My landing...

I was in the HKG airport sick as a dog... weak, dizzy and completely out of it. I had to find a place to stay. Dreading trying to figure that all out, I saw a couple reading a lonely planet guide. I went up to them and pathetically asked if I could follow them to a hostel. They were sweet as could be and let me tag along. I think they saw my desperation as their taking pity on me completely saved me!

We took a double decker bus to Hong Kong Island to a hostel in Causeway bay. We got a little lost trying to find it, but along the way it was really interesting to see some of HKG. One strange sight was a block filled with women and girls sitting along side of it in groups and eating barefoot. I have seen this since and just don't understand it. They are not homeless and they don't seem to have a purpose other than taking a break and eating, but it also seems like they have every intention of staying there for a few hours.

We got to the hostel which is in a tall building. I got a single room with aircon and a private bathroom. I tried to get a shared bathroom room, it's easier to meet people when you share a common area, but they had none available. It worked out for the best as my sickness got worse. I couldn't sleep that night because of the pain I was in.

I went to the doctor the next day, thankfully it was a clean private clinic just a block away. The doctor was very nice and spoke excellent English. He looked at me and was sure that I had gotten a skin infection which also caused the throat infection and other symptoms. He said it was very serious and could have spread all over, but he assured me it wasn't a gross disease- just a local Thai infection. He was very stern that I take my three different medications, two being very strong anti-biotics. Once again a weeks worth of meds. I was talking to a girl in the hostel a few days later, she had lived in Thailand for a few months and said that a bunch of her friends got the same thing.

ohhhhh... side note, rewind. When I first got to Phuket I had to go to the doctor again for my foot injury from the rusty nail in NZ! The doctor had to cut my skin and clean the wound out... it hurt so much!!! It's better now.

Okay back to HKG... I started on the meds and within 5 hours my throat was almost totally better. I rarely go to doctors for being sick, but thank God I went when I did! I still spent the next couple of days attached to my bed. What a way to start a new country!

It did give me time to watch TV. I get about 5 channels. Two sometimes have English programs, one shows China news in English on the occasion... most of the time I watched Chinese music videos. They are really funny and really bad! There was one with two male heart throb type guys singing... but they were holding umbrellas... it was a slow song- I really wish I knew what it was about... totally puzzled! My favorite channel, though I feel really creepy watching it, is the security cameras! For some odd reason we get the split screen views of the four cameras! We can watch people come in and out of the building, wait for the elevator and see them in either elevator. It is extremely entertaining... there are some posers out there making sure they have their game on before leaving the building! I have been super cautious to barely move in the elevators now... I hate to think people laugh at me when I ride them! Some new friends have admitted to watching the channel too, it's a hostel favorite!

Last of Thailand...

John had left and the siblings and I stayed. We had some lazy days pool side and hard nights out. I started to notice my glands swelling and I was getting a sore throat.

I was getting excited though because John from Indy's was arriving in Thailand soon... I had a ticket to HKG for May 20th but I was going ot change it and fly over to see him after doing Chiang Mai. I was all sorts of confused about when to leave and such.

Danielle and Kris left and I was happy to have a night in to just relax by myself. I goofed on the date though. Days must have slipped by me without realizing it. The day after they left, I started to feel sick and it was May 19th... uh oh, May 30th I had a flight out of Bangkok. It was a Saturday and I tried to change my ticket but I couldn't get in touch with Cathay Pacific. I quickly bought a same day ticket to Bangkok- not knowing what else to do! I figured I could look into changing my ticket at the airport.

As the day progressed I started to feel more and more sick! When I got to the airport I realized that Cathay Pacific didn't have a booth at Phuket, so I couldn't sort out my ticket there. I arrived in Bangkok in the evening and felt like pure crap. I managed to find a cheap hotel with shuttle service 5 miles from the airport. I just needed a bed and wanted to be close for my early morning flight that seemed inevitable- I had to end my Thailand trip earlier than I wanted to. I didn't get to see John :(

I went to bed and woke up with a fever and being more sick than I have been in forever. Every time I swallowed, my throat felt so tight and it sent shooting pains to my ears... it hurt to breathe and sneezing was the worst. My chin was swollen beyond belief and this is where I will mention what I think the shower water did to me...

I had two pimples about a half a centimeter from my lip. A few days earlier I had woken up and they attached with some white puss. Gross.. I know! I looked awful and must have scared some that morning! It then happened to my lower chin too. On this morning the white changed to green and it crusted over. At this point I thought I had caught something. I was sick and scared. Two things made me feel better but brought me to tears... talking to my mom, who I desperately wanted to be with and I have never missed more in my life! and I managed to call Kat and Nick and heard the Boston crew in the background!

So with the me being a sick monstrosity I was in no condition to sort out new travel plans and I made myself get excited for China.... China! I slept the whole flight from take off to landing and found myself in the Hong Kong airport that looked a lot like the Bangkok airport... a new adventure...

Elephant trek

The one thing I really wanted to do in Thailand was to do an elephant trek in the jungle. I had heard you can do them in Chiang May which is in the North and I was planning on going. We however happened to see a lot of brochures that highlighted elephant trekking in Phuket.

We booked a half day excursion and were stoked about doing something cool on Phuket... or so we thought.

We arrived at the tour place and I could tell it was a tourist trap of crap! I think it cost them about $200 to put this place together- there was nothing to it and what was there was not even run down, because it would have had to have been nice at one point ot be run down... it was just a dump! The tour was suppose to cover a lot of ground and include a lot of fun activities, I soon realized it was all to be done in this little center... what a rip-off!

