Time to slow down: Koh Lanta

Amid the scorching heat we one again donned our heavy laden backpacks and once again made the 20 minute trek down to the pier in the scorching mid day sun. Once aboard, we surrendered our packs to the back deck. I headed down to the bottom level of the ferry (since heat rises) while Melissa opted for the top glass house like deck. After a short wait in the stagnant mid day heat we were off to Koh Lanta. We arrived to something quite different to what we had just left. It was more similar to the outskirts of the Kamala that we had arrived to with a hint more shanty town thrown in the mix. We negotiated past the sparse smattering of rouge taxi drivers that were trying to convince us to go with them and located the driver sent by our accommodation to deliver us safely to our bungalow (free of charge). His vehicle of choice was a kinda three wheeled scooter which was basically a regular scooter with a one wheel trailer/side-cart tacked on the side. Our chaperone was quite laid back and we slowly meandered down the street towards our destination. The roads were much wider, and the buildings were MUCH sparser then our previous destination which left me a little despondent after the intensity of Phi phi. Not far from our abode I spied a bar called "Mr Guitar" and made a mental note to myself to head back there at some point.

Our hosts seemed like really nice people and we managed to negotiate a discounted rate with them if we were to stay a week. The quarters were a little more cramped then what we had previously experienced. At our request it came with a supplied mosquito net that isolated the majority of our room. With a river gently flowing about 10 meters away, and various pools of stagnant water sitting under the walkway we thought that we would need it.
After we once again worked out a plan for security, I headed straight down to the beach while Melissa experimented with the WiFi. On the way I spied a water monitor lizard scurrying towards the river and a bunch of crabs wrestling in the stagnant ponds. The beach was only about 100M away from the resort, a nice leisurely stroll.
A comparatively sparse collection of restaurants and bars lined the shore and the gradient of the sand steepened sharply shortly below the present waterline. Melissa joined me before to long and after a quick dip we wandered down the coastline to take in the area. Further north there were more expensive looking resorts and a few unique looking bars that lay deserted, I assume because of the low season kicking in. We returned to our end of the beach and chose a restaurant to dine at in time to watch the sunset, a peculiarly named "sans sunset restaurant" (I think they meant 'Sands sunset restaurant' because the view of the sun setting from our table on the sand was spectacular).

The next day we hired a scooter from our resort and headed south to explore the rest of the island. The lighter traffic and the wide roads made for a much more enjoyable ride then in Phuket. We cruised down the coastline, taking in the beaches and the small smatterings of towns. We came across a market and stopped to check it out. Most of the goods at the market were like something from a massive $2 shop. These were assorts of dubious quality goods available. Once we had a good look around we headed for the food section. The fruit stalls looked top quality, while the meat including fish was left out in the sun with flys visibly crawling all over it. With minimal discussion we decided not to purchase any meat and were about leave when we were pounced on by one of the more enthusiastic stall holders. He insisted that we smell his spice pastes the experience of which was absolutely delicious. He said that they would keep for 2 - 3 months and that they were ok to post overseas. while we were very tempted we passed on the pastes and left only with some coconut sugar, which he had pitched to us with the catch phrase "cook, cook, eat" If you ever get to taste it, you will understand what he means (But you can't have any of ours because its gone already).
Back on the road we spied a hand written sign speeding by that simply read "Cave ->". Being all free of heart, I promptly made the turn before asking Melissa if she felt like going to see a cave. Thankfully she did. The road became decidedly more "Off road" then we had encountered previously, and at times we wondered if the poor scooter was cut out for the job. Eventually we arrived, But once we saw the pictures and were informed of the 350B each fee, we decided to give it a miss. We did however gather some information about where the hell we were, and made a plan to cross over to the east side of the island and go visit the sea gypsies down the bottom. Carrying on through winding roads skirted by gorgeous tropical bush we eventually stopped at a restaurant called "panorama". There we had the freshest watermelon, and mango juice ever (seriously recommended!) before carrying on down to gypsy land. Once we got there we felt a little like we were intruding as the villagers sat fixing their nets and staring at us as we past. No genuine gypsy food restaurant in sight, so we headed home back the way we had come.

