Thailand 2014 - The Story So Far Diane Williams Day 1 Bangkok Arrive in Bangkok and Andrea is upset about her bag, its heavy and the climate is hot. Taxi to Khao San Rd. Quick beer, its about 10am. We start walking in direction of hotel but eventually give in to the tuk tuk. Hotel Casa Nistra is lovely. We have a green drink. Its quite nice! Back out of the hotel and on the hunt for the riverboat ride I am familiar with. We cant find it and after over 1 hr searching we go back to the first station wed found. The riverboat ride is pleasant (1200baht), Go pro gets its first outing. The boat drops us off at the Grand Palace, just as the temples are closing. Apparently its Buddha day and they close early. We go back to the hotel and then out to Khao San Road. We spend most of the night in the Roof Bar getting drunk. Day 2 Patong A rushed breakfast, not far from the hotel and then, to Don Muang airport. It is much better than I expected. I forget the sun tan lotion is in my hand luggage though and we lose it. Damn you terrorists! We book airport transfer from Don Muang (800baht), its half the price of taxis available at the other end but it arrives late and I spend most of the savings on telephone calls to the taxi firm. We have a night out in Patong, mainly Banglar Road where we go to a ping pong show. Were told its a free show but drinks are 900baht each, we walk out, they cut the price to 300baht, we walk back in. She has goldfish, terrapins and, a bird inside her vagina. Couldnt work out if it was a trick or not. Day 3 Khao Lak Spend the morning by the pool. Boss picks us up at 1pm to Khao Lak (1800baht). Arrive at hotel and head off towards Oktavia Dive Center. It rains, heavy! We run inside a nearby restaurant and I have the best Pad Thai to date. We eventually reach ODC but Jamie isnt there, so we go to Monkey Bar around the corner. 2.5 hours later, we meet Jamie. We pay him 20,000 baht. We go back to hotel and have an early night. Day 4 Similans Breakfast is same same. Had a walk to the beach. Strolled up it for about 45mins then back again. The beach reminds me of Seychelles beach. I teach Andrea how the wind works between sea and land. I think she gets it? We hang around hotel, look for next place to stay and eventually work out how to pay off our sizeable credit card balances. OMG its only day 4 and weve clocked up £800 on the credit card alone. We are picked up at 5pm by the Oktavia people carrier and taken to Pier. Shoes are confiscated for the duration of the trip. We climb across boats to get to Oktavia. Its a big boat, 6 metres by 30? Theres about 20 divers. We get a tour of the boat from Marc, a comprehensive safety briefing and, a few beers before bed. We go to bed just as were arriving at Similans (about 11pm). Day 5 Similans Up early, first dive at 8am. Were advised to not take cameras on first dive. Shame because we see an Octopus hunting. I dive with Carla, whos from England and now lives in Barcelona, shes a stewardess on a billionaires yacht. And Fabio, from Italy. Marc is our dive leader, hes a dead ringer for Christopher Waltz. Andrea tries snorkelling but it doesnt go well. Shes left on a beach while others snorkel, and walks into a tree. Big lump on forehead. 2nd and 3rd dive go well. Ill let the GoPro do the talking. We have a beach trip which goes badly, it reminds me of the beach in The Beach but on a walk across the island I get attacked by Mosquitos. Theyre as big as birds, or feels like it. Im meant to be studying for a night dive whilst on the beach. The Mosquitos and the sudden tropical rain storm put an end to that, I decide 3 dives is enough for one day (which I later regret). We take the inflatable boat back to Oktavia and have an early night. 5 environmental factors to consider when night diving 1. Waves 2. Current 3. Visibility 4. Kelp 5. Surges 6. Climate - What I learnt I remembered well. Day 6 Phuket Town 3 more dives then on a speedboat back to Khao Lak. Its fast, bumpy and, over crowded. An hour goes by not quickly enough and once again were in a taxi to Phuket Town. Its 1000 baht this time. Phuket town is amazing. It feels like real Thailand. Not many tourists, no go-go bars. Thalong Road is fantastic, quiet and, pretty at night. It reminds me a little of Hanoi, except without the traffic. I fall in love with it. Shame we are here for only one night! Day 7 Phi Phi Note - I had night terrors again last night. This time the aircon set on fire. I could see and hear everything but could not move. I made a garbled call to Andrea. She snapped me out of it eventually. Another early start. Cant believe its been a week already! Andreas concerned that we will miss the ferry to Phi Phi and that we dont have accommodation. I dont mind. Its how I like to holiday, never really