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Grant and Linz's Big Adventure
Hey All... been putting off updating this all day today as been feeling slightly delicate... perhaps due to drinking entire body weight in vodka red-bull last night (hope you Thompsons - incl Ben - enjoyed late night phonecalls from drunken monkeys last night?!)
Anyway, back to the trip... we were so sad to leave Phi Phi and kind of thought we could just set up a bar there and stay, however we had had lots to look forward to in the shape of our lovely buds Denise and Elliot who were staying at amazing 5 star resort just a short boat trip from Phi Phi in Ao Nang. So, we thought we'd hot foot it over there and lap up some luxury - Grant kept saying it was the sort of place he belonged! We spent a wicked day at their resort which you can only get to by private boat - it's that exclusive! The resort is in a secluded bay with amazing pools and jacuzzi right on it's own private beach so we lolled around, drunk beers, ate amazing food and kinda just pretended we belonged there which was wicked - cheers D & E!
However, this refreshed and chilled feeling was unfortunately not to last. And you know the more I think about it now the more I am convinced it has something to do with this whole Buddhist karma vibe over here and the fact that I have been squashing pretty much every bug I see, but the following day me and Grant were both kind of struck down with diseases and felt like hell. Grant's throat was so swollen he could hardly speak and I had such bad ear ache I couldn't hear. We took ourselves off to a Thai doctor and Grant was told he had a bad case of tonsilitis and I was told I had quite severe bleeding behing my eardrums, caused by the scuba diving. Doc told us to stay out of sun, wind and water... and away from eachother, as if I caught tonsilitis too it could cause my eardrum to rupture... brilliant. So for the next few days we locked ourselves in our room, pulled our beds apart and pretty much communicated in sign language - wow, this is what travelling is all about we thought - NOT!
Anyway, needless to say we slowly got better and set off a few days later to Railay which is only about half hour on a boat from Ao Nang. So we're lugging our backpacks (bloody thing feels heavier than ever) down to the sea to get a boat and the heavens literally open and 'hurrah' the monsoon rears it's ugly head yet again. We kind of thought (and hoped) we'd be told there were no boats but after the rain subsided slightly we were piled onto a tiny wooden longboat with about 20 other travellers, plus backpacks. So, with the floor of the boat gradually filling up with water we all gripped to eachother as we were pushed out into the crashing waves. Now this was more scary than we could ever have imagined as the boat got swept up pretty much vertically as it hit each wave and the water came flooding across us and all our bags. We really did think it might be the last we saw of Thailand, or anywhere for that matter, but eventually we arrived at Railay beach looking like we'd stepped out of a wet t-shirt competition, lugging our sodden backpacks.
We stayed in an amazing 3 story wooden hut, and Grant managed to wangle us the penthouse... not quite as luxurious as it sounds as it just meant you had to scale up 3 vertical ladders to get to it... usually in the dark. Went for an explore the following day and came across some caves which had a 'quartz waterfall' which was kinda cool. We then hit the beach which was one of the most spectacular beaches we have been to so far... pure white sand and crystal water with a view out over the other tiny islands dotted in the ocean - wow! So, as with most trips to the beach Grant spotted some guys playing footy and worked up the courage to go and ask to join in. This time there was a huge group of them and the Grantster got well involved pulling out some amazing skills that impressed even me (he didn't even tell me to write that!)
And, that is about all there is to Railay, lazy days on the beach (or playing sport if you really have to) and chilling in the many beach bars at night. A pretty cool vibe all in all but kind of spoilt by the billion mosquitoes that inhabit the place and feast on all the bronzed bodies... yes that includes both of us! So, after 2 nights in Railay we set off in search of the party islands of Ko Samui and Ko Phangan - woooo!!!
Linz x
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