Since my last entry, Louise and I went to Ko Phi Phi (pronounced pee pee, as in, 'I need to go pee pee').  It's a small but very beautiful island on the way back to Krabi, where scenes of 'The Beach' were filmed.  The Tsunami in December 2004 completely devastated it, but the locals have swiftly got on with trying to rebuild the island to re-encourage tourism.

 We took an early morning ferry with Tracy (one of Louise's friends) and it took just over an hour.  When we arrived it was quite a culture shock.  Phi Phi, unlike Ko Lanta, is very touristic.  That might sound pretentious, but it's had quite a detrimental effect on the locals.  Nobody seems to respect their culture (i.e. no bowing, attempting the lingo, taking flip-flops off outside shops etc) and naturally they reciprocate this by being abrupt.

 The photo you see here was taken from our bungalow room.  The beach is waist high for what seems like forever and the water is clear as day - great for snorkelling.  That reminds me - back in Ko Lanta I was swimming on the beach and went to pick up what I thought was a stick, but turned out to be a rather large stingray.  Fortunately it was just as scared as me and darted off.  The thought of my friends peeing on me jackass-style isn't a pleasant one, so thank God I didn't get stung!

After Phi Phi Louise and I caught a ferry to Krabi.  I was still half-cut from the night before and very nearly didn't make it.  When we arrived to Krabi, I couldn't find my day bag.  In one fail swoop I had broken all 3 travelling rules, i.e. don't lose: (1) your passport (2) your wallet or (3) your plane tickets.  After several phone calls, our friends back at Phi Phi found my bag sitting on a shelf on the pier.  If there is a God, he clearly likes me.

Louise and I flew back to Bangkok and after an extremely stressful (and unfortunately last) day together, we finally managed to chill out together in a nice restaurant in the East End to the sound of a fantastic jazz band.  We then had a snooze from around 1.30am, but had to get up at 5am to get her to Bangkok airport.  After a slightly teary fairwell, she was on her way back to Heathrow and the prospect of a brand new job at MSN.  Hopefully we will hook up in California for my final leg of the trip in June.  Missing her already...

I'm now in Bangkok and have hooked up with my good old school-mate Robert Sousa.  We've shacked up in a wonderful Inn just off the Khao San Road and have been having a ball - catching up, watching footy, movies and playing pool.  He's such a fantastic friend - one of those who you might not see for years but when you do, everything's the same, only better.  After a slightly painful foot massage yesterday, I had my first full body massage tonight (with no naughty 'extras', I hasten to add) and it was unbelievable - I'm hooked.  We've got a couple more nights here while I wait for my Visa to Cambodia, then we head south to Ko Chang for a day by the beach, before we part company

Right, I'm going to find Rob now because time is precious, so ciao for now.  Remember to check my photo albums (I try and upload every time I log in) and leave me a message (see menu on the right).

Love to you all back home...