A month in Koh Lanta, Krabi and Koh Tao

Just back to Nakhon Pathom after a month in the islands of Thailand. I had a couple of weeks in Koh Lanta, my first time on this lovely island, which was very quiet, with very few tourists but had charms all of its own, such as monkeys on the beach and the slow pace of life, etc. Then I went to Krabi, which I had not been to for about 20 years, but it hadn't changed at all. I stayed in some bungalows a little outside of Aonang Bay which came with a free motorbike. It had a swimming pool and lovely gardens. It was called Baan Suan, which means garden home, and was a great place to stay. Krabi seems to have been taken over by Scandinavians and every accent you hear seems to be from that part of the world. I then moved to Koh Tao to finish my holiday, thinking I might just stay two days, but it was really hard to leave.

I first stayed in a room above a travel agents in Sairee Beach, the liveliest area, opposite a 7 11, but it was far too noisy. It had the best TV I have had in Thailand, but who wants to watch TV when you are in paradise? There was a bar downstairs too which played music til 2am and building work going on opposite, which started at 8.30am, so I moved further back in the resort. AJP guesthouse was 350 baht a night and very easygoing. This room was above a plumber's merchants, but very quiet as they all went home around 6pm. There was no sink in the bathroom, which was a bit odd, but liveable with. The TV was mainly Thai, but the bed was comfortable and the balcony was good (although no chair). It was a good base for renting a motorbike and seeing the island.

I first rented a bike for 250 baht for a couple of days. It was a lovely, brand new bike, automatic, but with lots of power. But they carefully check every mark on bikes there, with big prices for any damage, so it made me nervous knowing I could have a big bill. The first unmade road I got to I stubbed my toe on a rock and had several near misses trying to navigate the atrocious 'roads'! It was fun but a less expensive bike would be better, so I rented a different one for 150 baht a day. It was a heap of shit and felt like the bearings had gone on the steering, but it was useable..

So every day I went to a different beach with my snorkel (also a piece of shit). Both the mask and snorkel filled with water in seconds, but it meant I had to learn to use them and blow the water out, but did mean I had to take care as I'm not a great swimmer. Hin Wong Bay, Tanote Bay and Aow Leuk Bay all had great snorkeling, with some fantastic fish right from the beach and some reasonable colours of the coral. The coral was not as good as out on some islands I have visited, but was pretty impressive for close to land. The seafood on the island was wonderful and not expensive and big Chang beers could be bought for less than 100 baht in all restaurants, so not an expensive island to spend a week. All this made it very difficult to leave Koh Tao but leave I had to.

Now back in Nakhon Pathom and hope to meet up with my policeman friend and his two wives, then maybe move out of my apartment into a house, as a bit fed up with their choice of Internet and TV. I also hope to play some sport with my new friend Thanya and am looking forward to meeting her British boyfriend who comes over to live in NP after quitting his job, in a few days time. She has recently completed a PHd in the UK and seems to be finding it difficult to get back into Thai life.

If anyone is reading this do leave a comment. Been a long while since I blogged as hardly anyone seemed to be reading it, that and was too busy, either with studies or work.

Phnomh Penh, Siem Reap and Angkor Wat around Christmas 2007

Tioman Island, East Malaysia

A few good days in Halong

Halong Bay

Had a great couple of days in Halong Bay with my friends Steve and Lan Anh.

We went by Minibus on Sunday morning. I forgot my passport (and you cannot stay in a hotel without it!) so we ended going round and round Hanoi by taxi to start off the journey. But we eventually got to the bus station around 11ish. It was 40,000 VND to Halong and took around 4 hours. As it was carnaval (sic) almost every hotel was full and we ended up paying 400,000 VND for a triple room, which is 100,000 over their published rate, but beggars can't be choosers and we had to stay somewhere. It was a nice quiet room with air-con, so it was ok. First we went and ate some delicious seafood (well sensible people did (Steve doesn't eat seafood) before heading to the beach, where Steve had to go parasailing, at 180,000 VND a time. He did it three times while we were there! The night market is good in Halong and we had a few beers and an enjoyable first evening.

The next day we went on a junk around the bay. This cost 130,000 VND each, which was very good value. from around 11am to 4ish including stops at a village, beach and a cave. They didn't give us any food tho, so it was good we had a huge breakfast before getting on. Surprise cave, including a red lit penis!! was the highlight of the day, as can be seen in the pics taken by me and Steve.

After returning to Halong we went by taxi to a Vietnamese resort which I cannot remember the name of. Here we swam, Steve (obviously) went parasailing, before returning to Halong and an evening spent in the Good Coffee bar drinking beer and listening to outdoor karaoke next door..

Tuesday we spent on the beach and all had a go in a blow-up ball, which was fun running around on the sea, tied to the jetty, but because me and Steve went in together, we ran out of air pretty quickly and we both came out feeling pretty dizzy..

We caught the minibus back to Hanoi around 5pm. It broke down around 6pm. We waited for the next bus til around 7pm and arrived in Hanoi around 9.15, with the 33 other passengers on the rather cramped (seating for 18) minibus.

But altogether a fabulous time was had by all and we survived the ravages of fighting our way back to Hanoi. I will definitely go back and enjoy more of Halong's sights and foods and spend more time with the friendly people.