*insert sound of needle being pulled off a record*
You know what. There is no way I am going to catch up with this blog if I continue in this kinda detail, So I'm sorry, I am going to have to give you the condensed version.
*needle plays again*

That Night we dined in a reclining position at the sunset restaurant, and then grabbed a mojieto before cruising back to check out Mr Guitar bar. There we discovered Sangsom by the bottle, and began to hound the owner to let me jam with them. Oh and some Thai guy Tried to get me drunk. It was hilarious. first time the language barrier really came into play, But I learn how to say "cheers" in two different ways in Thai, and a bunch more words.

The next couple of days Melissa caught up on her work, and I did a bit more on my blog, and some research our travels. I can't quite remember because it was a WEEK AGO! Somewhere around that time we met "Wan" She was a new recruit at our resort and we got to know her quite well. At first she was pestering us for money/ work, but we soon became friends after helping her to check her e-mail and arranging a Skype call for her to one of her friends. You should have seen her smile! Turned out she was a pure bread sea gypsy and had a very naturalistic view towards life. I liked it. She reminded me of a Thai version of some of our friends back home but way more extreme. The night after last time we went back to Mr guitar bar and successfully infiltrated the band. The owner arranged a djembe for me, and I got to play on stage with the band. It was very cool, and I think the jam worked really well, But after only two songs I split my finger open from playing to hard. Turns out my fingers have gone soft after so long away from the djembe. Not cool.
Once Melissa had finished her work we set off on the scooter again, this time to "Monkey school". On the way there we got seriously off road, which was great fun and had a real sense of adventure. My days of farming motorbike training paid off. Playing with monkeys was awesome fun, but The wires around their necks put us off a bit. Not sure if we will continue to give the animal training industry custom. On the way home we went shopping and I brought a couple of pairs of trousers. Think I am getting the hang of haggling now. Got a pair of long fisherman shorts for 150B
Went back to Mr guitar bar and drunk with the band. it was their night off. Offered to record the band with my zoom mic for free.
The next day we cruised a bit and visited old lanta which was nice.

walked away from a really nice pair of hand made leather jandals for 600B and kinda regretted it. Went back to the panorama restaurant cos they were so good. Got talking to the owner. he us an awesome guy. Really switched on, and I feel like we really connected with him.
That night went back to Mr guitar bar with Wan and recorded the band. Everyone seemed really happy to meet me and one guy (I think he was a sea gypsy) even gave me a necklace. Its simple but I really like it.
The next day we left.

A slice of paradice: Koh phi phi

We woke up at abut 11:00 and hurriedly showered and packed our things taking care not to leave anything behind. We were out in time for the prescribed 12 checkout, and sat down with our bags at a caffee next door to our pick up spot and fed ourselves a Thai breakfast. No sooner had we finished our meals that our transport turned up and we quickly loaded all of our bags into the back and headed off towards our destination. There were a number of stops along the way to pick up fellow travelers and I got talking to a group of Malasians that were on holiday and also headed to Koh Phi phi. I discussed our plans with them and they suggested that we would be best off heading inland soon after koh lanta and traveling to Kuala lumpa by bus. I took note of this option and continued to scratch their brains for recommended destinations once we reached Malaysia. Once we reached the dock it was a short wait before we headed off on the ferry. I took the opportunity to write a few notes in my private journal and soon we were greeted by the site of Koh Phi phi. I noted that it looked alot like the island from L O S T and took in the dense green bush and the crystal clear blue waters as we motored into the dock. This truely looked like an island paradise. As we disembarked from the ferry and were greeted by a torrent of trolly pushers from various resorts waiting to take the respective punters luggage and show them to their rooms. After considerable to-ing and fro-ing we discovered that we had no such trolly man waiting for us, as we had only booked online this morning. To make maters worse our resort was one of the furthest from the dock on the island and it was about a 20 minutes walk away durring the hottest time of the day . Oh and did I mention that the island had no taxis? Transport is limited to foot, and a few bicycles. While I was in a good disposition and determined to take the challenge on in good spirits, (besides, what other choice did we have?) Melissa was not so much. There was allot of grumping and grumbling as we navigated the maze of streets towards our destination. When we finally got there it was instantly worth all the effort. Our resort was nestled in the side of a hill backed by the native island forest, and it had a pool.



