Climbers Paradise

    Sunday, January 10

    Happy new year again! I`m still here, sat on a beach in Thailand! Sorry for the long delay since the last post.

    The January detox is going alright, that is if we exclude the night before last when i might of had a few excusable beers. You see i`m back travelling on my own again now. Not since meeting Will in Hanoi had i been free of a travelling companion, so after 4 countries and god knows how may cities later we had a few/many farewell drinks in krabi and said our goodbyes with the hope to maybe meet up again in new Zealand.

    We left Koh phangan on a night boat heading to Suratthani, i had`nt done one of these till this point, and unlike most of the people on this rickety old boat i slept like a absolute baby for the entire duration. After getting off that and onto the bus to krabi i again fell asleep, only to be this time awoken at the destination.......... a quick trip to the toilet and back and i returned to find that we`d booked a hostel and that a taxi was here to take us! It`s easy this travelling malarkey.

    Krabi was nice, it was good to have the Internet again (sad i know) and electricity 24/7, but it was really just somewhere to store our bags while we went over to railay bay for a few days.
    Railays known mainly for it`s rock climbing and on arrival you understand why. The cliffs are spectacular and apart from `Railay east` the place has some of my favourite beaches within asia that i`ve seen so far. It`s really small and felt secluded from most people (kind of like the beach from `the beach`, (which i`ll actually be going to the day after tomorrow)). The best thing about railay though are the climbers themselves. Because the majority of people are here for that reason alone there seems to be far less sun worshipping going on than anywhere else (or at least that`s how it felt to me on the beach we settled on) and on top of this you can`t help but have a good time in the company of climbers. There a strange lot for sure, like a cult really. This one guy had been here for 4 months. That`s 4 months, every day just climbing and just so happy to be doing so. They all love what it is that their doing and have this big kid attitude of just climbing stuff for a laugh.
    I really did enjoy it here, i think i just like it when people are doing stuff with themselves rather than sunbathing. I`ve come to realize i`m not the greatest of sunbathers, (although that is exactly what i`m doing now) but that`s also probably something to do with this special "easy burn" body i was blessed with.


    oh i was also messing about with a 360 panoramic so check that out here. A little gimmicky buy hey i was bored.




    Our last night back in Krabi and we went to the local festival, i had the funniest of nights with Will.
    We cheered on bands as people watched in silence and had a good few drinks while chatting about the months that had passed. I`ve had a quality time travelling together but am really looking forward to meeting up with more people over the next few weeks.

    In less than a month now i`ll be moving on from Asia which has been home for the last 6 months and onto a new continent to explore.

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    ...and a Happy New Year

    Thursday, January 7

    "Happy new year" I`ll come back to everything else but this was the reason for getting to Thailand at the time i did, the reason for leaving Laos fairly quickly and the reason for rushing from Bangkok to go south. Or to be more specific it was in order to get to the full moon party. This was so looked forward to by almost everyone i`d spoken to in the past couple of months in S.E asia. It had never landed on new years since its initial start up in the late 80`s, so had the potential to be huge. We met up with loads of people i`d met over the past few months, a little bit like friends reunited. I ended up spending most of the night with Keith and Jill who i`d met initially in Shanghai and then managed to bump into them again in Hanoi and vang vieng. I had the most amazing of times, it`s like glastonbury at night with all 30`000 people out to have a good time. The place is absolutely banging, i was fueled on red bull and anything else i could get my hands on and went at it on an epic scale from the initial taxi at 7.30 pm until the return taxi at 7.30 am.

    Without doubt the largest party i`ve ever been to and a night i hopefully won`t ever forget.





    Back to our arrival; We (well Will) had booked accommodation at a place called "sea view thansadet", it was on the north east of the island secluded from Had Rin (which, sorry Bangkok, is now firmly the seediest place i`ve ever visited) but after we got there on some of the worst roads known to man, we found the resort to be absolutely abandoned. No-one behind reception, empty `ant infested` huts. It was so creepy. Here we were on a remote island, on a remote beach in an empty resort. I`ve seen my fair share of horror films, i know what happens in places like this and for that reason we packed up and made tracks with the thought that if all else fails then we`d camp up here for the night.
    Luckily we found a place down by the next beach. We had to spend one night in one hut, another 2 in another hut, new years day we had nothing but didn`t care and then the days after we`d sort out when we got there.

