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We woke up with a start at 5 in the morning when the driver shouted "last stop"!! Thinking we'd missed our stop and were in the wrong part of Bangkok, we were pleased to find out that the driver couldn't be bothered with the other two stops and was making everyone get off at the Khao San Road (some people were less pleased than us) where we wanted to be! We wandered the streets for a little while looking for a guest house, meeting lots of drunk westerners on their way home. Once we were checked in we crashed out again.
We managed to wake up again by lunchtime and spent the afternoon wandering around the Khao San Road area and we had beers in the street at a makeshift bar (where they had a TV set up in the back of a VW camper - you have to love Bangkok). We spent the next couple of days doing the sights of Bangkok, taking a water taxi through the shantytowns to Siam Square (where we were amazed by the shopping malls), visiting the crowded China Town and the financial district of Silom. After the slow pace of Laos we were fascinated by the busy bars of Bangkok and had a great time in our short visit.
We caught the overnight bus from Bangkok to take us to the ferry for Ko Pha Ngan (we are both so sick of overnight buses!). We eventually arrived on the island at one in the afternoon and got in the back of a pick-up to Haad Yao, a little bay up the west coast, and managed to get an amazing hotel room where we even had a pool for just £12!! We got into island mode and spent a lazy first afternoon followed by a bbq in the beach. It was only that evening that we noticed our bags had been gone through on the bus! Luckily we don't have anything actually valuable and the thieves had only gotten away with about £10 of useless coins!
We spent a few days sitting on the beach and eating bbqs while we were in Haad Yao, but we mixed it up a bit with some snorkelling (great coral but bad sunburn) and we hired a scooter to see the island. I rode the scooter with Lois on the back - and I was bad! I went off for a little test ride before Lois got on, just to check I knew what I was doing… everyone at the hotel, including Lois, were in hysterics as I narrowly missed some pot plants! I got better, but Lois was less than pleased when I nearly ran her over! In spite of all this we had a fun day seeing the rest of the island and sitting on some beaches.
We eventually left this little bit of paradise and got the ferry to Ko Samui. It was an overcast day and the crossing was rough! Very rough! Lois was actually too scared to get seasick! Somehow we survived and made it to Ko Samui. We weren't as lucky with our hotel this time and moved after a couple of days (it smelled really bad near our first hotel!!). It smelled so bad when we woke up that we decided to explore other parts of the island, and feeling brave we hired another scooter. Another fun day of exploring with less near misses, but we got caught in a storm and ran out of petrol (luckily at the top of the hill)!! We spent the next few days lazing on the beach, eating well, drinking beer, and indulging in massages! One night we decided to look for the night market, but as Lois often does, she managed to lead us into the red light district!
After Ko Samui we were off to Phuket to meet up with Lois' parents… and it only took us 13 hours to get there and we only had to use 3 buses, one boat, and a sangthaew (pick-up truck)! We arrived in Patong a bit dishevelled but went and surprised Barry and Lin who weren't expecting us for another couple of days! We spent the next week and a half being thoroughly spoiled - staying in a 4 star hotel, being treated to lots of good meals and drinks, lounging by the pool and taking the occasional dip in the sea!! We took Lois' parents to some of the restaurants we would have normally chosen and they were surprisingly pleased with our dinners! For some crazy reason we decided to have another Dr Fish spa on the only proper rainy day that we were together, and we still didn't like it! After a couple of days we'd established Barry's favourite bar was the one full of waitresses in little dresses - they called Barry and Lin Mama and Papa after a few visits! Lois even had a manicure and pedicure with her Mum while we were there!
After a very indulgent time in Phuket we said our sad goodbyes and got on a very bumpy minibus to Phuket Town where we boarded the ferry for Ko Phi Phi. The journey got worse from there with half the boat being sick - we toughed it out but felt crappy when we arrived! Back to cheap accommodation - but we managed to get a little bungalow on the beach that was comfortable enough. It wasn't long before we were back into our routine of cheap (but good) food and lazing around on beaches (except just after lunch when it always seemed to rain). There were even deck chairs for hire on the beach - what more could we ask for?! We managed to drag ourselves away from our deckchairs for a snorkelling trip one of the days. We started in Maya Bay (a.k.a. 'The Beach') where we had to swim in jellyfish filled water and a strong current to climb the steps on the other side of the island. 'The Beach' was packed and the sea there was pretty rough! After this bit of sightseeing we went off to a few other places to do some snorkelling and sitting on beaches, ending at Monkey Island where the monkeys wouldn't let you sit still for long! The funniest moment of the day was a father and son struggling to swim to the boat after we'd been sitting on a beach - they were like a comedy duo who could not swim and kept nearly drowning even with life jackets on… and Mum just kept laughing and filming them from the safety of the boat! I guess you had to be there to enjoy the comedy of it. On our last day in Ko Phi Phi we had to get another massage - it had been almost two weeks since the last!
Armed with our newly acquired seasickness tablets we boarded the boat back to Phuket. We had a very smooth crossing and spent a lazy afternoon and evening in Patong. We headed to the airport the next morning - destination Mayasia!
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