We wasted no time securing our gear in our bungalow, donned our togs and headed for the pool. There we were greeted by a grinning Thai barman named "Bee" who was more then happy for us to enjoy a few beers while we swam. Finaly relaxed we started to drift into the experience of the phi phi life style. A few beers into it we were joined by a couple of guys from switzerland and got talking on topics varying from business management to the subtitles of the Thai language. After I turned down his offer to eat a cicada that he had caught Bee called me over and started to pour us both a shot. One for me and one for him. I don't know what was in it but he lit it on fire and we consumed it through a straw while it continued to burn. The effect was similar to what we would call a backdraft in new zealand. Bee informed me that the shot was called a B52 Blue, and that it was his favourite. It sure did the trick. I returned to the pool for a few more beers and as darkness fell we saw what looked like large moths darting around the light beside the pool. Upon further enquiry I found that they were actually bats feeding off the insects that had gathered around the light. They made short work of them and they soon moved on. Bee joined us all in the pool, and started telling us about his life. He told us that he had been a Buddhist monk for one and a half years, and while he was there he worked all day in silence and was allowed to speak once a day when all the monks met to talk about what insights they had gathered. He also said that for two months he had lived off only one bowl of rice a day and that the purpose of this exercise was to understand how little he needed so that if he ever came across someone else who was in need he could give to them knowing that he could survive. His father had become a monk forever, and he himself would return to monk hood in six months for an unknown period. I admired his dedication. By now the swedes had already headed down to the beach so Melissa and I got changed and headed down into the maze of stalls and restaurants. We had dinner at a bar that sported a moi thai boxing ring in its centre. The signs being carried around by the staff indicated that if you volunteered to fight you would recieve a free Bucket of piss for your troubles. I considered giving it a go (so that I would have something interesting to write about) But Melissa convinced me that I had just had to much to drink and that it was not worth it. After our delicious dinners we continued our way around the maze in search of a bar that had advertised a full moon party that night promising a free bucket and BBQ on entry. After wandering around lost for at least an hour we discovered that it was on the other side of the island, not to far from our resort. We eventually found our way and stumbled along the beachfront amidst dazzling neon lights, fire performers, and massive sound systems. We brought ourselves a Bucket each (two for one) and caught up with our Swedish friends.



They were feeling a bit had it as they had apparently burnt thier wicks at both ends the previous night so they retired while their girlfriends stayed. After a bucket primer we were well and truly ready to dance. We painted ourselves up with the freely provided neon face paint and proceeded to dance the night away in the idealistic setting that seemed more like something off an TV advertisement than reality.



