Aymi’s Adventures

So considering I was only going to spend 1 week in Thailand, that quickly doubled, I love the way of life here.  After revisiting Khao San Road and refamiliarising myself with all the sights and smells, I was hooked once again.

It was also great to meet up with Gillian & Cat in Bangkok and Daniel & Cormac in Koh Phangnan, it was like Oz bus reunion at the full moon party, but not quite the same as some vital people were missing (you know who you are).

Koh Phangnan was pretty cool and it was nice to relax a bit and get into the Island lifestyle, catch up on some sleep, drink some beer and generally chill out. I stayed in Thong Sala but went out in Haad Rin, drinking and dancing on the beech. Tropicana where I stayed was really quiet, as in no one about at all and the local restaurant was pretty much the same. Think we were their best customers, but their kid was so cute I had to keep going back to the same place. Vix you can put your mind at rest now you know that the little girl at the restaurant, whose name I cant pronounce let alone spell, was very gratefull for the bats and ball that you were gonna leave in LA, so they now have someone to look after them after I have carried them half way around the world looking for a good home for them!!

Ko Tao was amazing, a really quiet, almost unspoilt by tourism, Island. Stayed at the Tropicana again which was much better than the one in Koh Phangan. Saw a lot more of this Island than Koh Phangnan partly because it is much smaller, but also because I hired a scooter which was going really well until the 2nd day when I attempted to get to an out of the way beach up a dodgy road and fell off (sorry Gillian). This resulted in a hefty payment for the scratches on the bike, but no injuries to myself or Gillian, so the only damage done was to my bank balance – again! The diving here was a little dissapointing as the visibility was really bad because of the monsoon season, but it was nice to get back into it again and I regret not doing more as it was only about 14 quid per dive – bargain.

Then it was over to the 3rd largest of Thailands Islands, Koh Samui, which reminded me of Phukhet two and a half years ago – way too touristy, or as the guide book describes it “like a beautiful woman who wears too much make up”. Didnt really do much apart from chill out here as I couldn’t dive because I couldn’t wear fins because my foot had swelled up to twice its normal size thanks to the really nice mosquito that decided to eat it.

Gillian and I left Cat in Samui to do some meditation / yoga course and got the first (and way too early) flight back up to Bangkok spending the day chilling out (if that’s possible on Khao San Road), eating and sleeping. Next thing we know, we get an email off Cat, she just cant bear to be without us (even after I hid her flip flops in the bin and they got taken away – oops) and had booked a flight back to Bangkok to meet up with us! When she arrived she insisted we went back to Svenns – the best ice cream shop in the world for dinner – yep thats right, no savory stuff, just ice cream. Needless to say I was a pig and had fondu for 2 – just to myself of course, and now the thought of chocolate or ice cream just makes me feel sick!

A few celebratory beers and a compulsary picture with sawaa-dee-kaa Ronald on the way back before getting ready to all fly to Cambodia together.