Jamie and Naomi’s Adventure

Phuket

We arrived in Phuket airport and had a little bit of a panic when none of the taxi driver new where or hostel was. We asked around and ended up going to us the internet to get directions. We got our directions and they all made a hhhhmmmm sound as if to say “Oh, you mean there, why didn’t you just say so”. A very very nice taxi driver took us to Phuket Int. Youth Hostel in Chalong. And, gave us his mobile should we need a taxi at any time!!! We were shown to our room and all in all it wasn’t bad. Simple but more than adequate. Unfortunately, we weren’t told that the electric for the bathrooms and corridors went off at 10pm so while we were having our showers the lights went out and the water went cold……..DOH!!

We slept like babies and were up early the next morning to get the bus to Patong Bay which was cheap and easy. The drivers were more than helpful. We arrived in Patong and were jumped on two people claiming that we could win a prize by picking an envelope so Jaie picked an envelope and he had won two t-shirts…..oooohhhhhh I here you all say. I picked an envelope and I had won a Star prize, having worked in timeshare it didn’t take me long to figure out that was all it was and the chances of us winning the star prize were pretty slim so when they offered us a free ride to the resort to collect our prize we kindly declined. This wouldn’t have been a problem but we were approached by 4 other people offering us the exact same thing while we were in Patong for just one day.

We had a good shop, it was an ideal opportunity to replace tatty clothes and odds and ends we needed and with all the stalls it was pretty easy to get a good price for all of it….including Jamies Liverpool shirt (it was only a matter of time!! 🙂
We had a look at the beach and thought about going on it but it was pretty packed and decided after a day of shopping we realy couldn’t be bothered to fight for a decent pitch on the beach and headed back. We got back to the hostel and planned our journey to Khao Lak the following day.

We didn’t spend long in Phuket it was just too busy and we were constantly hassled. Maybe there are nicer plces in Phuket and we will be going back there in three weeks time to catch our flight so we will try and explore a bit more and update on any good things we find.

Khao Lak

The bus trip to Khao Lak from Phuket was easy and we arrived in Khao Lak at about midday and were promtly told that all of the accommodation was full. Great!!! So of we went in search of accommodation within our budget and at the top of the hill at the end of the main strip (if you can call it that) was Sri Guesthouse. We had a simple room with a bed and fan and a shared toilet and shower outside for 300 baht. Which considering we were worrying that we were going to have to spend at least 600 baht we were over the moon.

We spent the first two days exploring the beach and planning our diving course. It seems that Khao Lak was pretty much wiped out by the Tsunami and has now done a fair job of rebuilding to a town that can now forfil the needs of us travelling types.

We did our open water dive course with Similan Scuba and it was brilliant we had a fantastic instructor who was strict but patient so we were more than comfortable by the time our first open water dive came. We did all of our open water dives in the Similan Islands and it was amazing. On our first dive we saw an octopus, an angler fish, a lion fish and a Giant Moray (Giant is not an over exageration) so we knew we were onto a good thing. During our following dives we saw Trigger Fish, Uniorn Fish, Bat Fish and a Turtle. It was pretty amazing. And, we are both looking forward to some more dives.

When we couldn’t do much as Jamies feet were pretty torn up from the flippers so we was pretty much hanging out playing cards and going to the beach when it wasn’t raining.

We really loved Khao Lak, but the accommodation really was too expensive when we left the room we were staying in was 400 baht a night! This is mainly because the volunteers, God bless them. They have done and are doing a fantastic job helping Khao Lak and the surrounding areas rebuild but, because of them Khao Lak has had the best low season they have had in years so the hoteliers can afford to increase their prices because their is such a need for it with travellers, and tourists coming in and out and each volunteer that leaves is replaced by another so there is constant demand.

You only need a week in Khao Lak and thats if you are doing diving if not, 3-4 days is more than enough to have a good look round. But, definately do the diving if you can it really is an amazing experience.

We will update the website as we get further around Thailand. Next will be Koh Samui and the islands.

The Islands

Koh Samui

We found the islands extremely easy to get to…we ll far easier than expected. We jumped on the bus from Khao Lak to Suratthani. The bus journey took about 5hours to get from one to the other. It would have helped to have an air conditioned bus and the driver wasn’t very partial to toilet stops. So when we reached Suratthani we were both relieved. Jamie because he felt as sick as a dog….bloody travel sickness, not the most ideal thing to have when travelling round the world!! And, me because I was desperate for a wee….in all honesty I probably would have peed anywhere which was probably a good job as the toilet that we stopped at wasn’t up to much!! We then arranged a bus from Suratthani town to the ferry port which at 560 baht we thought was a bit steep but it included a return ferry crossing so it wasn’t bad. Jamie continued to feel travel sick for the 1 and 1/2 hour bus journey that followed and then was fine once we were on the ferry which took a good hour. When we reached Koh Samui we ran up to our bus to see that our bags were being chucked off at a rate of knots….well we guess this is where we’ll be getting off then!! 😉