At 3 am the main party bars all shut off their sound systems and we retreated to one of the chill out beach bars closer to our resort. The beach party atmosphere had been to much for me, and I had been looking for a djembe to play all night long. When I inquired at the chill-out bar the owner confirmed that there was no djembe on the island, so I instead requested a pot which he allowed me to play for a couple of minutes, before he told me that I was welcome to come back and play if I brought my djembe with me. I got talking to some of the people at the bar, a mother daughter couple that were traveling around the world together at the Mothers expense. I told the daughter that I hoped she appreciated it which prompted approving looks and gestures that I should be listened to from her mother. We got talking about education in Florida and the way that different generations were responding to technology when we were cut short by Melissa demanding that we go home. She was jealous and percieved that I had been flirting. We had a heated discussion on the way home and ended up wandering our separate ways while negotiating the labyrinth home. We were both drunk and hopelessly lost and crossed paths a number of times as we tried in vein to find our way back to the resort. After quite some time we reluctantly agreed that we needed to work together to figure out our way home, and after quite some more time, we arrived back at our resort. Once Melissa was settled into our room I headed back out to see what was going on in the lobby of the resort, It turned out that the workers were having a game of poker, and intrigued I politely asked if I could watch, I went over to Bee to see if he could help me understand the rules, but it was beyond me in the state I was in. Then all of a sudden everyone flew into action. The game was packed up and the players instantly dispursed. I was left on my own. Somewhat confused I made my way back up the stairs to our resort where I crossed paths with one of the kittens that hung around the resort.
just the thing to get me back in Melissas good books I thought. I scooped up the kitten and carried it to our room and offered it to Melissa. It worked a treat. As much as she wanted to stay mad at me, she was unable to resist the calming allure of the a fluffy little kitten.



The Next morning while I was playing with the kitten and nursing a hangover, The fluffy little bundle of cuteness sneezed in my face and a little of the discharge got in my mouth. In that instant all of sudden the idea of bring the kitten into our abode seemed like maybe not so great a decision. For the next two days I nursed a terrible hangover combined with mild diorea while intermittently researching diseases potentially carried by cats in Thailand.

When I eventually recovered Melissa had completed most of the work that she needed to get done so we went and booked a half day sight seeing trip on a longtail boat. at 250B each including a free bucket we think we got a bargain! The first stop was Monkey beach where the monkeys looked like they were a little over harassed and maybe sick of being pestered by tourists all day long.



After that we stopped off at a bay for a little cliff jumping before heading off to a swimming area in an absolutely stunning setting.

Next it was off to a snorkeling area where we saw long toms, angel fish, parrot fish, a moray eel, and a myriad of others that I could not name. 40 minutes later it was a small trek through what looked like pirate country to Maya bay which is famous for being the shooting location for some of the movie "The Beach" before heading home to watch the sun set on the boat and enjoy a bucket while the Thai skipper sung us a song.



based on my conversations with them this is what I think they could have been singing

The road continues on: Patong

Just after my last post a couple of the locals came over to us and started talking to us about our gear, asking us about how much it was worth and things like that. When we returned back to our hotel room we had a think about the questions people had been asking us the past couple of days, and the fact that we had seen the locals all talking to each other. If they shared information they might be able to find out where we were staying, our room number, and what gear we had. Because of this we decided that it would be best to move on to another town the next day and resolved that in the future we would take note of a hotel next door to where we are staying and if asked where we are staying will tell people a false name and room number.

We decided that we would head to Patong for a night before heading off to ko phi phi and then island hop our way down to Malaysia where we could sort out a double entry visa in Kuala Lumpa.

The next morning we loaded up and checked out of our hotel. This was the first time we had carried all our gear on our backs, and it was bearable. Right outside our hotel was a car with a make shift taxi sign sitting on the room. He would take us to Patong for 400B . He loaded our gear in the back and removed the taxi sign, and we were off. Durring the journey he asked what our plans were and insisted on calling our hotel ahead to let them know we were coming. I suspect he was asking them for a commission. When he heard that we were planning on heading to ko Phi phi he said that he could take us to a place that would sell us a ticket for $600B each and would pick us up from our hotel door. This sounded pretty good to us considering that our taxi fare to pa tong was costing 400B. We arrived at the travel agency and brought our ticket and then carried on to our hotel. When we got there they wanted 800B per night which we was more than we wanted to spend, so I ran from hotel to hotel asking for prices while Melissa stayed with the bags. We found a nice room for 650B and moved in for the night.