We first rode elephants. Now the picture showed people doing it in the rain forest... we did it next to the rain forest but not in it. It looked like it was in the process of being cleared land for development... it was bumpy with some ditches and such; it was not the back drop or conditions I was expecting! We even went through some garbage at one point. I got to ride the elephant but I felt like I was at the zoo. That's what this place was like, a petting zoo.

Next was the monkey show. They had a monkey take coconuts (that they tied up to the tree) out of the tree. I think it was supposed to be educational on how the monkeys get the coconuts free, but it was not an impressive show. We didn't even get to hold the monkey.

The elephant show came next which was even more stupid. I can't even remember what they had the elephant do. At the end though they had Danielle get up and lay down on her stomach.... they had the elephant stomp (lightly) on her back... I once again didn't see the entertainment in this. Kris then had to lay down and they shoved bananas on the sly up his pants.. so the elephant went to get the bananas up his shorts, through the bottom to make it look suggestive and a horrible thought of bestiality... I thought it was corny and predictable trick.

Two things made this very expensive tour worth it...

1) A rice field tour. Well, it really was a man made tiny replica of a rice field on their premises... but the explanation of how rice is rice was given and I was blown away by the presentation. It was really cool to see the plant in different stages and how they get the rice and have to separate it from the shell like stuff. I am sorry I don't have more information on this. I didn't have my notebook with me and have since forgotten all of the cool facts on rice. I think I need to google it.. you should do the same, it was really cool!

2) Rubber Tapping. We actually got off the premises for this and drove to a random spot off some road to a dirt road. We had to walk in the forest, just a few feet to the specific tree. This is one way you can make rubber... you take a spacial tool that reminds me of a cuticle cutter (the ones that you just run over the cuticle and it comes off, kind of like a half circle shaped shaver). With this tool you run it over the bark of the tree in a downward slope. The bark comes off and almost instantaneously white sap comes out. The sap dribbles down the tree and is collected in a cup for three hours. You can only do one slit at a time per tree and it is done in the wee hours of the morning due to temperature, light and general conditions.

Once the sap is collected it is put in water and mixed with some other liquid that I didn't understand what it was (Thai tour guide with very broken english). I can't remember how long it stays in the liquid, sorry folks. The sap was sticky to begin with and after this process has now hardened and is put in a roller. It gets squished out like a lasagna maker and then put in water again. It then gets squished out of a finer and textured roller. The last step is hanging it to dry on a clothes line for two weeks. It turns brown and becomes rubber!

Those were definitely the highlights of the tour and I wish we could have ended on a high note. Nope... we were off to a canoe trip in a... well I am not sure what you would call a body of water like this. I guess it was a narrow river, very calm though. We got there and all loaded onto a long boat that took us down the river. There was nothing spectacular to look at and the river had these contraptions along it that caught muscles. We went about 5 minutes in the boat when we had to get into our canoes. John and I got into our canoe and we were told to paddle back to where we came from. It took us all of ten minutes and we were completely dumb founded by this activity. I still don't understand the point of it.

Oh and the brochure also said we were going to go on a 4x4 safari ride... that was the transport from the petting zoo to the tapping tree and then to the canoe. Rip off?!

The last stop they also managed to fit in time to bring us to two gift centers. One was a pearl store (I did see some magnificent pearls) and the other was a gem store. Wow... they had tons of precious and semi precious stones of all shapes and sizes. I admit it, I loved this stop and totally regret not buying the most beautiful aquamarine... the prices were cheap, really cheap and the goods were certified. Oh well...

Rock City

oh yeah... we found the bar of a lifetime! Rock City is a Hard Rock Cafe, theme like bar... but Jersey... it's all Jersey. We went there on two occasions and had stupid fun. Rock City has live music- cover bands (think monster ballads CD) that were Thai dudes. It was amazing. The lyrics were hysterical, much like the lounge singers, their pronunciations were a little off. But theirs were a little more subtle being that they just seemed to scream everything.

I have to say that I love this place... it was really goofy and a great time... but it was the only bar that we could find that had normal guys. There were no prostitutes here so it was nice to be able to socialize with the male gender again!

The bar also had shot girls. One girl dressed like a bandida serving tequila or sambuca shots. They also had the slutty nurse walking around with surringes of alcohol... it just added to the cheese factor and was a perfect addition.

Random...

Patong is way more westernized then the other islands. It was hard to find Thai restaraunts... you had to go down tiny alleyways with dirty places to eat. Other than that it was western food.

7-11 had no meat pies as we were out of Oz and Kiwi land. Their snacks were crazy processed meat on sticks that soaked in oil and some in water... I didn't try them. I did try the steamed buns that they had and the dumplings... I much preffered the street meat out there!

You can buy fresh fruit on a stick- think Washington Heights- on street corners... it was awesome!

While massages are wonderful in Thailand, mani's and pedi's are terrible. They just file and paint, nothing more. They do the worst job. Even though they are cheap, you are better off doing your own nails.

Toilets... gross. Some are just holes in the grond. I don't understand why they would have them and not regular toilets. Now I agree that there are wonderful customs and cultural differences that we all have... but lets face it the toilet is far superior to the hole in the ground. This is an occation where I really think they should conform to the western invention. Also, do to plumbing you can't throw anything in the toilets. This includes your poopy toilet paper! The plumbing is pretty bad... you often don't have hot water in hotel rooms and ours smelled like rotten eggs. Can you imagine showering in that?! PS I think it caused some other issues for me which I will bring up in a future entry.

