Ohhhh god. Back in Patong again.
I didn't like it last time, I don't like is this time.
Basically thanks to Tom at Panda travel messing around with our flights (read about that here) and having to get the later flight we missed the last boat to Krabi and therefore HAD to spend a night in Patong Beach.
The one good thing about being back here was I was at a beach and I experienced a small amount of nostalgia as it brought some memories from my last stay here but even that wasn't that amazing.
That night we went to an Irish pub for some food and I had a absolutely dreadful Lasagna and then we went back to the room and watched a dreadful Wesley Snipes film about Skydiving on Thai television and another about an Island inhabited by angry dogs.
Hopefully this was the last time I will ever have to come to Patong, but that's what I thought last time.
Saturday, 12 December 2009
Friday, 11 December 2009
Bangkok Pt.7
Only 2 days in Bangkok this time and this time at the request of Tom and Chris who wanted to spend a couple more days here as this would be there last chance to spend some proper time in the city before they flew to Australia. This was fine by me as I'll take any old excuse to spend some time in Bangkok.
They wanted to buy a few bits and bobs before heading to the south as well as having one last big night out in the city. However this plan failed miserably firstly because Tom threw up for about 11 hours straight on the night train from Chaing Mai and I took a turn for the worst and developed my second horrendous sore throat since I left Australia, as well as a bit of a cold. So Tom spent the majority of day 1 in bed trying not to be sick and I just felt a little sorry for myself so took it easy. Chris and I had a little stroll around some of the shopping malls as he was looking for a new camera and I wanted some board shirts which I have been meaning to buy for ages. That night we stayed in for the first time since getting to Thailand and watched "The Hangover". I gave it 3 popcorns out of a possible 5.
The next day was more constructive as Tom had stopped throwing his guts up and I felt a fair bit better so we headed out to the shopping malls again and did a bit of shopping. I brought some strepsels and board shorts, Tom got some Raybans and Chris still had his eye on a camera. We also all went for a group hair cut, my second that week as the last guy refused to do what I wanted.The man who cut my hair spoke little English so handed me a bunch of photos of hair cuts. The majority of the photos were of Thai guys however there were a few of westerners. It pains me to say it but the picutre I ended up choosing was of Will Young, so I am currently sporting a Will Young, bad times.
That night went to Lumphrini park where there was a huge Bangkok street performers festival on. We walked round the park for an hour or so and saw jugglers, bubble blowers, dancers and for some unexplanined reason a load of Thai guys dressed as Elvis singing Jason Mraz songs.
After the park we had a half hearted attempt at a night out. Had a few beers in some of the bars around Bangkok including a terrible rock bar, played a couple of games of pool, walked aimlessly down Khoasan road then went to bed.
All in all (as usual) a good couple of days in the capital. Slightly dampened by the fact we were feeling a bit under the weather but nevermind now off to the south to spend some time on the Andaman coast. Bonza!!
They wanted to buy a few bits and bobs before heading to the south as well as having one last big night out in the city. However this plan failed miserably firstly because Tom threw up for about 11 hours straight on the night train from Chaing Mai and I took a turn for the worst and developed my second horrendous sore throat since I left Australia, as well as a bit of a cold. So Tom spent the majority of day 1 in bed trying not to be sick and I just felt a little sorry for myself so took it easy. Chris and I had a little stroll around some of the shopping malls as he was looking for a new camera and I wanted some board shirts which I have been meaning to buy for ages. That night we stayed in for the first time since getting to Thailand and watched "The Hangover". I gave it 3 popcorns out of a possible 5.
The next day was more constructive as Tom had stopped throwing his guts up and I felt a fair bit better so we headed out to the shopping malls again and did a bit of shopping. I brought some strepsels and board shorts, Tom got some Raybans and Chris still had his eye on a camera. We also all went for a group hair cut, my second that week as the last guy refused to do what I wanted.The man who cut my hair spoke little English so handed me a bunch of photos of hair cuts. The majority of the photos were of Thai guys however there were a few of westerners. It pains me to say it but the picutre I ended up choosing was of Will Young, so I am currently sporting a Will Young, bad times.
That night went to Lumphrini park where there was a huge Bangkok street performers festival on. We walked round the park for an hour or so and saw jugglers, bubble blowers, dancers and for some unexplanined reason a load of Thai guys dressed as Elvis singing Jason Mraz songs.
After the park we had a half hearted attempt at a night out. Had a few beers in some of the bars around Bangkok including a terrible rock bar, played a couple of games of pool, walked aimlessly down Khoasan road then went to bed.
All in all (as usual) a good couple of days in the capital. Slightly dampened by the fact we were feeling a bit under the weather but nevermind now off to the south to spend some time on the Andaman coast. Bonza!!
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Pai
Pai is about 3 hours and 730 odd hair pin bends west of Chiang Mai. I think its only about 150km from Chiang Mai but as there are so many twists and turns in the road as you go up the mountain its takes nearly 3 and a half hours. The views as you make your way to Pai are awesome and got me very excited about what it was going to be like once I arrived there.