    The days leading up to and following on from new years were spent doing exactly what i`d be doing back home. Eating to much, drinking to much, and promising myself that i`d get in shape after all this was over and so not to worry about stuffing my face.
    That`s about it, if one things for sure, sitting around doing nothing has helped considerably with the catching up of the book and this blog. So Happy new year again and sorry its a little late..... take care and maybe i`ll cya before the start of the next one. Maybe.

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    A very merry Christmas...

    It may be 2010 as i write this but the belated sentiments are still just as heartfelt. I hope everyone had a really good Christmas. There`s loads of people i missed not seeing, definitely strange not being in the UK, and doubly strange by the fact it was 30 plus degrees in temperature. My Christmas morning was spent applying suncream instead of opening presents.
    We`d left Bangkok the night of the 23rd and watched `Shooter` as we hurtled towards `Thong Sala` and our boat transfer to Samui. Samui was never really on my Thailand agenda it just seemed logical to stick with Will seeing as i was staying with him in Ko Phangan at new year. It was alright, it`s a very holiday resorty place, plus it was soo expensive relative to my budget. We had a really funny Christmas eve at mango bar and then Christmas day decided to have a BBQ at the hostel with a bunch of people. We said to everyone to get there own meat at the local tescos (yep, Tesco!) and then we`d cook it all together later on that day.

    We decided i was the least hungover of the 2 of us so i got the designated driver position and Will would act as the trunk and carry the shopping. We borrowed this motorbike from rich, the hotel owner, and it really was the worst bike u could imagine. The engine backfired all the time, you had to keep the revs above a certain level at all times to stop it from just cutting out. So when returning you can only imagine how ridiculous it was to have me fighting with this bike with crates of chang beer between my legs and Will dangling on the back with bags of shopping for the meal... truly a surreal moment for the start of Christmas, and a day that didn`t actually get any less strange as we continued to have this huge barbecue with an ever increasing party size and eventually ending it with us all heading down to the beach to carry on partying for the night.

    I`ve gotta say despite my enthusiasm for Koh Samui the memory of lying on the beach looking into the sky with hundreds of the large lanterns being let off and then having fireworks going off around them is for sure one of the most memorable pictures i`ve seen in the past 6 months.

    Not like i took any pictures of any of it after making the STUPID decision to leave my camera back at the hotel.

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    Sin City

    After the very angry start to Bangkok, i had a sleep, got showered and calmed down a bit. I`ve got to admit i really enjoyed the place. I`d been told it`s a real love it or hate it sort of city and i`ll be making another 2 stops there before leaving Thailand, so there`s definitely a chance of it changing. As for now though i`m firmly in the former camp. It`s by far the single most touristy place i`ve been to, Koh san road particularly, but there`s a real cool vibe here, and i know that`s a really crappy sentiment but it`s true. There`s a passion for fashion, everyone`s busy doing things and there`s plenty of nice cafes and bars to hang out in. That`s not to say it doesn`t turn seedy as the sun sets because it really does. Everyone is asking if you want to go to a ping pong show, ladyboys roam the streets on mass. But it`s so flamboyant, so theatrical you almost can`t take it serious and that somehow takes away the threat from the place, if that makes any sense.
    We spent one of the days at cankaunjing, ka ka cajuggycug, kakycan... i have no idea what the market was called. It was big and started with a K (maybe a `C`). Big is a gross understatement, this thing is gigantic. We spent six hours here purely in the clothes section, and never even backtracked once. I ended up replacing all my t-shirts for a fraction of the cost of my original selection, plus this means i might actually have photos of me not always in the same top from now on.
    Another of our excursions took us to the giant Buddha, which is, well....big i guess. The day after we did the royal palace and surrounding area, which i really did enjoy and for the final day we booked tickets to go see some muay Thai boxing.



