Dec 2006

Having spent 3 months in SE Asia, mostly moving on every few days, we had not carried too much more than we needed - which meant that we did not have any warm clothes, not even a pair of jeans and a jumper to wear on the plane!

So, we met back up with our sweet swedish friends from Laos, Henrik and Sofia, and it was nice to spend our last day with them - and they needed to shop too!

It had been our intention all along to shop in Bangkok and sort our winter wardrobes out, but a nasty tummy bug, causing both of us to want to stay within metres of a toilet (and a reasonable one at that) put our plans out a bit, and we spent just a few hours traulling around a kind of shopping centre where all the shops were close together and the walkways were narrow, and the shops all looked the same and - did I just come from there? Or there? Did we say we were going to meet on this floor? Outside? Where we came in? Where did we come in...?

And we ended up with some alright clothes, and a supply of toiletries, etc to last us a good couple of months in England, so by the time we need to spend pounds, we'll have earnt them!

Our flight from Thailand to England was via Germany, where we got delayed due to London fog. We spent an extra few hours there, and spent Euros on beer and spent a delerious state making international calls and texting people.

Eventually we made it to London

SEE OUR FINAL SE ASIA PHOTOS AT http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/erinfearn/SE%20Asia/Farewell%20SE%20Asia/?start=all

We were ready for the next installment of our adventure, having spent the past few days surrounded by Brits, so we were excited, more than sad, to be moving on from our island paradise.

We journeyed back, with one of those Brits - Ade - to the Krabi Province, this time to the Town of Krab, where we decided to take advantage of our afternoon and see a the "Tiger Cave" a temple where a single monk has as many shrines to himself as to Buddha in the temple. The temple is in the side of a mountain, and there is a cave inside it which looks like a tiger or a tiger's paw or something... We went in to have a look, but if there was a tiger-something there, but we couldn't make it out.

There were loads of monkeys at the base of the mountain, and there was a very tall staircase, leading up to a giant buddha at the top. There were a few buddhas up there, actually, and on the way up there was a terrific statue that looked a bit like a Buddha-Santa-Tarzan cross.

What was amazing actually, were some beetles and moths that we found at the top of the mountain.

OUR PHOTOS ARE AT http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/erinfearn/SE%20Asia/Krabi/?start=all

And those stairs, if you go there, suck, they're a killer.

This really was our time of rest. Ten days of staying on a secluded beach - Ao Toh Ko - on the far side of Phi Phi Island, away from the very very crowded and very popular town beaches.

Now, this place was excellent because:

- IT WAS A SECLUDED BEACH
- We had a bungalow on the water - and it was cheaper than a grotty room in a big ugly building in town!
- The water was spectacularly clear, a beautiful surprise after our time at Railey
- We went snorkelling nearly every day
- The woman who owned the bungalows and the restaurant (which had WONDERFUL food), Pohn, was gorgeous, friendly and an absolute scream
- We met Gabrielle, a paramedic and anaesthetist from Switzerland who is terrific fun, and keen for swimming and snorkelling, and harrowing uphill hikes through the jungle
- We also met Mark and Krista, from Canada, who had been travelling NZ and SE Asia for 15 months, who are awesome musicians, and who are keen to plan our driving route in Canada in August
- Will and Ali came and met us there!
- and we also met Ade, Andy, Marie, and Fraser
- We went into town and watched Thai boxing in a pub where we could volunteer to participate, and it took some real convincing for Justin to stay out of the ring.

Apart from our one night out for Thai boxing, there is not a lot else to write about because we spent our time reading books, swimming in the ocean, eating, snorkelling, watching crabs, and hiking through the jungle!

SEE OUR PHOTOS (INCUDING UNDERWATER PHOTOS!) AT http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/erinfearn/SE%20Asia/Phi%20Phi%20Island/?start=all

It’s funny what we have come to view as expensive. Our room at Ya Ya Resort is600Baht per night (in BKK we paid 400, Lopburi 160, and Chiang Mai 250) and a big breakfast here, including fruit, toast, eggs, sausage (or mushroom!) coffee and fruit juice is 160THB. At the end of Railay East it’s 100THB and on Railay West its 200THB. When you consider however, that 100Baht = US$2.50, a big breakfast at double the cost is still not “expensive”. Yet, for the past 5 weeks or so we have been paying US$3-7, so we found ourselves asking eachother “Is 600 ok with you? It is a lot of money…” Unbelievable! The UK is going to kill us!!!

This is sadly last leg, but is also the exciting, and relaxing “holiday” part of our SE Asia adventure – the best way we can think of to bring this chapter to a close.

So anyway, back in the real world (What’s that again!?) we have spent the past 5 days staying at a resort on Railay Beach, a headland between Krabi and Ao Nang, where we have lazed about on the beach (where there are a number of monkeys(!) who in comparison with those at Lopburi, are very well mannered!) eating pineapples, and have been swimming and snorkelling and kayaking in the beautiful, clear, warm sea… We are so lucky!

SEE PHOTOS OF RAILAY AT http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/erinfearn/SE%20Asia/Railey/?start=all

Tomorrow morning we are going to get the ferry to Phi Phi Island, where we have heard really mixed reviews. Being peak season, we have booked ahead, and hopefully found the right spot – its on a (supposedly) reasonably secluded beach, and we have a beach bungalow there – also for 600Baht! YESSSS!

It is amazing to be back in Bangkok, time has just gone so quickly – we’ll have jobs soon (gulp!)!

We met back up with Will and Ali and showed them photos of monkeys (hundreds more than we posted!) until they felt upset, and then we saw some of Bangkok!

PHOTOS AT http://s136.photobucket.com/albums/q164/erinfearn/SE%20Asia/Back%20in%20Bangkok/?start=all

We had quite a definite plan for Bangkok – shopping. That was all we really wanted to do: find some warm clothes for an English winter, small speakers for computer/iPod; find a waterproof case for the camera, a guitar, maybe a firestick, see what options there were for a new computer, look at other completely unnecessary electronic gadgets that we might “need”, along with toiletries and stationary shopping, and anything else that might be a quarter of the price here compared to the UK…

But we spent a long time looking and not a lot of time buying! We did however, buy a guitar, and we did meet back up with Will and Ali for a couple of days, and might see them down south too!

So now we are heading for the island beaches of south Thailand! We fly in to Krabi today, and out again on the 19th, and have a loose plan of staying somewhere around Krabi, and Koh Phi Phi and maybe somewhere off Phuket… Who knows!? We will have a day and a half back in Bangkok before we fly to England, so we will buy the other necessaries then…