When we got there the place was as I imagined. It was kind of like a slightly more peaceful Koh Phangan/Had rin beach area with cool little bars and bamboo bungalows and tiny little guesthouses just without all the full moon shiz and hungover westerners. There were a huge amount of Thai people there so much so that it was almost a rarity to see another white person. This was firstly due to the fact Thais' love Pai and often go holidays up here. Also to make everything about 1000 times busier it was the King's birthday and therefore a long weekend so Thais from all over Thailand had descended upon Pai to celebrate the birthday of their King.
We had not booked anywhere before we got there which was an absolute error. Pai is busy enough at the best of times but when its the Kings birthday the place was fully booked and all that was left was the bungalows for 60 quid a night each, which not happening! I had a feeling we were in for some bother as when we stepped out of the bus firstly no one tired to flog us their accommodation and secondly there were loads of Thais pitching tents on any piece of available land they could find. ER OHH!
The next day was an absolute right off thanks to once again or lack of forward planning and the King's birthday. Our plan was to explore Pai by motorbike, as firstly surprisingly the roads weren't very busy, Lonely Planet told us it was a good idea and we hadn't done it yet so fancied our own mini adventure. However all the bikes in all the bike rental shops were all booked out sooooo disappointed once again we headed for a fruit smoothly while we worked out what we were going to do.
We decided to make the most of the spare time we now had and plan the rest of our time in Thailand and how we were going to get from here to the south and then where we were going to go once we hit the south so we could arrive nicely in time for the Full Moon party on Christmas day. This was something I did not want to ruin with out lack of prior organisation. We got this sorted quickly with a few quick notes a skim read of Lonely Planet's islands and beaches guide and then a few quick trips to a travel agent to book our complex mix of buses, trains and places so we could get to the south in one none exhausted piece. (This however did not go anywhere near as smoothly as I hoped read HERE for the full story of "Tom and his Cowboy travel agency operation").
That night annoyingly we stumbled across about 20 awesome places we could have quite easily have gone to the night before and continued our lime green fleece based antics and partied on down with Thai's to celebrate the King's birthday. We had a few drinks and sat in front of a fire at a place called Ting Tongs with possible the worst group of humans I had ever met. One even said "Fuck the King" to this Thai guy that didn't have any drugs to sell him. What an absolute moron! definitely the worst half hour in Pai! Complete set of English idiots!
Our initial plan was only really 2 days in Pai but after the day before being a complete waste of time and the fact we would now being flying to the south meant we could afford an extra day enjoying what Pai had to offer. We had also learnt from yesterdays mistake and prebooked our motorbikes for our day of adventure the day before so rocked up to the rental office very smug as strolled straight in and grabbed out bikes for the day in front of the que of waiting people.
All in all Pai was ace. Could definitely have spent more time here chilling out and sampling a lot more of the cool little bars the place had. Had some great food while we were there as well and just generally enjoyed being in a place quite a bit different from the rest of Thailand I had seen so far. Just had a totally different vibe about the place. However time is against us so we had to leave and start our epic journey down to the south to become beach bum backpackers once again. I Can not wait!


Friday, 4 December 2009
Chaing Mai Pt.2
I wanted to do a video blog for Chiang Mai with Chris and Tom, however I didn't get round to it while they were still with me. So I am going to leave Chiang Mai for now and whack the video up when I see them again in January.
So watch this space!
So watch this space!
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
Night Train to Chiang Mai
This was the second time I had got the train to Chiang Mai but last time didn't put any photos up so thought this time I would do a little post and whack a few snaps of Tom, Chris and I traveling in style. Last time I got it I slept like a log, this time round I must have only got about 2 hours sleep. No idea why I think I just got to excited thinking about the full moon party and couldn't switch off. However I still felt a thousands times better than I would had I have got a night bus. So I wasn't too bothered.
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Bangkok Pt.6

My trip this time was split in two as the first few days I spent with Aun and her friends getting acquainted with Bangkok life and then the last 3 days were spent with my friends from home Tom and Chris as I showed them around and saw a bit more of the city I was still yet to see.
Aun was supposed to meet me at the airport when I got in however there was a bit of confusions with AM and PMs (haha) so unfortunately I had to make my own way to hers. I was still pretty exhausted from my adventures in Hong Kong so the first night we just rented a load of films and I chilled round hers.
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After that her and a load of her friends were off to some rock night just off Khoasan so went along to see what it was all about. Had a few beers and was loving not having to pay Ozzy prices for drink, got a round of 3 beers for 4 quid!
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That night we hit Bangkok as a team for the first time. Hit Soi cowboy which once again blew Chris and Tom's minds then headed to Khoasan road to see it by night. Met up with Aun and we just chilled with a bucket while Chris tried to woo some Swedish girl. It wasn't as eventful as I had hoped but was a good introduction as what was to come.
However the next day for some reason was an absolute wash out as we were all suffering incredible hangovers. To cut a not very long story even shorter we slept most of the day and then some how managed to go on another night out and didn't get back till 6am. I feel there is so much more I could probably write about but I wont I am being lazy so just read Chris's blog if you want to know some more haha
http://chrishislop.blogspot.com/
To round things off though I had a wicked time once again in my favourite city on earth, after Norwich of cause. Was great to see Aun again and great to be with 2 friends I hadn't seen for so many months with. However one final note is that I think if it wasn't for me Chris and Tom would definitely be penniless and naked in a ditch somewhere in Bangkok. The amount of scams I had to pull them away from was funny as. Peace and enjoy the pictures.
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02/12/09
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