A new roommate

Nick sadly had to go and so Danielle moved into my room. I was thankful to have met the Canadians because it was cool to have fun people to hang out with. We stayed for about a week and relaxed poolside a lot (we snuck into a nice resorts pool area everyday!).

We also treated ourselves to some really nice dinners. One night we went for fresh lobster and squid... at that restaraunt (as most do), they had live music. It was a sister and brother pair, in their 40's- the dude was on key board and lead vocals and the sister was back up singer and random marracca's or tambourine, as per the song needed. They were the epitomy of lounge singers. It was horrificly entertaining. One would stop mid song to welcome new customers or to say good night as the music played on... they were terrible but amazing at the same time. I made the mistake of making eyecontact and bopping along to one of the 80's love songs they were singing... there was no excaping them after that. They called me "new york" and would have me request songs, they dedicated New York, New York to me and they basically wouldn't leave me alone. They were super nice though and you couldn't help but love them.

Side note: I was not lactose intollerant in Thailand either.

Phuket

We took a boat to Phuket and thankfully it was short, not an overnighter and not that bad.

Kris has traveled to Phuket a few times so he kind of led the way for us. We decided to stay in Patong (which I knew nothing about)- it is the main beach from my understanding.

Nick had to fly home the next day, so we had one night out with him- and we had to make it a great send off for him! We walked the strip of bars; there are a plethora of bars on this strip. They close the street to traffic at night and the sidewalks are lined with bars. The bars are open in the front and you can just wander from bar to bar. Off this block are a few side streets with more bars that line them, as well as having bars in the middle strip of the block. Basically it is three strips of bars per little alleyway. They are called Soi's.

About this area... there are hundreds, maybe thousands of people. You get harassed every two steps to purchase cigarettes, pictures with monkey's (I got one taken- I just wanted to hold the cute thing!) or Iguana's, ridiculous hats, stupid souvenirs or sex. Yep... prostitutes galore! I have never seen so many prostitutes in all of my life... it was crazy!

We got approached to go to a ping pong show... of course we went! This was no Forrest Gump champion ping pong player... this was an older Thai woman popping them out of a certain hole. She also shoved a peeled banana in and shot it out. I'll never forget the sound that made, and I don't care to explain it! Other impressive acts - she blew out candles, played a horn and wrote a note... all with her you know what. Some people we met couldn't believe we went to the show (which was a one drink minimum per set- we only stayed one set), but I can't believe anyone wouldn't go to this show! Now I am not saying I agree with this career choice, but I must say I am super impressed with her skills and wonder how she trained or how long it took her to learn these party tricks! Talk about a conversation starter... The funnything though was that she was not this cute little thing, she was ugly and not on the young side!

Another thing about these bars... they have thai bar maid's and you can play them in connect 4. You can't win... they are unbelievable at the game.

We started the night there and then went to Tiger bar. It is a bigger club and we found a corner and worked up a good sweat dancing. Numa Numa came on and Nick and I went nuts. I got all cheery because it made me think of Brent, P and Karen... I wished you guys had been there!

After Tiger bar we went to Dragon Bar. It was not full at all, but it did have a stage and cat walk with some dancers... no nudity though, they were just dancing in these ridiculously skimpy threads they called outfits. As I said before, Kris was really leading the way. This was his favorite hang out and it showed because we got amazing treatment! There was Mama San... who is really a he, but I'll show respect and say she. She is in charge of the dancers and their actions and wages after their dancing. She sent a few up to us, to get our drinks when we needed more and to dance with us. She had two of them take Danielle and I by hand, down to the stage to dance! She then sent them all down to us... we were dancing with hookers on stage!!!! The night was beyond surreal!

We went back up to the balcony area and danced up there, with the prosties of course. We were battling moves and I was trying to take some notes! kidding... I do have to mention that they were in awe over my breasts. They kept at looking and pointing at them and giggling... then the pointing became touching... I guess they hadn't seen anything like them before. I feel like my story can go off into a very crazy direction here... but nope, not only are prostitutes not for me, but girls aren't either. And this is why I have to say I wasn't that keen on Patong. While I had a blast there, particularly this first night... it was sleazy, and I wanted to dance with hot guys, not female hookers or the men that hang around them!

There are also lady boys, as they call them, all over the place. The alleyway to our hotel was the lady boy hooker spot... it was pretty funny!

This was one of the cazier experiences on this trip... but what a memorable lsat night to Nick's big trip... he went home to Canada after this one.

My ARMY buddies

I have to say my favorite thing about hanging out with JOhn and Kris was hearing there perspective and experiences. They had both been sent to Afganistan and had some crazy storied to tell. It was interesting even hearing about the day to daylife and goofy aspects of the Army... like what a rashion was like, or how they sent mail... One particular night Kris was speaking about road side bombs or something as common knowledge like that and John turns to him and said 'loose lips sink ships'... I am sure they had a lot more they couldn't share!

What was even more interesting was talking with Danielle and seeing her reaction as they told stories. I asked her a lot of questions in relation to her feelings about her brother leaving and what that must have been like for her.

Thai boxing

Phi Phi has an interesting nightlife. The music stops at 2 am, but people still stay out and drink. I personally prefer dancing the night away, but oh well. We found this one bar that had thai boxing. It seemed pretty staged but it was still fun to kick back a few, while watching people kick back to win! It was very easy to get into it and Cheer them on! After the thai boxers go up, they allow patrons to compete against each other. It was crazy to see some girls go at it. They were drunk, had no fighting technique, nor intentions to really fight- but by the end, man they would slug each other!

