, they pretty much left us to our own devices but were always smiley and friendly, especially when Tom attempted to speak Thai....The beach was busy-ish but everyone there seemed to keep themselves to themselves, which was nice at first but a bit quiet as the days went on. The sea at Hat Lamai is very clear but very rocky which made swimming difficult, but Tom and I had a great time messing about in the waves whilst trying not to get maimed by the seabed!
Craving the company of tropical animals we decided to go to the aquarium and zoo in Samui, we also decided that we walk there, two hours later (including a stop off in a muslim market - very interesting if you get the chance) we turned up sweaty and sunburnt only to be told we had missed the tiger show, with hindsight I think this was definitely for the best. It was depressing. I worked in pets at home for a summer in my second year at uni, one of my duties was to take care of the fish and to scoop out any dead ones before the small children saw them.... this does not by any means make me an expert on how to keep exotic sea life, but it doesn't take a brain surgeon to work out that the ages are too small and the sharks and the turtles and the fish all look pretty miserable, and who wants to go and see miserable animals? The tigers are kept in small cages but there are signs around assuring patrons they have a big outside enclosure to walk around in, which seemed to be true. The saddest part of the day was meeting a monkey in a mock bird cage, all in all not somewhere we would visit again..
Pumped up by our previous days walk we decided to walk to the 'monkey sanctuary' described in our travel guide, next to the description is a picture of a buddhist lovingly holding a monkey. Oh good we thought we can block out the horrors of yesterday and get to see some happy monkeys, wrong, for the first (but not the last time) our tour guide misled us, after 2 hours we found a monkey 'theatre' in which they dressed up the monkeys and made them ride bikes, not a buddhist in sight... we decided that it couldn't possibly be the same place so carried on walking for 2 hours, we didn't find it. We did however find a really lovely bar and ended up really getting on with the people who ran it and having the most delicious barbecue, it wasn't the day we planned but most definitely my favourite day in Samui.

Koh Phangan

We headed to Phangan after the full moon party had taken place, as the craziness dies down and everything becomes a lot cheaper, we had a vague idea as to where we were headed but once we got there they told us they were full, rats! We walked a little way down the road and came across 'Roadside Bungalows' pretty basic, lots of spiders and an ensuite bathroom that I kept having violent images of being murdered in, not the most comfortable night's sleep to be fair but it comes with a mosquito net and nobody murdered me, so at 200b a night you can't complain. That night we had some salty pancakes from a posh bar that had beautiful views over the whole of KOH Phangan, Tom has asked me not to go into too much detail, but Tom got sick, I thought he was just a bit hungover/dehydrated so as we were travelling to Dolphin bungalows (600b) in the back of a pickup truck Tom projectile vomited for a long time spraying a toxic orange liquid all over the road, ok enough detail... by the end of the day he still wasn't well so we had to go to the clinic, the nurse was incredible and within a few hours he was fine. I just wish I had taken him much sooner, however it is a lesson learned. The next day we hung out with a German girl called Gabrielle snorkelled and ate, at 2am I woke up and was sick and proceeded to wake up at 3 hour intervals throughout the night, I think it was definitely the salty pancakes! Which is ironic because the place we ate from was pretty upscale and there was me worried about eating from street vendors! Cut a long story short the same nurse fixed me, but it took the wind out of our sails for a bit. I've only briefly mentioned Dolphin but I can't recommend it enough, the food there is so delicious it managed to pull me out of my paranoia, it's run by a thai guy and his wife who is from new zealand so there is influence from both places in the menu! There are also beautiful cats lounging under the trees and lots of pretty statutes and flowers and cool places to sit.

After a few days Gabrielle encouraged us to go with her to bottle beach, a beach which is only accessible by boat or a pretty heavy drive through the jungle, we agreed and came with her to smile bungalows and smile we did The beach is perfect for swimming as we have found with the beaches here, you often have to wade out quite far into the sea before it gets deep enough to have a proper swim, not with bottle beach a few strides and you're in, and its lovely. So we stayed at bottle beach doing nothing but swimming and eating and reading ('inbetween the assasinations ' arvinda adiga - very good)! We decided that we had been in Koh Phangan for a very long time and although it's lovely we needed to see a bit more, so we packed up, said goodbye to Gabrielle and headed for Krabi....

