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3 Reasons Why We Love Thong Nai Pan Yai

More Koh Phangan

Oh Hi!

Hi It's me! Ummmmmmmm....well....

We arrived here on Koh Phangan about 3 weeks ago and made a few important decisions.

Firstly we decided not to rush around Malaysia and Indonesia as we had run out of time to do what we wanted to do and actually relax and enjoy it.

Secondly we decided that traveling costs money and staying put costs less.

Its is so great here on at Thong Nai Pan Yai beach. We came here in February last year and loved it. We have a bungalow right on the beach with loads of space in a prime spot and its cheap as chips. So my day usually consists of waking around 10 or 11 then wandering over for breakfast followed by a swim then laying down then a swim then chatting to our friends that we have made then getting stoned then lunch then a dip in the sunken bar in the Dreamland Resort pool then dinner then to Nu Bar sometimes till 7 in the morning. Basically just repeat this daily and you have my new life. Its fantastic. We have made loads of friends here with longtermers and locals. Personally I would not leave but Ania is already looking at jobs in Melbourne as her funds are long gone.

So - We fly from Bangkok to Auckland on September 4th, spend a week going to Golden Bay and back then another week in Auckland then flying out to Melbourne bright and early on the 19th of September with our stuff hopefully dropping with us that week.

So thats it! I don't do much. Just hang out, eat and drink. I did have to go to Burma on a visa run which was an experience but apart from that I try not to move more than 500 meters away from the Bungalow.

I hope everyone is having as much fun as me and I will see some of you very soon!

It's Raining....again.

What I've failed to mention since we have been in Asia is that it has been raining - a lot! I didn't want you all to think that I have been having a bad time so haven't mentioned it. I don't mind if it is roasting hot and sunny during the day then rains in the late afternoon which it has been like quite often but today it has rained all day. Quite exciting though. Two coconut trees came down, one of them smashing through the roof of a bungalow next to where we were staying originally and then one falling onto the roof of the restaurant where we are staying.

Must be something to do with the mask and snorkel that i bought this morning...

Its a Dogs Life

Pics - Dogs on our beach Ao Tanote and our current home.

After a 12 hour journey from Bangkok by bus and ferry we arrived at the Island of Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand. The bus was definitely the best I had been on over the last few months and if only i had been of average height I'm so sure that i would have had more than 2 hours sleep. Upon arriving on Koh Tao we opted to head straight over to one of the less populated bay on the island - Ao Tanote. The Lonely Planet tells us of bungalows for as little as 200 Baht! Wooohoooo! So over the rough "road" we go on the back for a 4x4 to a lovely bolder strewn bay (I may have borrowed that from the lonely planet ....sorry). Unfortunately for us I haven't been paying much attention to the lunar cycles lately and as it happens 6000 "fullmooners" ascended upon the island the day before from Koh Phan nang and took all the budget accommodation....even the non budget accommodation by the looks of it but we found a bungalow right on the beach for more than twice what we intended on paying which served its purpose and was actually pretty sweet! we have since found a cheapie off the beach which s basic as you like so perfect for us. I am now being stalked by Scorpions. We found one in our bathroom yesterday and Ania delt it a swift death with the bottom of her flip flop.....phew. I can now poo without fear.

Ao Tanote Bay is only good for a dip at full tide as you cant go too far without stepping on coral. This of course makes it great for snorkeling and you can hire gear most places along the beach. There are loads of fish to see (as well as sea cucumbers - yuck) and some guys we were talking to even saw turtles a couple of days ago. This is of course a diving island with loads of dive schools to choose from. I should probably do one as it is kind of cheap for what you get but still its well above budget. I will however buy a decent mask and snorkel tomorrow.

Righto!

3 Pics From Bangkok.

You can buy a Lamborghini while you shop for a mocha mint frapachino in the Siam Paragon Mall. Fortunately for me the Lambo store was closed at the time of visiting

There art everywhere.

Khao San Road for the uninitiated at a particularly quiet moment.

Bangkok

I've been in Bangkok staying around the Kao San Road for over a week now. I had a few good nights in a nice(ish) hotel with a swimming pool etc but now we are off the main drag back into backpacker budget bliss. Oddly after being here a while you start to recognize people and it seems the only other people who have been here as long as I are single males in their late 40s...living the dream! I can only imagine what they get up to here. I'm only here due to my toilet habits at the moment. Its strange after traveling all this time and finally getting to to what i would call civilization that i get these problems.

We had a great day yesterday in the luxury of the Paragon Mall in Siam Square. We watched The Dark Knight in glorious IMAX! It was awesome! Literally! It was so nice to have some luxury though i did receive some bad news....

It seems that the ship with all of our stuff will be docking in Melbourne on August 29th. Now that is only 5 weeks away and I don't want to go to Australia just yet. Actually....I don't really want to go at all! So it looks like the next 5-6 weeks we will not be doing any tourist nonsense but will just be at the beach having a holiday as much as possible. Not sure where we will be or where will fly from to get to Oz as we don't want to spend all of our time rushing and traveling. We may even just stay in Thailand for the whole time. Ania has a 3 month visa while mine is running out it seems so I will need to extend it.

We leave for Koh Tao tonight.


Woooooohooooooooo!

Still Alive

I know that some of you millions that tune into this incredible example of literary genius are getting a little tired of only seeing photos of Ania all the time.

Trust me - I know exactly what you mean! ;-)

So here I am, still alive, just for you.

Give peace a chance.....my hair is growing back too.

Lets Get The Hell Outta Here!

So we had had enough of temples. Time to get out of here and head to Thailand! Yay! Oh....a slight oversight. We met some Polish people who had a few problems with the border crossing into Thailand. It seems Polish people can't get a 1 month visa on arrival at the border like the rest of us. They can get a 2 week visa on arrival at the airport but that is it.

So Ania had to send her passport off to Phnom Penh and wait nearly a week (as it was the weekend) to get her visa. As much as i thought Siam Reap is a nice little place there is not much else to do there once you have had enough of the temples and as we have spent every single day together since April 16th its time for me to disappear to Bangkok and give us both a well earned break from each other.

Wooohoooo!

My door to door bus journey from my hotel to the Khao San Road didn't exactly start off as I expected but after a motorbike, shared taxi and then a minivan from the border I made it to Bangkok...and I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as we approached the circus that is Khao San Road.

The pics are of the traffic approaching the Cambodian/Thai border. The road is notoriously bad and there are rumours that one of the airlines is paying money to keep it that way.