It reminded me of this re-occurring dream I have when I am stressed out and feel like I am not in control of my life. The dream is me getting into a fight, throwing a punch with all of my might and it hitting the target like jello... with no force whats so ever. The fights there fore made me feel a little uneasy, while I am confident in my strength, there was no way I was going up there!

We had one crazy night, actually it was the first night. Carl, who I should have mentioned a long time ago, I just don't like- showed his true colors. Firstly, I don't respect him because he is a beach bum drunk unwilling to grow up. Secondly, I don't like him because of his attitude he feels like he is king of Thailand because he has spent 8 seasons there and feels like everyone should kiss his *ss. Carl also gets on these long tangents when he is drunk and often is offensive. That is the background on Carl. On this particular night Carl became enraged with Nick for absolutely no reason and punched him! We were all hanging out on our balcony when it happened and Carl's Thai (supposed gangster) friend got all riled up too and pulled out a knife! Thankfully the Canadians were with us. John and Kris are in the ARMY and proved there skills. They took control of the situation and diffused the matter at hand. It was time consuming, as well as energy draining... but Carl finally left! I wanted nothing to do with him after that!

Another highlight of Phi Phi, besides the daily hour long massages I got, was a 3 hour cooking course we took. It was great fun and extremely informative! It was a perfect way to spenda rainy afternoon. The instructor was an irish man that has been living in thailand for quite sometime. At first I was disappointed he wasn't thai, but then I realized understanding the instructor was far more important and helpful in my learning more! He taught us about the herbs they use, how to cut them per specific dishes and the reasons why they are cut in that fashion; he taught us three dishes and he explained about the culture in terms of diet and cuisine. I cannot wait to have a Thai dinner party!

This pretty much sums up my time in Phi Phi... I was off to Phuket next with Nick and the Canadians!

Our arrival

We finally made it to Phi Phi. We checked into our hotel and I was less than pleased. I really shouldn't complain as it was less than $15 a night each, but my budget can afford more than that and I would have liked a non-leaking room, hot water and a window... but we did have a balcony!

I had my best meal yet in Phi Phi. If any of you go there you should go to a restaurant (shack) called Papaya- I think that's the name (it's next to Tiger bar our nightly spot). The servings were massive, fresh and super spicy.

Once again the weather was touch and go- on and off rain (torrential down pours). We all planned on staying in Phi Phi for a few days and wanted to do some fun stuff and not just sit around! One thing that absolutely struck us as we were coming in from the ferry from Krabi (that's the name of the place we were stranded for a few hours and found the local eatery), was that the panoramic views were out of this world and unlike anything I have seen. Once again picture small islands with rain forests inhabiting all but the beach fronts. What makes these different from Doubtful Sound is the proximity of these are no where near as close. These Islands are very far apart but it emphasises the vastness of the water! It is incredible to be in a boat and to see so much ocean around you! These Islands, Phi Phi and the smaller ones around it, literally shoot up from no where. They don't peak in the middle...they have a sort of flat top shape... picture Will Smiths hair in early Fresh Prince days if his hair were a rich green, lush rain forest on Christina Ricci's forehead (just as big) as the ocean's water! By far the most beautiful part of Thailand.

We did a sunset cruise- the Canadians, Nick, Carolina and I. We did a lot of snorkeling and had amazing schools of fish swimming with us. I have never swam amongst thousands of fish before, and I definitely was a little freaked out! There wasn't as much coral as there was off of Ko Tau, and I think I enjoyed seeing the coral more than the fish- though a great experience just the same!

We got to Kayak into a lagoon, which was beautifully relaxing (especially since Kris was doing the paddling!). We also passed by Monkey beach, but there were no Monkeys so we didn't stop in order to spend more time in other locations. The last stop we made was to a beach front. Actually a scene from the movie 'The Beach' was filmed there. To get to this beach we had to either swim from the boat to this little cave and walk on a rope through it, then a bit of a jungle walk to the other side where the beach was or stay on the boat and they would take you there. Seems like a no brainer, however even the thai tour guides said the swim would be a rough one, the weather was changing with the clouds coming in wich brought about rough water conditions.

Everyone psyched me up to do the swim / cave adventure. I am not one to pass up once in a life time opportunities on this trip. John agreed to stay close as my fear definitely shined through my less than tough facade! Since my near death experience in Jaco, circa 1991, I am not a big fan of waves and rough water!

I set my self free in the water and began to swim, not too bad at first. As we came closer to the cave the waves were incredibly strong. Keep in mind there were huge coral rocks around as the water became more shallow. The waves basically pushed us into the rocks with great force and then sucked us back out. It was not a fun experience to say the very least. At one point I grabbed onto Johns back for dear life and was sucked back out by a wave. Even the fittest of guys were having difficulty making it to the roped cave. The tour guide was yelling at us to stay to the left, but the water had other intentions for us. I banged up my knee and had a few scrapes on my hand as the rocks were merciless!

I somehow made it to the cave after swallowing much water and swearing to myself that I would skip further water activities. The cave took all about one minute to walk through- it was more of an arch way than a cave. The walk hurt our bare feet as we were walking on crushed coral and people were banged up! Kris had gashes and scrapes all over, one kid had his swimmers torn and we were all out of breath. We made it to the heavenly beach and I have to say... if I had just taken the boat there I really would not have missed out on anything. This is one of those times when I could have sat the activity out and it would have been better! But you never know these things and I would rather be disappointed in doing something than disappointed in missing out on another.