Once settled in we decided that we needed to add an extra padlock to our arsenal to allow us to turn the cabinets that seemed to be a staple at our accommodation into our own private lock box.
We headed out into the fervor that is Patong city. The difference between Kamila and Patong is extreme. The traffic was considerably denser and there were shopping stalls everywhere, and lots and lots of Australians. A local at kamala told me that there were alot of Australians in Patong, but I don't think I really believed him until I saw it myself. The air is filled with their twangy accents.
We ventured along what seemed like the main street and took in the sites. Our mission was to find a cash machine and a padlock. While on our journey we came across our first imitation iphone. After i inquired about it the owner asked if we would like to buy some DVD's and opened up a false wall that revealed a cavern of Pirated DVD's. I spied amongst the titles a copy of "BOY" which filled me with mixed emotions. I wanted to take a photo but he wouldn't let me. We purchased a copy of "source code" and continued on our way.
Our inquiries for a padlock and chain were getting us nowhere until one stall owner suggested we would be best of trying our luck at the mall. The mall was rather massive and we got a little bit lost at one stage. There were alot of cool things for sale that I have never seen before. While on our mission to find our padlock we were also coerced into purchasing two garments for Melissa and a stingray skin wallet. The wallet was my first successful haggling experience which felt good. Its not as easy as one might think to haggle well. Eventually we found our padlock in what is the equivalent of "the warehouse" in Thailand. It even had the same colour scheme in its branding.
We headed back to the hotel and got ready for a night out.
After dinner we headed towards the beach, and once we hit the main party street there was no mistaking that we had found party central. We were immediately approached by a man who was offering free entry to a "ping pong" show. Melissa and I looked at each other nervously and um'd and ah'd before deciding that we should check it out. We were lead to a bar and shown to our seats where we were told we could have "free visual" if we brought a drink each for 800B We thought that was outragiously over priced so we got up to leave, as we were about to head out the door they made us another offer, and so the haggling started. We ended up agreeing to stay for 400B for "two visual" and a drink each. I Don't think I should go into to much detail about the show, other then to say those ladies are well practiced at their art. If you are curious for more information you can garner some more insight here: http://100daysoflyrics.blogspot.com/2011/04/day-48-what-do-these-things-have-in.html

After a couple of hours of the show we continued on down the streets of Patong. The bars were lit up like los vegas with go go dancers dancing everywhere, and a few bars featuring flamboyant lady-boys (who seemed to put much more effort into their dancing then their purebred counterparts).
We ventured along the beachfront where Melissa had a very violent reaction to seeing a beggar on the street with no arms and no legs.
Down another side street we came across an art gallery that had the work of three in-house artists displayed. One of which I thought was particularly gifted. I inquired about the price and was told that typically a large painting would be sold for around the equivalent of $200NZD and furthermore I could bring a photo, or picture that the artist would then copy for me. This got me thinking about the possibilities, but disappointingly the shop had neither a website or an e-mail address. Still, its food for thought. While I was talking to the shop owner Melissa started to complain of a crook stomach so we took our leave and headed back to the hotel.

Melissa was unsure whether she was going to be ok to go out again, and after a while suggested that I go to get the leg massage that we had planned by myself. I headed out onto the streets and walked past a couple of massage shops that were closed, and a couple that I thought were to expensive before eventually finding a place that had a price I thought was reasonable. I tried out my Thai and asked for a discount but they just laughed at me. after agreeing to the price, one lady took me by the arm and started leading me down the allyway towards a hotel, and imediatly started to attempt to convince me to upgrade to a full body oil massage. About now I started to wonder what I had got myself into and reiterated that I only wanted a foot massage. She led me up to the 15th floor of the hotel where I was quite on edge given that this was mt first time out alone in Thailand and I was now 15 floors up in a strange hotel where no one could hear me scream. The establishment looked legitimate enough, but I kept concocting scenarios in my head by which I would somehow wake up minus a kidney. These concerns were not helped at all by my masseuses appeals to me that I should sleep. sleeeeep.. just sleeeep. While I could easily have slipped off I consciously fought against it. I was rewarded with cheeky taunting and teasing by all the masseuses in the room who had obviously been informed in Thai that I didn't want to "make special massage" because I was afraid of my girlfriend. Apparently something that is not common in Patong. After an hour long massage that would have been great if I had not been fearing for my life I was lead back down to safety, but not before one last appeal for me come back and let her "make special massage". I politely declined and told her I might come back tomorrow with my girlfriend. Once I got back to the hotel Melissa was feeling much better. I recounted my tale to her and thankfully she was very understanding and not angry, but not before making me look her square in the eye and tell her that I didn't get a happy ending. Having had quite enough adventures for one night we retired to get some sleep ready for the journey ahead in the morning.

