Chiang Mai

We stayed in Chiang Mai for about 2 weeks. God only knows what we got up to cos there's not really that much to do there. I can account for 5 of the days but i'm not allowed to tell you what with, you'll have to ask George!!!

Chiang Mai was really good. I couldn't believe how cheap everything is there, compared to the South, anyway. We stayed in the part known as "Old Town", it's inside an almost perfectly square mote. The place we stayed was nice but the owners had a bull dog with a bloody bell round it's neck. They advertised "real" Lincolnshire sausages with breakfast but they were nothing like, more like hotdog sausages, eeerr!!

When we were there we met a guy called Eak (aka Phatie). He's Thai but he learned most of his English in London, where he lived with his wife and daughter, so he speaks with the strangest cockny/Thai acsent. He'd say things like "bloody hell" in a London acsent, it was so wierd. He was really nice too. He looked after us and took us to nice bars and things like that. He would let us doss at his tattoo shop, watching DVD's and drinking bottle after bottle of Sang Som (Thai Rum).

We got a motorbike at Chiang Mai and surprise, surprice George crashed it. Not just once but three times!! He managed to get scratches all down one side and dints to match. George was shitting it a bit when we had to take the bike back cos you hear stories about the repair bills that they make you pay. Apparently they don't give you your passport back (which you have to give them to get a bike) until you pay them. However, George thought it would be worth trying to convince the woman in the shop that all the scratches and dints were already there when we got the bike. Sure enough, it worked. George "reminded" her that the scratches and dints had been there when we took the bike and that he wouldn't take any responsibility for them. To which she said "oh yes, I already knew about them when you took it. Don't worry about it." Jammy sod!!!

We went to Chiang Mai Zoo while we were there to see the panda's, and i love panda's. One day i'm gonna have one as a pet. We had to go twice though because George is a tight arse and the first time we went he wouldn't pay 100 Baht to get into the zoo and them another 100 Baht to see the panda's. I can't remember why he agreed to go a second time but i can only assume that he was trying to make up for doing something wrong. George hates zoo's aswell, he thinks they are cruel but my argument is that you don't know the animals previous or potentially post environment to say whether these are better or worse surroundings for them to live in.

The Toss of a Coin

Before leaving Ao Nang we had to decide the next location. We narrowed our choices down to 2 places Chiang Mai (in the North) or Ko Samui (an island in the South, off the East coastline). The best way we could think of to choose was to toss a coin, and Chiang Mai was the outcome.

The journey to Chiang Mai was a little much though. It was going to be 2 night buses. We got the first one through Nui at the place we were staying. It was a 10 hour journey, which wasn't really that bad because we were asleep for the majority of it. Then we had to spend a whole day in Bangkok waiting for the next night bus to Chiang Mai.

I'd heard the cinemas in Thailand were very good and i wanted to see one. Luckily, the new James Bond film with Daniel Craig had just come out so it seemed like the opportune moment to see it. The tickets only cost 200 Baht so i was expecting the same kind of seating as in our cinema's but it was something else!! We had reserved seating which i chose but wasn't really paying much attention to, just somewhere near the middle. I didn't really check the seating arrangement. When we got inside there was an usher waiting to show us to our seats and carry our snacks for us. The cinema room was a semi-circle of about 10, 2 seater settee's. You got your own table to put your drinks and things on and a pillow and blanket each. It was ace!! When i thought it couldn't get any better the usher handed me a remote control. I was like "what is this for?", the usher pressed one of the buttons and my side of the settee started to recline. I could believe it, i'd gotten all this for less than 3 pounds.

Back to Ao Nang

Hi everybody!!

After Phi Phi we went back to Ao Nang, Krabi. This time it was a little more eventful, although not much. We stayed in a placed called Laughing Gecko, which boasted some very natural surroundings!! It was my first bungalow stay and it really is just a paper shed with a bed in it. It wasn't as bad as i has expected a bamboo bungalow to be though. I really didn't think it was that bad which surprised George. The place is run by a Canadian woman (Trish), her Thai husband (Nui) and their 2 children Niana (9) and Charlie (5). Niana and Charlie took a real liking to George and me. It was almost like being stalked at times. If we were in the eating area, they'd know and they would be straight on to us. George did a trick for them, he was putting things in his ears, which amazed Charlie but Niana was a bit too old for all that childish non-sense. She took more of an interest in me, which was quite nice at first but after a few days of being constantly hastled i could take it anymore. I started going out when they were at school and not coming back until they had gone to bed.