The beach was an alcove an alcove of the island. White sand beach, crystal clear water, the jungle around us and other than the other people on the tour, we had it all to ourselves. We only spent about a half hour here though. The weather cut our time short and gave us no sunset. It was still worth it!

I almost died

We booked the night boat going from Ko Tau to Phi Phi. It was a boat to bus to boat ride. The first boat was to leave at pm and we were to get into Phi Phi at noon the next day... all for about 30 bucks.

We were told to get there at 7:30 for a good spot. We did ... but before I get to the accomodations...

The boat. Oh my god. It was a big old wooden fishing boat. The weather was turning on us. It had been drizzling all day, but it seemed like a storm was headed our way. Please note earlier blog entries- you will recall the rain comes down with great force. The ramp to get on the boat was a 1 foot wide piece of wood with no grips. We got there first and were handed tickets with numbers on it. We went upstairs, where we could not stand tall- we had to remain bent over. There were 3 inch thin mattresses along side both sides of the boat, all the way down. The numbers handed to us were the sleeping assignments. Please keep in my mind it was like two gigantically long beds and we were to sleep next to each other. I have never seen anything like this. We did however get the corner which was slightly more room and there were fans above us. There were windows all the way down too.

We grabbed some dinner and made it back to the boat about 15 minutes till departure. When we got back the boat was packed. So much so, they put mats down on the wooden floor in the luggage floor and had people sleep there too. Thank goodness we came early! As we were getting ready to go the waves were picking up as the weather was getting worse. I thought the Whitsundays were bad, that was nothing. For most of our journey the boat was not only rocking up and down but from side to side as well. Every time there was a big wave, the boat would come crashing down and you could hear the wood make creaking noises- it sounded like it was going to split in two. Before we even made it off the dock, the current was so bad, they couldn't get the boat away from the dock. We kept on crashing into it over and over again with a bunch of Thai guys yelling as loud as they could. When we finally made it out of the dock we hit another boat before we made it out to see.

There were a group of three across from us. There was this one guy John, with a tattoo sleeve, massive silver earrings with big holes, more tattoos and just a tough looking big guy... he was holding on for dear life with the biggest look of fear in his eyes. The two with him, Danielle and Kris (brother sister travelers from Toronto) gave me props for downing a Smirnoff ice in one sip. I was scared to say the very least.

Nick stayed downstairs he was loving this. Carolina and I slept holding hands and my other hand was bolted to my life vest. I kid you not, I slept with my hand clenched to the vest! I woke up at some point during the night to the sound of the rain down pouring next to me. There was a leak and the area of the bed next to me was drenched. Nick was supposed to be sleeping there but he was talking to some girl, still downstairs. People had closed there windows to not let the rain in and it got quite hot. I managed to fall back asleep and once again woke up. This time I grabbed my heart when I woke up in a panic. My heart hurt. I thought I was having a heart attack. It was awful I was in terrible pain and the boat was still rocking but now terribly hot as well. They had turned the fans off for some crazy reason! As if the conditions needed to get any worse?! Kris saw me gasp as I woke up and thought I was crazy! Apparently John had nightmares of being in an earth quake. I think every one's fears were manifesting in a different way.... but it was crystal clear none of us felt safe on this boat.

The weather conditions were really bad and I have never seen a boat rock as much as this one... huge amounts of water splashed over the front of the boat as smashed down on waves... it was crazy.

We thankfully made it to the port in one piece- though with a lack of sleep and an overwhelming amount of pain! There were a bunch of Thai people trying to sort out who booked through what company and where we were to go next. We got split up from Carl as he booked elsewhere. He got his tuk tuk to a mini van right away which brought him to the next port to get the ferry to Phi Phi.

We on the other hand were ushered with our bags through the streets of wherever we were on a 15 minute walk. We waited there for our tuk tuks which then brought us to another place to wait a pointless half an hour till our bus took us on many stops till we finally for to another travel agency type place- who then told us we missed the ferry by an hour (which Carl made it there an hour early). It was 11 and we had to be back there at 2:30. Thankfully Carolina has done this before and was able to lead Nick and I, and the three Canadians to town.

We stumbled upon a corner restaurant with the cutest kids working it. All six of us got an entree and a soft drink for about 450 baht. That is less than 15 US dollars. It was worth the experience just to go to this place. It was a restaurant that had no walls on the two exterior sides. There were carts on different ends of the corners to cook the food. It was half street food half restaurant. I don't think they get many non Asians as diners at this place.

It started to rain (why not make matters worse?!) on the walk back to the agency thing. We stopped for coffee to kill time and to wait for the rain to die down. The coffee was more expensive than the meal we had just eaten! We couldn't out wait the rain, we just accepted our crappy situation and were slowly beginning to laugh about this crazy journey! We did play my favorite game... the at least game. Whenever in a crappy condition, play the at least game... like at least I am not dead in an alley way with vultures pecking away at me or at least I am not stuck in a room with no windows with both Mickey Mouse and Goofy for 24 hours with no sleep allowed... it puts everything into perspective.

We got back and quickly got into more tuk tuk's and off we were to the ferry. The ferry was a bit nicer of a boat... but it is always complete chaos trying to find seats. People take up more seats than they need and the employees do not help. I managed to get some sleep on the boat before finally making it to Phi Phi with practically 24 hours of travel time on our belts!

