Catch Up

I'm not sure that I can still type at this point, I have, as I thought completely neglected my blog and Facebook accounts to a certain degree, but I'm not complaining because I have done so with the best intentions and have some of the best experiences of my life here in Thailand.  It was almost 3 weeks ago since I last blogged, when I was in Bangkok and thinking back at that point my mind was in a transitional period, and only now that I have the chance to relax, slow down, gather some thoughts is that I can start to piece the 3 week party together to complete the journey so far.


I'm going to start the blog today by tracking back to Bangkok and explaining what has happened, where me and Gaz went, who we met, what we've seen and where we are now.

Still in BKK with a friend of mine.

As far as I can remember the last blog was on one of my last nights in Bangkok, where we had managed to escape the bed in a box room that we we're staying in, and upgraded to 7 quid a night for a night which was lush!!  It had air-con (which is a big bonus for a room in Thailand), T.V and a bed big enough for me to sleep without having my knees downwards falling off the end of the bed.  I swear they make beds for midgets in this country.  So after a nice pampered night and a hot shower (again, something which is not very common in Thailand), we made our move to our next step, Phuket.  At the time, I was sad to be leaving Bangkok as I had an awesome time there but now in hindsight, I'm glad we left when we did because it was one of the places that started to bleed my wallet dry and regretting it now (well, not really, the memories are priceless, just wish had some more money).


So Bangkok was done and we had the choice to either jump on a coach, train or plane to Phuket and in true backpacker style we went for the cheapest option - the bus.  If I ever had to do that trip again, I would pay twice as much and fly.  The bus is horrible.  You jump on it at around 6pm, after carting your stuff around BKK city for an hour - which made me laugh because everyone was sweating their tits off and moaning about it, but I was just happy to be in BKK and experiencing it and laughing because no matter where you are in the world, people always moan about something!  Anyways the journey from Bangkok to Phuket is a royal pain in the ass, the companies sell it to you as a VIP coach with air con, movies, relax-a-chairs and what you really get is half the size of a coffin to sit in, warm air blowing around the coach and a movie which is 10 seats in front of you.  What we didn't anticipate is the fact that we would travel all night long from 6pm until around 7am and then have to jump on another bus which is exactly the same, pay for it again and sit on that bus from 8am until around 4pm.  It sounds much better to be there in an hour and pay twice as much to fly than do that again.

My room in Phuket

We arrived in Phuket and me and Gaz we're both tired, sweaty and frustrated by the heat and now had to bust around Patong Beach looking for a months accommodation for a cheap price - something I did NOT want to be doing after 24hours travelling.  Gaz had had an idea that we shouldnt be paying anymore than around 4000bht a month - around 80 quid - an idea which for me was proven to be completely wrong - for Phuket at least - the first place I asked wanted 18000bht a month, the second 19k etc.  After a couple of hours of nothing, Gaz had contacted his close Thai girl friend who was insistent that she herself had stayed in Patong for 4k just a couple of months prior to our visit.  What she didn't take in to account was the she is Thai national and we are 'Farang' in basic translation means foreigner and therefor the price doubles.  She did however, have a friend still in the area who linked up with us to show us about town and try to haggle and get us some Thai prices, it didnt really work, but this was the first sign of real help that we had had and it was much appreciated.  We ended finding a nice place in the main town center close to everything and managed to pick it up for a cheap price, I think it must have been my cheeky smile. 


It didn't take us long to see the real Phuket, as soon as we had had a sleep we were back out and Gaz wanted to show me around the area and introduce me to some of his 'old friends'.  My first impression was 'I dont like it', there was things happening everywhere and the bargirls (+ ladyboys) will come straight up to you in a bar and put their hands up your shorts and touch your manhood, then will be very flirtatious and tell you 'Mr handsome man' and before you've sat down will be asking you to buy them a drink - all of which I dont agree with and actually felt quite uncomfortable sometimes.  Gaz on the other hands lives for this shit, and I spent a few hours during time in Phuket wishing to leave the bars and go somewhere with western people that I can actually talk to and if anything else where to happen at least I would know that my wallet is going to be safe for the night.  After a couple of days in Phuket, I started to come round a little bit and after spending time with some of the 'working girls' that were helping us out during the day time I was really happy, they cooked a traditional Thai meal for us, made sure we were okay and generally helped us out - again something I was massively appreciative over - and not once did they try and have sex with me, well, okay one of them tried once but as a true English gentleman declined and said sorry no sex before marriage.