We did a little sightseeing too. We went to a temple on the top of a mountain in Krabi town. I say "we" but George was the only one to make it to the top. It was 1237 steps all the way to the top and i made it about half way and couldn't go any further. I had never realised how afraid of height's a really am until then. Not to mention i was exhausted. Another cool thing is all the monkeys around. They look like they're gonna mug you for food and they probably are. So i gave mine away before they got chance.

We went shooting too. It was the first time i had fired a real gun. On the first day we had a .22 hand gun (means nothing to me) and so the second day we were feeling a little more daring and we decided to go for shotguns. That was ace!!! I had bruises on my shoulder from the back-blast. In the name of sportmanship George and me had a little competition going and i kicked ass!! Maybe not 'kicked ass' but i was better anyway. I got 4 targets to his 3 and the only reason he got 3 was because he missed the target he was aiming for and hit the one next to it instead.

Ao Nang was definately better second time round, i'd even recommend going.

Back to Phi Phi Island, Krabi

Koh Phi Phi is by far my favourate place, i could easily live there. We still didn't do much except sunbath and get drunk. George planned to do more rock climbing but never got round to it and i planned to dive again but never got round to that either. I met up with my friend Eli from Norway, who i met the last time i was on Phi Phi and her boyfriend Mikkel who i was meeting for the 1st time. I really miss Eli, she was lots of fun but hopefully she's gonna come back while i'm still here or maybe i'll go to Norway on my next adventure!? I didn't really see much of George, he had his own friends. A French guy called Chris with a bar with no name. He seemed to be having fun. When Eli had gone i spent most of my time in bars with various people. Either at Sunflower Bar, which is made entirely from the beach wreckage from the tsunami or with some divers who work at a place called Aquanauts and Island Divers, called Bonnie (a very funny Welsh man), Serge (a French-Canadian guy) and an English guy called Jez. That was it for there really.

Ao Nang, Krabi

Ao Nang was a little boring so we only stayed for a couple of days. Infact i don't think we did anything really. From what i remember we went shopping to buy jumpers cos it's colder than all the other places we have been. That's it!!!

Sorry folks, i've been a bit lazy!!

Hi, sorry for not keeping this updated but i'll try to fill in the blanks over the next few days. We've done quite a bit so it'll take me a while. The last blog was Rai Lay which was ages ago, again, sorry!

1st Fun Dive

I did my first fun dive on Rai Lay, Krabi. It was brilliant and i didn't have to put anything together. All the equipment was already set up for me by the dive master who was diving with me. It was so easy! If they keep setting up my equipment for me i'll forget how to do it though, nevermind eh!! My dive master was a Polish girl called Anna, she was really nice and friendly. I saw my first Stingray (i think i saw 4 but i could have been the same one) and i saw a lobster and other things too (again, i can remember what they were called). It wasn't as good as Phi Phi for visibility and the current was a bit stronger than i'd been in before, so much so we had to turn back, but it was really good. Diving at Phi Phi the visibility was 20 meters or more but on Rai Lay it was only 5-8 meters but i got to see another side to the sea i guess. It's quite scary not being able to see far, i suppose that what it's like having bad eyesight?!

george's say

hello everybody. im just about managing to put up with nic, although it is tough at times. we have been keeping busy. she has been doing her diving, which she never stops talking about. i have been rock climbing mostly which is funny cos im shit scared of heights. also i have been doing some sea kayaking, we have found some quiet beachs along the way and had picnics, nic fed most of hers to the fish. hope everyone is ok in sunny england thats all for now, over and out.

The kayak

I actually did some, kind of, exercise!! Eli (my Norwegian friend) and I went on one kayak and George had his own ( i think he though we would slow him down!) It wasn't as bad as i expected but it's not easy. We paddled to a secluded beach on Phi Phi Don, as had quite a few people! It's wasn't exactly our private beach but it was still good. I did a bit of snorkling and saw an eel. Paddling back was a bit of a nightmare, i was exhausted. It's was pretty cool though and i'm glad i did it.