We befriended the Canadians and we all decided to stay in the same hotel...

Snorkeling in Ko Tau

As I said we had a big night out for Martina and Shane as they were leaving us. Nick and I got about an hour and a half of sleep and Carolina got none. We had booked a snorkeling trip that we were determined to make. Unfortunately Stina didn't make it out of bed. Everyone thought we were crazy for booking this trip as it has been raining like crazy. Everyone said that the visibilty underwater would be crap. I knew I wouldn't see any fish on land, so might as well try to snorkle!

We lucked out more than I could have dreamed up good weather. It was the most amazing day! We went to abotu 4 or 5 different spots off the boat to snorkle. The first stop broke all boundaries for my comfort zone! I snorkeled with SHARK! It is true I saw a few of them swim by me, they were about 3 1/2 feet long. Now before you get all scared or proud of me, they were reef sharks. Reef sharks are sharks, but they are pretty much harmless. It was explained to me that they can't really kill you but they can take a bight out of you... this is why I feel like I totally surprised myself by doing this.

The next stop was by a reef where the entire oceans floor was covered in beautiful coral. The vastness was icnredible. The sunny day that we had allowed great visibilty and dare I say it... I was more impressed with this coral than the coral at the Great Barrier Reef. This coral was orange and twiggy looking, the way I have always expected it to look. I cant explain how much there was... it was crazy!

At the next stop there were bigger rocks and a really cool looking coral reef. The coral was different colors and really cool shapes. There were crazy looking things in the water that I couldn't tell you what they were... but it was spectacular. We even saw these giant blue clams, they were wavy looking and really cool.

The last place we stopped was the most beautiful place I have ever seen. It was an island and we had to pay an entrance fee. It is so hard to explain what it looked like, but I can tell you the water was turquoise, there was a beutiful lagoon, the sand was crushed pieces of coral- very white but hurt a bit to walk on it. We went up to a look out point through the forest, climbed rocks- for the most spectacular view. It was two tiny islands connected by a thin and short sretch of sand. P.S. did you know that sand is 75% fish poop?!

This was a great day, I am so glad we decided to book this excursion despite the weather and everyone's critism... it was amazing!

Snickers

After my journey home from Ko Samui, I got back to a sleeping room. Apparently Shane and Martina stayed out till 9 am.

It was another rainy and lazy day in our beautiful hotel room. Finally at about 6ish... Nick arrived!!!! I was soooo happy, and relieved that he made it! Snickers and I went to get some yummy thai grub. We had a few Capirinias and had one of our legendary and epic conversations. It was really great to see him again and just talk about life.

I had to call it an early one though I was pooped! We arranged to go to Ko Tau the next day... Snickers, Martina, Stina, Shane, Carolina, Carl and myself.

Our day of departure was yet again a rainy day. We arrived in a full on storm. We stayed in a cute hotel, we had two person wooden bungalows.... nothing extraordinary but they were good enough. They were just across the road from the beach.

On day two of being there Nick, the girls and I rented scooters, Vespa like bikes. It was a funny start. Two people could go per bike and it was tricky finding out who would drive, who would ride with who and who would ride alone. Martina tried and failed, she couldn't get the balance of the bike. I paid attention to the Thai kid with his broken English explanation on how to drive the thing. As he was explaining it again to Stina and Carolina, I decided to just jump on one... and off I was. It's a good thing they don't ask for licences as we all know I don't have one. It turned out Stina was able to drive one as well, Carolina jumped on back of hers and Martina rode with Nick... should I be flattered that they had the confidence in me to drive alone or insulted because they were too scared to ride with me?!

We went on a 45 minute ride to a place I will probably never be able to find again. WE had no direction, we were just going by whim and where the unblocked roads would take us. It rains so much here that a lot of the roads are flooded and please bare in mind these are tiny islands with very few roads! We made it to a path in a rain forest and decided to park the bikes and ride it. It was a steep walk down, narrow and scary! But after about 15 minutes we made it to the beach and it was worth it! No one was there, we had a small sanded beach surrounded by rain forest with wooden bungalows on stilts in them. It was an amazing piece of land that we had all to ourselves! The walk back up was a tough one, man am I out of shape!!!

Ko Tau is my favorite island thus far in Thailand. It was pretty small but well developed at the same time. There is not as much western influence as you find on Ko Pagnan and Phi Phi, but that's what I like about it. The beaches are not as nice as the ones on Phi Phi though. What I love about Ko Tau is the vibe. It reminds me of old school Costa Rica, back in the early 90's. They have bars on the beach that lay out mats and pillows, with tables and candles right on the sand. It is so nice to chill out on the beach; it is a lot more mellow than the other islands, yet it still has a great night life if you want it. Most of the restaurants have flat screen TV's and play movies during the day and at night, so its a nice alternative to going out or perfect for a rainy day.

Martina and Shane left after a couple of days. We of course had a big night out the night before and dined on Pancakes after the bar. All over Thailand you find street vendors making Crepe like pancakes with the most delicious fillings. I have had two so far... a nutella/peanut butter / banana and the one that I had this night, egg and cheese. The man that makes them at this particular stand is extremely impressive, he flips them and is super quick with his spatula. I bet he would be in heaven at Spatula City. This night however he was extremely drunk and barely managed to make the pancakes.