When will the action end!?

Its just all to much to tell you all about. How can I possibly begin to communicate this place? By implying that I cannot communicate this place. Thats how.

So after having by far the best crab I have ever eaten in my life for dinner we went out to a bar last night where we were told it was the Bar owners wife's birthday. There was to be free food and vodka shots, and a live band! I was sold. We cruised in there and were shown around the establishment by the door guy, an American expat named Joe. We met the lady of honor and sat down at the bar for our first round of drinks. before to long one of the local drinkers Chihuahua was released from its hand bag residence and set free to run along the bar top meeting everyone who was sat for a drink (or trying to escape). It was a real hit with the ladies. I got talking to an Australian who has been living and working here for 6 years, and he kindly offered me a job which I had to politely turn down. Not bad for our first day in the country.
our drinks were refreshed as quickly as they were consumed and within a short while we felt that we had endulged enough for our first night out. We had a quick wack on the in house congas before taking off to bed.

We got up at about 10 the next day and headed down to the beach for our complimentary breakfast while we contemplated how to spend our day. Once we had eaten we headed down the street in search of a tuktuk to take us to patong. We thought the requested price of 400B (about 20NZD) was a bit steep so we went back to our hotel and inquired about hiring a scooter. 150B per day later we had taken our lives in our hands and headed down the road on our very own click start scooter.

WOW. Driving in Thailand is a whole different game from back home there are scooters, cars, and people threatening to jump out from every direction. Melissa was holding on for dare life and screaming advice on every perceived hazard in my ear. Once we adjusted to the new rules of the road, I think we did ok. We headed up to a beach that the birthday girl (nicknamed "Ding Dong") had recomended to us the previous night, descended the high gradient rough as guts staircase and were treated to a serene, yet commercialized beach for our troubles.
We spied an interesting looking staircase in the rocks on the right side of the beach and ventured along them to discover a nice boutique restaurant at its end. We were quite peckish by now so we treated ourselves to the mixed fruit plater, coconut milk (including coconut) and a coconut shake.
Once we had mission-ed up back up the stairs we took a moment to catch our breath before heading up further north in search of undiscovered teritory. On our way we spied some elephants, so we had a quick ride on them and then carried on to yet another beach. We went for a walk along the sand before discovering a clothes shop we liked, where we purchased a couple of pure cotton and silk garments from a very helpful Thai lady. We had a quick look at some tattoo designs at the beach tattoo stall but nothing took our fancy so we remain un inked - for now. By then it was about time for dinner so we purveyed the beachfront menus and sat down to a couple of Thai green curries while watching the sun set.

We headed back and managed to avoid ending up a mangled mess on the side of the road, and now I am typing some words for you good folks.

Will we hit the bars again tonight? We will see.

(Photos to come)

The story so far:

Hi every one. I thought I might start a blog about our travels so that anyone who is interested can keep up with what we are doing and so that I have something to do while we are stuck in net cafes downloading copious amounts of photos from the internet for re-touching. I am also keeping a writen journal of events, but I that will end up consisting of more personal developmental moments as we go along. although I may repeat some items from it here.