    We`d gone on `Championship Tuesday` so the headline act was a pretty big fight. We drank and shouted at either of the fighters just for a laugh and had a proper good night. The locals get into it so much, and the fighters respond by kicking the hell out of one another. 5 rounds, 3 minutes each. One fight, a guy got cut up so badly that by round 4 both were absolutely covered in this one guys blood, it was like that scene from carrie. The headline act wasn`t even the best fight but it didn`t matter as by the time it finished and the stadium began to clear me and will jumped in the ring for a round of our own, this before security had the chance to chuck us out :D

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    Kingpin

    Monday, January 4

    Our last day in Luang Prabang ended up turning into quite a long one. We thought we`d take a trip to the other set of waterfalls, so as you do, you call down a tuc tuc, argue about the price for a while, then set off on your way.
    We`d been told about doing this tree top zip lining thing back in town and seeing as it wasn`t very expensive decided to give it a go. Plus Will is petrified of heights so it promised to be highly entertaining no matter what. Some of the distances where pretty epic actually, one of the 20+ lines was a mammoth 200 meters and at a pretty good height as well. Will predictably had a little panic but by the end everyone had a good laugh with it.



    This is where things start to go slightly wrong and as usual it started with a drink! That turned into 2 and that developed onto drinking games. I`ve got to explain that Luang Prabang entirely shuts down after 11, every bar, every restaurant, everywhere except the bowling alley. There you can drink till whenever as long as you`re bowling! We got a lane then a shot of absinthe then, well.. to be honest facebook may be a better reference as my memory certainly isn`t. I remember my flip flops being devastatingly slippy and being dragged around the floor by many people but that`s about it. I don`t know if i won, lost or if i hit any pins at all.
    Bearing in mind we were off to Bangkok in the morning i can now safely say that this wasn`t the greatest idea i`ve ever had. I think it was 4 or 5 when we got in, we jumped into a our double bed (all three of us sharing the same bed at this point to keep costs down) and at half 5 (not long enough of a sleep to declare it a new day) Lauren woke us up as our tuc tuc driver was outside and waiting to take us to the bus station.
    The bus was a nine hour journey and to be fair the most unpleasant one since, well...ever. At one point 2 drunks got on board and took the 2 seats behind me. They reeked of the same rice wine whiskey that had almost taken my life in Beijing. That alone would of been enough to have me wrenching but they were also eating eggs. Not hard boiled or anything, just eggs. He had it smeared all over his face and hands and at one point tried wiping it on the back of my seat. After a few hours the inevitable happened. All over the back of my seat and floor. It smelt worse than they did. This also made the next god knows how many hours go by so slowly. By he time we arrived in Vientiane it was just a relief to escape the smell.
    This next bit is a tad dull so i`ll spare you the details, but essentially it went: taxi to the border, through one checkpoint, a bus to the next border checkpoint, a tuk tuk to Nong Kai train station, then the purchasing of a ticket to Bangkok. Which to add to our extremly bad moods where told they had no seats so the only option was the floor. We`d been awake for 2 days now, the idea of sitting on a floor for 13 hours didn`t go down well at all. We stood and talked about what to do until the guy at the desk informed us of 3 cancellations and therefore space for us, which we took admittedly (hard seats mind) and after 4 hours in the idea of the floor was quite an attractive proposition, at least then you could ly down. These things are impossible to sleep on you see and meant all that was left to do was drink whiskey with our newly acquired Thai friends.

    On our third day now and man i was grumpy, apart from the time spent eating cake at Bangkok train station which temporarily lifted my mood, i was seeing red, i had ichy feet a banging headache, sleep deprivation and a doubled up hangover.
    After another 30min public bus ride to Koh San rd i`d had enough, i got off the bus, walked into the nearest hotel and checked in. I said we`d switch to something better the next day but you know you probably won`t when you say that, and then crashed on our hotels unique beds, unique as in the fact it was a mattress that was made to be less comfy than if they`d just stuck a large rock in the room for you to ly on. We laid there for a while until Will uttered the line he most often does "fancy a drink then?" "you know what, yes i do" "nice one, lets go!"

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    Illness, Elephants and 3 in a bed

    We`d gone to Luang Prabang to rest up, eat some proper food and hopefully after that maybe a bit of trekking. Yet Will, who had picked up a stomach virus between vang vieng and the journey here, was almost instantly bed bound. So as Lauren and me enjoyed the local temples and stunning market, Will was back at the hostel spending an equal time between toilet and bed. We even found this amazing little `all you can eat buffet` on one of the market stalls and took great pleasure in telling Will all about it when we got back.