Carolina bumped into a thai, guy friend of hers at the bar. He opted for fried chicken from a street vendor and a bag of rice. I have never laughed so hard in my life a the sight of him feeding Stina and Carolina. He even gave me some of his rice by balling it up in his hands and trying to feed me... it was odd. But let me tell you, that chicken was amazing! The other vendor food that is a culinary delight is street meat. They (you find this all over the place)grill satay skewers of chicken, beef and some other stuff. They cost about 10 baht each, which is about 30 cents.

Ko Pagnan and full moon party

Ko Pagnan is basically a party island. So please bare in mind while reading my entries they might be a little ridiculous. Also, have the confidence in me that I actually do and see amazing things during the day, however it had been pissing rain while in Ko Pagnan so there really wasn't much to do during the day. Let's stop and talk about the rain. I came to Thailand in monsoon season. Its true, it really is. It has rained almost every day, I think all but one day saw rain. Some days it rains all day long, and not just a sprinkle, a down pour. Other days its off and on. I am still having an incredible time though!

We went out again to the Drop in bar and rumor had it a friend of ours named Benji, from Bondi was in town. We couldn't find him the night before but within a matter of two minutes and amongst the hundreds of people dancing on the beach, we were dancing next to Benji! It was rally great to see him again. He greeted me with the biggest hug out there and a smile from ear to ear... I was equally as happy to see him. It was another hard night out as the build up for the full moon party is just as strong as the actual night!

Full moon day... hungover in bed with pissing rain outside. it did make it easy to stay inside though! There was a break in the rain and Martina and I ventured out to get some type of a costume for the night. We went to some 99cent store type places and found some cute accessories. We decided to be party favors. We put colored tinsel around our denim skirt hems and our ankles. We found xmas tree ornaments of gifts that we made earring out of. As we got ready for the night we put a full face on and some big hair!

At this point we weren't sure when Nick (Snickers) from Bondi was coming. We had a feeling he wouldn't make it for the night but we were crossing our fingers. We were also hoping to meet up with the geordies, Steve and Ian (not the Ian I went to world bar with, but there friend which was only in Bondi for a couple of days and we don't remember meeting each other). I had sent them an email with our hotel info and a meeting time and hoped they were able to meet us.

We started drinking at a friends bungalow in the same resort. It was raining ridiculously hard at this point. You could hear the people on the beach and the music, but we wanted to wait for either the rain to stop, the drinks to kick in, or to find Steve and Ian. It was myself, Martina, Stina, Carolina, Shayne, Carl and some people we had just met in another bungalow. The rain started to calm itself and I went to meet Steve and Ian... yay! A few minutes later I found them!!!! Once again it was big hugs and smiles to see each other.

the full moon party was ridiculous. There were thousands of people dancing on the beach and battling sound systems from the bars. We started at drop inn and then wandered down the beach a bit. We were dancing at one bar down the beach and Steve went to get a drink. I saw him begin to walk over, and I didn't see him again for the rest of the night. We finally decided to leave him and call it a lost cause. As we were walking back to Drop Inn, Ian and I seemed to have lost everyone. We looked around, sped up and gone. We lost everyone. The two of us had a blast the rest of the evening though. We danced a lot and drank a lot... gotta love those buckets! WE were really goofy and at one point he looked at me dancing and commented how I was even wackier than him... that made me laugh.

Ian and I had the best time walking around and stopping at the random bar on the beach for some dancing. It was mostly house and drum and bass sort of stuff... which is very dramatic and fun for a night like this. There were tons of Malaysians that would pass out on the beach. I swear we saw like five different sets of some. I had Ian lay down with them and we got some very entertaining photos.

We couldn't find anyone and we were getting tired. It was about 330... we were lame. This party goes till the next day at noon! While trying to find friends, we stumbled on a thai teenager passed out on his scooter. I climbed on for an obvious photo up and some how he wakes up, turns back at me and with a very drunken grin, he grabs my boob! I think Ian and I couldn't stop laughing for the longest time at that one!

I didn't have my room key, only Shayne had one. Ian and Steve were staying on Ko Samui, the island with the great airport. We found Steve finally who wanted to head back as well and they dragged me along. I was leaving the party island to go to another for the night... reverse commute!! Silliness. They had speed boats that they shuttle people back and forth specially for the full moon party.

I thought I was going to die on this boat. It had three motors and went incredibly fast. In fact apparently at the last full moon party one flipped over and had some casualties. Thankfully it only lasted a half hour. Getting off was equally as nerve racking. We had to walk on the front nose of the boat and jump off... it was really high! I crawled and then had some thai guys assist me off. Ian and I were watching Steve as it was his turn to get off the boat and Ian turned to me and was positive that Steve was going to fall. I turned my video on in the camera and got a perfect shot of Steve taking a plummet and landing on his bum in the water! Classic!

We had to take a tuk tuk back to their bungalow. We were the last ones on... I sat in the back with my legs hanging off and Steve and Ian were standing at the back holding on for dear life. It was not the safest of conditions and these tuk tuks go fast... but Thailand is not the safest of places! It was a fun ride back... they looked like the lost boys hanging off the bridge. We made it back it one piece.

We had another beer and hung out on their porch. We danced a bunch until Steve looked at us and said... why are the three of us assholes dancing on my balcony when there are thousands of people dancing on the beach we just came from! I have never laughed so hard as I did that night. I am so glad I went on an adventure to Ko Samui with the boys. It was not only great to see Steve again... but it was the most fun I have had in a long time. Truthfully, I thought it was more fun than the full moon party itself. The sun came up yet again... bed time!