We are currently sat in a room, located above a bar in the little island of Koh Tao, a picturesque setting to say the least, far more slow paced then the prior few days. However i will start at the end of the last blog entry, so we decided to escape the frantic hustle and bustle of the Thai capital, we chose to take a train at 6am to chumporn, then changing to a ferry on to koh tao, simple enough. So we arrived at Bangkok train station, all luggage in hand, a quick paced walk through the common gauntlet of taxi drivers, and touts, we arrived in a grand building, that seemed somewhat reminiscent of Temple Meads, the service also similar qaulities as on our arrival we were aptly informed the train was full and we would have to wait until 1pm for the next one. Faced with the daunting out look of a 7 hour wait in Bangkok train station we began to panic, the counter clerk seemed unwilling to help, we were then approached by a very helpful thai woman who spoke good English, she taken us to a taxi driver, and spoke to him in thain, then informing us we could get this taxi to train station and get on a bus to chumporn, this was undoubtedly the cheapest taxi fare of the trip so far, a little over £2 for a good 40 minute drive. What has been really highlighted tp us on this trip is the willingness of thai people to help, as on our arrival to the bus station we shown to the ticket office, escorted to our bus, all of our luggage loaded, a man even told us to just relax and sit down, as the high pressure sales tactics we had witnessed in Bangkok made us very on edge about taking any help from strangers, but we were very wrong, and i m still very thrown about the welcoming attitude we have received whilst in Thailand.

So after one sleepy 8 hour train journey, we arrived in Chumporn, we were greeted by taxi drivers offering us lifts, however we made our way to a local tourist information center, the woman who greeted us was friendly but didn't speak great english, but she understood we wanted to get to koh tao, and phoned her friend, and after a ten minute chat with an old Thai man abut British football a tour guide arrived in a 4x4 and took us to her shop, we explained we just wanted to get koh tao as quickly as possible, she informed us the next ferry was not until 11pm, so we were facing an other long wait. I'm suspicious there may have been quicker ferry's then this, but she allowed us to keep our luggage in her shop until 9, which she would then pick us up and take us to the ferry drop off point. So after an afternoon of shoddy italian food, and good thai beer, we met a young Brit called Alex, who was on his way back to Bangkok, en route to the north, nice chats, and more then the necessary amount of beer was consumed. Later on that night we met some people Austrians outside of our travel agents, we smoked cigarettes, and drank some more, offending some Russians by smoking on a shared tuk-tuk, however the boat was comfortable, with beds, and mediocre toilet facilities. We slept the whole 7 hour journey, arriving in Koh Tao for around 5 am.

We bartered with a taxi driver, to get a lift to our hostel, in which we missed had missed our check in, after arriving by our hostel we decided to go grab a coffee before attempting to check in. Whilst in the shop i heard a loud British voice antagonizing Hayley over her excessive luggage luggage, we later learnt his name was Adam, Adam has red hair, brown eyes and although a red head that tans, had burnt his back. Once he'd calmed down a bit he told us he did not remember names, something he tells everyone when he meets them and is quite true. The guy with him (looked like he was a good friend of the fungus) said we looked like a nice couple and took us to SayHi hostel a few paces away, it was 500 baht a night in a 4 bed dorm with all the mod cons.
A man named Mr Lin came downstairs, looked at us and told us we needed some sleep, he carried my 'ridiculous' bag upstairs, gave us towels and told us not to worry about paying for that night, he was lovely. After a few hours rest I had to get up because I was too excited, the journey from the ferry had given us a brief insight as to what was to come, I could make out in my delirium huge trees everywhere, crickets and birds going mental, mountains and the smell was fresh and intoxicating.
I had a shower, went downstairs to brush my teeth and saw Adam (still awake) he took us to a cafe where Tom had a seafood thing with squid legs and mussels, it looked very fresh and Tom said it was delicious. I had.....beans on toast... sorry... I also had a coconut shake which is to date one of the best things I have tasted here.
Koh Tao has a charity set up to help the animals on the island, the neuter them all and treat them for any illness', they are absolutely gorgeous and incredibly tame and friendly. My favorite 3 hang around MOon bar, which is also my favourite place to eat in Koh Tao, everything they have served to me at MOon bar has been delicious, my favourite dish is a coconut chicken soup - well worth a try if you ever go there which I strongly suggest to everyone. MOon bar is right on the beach and we spent the whole day in their deckchairs eating and drinking, the people are really friendly.