Here it goes:

The adventure started right at our first boarding gate. While we had arrived at the airport within plenty of time, Our bags had been checked and our boarding passes issued, We hung on to our family goodbyes to the very last minute. No sooner had we stepped through customs that the loud speaker announced that it was the last call for our flight, so we had to get a bit of a jog on. We had a small wait in line to get on the plane, and as we were cleared from the boarding gate I heard the checker man say "thats it, the flight is closed" I couldn't believe it!

What can I say about the flight? It was long. Really long. Well... 12 hours long. I know some of you have done longer, but this is by far the longest flight we have braved before. Melissa got walked in on while vacating herself because she didn't close the door properly, and then a couple of hours later spilt coffie all over her lap while navigating her headphones cable. Fun times.

When we got to Singapore to transfer to our connecting flight I thought i would take the chance to sample one of their world famous spotlessly clean toilets for a quick number 2. However when I entered the only available cubical I was a little surprised to find one of those world famous squating type toilets. I tried out the pose for fit, but didn't fancy my luck getting out with clean shorts and an able back, so I held on. Melissa brought some highly contraversial psudoephidrene medication from the airport pharmacy, and asked if the label on the packet was in New Zealand dollars. In her defense - Singapore airport does look alot like New Zealand, except that it is run by Singaporians.

Arriving at our final desination our nerves were near thier end. We were increadably tired (I had only managed to get 2 hours sleep the previous night due to pre travel nerves), and generally just anxious about what we had in store for us. Getting our visas was a breeze. Except that Melissa had filled out her arrivals form incorrectly and so had to go and get a new one and join the back of the queue, while I was made to wait on the other side of the desks. When I asked if I could go back through and help her the official replied " AHHH allies! one person is one person, not two person." - He obviously doesn't know us very well.

I had been warned about the onslaught of ride offers that would be wiating for us outside the departures gate, But I still wasn't ready for it when it hit. One guy pounced on us and tried to convince us to go with him. We managed to haggle him down to 650B but when he tried to get us to pay for a ticket (read piece of paper) before actually seeing the taxi, we walked. The next reputable looking taxi we found wanted 1000B and told us that there were not many of the usual taxis working on account of it being dubious. Melissa pointed out that there was a sign outside the taxi stand confirming what he was saying, so we took his offer of 900B and got in. Durring the journey the driver told us his story of how his wife was skinny when he married her, but now, since she was a cook, she had got fat. Then he started to pop the clutch and bunny hop the car on take of and as he was driving, appologising and complaining about how he had no money to fix the car. he suggested that maybe it was the sparkplugs, and I replied that maybe it was the way he pressed the clutch in. About then I started getting dubious about where he could be taking us. How would I know if he was taking us to our hotel, or the local organ farm? Anyway we got there in the end and our receptionist was a lovely lady. We tried out out jet lagged Thai hello's and thank yous and settled into our room.

It looked like something straight out of "the beach" and when a cockroach scurried out from under the desk, I insisted that we put up the mosquito net for the night.

6 hours of nervious, jetlaged, bug dream waking sleep later the sun was up and we were to excited to succum to our bodys pleas for rest. We headed to the beach for breakfast and then took a walk along the beach front. This was more like it. The beach was beautiful and there were plenty of stalls for us to look at. Somewhere along the way I realised that jetlag is really trippy. I kept getting these waves of light headedness which I can only describe as similar to the feeling you get when you throw yourself forward to repent at an evangalist church service and the priest is standing infront of you ranting and raving and filling you with the power of Jesus.
I think the swim in the luke warm bath of an ocean and the beach side massage has fixed it though. The whole day was quite surreal.

Things are quite expensive here, except for the 7 elevin where we managed to pick up Thai red bull for the equivilant of 50c each. We will most probably be moving on before to long.
For now - night has just fallen and I think we are going to see what the local bars have to offer.