We claimed a taxi driver to take us to accommodation that we had already booked Coconut Villas. We were so exhausted we didn’t really take the taxi journey to have a good look around at exactly where we were and it wasn’t until the following day we realised how far out in the sticks we were. This would have been fine had the weather been good as we were right on the beach on the South west corner of the island with a swimming pool. But, unfortunately for us the weather wasn’t all that great so we had a hard time entertaining ourselves as we were far to scared to get a moped as the accident rate on Koh Samui for mopeds is so high……little fact for you…..it is the most fatal thing you can do on Koh Samui….. there was also three people that looked in pretty bad ways from moped accidents with broken arms and stitched heads so that was enough to deter us. We stayed in Coconut Villas for three nights and relaxed and read books and tried not to spend too much money as it was sssooo expensive (the benefit of owning accommodation in the sticks).

On the fourth day we jumped in a taxi to Lamai. By the time we got there the sun was shining. It took us a little while to find some cheap accommodation. We booked in somewhere for a night and planned to find somewhere cheaper which we did the following day and booked in there for quite a few days. A really nice bungalow again right on the beach. We stayed in Lamai for far longer than expected with everyone telling us that Chaweng was the place to go we thought we would spend a couple of nights in Lamai and then head on to Chaweng but we loved it there. It is pretty westernised pretty much adapted for the English with the good old english breakfast available in plenty of places, football being shown everywhere and Sunday Roasts being served. It was just what we needed. We had a couple of good nights out boozing too which usually happened by accident. We made a regular appearance in the Kiwi Bar and then a group of us would end up heading to the centre which was basically a bunch of bars with girls girating around poles but it was all good fun. We ended up playing bar games with them a lot and drinking there as it was such a laugh and always ended up with our final drinks in the Kiwi Bar. All in all we really liked Lamai it was great for shopping, drinking and sunbathing….what more could you want.

We headed to Chaweng after 4 days in Lamai and hunted out some accommodation. Again there isn’t much cheap accommodation but you get a lot for what you pay for. We only spent one night in Chaweng it was like Chaweng but bigger….much bigger. Again almost perfect. If I had a choice I would go back to Lamai rather than Chaweng it is just not quite as in your face as Chaweng!!

After one night we headed up to Maenam to get close to the ferry port to Ko Phangan and once again we ended up staying here for much longer than expected. Staying here for three nights as for 400 baht we had a lovely bunalow a gorgeous swimming pool, a couple of steps onto the beach and massuers on hand at all times perfect. The weather couldn’t have been better it was almost too hot so we used the opportunity to do some serious sunbathing and relaxing. We went into the Fishermans Village to watch the football and dared to have an Indian which was delicious. The following day we headed for Ko Phangan.

All in all Koh Samui was far more than we could have expected and we ended up staying there for so long as it was such a laugh. I think that both of us would go back should the opportunity arise.

Ko Phangan

We arrived in Ko Phangan after getting the ferry from Koh Samui and we were instantly attacked by touts desperate to get us into their hotels etc. Perfect for us as we could play them off each other. We settled for Green Villas in Haad Yao……oh my word. Staying here was definately one of the lows for us as far as accommodation go. I know that you get what you pay for but this was ridiculous!!! It was literally a shack on a rock that obviously hadn’t been used in years it was awful and where it hadn’t been built properly we had massive spiders and bugs in there, the bed stunk of damp, and the bathroom was a squatter precariously placed on a rock. We look back now and laugh but at the time it was not funny. When I add photos you will see what I mean as words just don’t do it.

After one night there we got the bus to Ko Mae. What a contrast it was amazing. The bus dropped us at Orchid Resort where there seemed to be a lot of people but we thought that we would try our luck and walk down the beach and see what we come up with. Tha could have been one of the best decisions that we could have ever made. We fell upon Mae Haad View bungalows and restaurant. It was gorgeous and full of backpackers it was perfect. The people were so friendly and we really helpful and every night we came down for dinner and sat with groups of people and ate and drank until sleep set in. One night we braved the waterfall party heading there at 12am. Lets just sy it was an experience. You could buy mushroom buy the glass and mushroom shakes which smelt and tasted like blackjacks!! It was….interesting. I think it would of been OK but it was just way out of Jamie and my league if you know what I mean. During the day Jamie spent the time snorkelling and I sunbathed. We Kayaked out to Ko Mae so Jamie could do some snorkelling there and we ended up capsizing in the process of getting Jamie out which was really funny…..but I lost my towel :-(. We stayed in Mae Haad for 5 nights and could have probably stayed there longer but we wanted to leave on a high and get to Ko Tao so Jamie could do some diving.

Ko Tao

Four of us from Mae Haad headed to Ko Tao to get some diving in. The ferry journey was really long it is much further away than we thought it was. We only stayed in Ko Tao for three days. It is great in the evening and has a massive range of restaurants that all serve fab food and Jamie did his advanced diving course there which he thoroughly enjoyed. But, if your not diving it is a bit bland,it is definately a diving destination over everything else so three days was more than long enough.