I had to make it back to Ko Pagnan and realized I didn't have that much money with me. I got my ferry ticket and had about 150 baht left. The ferry, as I knew it, left me in walking distance to my resort. As I was starving and had and hour and a half to spare, I decided to get some food in me! In doing so, I think I had the best pad thai of my life. It is really cool here, in some places they put the noodles in an egg omelet (very thin) and rip it open on top... a sort of bowl. This left me with about 30 baht which would be enough with good negotiating from ferry to hotel.

The ferry was a much nicer one than I had taken from the airport. When we got to the pier I did not recognize a thing. I was going to try and walk but a cab driver told me no and to get in. I showed him the little money I had and he said not to worry... after all Thailand is all about negotiating. Well, its a good thing I got in. This ferry went to a different pier and we were a 45 minutes drive from my hotel! The cab driver did not charge me a baht and was nice as could be! Such and adventure...

Bangkok to Ko Pagnan

I left early that morning for the airport... so excited! I was headed to an island to meet up with my friend Martina that I met in Bondi. Ko Pagnan hosts the full moon party every month and we were just a day away or so.

I had a great sushi meal at a cafeteria style place in the Bangkok airport. Best airport food I have had. I was off to a much better start! I was on a Bangkok air flight. All I have to say is that I love them! It was a short flight, but a very enjoyable one.

The flight got me into Ko Samui where I then had to fine my way to the ferry that would then take me to Ko Pagnan. I can't lie, I was a little nervous to be on the go by myself knowing I had to try and figure out this connection. We flew into the tiniest runway and deboarded the plane (ha, Nick I got it). They had transport waiting for us to take us to the terminal. The transport were like the little trolley / tram things you take at a kids park. Like a little open air train car. It was hilarious. WE got to the terminal. This is by far my favorite airport ever.

Standing before me were 3 bungalow / huts with no walls. It was a bamboo and wooden airport; international airport at that. The conveyor belt was a little loop that the guys through the bags onto. I have to say they were very quick and efficient! As I was walking out a woman asked me if I needed a taxi and I told her I had to go to Ko Pagnan, and poof two minutes later I had a ticket in hand and a taxi reserved. I did however have an our and a half to kill.

Conveniently they had a bar and a restaurant. I opted for the bar and grabbed a couple of beers. As I was sipping I noticed the passport check area for departures. Two old ladies sat behind a tiny stand in another wooden bungalow. I love this place. I also have to mention the waiting are was outside with chairs made out of tree trunks and a nice grassy area.

I knew I was about to be in paradise.

The taxi came half hour later and I was still mid beer when they came to get me. The woman said no problem, bring it. Paradise.

The ferry was an easy ride d it grew dark. I arrived in Ko Pagnan with only an address of where I needed to go- not a clue in my brain of my whereabouts though. I met a really nice New Yorker named Tony who helped me with my monstrosity of a bag and got me a taxi.

The taxi was a pick up truck of sorts but not as nice. We all crammed in the back with out stuff, holding on for dear life and off we were. I made it to a warm welcome from Martina and her friend Shayne. The room was really nice! It was wooden, with aircon, TV and a balcony. We paid 500 baht each a night. That is about 15 dollars.

A lot of their newly acquired friends came around (Stina and Carl from Norway, Carolina and Ida from Norway and Raj from the States) and we all went out that night. We partied at a bar called the Drop inn bar right on the beach. They introduced me to buckets of alcohol, which remind me of scorpion bowls- but you pick your booze and mixer. It's basically your drink of choice 5 times over in a bucket with lots of straws. From there we went to a pool party at Coral hotel. There were hundreds of us partying pool side, and many in the pool which I thought was disgusting and would step foot in! A few guys chatted me up and lots of dancing took place.

We saw the sunrise and it was time for bed! It was a strong kick off to Thailand.

My hotel

Well now where did I leave off? Oh yes... I found my hotel.

Down the dark and dirty alley way of Bangkok housed my unpronounceable hotel. The reception desk was outdoor and had a young Thai man working it. When I tried to check it took about 15 minutes for him to find my reservation which I booked through STA travel in NZ, to realize they miss booked me for the following evening. They also booked my flight for the following day, so this was a doozy of a mistake! The guy said they had no rooms and to come tomorrow.

Once again, abandoned. What was I to do??! Well I would love to say I was acting but truth was after all of that travelling, with being tired, scared and alone I was almost brought to tears. My eyes grew red and the fear set in a little stronger. I was panicked, but I was in no mood to sort this out and it was no hour of day for me to do so. A white American girl at 2 am with bags in hand should not be wandering the streets for a hotel! I asked the guy what was I to do and he looked puzzled that I even required help or that I was in a helpless state.

Fast forward to about 3 minutes after the swelling of the eyes, they had a room for me I just had to pay again and wait 10 minutes for them to clean it. I am still concerned with why it only took 10 minutes to clean, but I will get to that later. They had an outdoor area where a few were drinking a beer and I knew that was exactly what I needed.

The out door area was pretty dirty with just some table and chairs. When I looked up, I saw the charm in the place. It had paper lanterns hanging and white wooden fences that ran long the outdoor hallways that were about waist high. It hit me, this is where they filmed the movie the beach- the murder scene. Indeed it was, confirmed later. What a great place to spend the night alone after an intro like that!

The room was tiny, peeling paint and stained sheets. The bathroom, like most all in Thailand, you can sh*t, shower and shave all at the same time.

One night in this place... that's all.