Hello Asia!

We landed late at night, but straight away noticed a huge contrast to Africa. There are so many shops, so many things to buy, so many English people and so many backpackers. Its quite a culture shock!

We spent our first night in Thailand in Phuket. After two solid days of travelling, involving a taxi, a walk, a boat, another taxi, two flights, two metro journeys, another flight and another taxi we were quite tired. We headed out for a tasty street food meal of rice, chicken and plum sauce costing 80p, had the obligatory Mai Thai cocktail and hit the hay.

The next morning we got a ferry to Koh Phi Phi to meet up with the lovely Simon Sawyer, a friend and housemate from Cambridge, and our travel buddy for the next week. Organising this catch up was probably the easiest thing we have done so far in our travels – it involved sending a text saying that we would be arriving in Phi Phi at lunch time on Wednesday, to which Simon said ‘Great, see you there.’ And he did – he met us at the ferry terminal ready for a week of Thai adventures.

The first day in Phi Phi mainly consisted of eating delicious Thai food and catching up on our various travel adventures. It is very hot and humid here, and apparently the animals suffer as much as the people. In our restaurant of choice for the evening, the resident cats were struggling with the temperature, so the owner opened the fridge door and the cats jumped in. Once they had cooled down, the door was opened again and out they got. Hilarious! The best food here is unsurprisingly traditional Thai food. We all have our personal favourites – Graham always chooses something with cashew nuts, Simon has to limit himself to one Penang curry a day, and my preference is anything containing coconut. After dinner we went to this amazing stall where they make your ice cream while you wait. You can choose your base flavour and two extra ingredients. They then pour them on a metal plate, held at -30 degrees, and mix and chop the mixture until it freezes. They then roll it up and put it in a pot, add some toppings and its all yours. Delicious!

The next day we explored Phi Phi a little. It is a very beautiful island, with lush green hills, clear blue water and sandy beaches. In 2004 the tsunami destroyed 70% of the buildings on the island and caused devastation. Just ten years on the island has recovered remarkably well and the tourism industry is thriving. At this time of year the island is crawling with student backpackers. They are a strange breed, but excellent for people watching.

In the afternoon we decided to do a trip on a longtail boat. This took us around a few beaches and some snorkelling spots. The first stop was monkey bay, a small beach with some monkeys on it. The people crowding around were far more numerous than the animals they were observing, and we couldn’t help but feel that the humans were the true spectacle! The boat also called at Maya beach, made famous in the film The Beach. The boat stopped in the middle of some water and we had to swim against the current and over some barely submerged rocks towards a rope ladder. A rather large wave threw me unceremoniously into the net, while Simon and Graham arrived with a few scrapes and cuts. Who needs health and safety?! The rope was pretty painful to climb in bare feet, but we made it to the top, walked along a path and came to the bay. It is a very beautiful bay, but also very crowded. It was nice to see it, but I think all three of us would have been happier to have been dropped off at one of the numerous less-famous but completely deserted bays. We then went back to the boat and headed closer to the mainland to wait for it to get dark. Once it was completely dark, we jumped back into the water to swim with the bioluminescent plankton. The plankton don’t glow all the time; they react to movement. So as you swim through the water, the sea around you starts to sparkle.

After a short swim, we were due to return to the island. However, the boat next to us had broken down. Our enterprising captain decided he could help, so unwired our battery, carried it over to the other craft and jump started in using a SPANNER. There was a huge spark, and the second battery jumped to life. Our captain got back on our boat and the other one pootled off back to the shore. We joked that we had helped them and they had gone without checking our battery had enough juice left to re-start, probably leaving us to drift around. It turned out to not be a joke. The motor wouldn’t start again and we were alone at sea. Excellent. Every passenger on our boat was encouraged to shout and whistle in unison in the hope of getting the other boat to return. Luckily this worked, although was slightly nerve racking as these boats cruise around at night with no lights, so I have no idea how they find (or avoid) each other!!! We got towed back to shore and arrived home, slightly soggy and a lot late!

In the evenings, Phi Phi changes into a party island. The quiet beach bars all put on fire shows and it is a bit like a very tame New Moon party, EVERY NIGHT! There are flaming hoops to jump through, firey ropes to skip over and a burning branch to limbo under. There is no shortage of hammered young people willing to participate either. It was quite amazing to sit and watch, but there was no way I was going anywhere near the flames in my highly flammable dress!

 

We spent three days in Phi Phi, and had a lot of fun, but that was enough! The next three days were to be spent in Krabi. The next morning we got the ferry to the mainland and headed to Krabi Town. We stayed at J. P. Mansions which was amazing value at £3 per night. The manager was very friendly and always had good suggestions of places to eat and visit. However, one of her suggestions was a local massage place. Graham is a bit of a wimp and decided that Thai massage wasn’t for him. Having spent the last few days avoiding the ladies shouting ‘You want a massaaaaiiiiiiii?’ at every tourist who walked past their shop, Simon and I bravely (or foolishly) decided to go for it. For one hour we were stretched, manipulated and pounded. My previous massage experiences usually consist of a lot of enjoyment and a little pain. This was mainly pain! Every joint was cracked and every muscle was squashed. At the end we were asked if we enjoyed it, and of course we were British and said yes, paid the £5 and left, and then laughed about it all the way home. Afterwards though, I felt great. Perhaps there are some benefits to it after all!!

On our final day in Krabi we headed to the beach at Ao Nang. After a morning swim we had a pizza lunch and then headed back to the beach. This time we decided to explore a bit further afield and climbed over another dodgy set of steps, past a huge monitor lizard and down to the beach in front of a rather posh hotel. We were enjoying this quiet stretch of beach, and once again using the facilities of a hotel well beyond our budget, when the heavens opened. In the rainy season in Thailand, when it rains it really rains – it was torrential! Luckily we were already in the sea so were already soaking wet. Simon, Graham and I ended up having the entire beautiful bay entirely to ourselves while swimming in the downpour for a couple of hours- a definite highlight.

The following morning we said our goodbyes and Graham and I headed to Bangkok, while Simon went to Chiang Mai. Hopefully we will coordinate our future travels and cross paths again soon.

One week in Thailand and there have been no ladyboys or pingpong shows. So far so good! Oh and I can highly recommend Bangkok Airways – for just £15 we got a flight from Krabi to Bangkok, entry to their airport lounge which had free food, drinks and wi-fi and a meal on the plane. Hurrah!