Open Water

I got my Open Water diving licence!!! It's so cool, i can dive anywhere in the world, to a massive depth of 18 meters. After the hinderence of slashing my knee open, and against the advice of the hosital, it was all worth it. Even though now i will have a bigger scar after the skin split from the water but at least when people ask me how i got such a scar i can say "it's a diving injury". I saw loads of awesome things on my dives. I've seen a couple of turtles, a bandit sea snake, a yellow sea horse (apparently they're rare to find!), loads of baracudas, sea cucumbers and lots of other things i don't know the name of. I didn't see a shark though, i'm not sure if that's a bad thing or not!? I've been told that the ones where i was can't really hurt you because their mouths don't open wide enough to bite you, but i don't want to find out. Phi Phi Islands ROCK!! I can't wait to get back there soon and do more diving.

3 Bloody Stitches

I started my diving course while i've been here. All seemed to be going well. I went snorkling a few days before to get over my fear of fish and it seemed to work. The diving instuctor thought it best if i have a little refresher to make sure i still knew what to do and so they could check for themselves that i could do it i suppose!! It was all going really well i did everything i was supposed to do and i did it right too. I got to almost the end of the skills and BAMM!! I knelt on a massive shard of glass. It went straight through my knee and blood poured out. My first thought was "oh shit, SHARKS!!" The dive master that was with us had to tow me to the boat but she took too long so i ended up doing it myself. I'm not quite sure how astute sharks are to the smell of blood but i didn't want to test it. The poor woman who owned the boat had my blood all over the floor. Luckily where we were diving was only about 30 meters from the hospital but i still practically got carried. The most painful part was having the cut numbed, i thought i was gonna pass out!! The nurse kept jabbing me with a huge needle. Although i am glad they numb it before they do the stitches, i'm not sure i could have coped with that kind of pain. Anyway, the stitches are still fine i have them out in a few days and i finish my diving course tomorrow. Soon i will be a certified open water diver, COOL!!!

Journey to Phuket

Last night we stayed on a night train to Surat Thani to get a bus to Phuket from there. The train was ok, we had sort of bunk beds that they made up for us when it was time to go to bed. George didn't sleep well but i did, mine was quite comfortable (besides all the insects, I was bitten 3 times). The bus was a bit of a nightmare though. It was a pretty small bus and we were the last to get on so we had to stand in the isle but it's a 4 hour journey!! I spent about 2 1/2 hours either stood up or sat on my back-pack in the isle. It was packed full of bodies and roasting. They stopped the bus at a little hut-type shop at the side of the road and when we got back on, it turned out they has air conditioning and had just decided not to turn it on, bastards!! It wasn't too dis-heartening though, all part of the experince i suppose.

Mr Sunney

We had a run in with a hotel taxi driver. In Bangkok the hotel we stayed in had a limousine service (which is just a taxi) that we thought was free cos the first few times we used them they didn't ask for any money. It turns out you do have to pay them. We started to use a driver called Mr Sunney and cos he hadn't charged us for the first day George (being a soft touch) agreed that we would pay him 1000 baht per day. We assumed that meant only if we used him on that day but it turns out he meant everyday if we did or not. George paid him 2000 baht for the second and third day, we only used him once on the third day (we got caught in that flood and couldn't get to the meeting point). On the morning of the forth day (our last day) he asked us for a payment for that day a few hours before we wanted him to take us to the train station but i said not until we got there (being the tough one!!). We decided that since we had only used him once on the previous day it seemed a bit expensive to pay him another 1000 baht to take us about 2 miles for another days payment. So we made a run for it!! We got a street taxi with a meter instead and it cost us 61 baht. When we were at the train station he had come looking for us to get the money for the forth day when we hadn't used him. We had to hide behind pillars in the station so he couldn't find us, it was quite exciting. I think Mr Sunney knew i was the tough one so when he asked for his money yesterday morning he took George aside, away from me to ask him. Which i thought was a bit of an under-handed scheme!! As far as i'm aware we got away with it.