The following two nights involved us meeting the Austrians again on the first night, and making a new friend call Manny, who i proceeded to rant at, then passed out, leaving Hayley to carry me home. The next night followed a similar routine, but this time we went for food and drink with Adam after a nice long day at the beach. later on that night we met a group of three, called Dippy, Sam, and Mikey, they were pretty mental, and we all drunkenly decided to have a wrestling tournament, which i won, mainly due to being the most sober, but still, i'll count it. The next day we woke up, and checked out wanting to see some more of Koh Tao, we attempted to wake Adam to see if he wanted to come with us, but he was dead to the world. We ended up at a nice lodge, and bar, in the mountains, and only a few minutes from another beach, definately a lot more chilled then Sairee beach, which is where we first stayed in koh tao, but me do miss the people. Have seen Sam, dippy, and mikey a few more times, its a lot of fun watching them bicker, which is something they constantly do, however we have spent the last few days nursing a serious case of Dheli belly, so this seems to be the place for now, hopefully going on to koh samui tomorrow, so check back ssoon,

Hello, Hello, Hello!

And welcome to what is our first entry, I hope it makes sense as we are still a bit jet lagged, dazed and confused. Was really happy to say goodbye to my Grandma, Auntie B and her friend Dave at the hotel in Heathrow, we got an early night after a lovely dinner with them (food standard, company ace) and watched Bridget Jones Edge of Reason as we fell asleep. Totally wired the next day we decided to have a coffee on top of our broken night of sleep, when a man started talking to us in the airport, he was very friendly and wanted to share a cab with us on the other side. I freaked out. We ran away and although he was probably totally normal, I wasn't in the frame of mind to meet new people. Awkward....
Our flight was great, Tom and I made our way through their film and television section so were happy. Tom made friends with a Sweed named Oscar who was sat next to him and we shared a cab with him to Koh san road and then parted ways, I think he is the last person I spoke to (other than Tom) that I wasn't either buying or being sold something from.... must work on social skills.
Bangkok is madness, not what I thought it would be like - as well as being what I expected - if that makes any sense. It's a lot less scary than I initially thought and our hostel is not on the main road which is nice, our room is cool and clean (It is really bloody hot here). We spent our day napping and going out to explore, Tom bought a green shirt (it is very nice) he haggled the lady down 10 baht (not very much) but seemed pleased. I ate rice with sweet and sour chicken for dinner, it was good but I've gone off meat a bit, and as it says in the title it smells here which kind of puts me off eating at all.. The beer on the hand is fantastic.
Tomorrow we are planning to head down to Koh Tao on the train, it takes a while but I have started reading 'The Tao of Pooh' which Lee from the ticket shop bought me, it is very good and hopefully will keep me preoccupied. It's very strange not to have a television, but I think its probs good to have a bit of a detox, not healthy to miss a tv. We are currently sat in the hostels computer room at 03:49am (our timing has gone totally squewiff) as our netbook won't connect to the internet, its a bit of a bugger but Tom reckons its just the internet here (fingers crossed) otherwise there are plenty of internet cafes anywho.
Love hugs and happy thoughts

Hali and Tom x x x x x x x x