knowing whats going to happen next. We set off at 8am to catch the 8:30am ferry. We arrive in plenty of time. The ferry gets us into Phi Phi for about 11am after a fleeting glance at Maya Bay. Im excited. From the ferry we go straight to Pirates Bar for a burger and to find accommodation. We book Cabana for three nights. The hotel is nice, its on the beach. We meet a man selling a boat trip. 1500 baht for half a day. Itll take us to The Beach. I tell him well think about it. We have a nice walk to Viewpoint 2. Its steep and hard work but definitely worth it. Theres a macaque at the top in a very small cage. A girl tries to release it while the owner isnt watching but unfortunately its padlocked. We go to a bar on the beach. I try to think of an island more beautiful than this, I cant. We stroll back as the sunsets and we pay for the trip. I try to barter but Im really bad at it. We pay full price. We go out in the evening. Phi Phi is a maze of bars, hostels, dive and tattoo shops. There are no roads on the island so bicycles are the only form of transportation. The owners say pee pee to let you know theyre coming past. We watch a fire show, its lame. We find a Muay Thai bar. Theres a fight on as we arrive. After the professionals have finished the ring is opened up to punters. I meet a punter/fighter in the gents. He tells me the floor of the ring is slippy. Andrea is tired so we leave for the hotel. We walk down the beach. Theres a lot of partying happening. Im gutted to have to go back now, its only 12am. I listen to Pure Shores by All Saints, tomorrow is a day Ive been fantasising about for 14 years. Day 8 Malay Bay We wake up at 6am and get the long tail to Malay Bay at 7am. The owner is called Ninja but he has gone home today. His mate takes us. The bay is quiet and peaceful. Everybody is still in bed. We arrive with only a dozen others on The Beach. Yesterday wed seen hundreds but that was later in the day. Its perfect! We take pictures where Leonardo once stood and soak in the views. 1 hour later The Beach starts to get crowded. It loses its charm, we leave. Next, snorkelling. A quiet cove. Andrea explained to me in the Similans that she couldnt snorkel because she couldnt breathe through her mouth. We disprove the claim. Shes scared but once the life jacket goes on she instantly relaxes and spends the next 30 minutes snorkelling. Its the first time shes seen beneath the surface. We see squid, box fish and a banded sea snake. Were lucky. Back to the hotel for 10:30am and already it feels like weve done a day. We grab food. Western this time. Thai food is tasty but doesnt offer too much variety. Im thankful for fish & chips. In the evening around 6.30pm we go to Chill Out Bar on the beach. We sit on the mats outside the bar. The view is incredible but theres not much natural light left at this time. The fire burners are lit. Theres chilled house music playing. I have a large Chang. Im sat with my girlfriend. This is my happy place, the happiest I can be. Im emotional. This is what I work for. Everyday I earn, I do it for this moment. It may happen only one day of the year but its worth it. This is my world, and my planet rocks! We make it to almost 1am. I ride the mechanical bull. So does Andrea. We watch more Muay Thai. Thats it, good night. Day 9 Phi Phi Up at 7am and out for a quick breakfast before more diving. Katya welcomes me with a smile. She looks relieved to see someone has arrived for diving. I have coffee while we wait for others to turn up. Katya tells me accommodation for workers is poor on the island. Theres only guest houses which dont have kitchens. I meet Chloe, my dive leader. Chloe is from SA. She tells me Sipidan is badly looked after. Trash is emptied straight into the ocean. She tells me of a flat screen TV floating past whilst diving. We set off an hour later. The diving is good. Beautiful corals, 2 big clown fish patrolling around their baby and, a black tip reef shark. I finish the dive with 10 bar more than Chloe. She claims thats never happened before. I must be good at breathing. We stop in Malay Bay for lunch. I do a front flip off the diving board. I land on my butt, it hurts. I decide not to do it again. Were told immigration are on the island so the workers will not be going back to the shop. Visas are expensive, 60,000 baht, so most people dont have one. We arrive back on the island. Immigration are no where to be seen. We go back to the shop. Another lazy afternoon spent snoozing in the hotel room. I dont mind being inside, weve already seen a great deal. Plus its raining again. We find ourselves with the conundrum - to stay or not to stay
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 10:30:46 +0000
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