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After a short stop in Singapore, we arrived in Bangkok, drinking Singapore Slings on the way over! Our limo (!) took us to the Amari Boulevard Hotel, in the Sukhumvit are of Bangkok. Despite being a very well developed area, with smarter hotels and amenities, it is without doubt the seediest area in Bangkok! Scenes, similar to that of Ting-Tong and Mr Dudley from Little Britain are commonplace here... However, the food is cheap, wholesome and delicious. Our favourites are the spicy seafood noodle soup and deep fried seabass! We headed off into town, both had well needed haircuts (David especially) and foot massages, very relaxing (and so cheap - on hour for about 3 quid!) We took another limo to the Khao San area of Bangkok where we discovered hauds of other travellers, and a much less seedy area. We took an overnight coach to Chumphong and then a boat to Nangyuan Island Dive Resort. Wow!
Nangyuan is a collection of three islands joined together by soft sands, with wooden bungalows scattered around. Its very low key and relaxed here, compared to nearby island Ko Tao, which despite having a reputation for being 'unspoilt' is not so, in our opinion. Anyway, Jen has completed her PADI Open Water course and David his Advanced Diver, so now we can do some fun-dives together in a few days. The dive site at Chumphong has a pinnacle off it called Shark Pinnacles, which has lots of large reef sharks, and barracudas. Jen saw a turtle on her dive, following it for 15 minutes while it chomped on coral! David saw a blue-spotted ray, and a trigger fish, no sharks yet! We've been on the islands 5 nights and we've changed rooms 4 times! We had hoped to save a bit of money with a fan room but the heat here soon put a stop to that. We then had to move islands because a typhoon from Cambodia combined with the full moon made the tides much higher and the boat crossings were too choppy - picture us in our waterproofs in a small dinghy riding the waves, with no lifejacket or life saving rings in sight! (to quote Jen - health and safety is absent here!) Anyway, we've progressed to a luxury room here which is eating up our daily budget so we're taking it easy on the beach for a few days (hard life hey?) before heading back to Bangkok to spend another few days there before leaving for Melbourne. Photos will be uploaded soon - other news, congrats to Dickie and Helen who are expecting twins!
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