I think it was day 3 of Phuket that we met a lad from Leeds called Mark in one of the bars as we tried to stay dry from the torrential downpour, obviously him being from Leeds we had a lot to talk about and also got along with Gaz handsomely aswell.  We found out Mark was travelling by himself and had no major plans other than to see his pal in Pattaya close to the end of his travels so we told him he was more than welcome to link up with us whilst we are in Phuket but unfortunately we had found out you need a permit to teach diving on Patong Beach these days so our month long stay was to be cut short as it was eating into our very limited budgets quite quick.  mark stuck with us for a couple of days and showed him the main stretch of Phuket and we all had a class time.  It was only a couple of days later that we said our goodbyes and left for Koh Tao this time, again another excruciating journey and around another 14-16hour journey.


Although, this time when we arrived on Koh Tao from the night ferry which arrives roughly 5am, it was different.  The feeling when you get here is so strange, maybe it was different for me because I was expecting to call this place home very soon, but it felt that as soon as I sat down and had a drink that the world around me had almost come together above the island, tied a knot and created a bubble, which I still feel even now, around 2 or 3 weeks later.  The island is smaller than the town I grew up in, and that aint a very big town.  I kind of like the fact that its so small but also it can be quite claustrophobic in knowing that wherever you go, you will bump into someone you already know.  


My time on Koh Tao has been simply amazing, as I was growing up I always loved the movie 'The Beach' and wanted to live that type of life in a community and just chill on the beach with no  major worries and spend time with people who share the same views as me, and for someone with my views and thoughts, this place is absolute paradise.  I cannot praise this island and the people enough.  I have memories, stories and experiences in 3 weeks that some people will never have the opportunity to see in their life - and that I am grateful for.  Roughly two weeks ago, me and Gaz were eating down at Oo's bar - a place we have made our own and meeting the owner and now use his place as a chill out spot for a bite to eat - and completely out of the blue we saw Mark from Phuket bombing up and down the street on a big 250cc dirt bike, we eventually tracked him down and since that point he had been with us ever since, he is a good lad and we all get along.  I think me and Gaz appreciate his 'says whats on his mind' attitude and sometimes is bit much but at the same time he loves life and life loves him which I for one absolutely love.  A couple of days after linking up with him again we began to team-teach Mark for his Open Water course and we (me and Gaz) were both amazed at how quick he picked it up, both practical and theory applications, but with two instructors teaching one student its to be expected?

The view from our tactical vantage point

In between Marks' course, the three of us nipped over to another island called Koh Phangan which is host to probably the regions biggest party of the year - the Full Moon Party - its a party that people travel from all over the world just to see, party and experience tens of thousands of people on one beach and it is an experience I would recommend to anyone (without kids).  We managed to hook up with a German guy called Karl at the hotel we were staying at, another guy called Danny from Harrogate and a nice young girl called Penny from Kiwi land, we had formed a posse and gone to the party together.  We had a battle to plan to meet up at the bar at the end of the beach on the hour every hour to make sure we were all in tact and still alive (that plan failed after about 2 hours), the cheap drinks and buzzing atmosphere and vibe just let everyone's inhibitions disappear almost instantaneously and the party was well under way at an early hour.  We started as a group of  6 and by the end of the night ended up finding our way back to the hotel in 6 different ways.  I was adamant that my night had finished as early as 2am, although since that night have seen a picture of myself laid on the beach passed out around 5am. No idea what happened, but always the sign of a good night.  Gaz had made his way back by around 10am the next morning with stories of a Scottish girl and a couple of thousand baht in his pocket, result! Mark had an experience with some trippy mushrooms


When we got back to Koh Tao we had just a couple of days to dive and relax before the Thai new year was amongst us.  Songkram.  Songkram is a day which is literally impossible to stay dry, the Thai's celebrate their New Year by having the worlds biggest water fight, not just on Koh Tao but in every city, every town in the country.  The party here was a 24 hour party, other places like BKK are still going now, after 5 days! It's the craziest thing I have ever seen but also one of the most delightful.  Everybody is involved, old, young, disabled, pedestrians, workers, everybody, and they are all so happy - which is contagious and you cannot go through Songkram without getting involved and feeling like a local for the day.


Pretty much since Songkram, I have been bed bound with a sickness.  To me, it just feels like a common Man Flu (its a killer) but I have been told by about 10 different people that it could be Dengue fever http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dengue_fever- something I had never heard of before - so I have been warned to stay in bed and ride it out rather than go to the hospital and get charged thousands for doing the same thing.  So right now I am sitting on my balcony listening to the bars reggae and chillout tunes looking over the bay of Chaalok Baan Kao and realising that I could potentially spend the rest of my life here, if the island lets me.  


I have being missing people alot recently from back home, not just because I want to see them it just because this place is paradise and I think everyone should have a chance setting up life here.  It is perfect.


JC