Hello and Welcome!

If you have managed to find this blog, it is most likely because you would like to learn more about me or to read any thoughts that I may share. Some of you may wish to follow me in my travels to Thailand, and this will be the perfect place for me to update you on where I have been, and where I will be travelling. It will also give you an opportunity to leave any comments or questions on anything that I do share, and I will try my best to get back to you!

Despite being a huge fan of technology, there are many times when I will avoid it completely. This means that I will not be keeping a day-by-day diary of my travels, but will be updating this blog as and when internet connections permit! I will also try to put all of my many snaps on to Picasa or Flickr so that everybody can see them!

Also, if you wish to follow this blog, please add your e-mail address below and hopefully you will receive any updates!

Thank you.

Monday, 3 October 2011

Thailand Travel Adventures!

Sorry that this post has been a little bit late, but the past week or so has been absolutely amazing. I have had the opportunity to travel to a number of locations and meet many new people before my training to teach English to school children begins, there will be much more to come shortly, but first of all, the week of travel.
The journey to Phuket was very long, and very uncomfortable, so on arrival to Phuket the only thing on my mind was sleep. Having took a tuk-tuk (made from a Bedford Rascal), started our ascend into the stunning scenery and views that Phuket had to offer, and finally arriving I was able to have my well deserved rest, followed by a trip to the beach, in which I had found paradise. With beautiful views; the sun, the sea, a beer, and a cigar I was in heaven (you will come to find that I find heaven many times on this trip; it just keeps getting better and better).



Patong, the tourist capital of Phuket was the plan for the evening. A fish spa treatment, however, was not. Yet despite this, I had the pleasure of experiencing this slightly camp, but also oddly enjoyable experience, and also saw an unbelievable amount of middle aged English people with Thai women (which isn’t much of a surprise to be honest).
The day trip to Phang Nga bay was a real eye-opener, and started with a trip to the Wat Suan Kuha Temple. The temple is inhibited by monkeys, which sounds quite funky, but they’re absolutely everywhere and have rabies, so it was a real challenge to get a good picture, whilst avoiding being bitten and attacked by some of the mother monkeys looking after their young. Next, was the longboat ride around some of the local islands, including where the James Bond film ‘The Man with the Golden Gun’ was filmed, and a Sea Gypsy Village. Seeing these was beyond belief, especially the Sea Gypsy Village, as this was a village in the middle of the sea made on stilts, which serves great seafood by the way. The longboat as the name suggests was a very long wooden boat, powered by a huge six cylinder diesel engine without a muffler, this ensured a very relaxing cruise around the islands….I wish!
The next stop on the travelling trip was Koh Phi Phi, by boat, in which I thought that was never going to end, and almost resulted in me emptying my guts despite the sea not even being very choppy. On arrival I was given the pleasant opportunity to pay to enter the island and be harassed by ten’s of Thai’s trying to flog boat rides and such things. Getting to the hostel was an absolute nightmare though. With regrettably large bags, no taxis on the island, and steep hills, we were slightly buggered. But eventually, after a phone call to the hostel we had our bags transported by a very kind porter. In the evening, after a late night swim, I was able to enjoy my first experience of Muay Thai (Thai Boxing), with a bucket (Bottle of rum and a can of coke, actually served in a bucket) all for under £3! It was really good to watch this, especially in a reggae bar, but I suffered for it in the morning after having passed out!
Trying to climb up the very steep 270 odd steps with a hangover isn’t the best thing in the world, but as they say; ‘he who dares’ , meant that I was able to see some stunning views over Koh Phi Phi, it was well worth the walk, both up and down. The next place on the list was Krabi (well a place called Railay to be precise). This is a small place is part of the mainland but only accessible by boat because of the huge cliffs which make it impossible to get to any other way! The trip there could have been much worse than it actually was because there was a storm as we were travelling by boat, sitting outside at the front meant I got a soaking, but this was miles better than throwing up! On arriving, it was a really nice place, with beaches on all sides, a resort right by the sea and small enough to see the whole place in one day. In the evening I had the fortunate opportunity to find heaven…again! This place was a scary walk in the dark away; going through random paths in the pitch black with trees and noises all around. I couldn’t believe my luck after walking for about 20 minutes. I found a place which had an open fire, played reggae, and had huts in the cliffs/trees. I was so happy and relaxed in this place, I couldn’t help but smile…it was brilliant!



The only downside was when I got back home I had to spend a good few hours practising my sowing skills, because the numpties who handled the baggage on the boats were practising their throwing skills.
I woke up absolutely shattered the following morning, and was also dreading the 12 hour journey by bus back to Bangkok, but it had to be done! The transport is also so rudimentary, having to walk out to sea to get to the boat with my huge bag and the driver paling out water for the whole journey, and eventually squeezing into a coach, in which I still believe that a stowaway was put with the baggage. This is because before stopping for a break, the driver would always stop 2 minutes before to open and close a door out back! Anyway on arrival to Bangkok my baggage was still intact with nothing missing so we continued our journey to the hostel where we would soon meet many of the others on the TEFL Heaven group!  

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