The Islands, we really enjoyed the islands it gave us a real chance to do what we wanted to do with our time travelling, for both of us there were things to do and we had such a laugh doing them we would go back to the islands anytime.

Back on the Main Land 

Chumporn

We got the ferry from Ko Tao to Chumporn which we have to say was a slight error on our part we had heard it to be an up and coming place but it really is just up and not realliy coming. It was really cheap but there isn’t that much to do there. So at the moment I wouldn’t head there. Maybe in 5 years but not right now. From there we headed to Koh Lanta.

Koh Lanta

We got the extremely long bus journey from Chumporn to Koh Lanta (8 hours). It was a hell of a day but we arrived at our accommodation just in time to see the amazing sunset. We thought we had come to the right place we settled into our bungalow and went down to eat. After watching a fire show and then the football we headed back to the room to recover from our journey and that was when we had our or should I say my first close encounter with cockroaches. Lets just set the record straight first while we have been in Thailand I have seen bugs I didn’t even think existed and plenty of cockroached and all in all I am not that bothered by them. Until this night that is. Got into bed and started to doze. When Jamie jumped up and said don’t look of course I have to look if you say that and followed him into the bathroom and there was a frog that had climbed up the shower drain pipe and a cockroache we shooed them back down the pipe and put a bucket over the drain. Got back into bed, started to doze off when another frog crawlled under the door. Shooed him out. Got into bed, fell asleep. Woke up to a cockroach on my foot……eeeuuugghhh. Flicked him off and had a bit of a hissy fit…killed cockroach. Went back to bed, woke up to Jamie fidgeting at 9.30am, Jamie got out of bed and chucked the sleeping bag (which we had been using as cover) over me, and in the process a cockroach into the bed (which had been on the sleeping bag we just hadn’t seem it yet). I was a total girl about it had a massive hissy fit and jumped so hard that I chucked myself out of bed. Now I look back I laugh but at the time I was distraught that there was cockroaches in my bed!!! 🙂

We moved accommodation shortly after this down to MerryBeach Resort which was much nicer and cheaper ….. always the way!! Spent the next few days getting to know the neighbours, on the beach, in the Nirvana Bar (where Jamie won a pool competition….he’s stilll got it) and eating in a really cheap restaurant. We spent 6 nights is Koh Lanta and then headed back to Krabi to make our next move.

Ao Nang and Nopharattara Beach

Wow, after a long hungover bus journey back to Krabi to make the next step to Ao Nang we arrived at our accommodation in Nopharattara Beach. The accommodation at View Son has much to be desired for the price but it was only for one night as we booked into the Cashew Nut Bungalows for the following nights stay. If you are planning to go to Ao Nang in Krabi don’t stay in Ao Nang. Stay on Nopharattara Beach. It is beautiful. The beach is much more beautiful than Ao Nangs and it is so quiet during the night. Hippies bar is amazing and has loads of free barbeques and entertainment and the guys there are lovely. We walked into Ao Nang every night which to get to the centre takes 20 minutes but, if you are not up for the walk the tuk tuks only charge you 20 baht to get into town so it is well worth it. We spent everynight in Ao Nang when we weren’t in Hippies and ate somewhere different every night. Definately try Bernies buffet. It is 199 baht but it is eat all you want and you can keep going up as many times as you want so in theory you could spend the whole night there eating, the food is yummy!!

Ao Nang is also really good for a good shop and they are always up for a good haggle so you can get some good bargains if you try hard enough. We spent 6 nights in Cashew Nut on Nopharattara it was a lovely little bungalow and the food was good and the staff lovely it was almost perfect. We also did the James Bond Island trip from here which was a right laugh as there was a good group of us and we just laughed for the whole day you should definatley do it!!!

We headed back to Phuket for one night before our flight to Borneo and stayed in Phuket town which was OK, but we were glad to get out everything is so full on in Phuket it is mad!!!!

Although we are yet to head back to Thailand to Bangkok these are some of the things that we will never forget about Thailand:

1. Sitter or squatter
2. Mosquitos
3. Dicky Tummies
4. Changovers..
5. Muay Thai vans
6. Diving
7. And, the charming happy thais and 7 weeks of absolutely amazing, enchanting and interesting travelling.

Bangkok
On our way from Borneo to Australia we stopped in Bangkok for a week or so. When we arrived at 10.30pm at night we could not find accommodation for the life of us. We wondered in and around Koh San Road for about an hour before someone actually knew somewhere that had rooms available. The room was more than suitable so we got checked in and headed out to the 7/11 to get supplies. On our way out we were greeted by a local giving the young elephant a walk!!! J We spent most of our time in Bangkok shopping and buying presents to send home as everything was so cheap there!!! Christmas will be cheap when we get back. We did not find Bangkok as notorious as expected. Yep, there is loads of sex there and you get approached at least twice a day for pussy shows etc. (you get approached a hell of a lot more if you are a lad or lads) but it is quite tongue in cheek and you can have a laugh with it!  J Bangkok was a good laugh and we met loads of people there but a week was far too long!!!