    A couple of days in and Will felt ready to tackle something minor, we thought a trip to the local waterfalls would be alright and the waterfalls really were pretty stunning but Wills stomach really wasn`t doing well and he`d now also picked up an infection from his tubing wounds. This meant back to bed for him, this time with more painful walks to the toilet.
    This left the two of us with a slight dilemma as we wanted to do a 2/3 day trek, but because of visas running out and people needing to get places for Christmas we`d have to do it sooner rather than later. This meant the possibility of having to leave Will in bed and just do it on our own. We decided to give him 2 days to try and get right and went about booking a guide and so on, then just waited to see whether he`d be well enough to join us.
    We again wandered the markets, eat more and more food (i`ve actually put weight on since arriving in south east Asia, think there`s something in the food.. that or the vast consumption of alcohol. Detox after new year i think) We also took a trip back to our `all you can eat buffet` only to find he`d gone and put his prices up. Probably to re-coup from the last time i wiped him out.

    Judgment day came and Will was feeling much more of his old self, he wasn`t continually on the toilet and he`d had his cuts cleaned,creamed and bandaged up, so was ready to go.
    "first thing first; bike ride, 4 to 5 hours...." "easy" "all up hill" "balls" he wasn`t joking, there`s nothing more demoralizing than going at a walking pace while on a bike. Anyway that`s done, next! "walking to a village and then we`ll be sleeping up there as well" "ok, that sounds alright as long as it`s not all uph.... "all uphill again guys" "ill, GODDAMMIT" and after another 4 hours walking up very steep, very tiring dirt roads, we arrived at Mong Jong. A spectacular place unlike anything i`d seen so far, no other travellers in sight and stares like we were the first people they`d ever come in contact with. And then without so much as 20 words spoken to our hosts ZZZZzzzzzZZZzzz Out like a light, all 3 of us before 7 o`clock. We only got woke to be fed and then it was straight back to sleep. Only an eventful trip to toilet broke my sleep before being woken again at 6 to carry on trekking.
    The toilet trip went something like this; it must of been sometime around 3 or 4 in the morning, there`s no electricity so no light. I do have a torch but i think i must of got it in some cheap cracker last Christmas as the light it emits is so low. But anyway i used it to navigate out of the mosquito net and to the huts exit. The sky was unbelievable, i`d never seen the stars that bright, and the fact there was nothing else as far as the eye could see except blackness just made everything else that little bit more stunning... but i had more pressing matters and walked on to the toilet. It had only just been built closer to the hut (still only a hole in the ground) but thank god as the other designated toilet would of taken me 20 minutes to of found it. As i got closer i started to hear a rustling in the bush next to me, i shone my crap light all over but couldn`t see anything so carried on. More rustling to my right, this time definitely closer. I looked again and saw nothing, but as i brought the light back round to the front of me, there it was, this giant pig looking me right in the eyes, and i`m not kidding but this thing was huge and the faint light made it look like some sort of ghost pig or a animal harbinger of death if you will.
    I hadn`t been that sacred since looking through my window one night and seeing the face of a burglar trying to break in, only to realize it was my own reflection.





    Where was i, oh, 6 o`clock and off walking again. We`d actually woken in cloud cover so visibility was piratically just feet in front. It had made the steep `dusty` roads now steep `slippery` roads and meant the next hour or so was spent slipping and sliding our way down a hill. The weather gradually cleared and by the time we made it to the adjoining village it was back to its usual sunny self. From here we would canoe to the elephant sanctuary and then onto a much bigger canoe ride back to town. Will and me definitely proving to be the worse kayak team known to man. As Lauren and the guide elegantly and gently paddled downstream, the two of us went about hitting one another with paddles, getting stuck on rocks and generally making a nusense of ourselves.
    We ended the trek with a visit to the local whiskey town where a wedding was taking place. This as with any social event in south east Asia meant being dragged in to the mix and being fed anything they themselves were eating and drinking.

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