Archive for April, 2008

Day 19 – Karon, Phuket

Friday, April 25th, 2008

Ohhhh it’s good to be back to our buffet breakfast, the pancakes are really good! After we went for a swim and went to the gym, yes that’s right!!!

We caught a tuk tuk to Patong in the late afterenoon.  After some fantastic sweet and sour pork we went to an ‘entertainment show’. I won’t say anymore…Anyway I bought another handbag. It’s hilarious seeing the signs that say "Come see my secret room" which basically means come see my stash of fake Gucci and Prada. There were so many lady boys tonight! Some are really quite stunning!

Day 18 – Karon, Phuket

Friday, April 25th, 2008

Well I don’t have to type much for today.

We….

Swam…

Sunbathed…

Swam…

and Sunbathed!

We had to best Masaman curry around the corner from us..mmmmmmmmmm.

Elections today.

Day 17 – Phi Phi Island

Friday, April 25th, 2008

After our buffet breakfast at our hotel we had a wee wonder though the town and caught a longtail boat to Long Beach (80B). We swam and sunbathed for a few hours before catching the ferry back to Phuket. Our ferry had a couple very large groups of Indians who were very noisy with their children running around. Taking a nap was impossible.

When we arrived back at our resort we had a swim and went out for dinner. It was pretty quiet because it was the night before the elections and apparently illegal to sell alcohol.

Day 16 – Phuket – Phi Phi Island

Friday, April 25th, 2008

We caught a ferry to Phi Phi which was a pretty smooth ride. We stopped at Phi Phi Leh (the smaller island) and saw Viking Cave and went snorkeling in Maya Bay(where ‘The Beach’ was filmed). There were a lot more colourful fish and coral than Chicken Island and they swam up really close to you. We were able to take photos underwater with a special waterpoof camera case that Si bought. We stopped on Long Beach (Hat Yai?) for a buffet lunch, a quiet beautiful beach with a really relaxed feel. Next we WALKED to Ton Sai to find some accommodation. I felt really sick, I think it was heat stroke?

After having a long nana nap we ventured out into the town. The food was a lot cheaper than I thought. It was rather nice not to have taxis, tuk tuks or motocycles. The locals all ride bicycles and go around warning people with their bells…if they don’t have bells they go around saying "beep beep!!!!". People are a lot relaxed and they are younger. They are so many tattoo parlors!!! I would of loved to stay here for a week.

Hmm they really promote the Beach movie here..

Day 15 – Karon, Phuket

Friday, April 25th, 2008

Today was much more relaxed. We swam and sunbathed at the beach today and not a soul pestered us, it was great! After the beach we swam and sunbathed at our resort…ohh this is the life. We had a drink at the bar in the middle of the pool, a bit pricey but we felt pretty cool. We got a little burnt today, pure aloe vera gel is the best! There are a fewer older European topless women at our pools, even though it says it’s rude to in our hotel guide hmmmm.

After our lazy day we walked to the market sfor dinner. We had 50B pad thai, by the the cheapest food in Phuket we’ve seen so far. On the way from walking back we got pedicures done for 100B ($4)

I’m so excited to go to PhiPhi Island hehe

Day 14 – Karon, Phuket

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

We started off the day with our buffet included in our accommodation. OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!! It is so good!!! They have everything! If you want eggs they cook it fresh right in front of you e.g. if you want an omelet you can choose what you want in it. 

With our big bellies we jumped in the pool, swam around for a couple hours and splashed out on massage next to the pool (which is pretty much next to the beach). Si got a foot scrap and massage and I got a Thai Massage. Hmmmm I can’t say I’ll be having another one of those anytime soon. They use their knees and elbows and even stand on you!!!.

Next we caught the blue bus to Phuket town (25B). It was quite boring there…won’t go back. Then we caught another bus to Patong…a different story!!! I’m soooooooooooooo glad I’m not staying there. All they want is your money. You walk passed in they’re like "Gidday mate", or "kia ora bro". They ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL put on perfect accents to try pull you into their shops. Some even knew how to say "haere mai" and kei te pehea koe!" They started their prices ridiculously high there. One of the  reasons I like Karon more than Patong is the amount of loungers on the beach. I couldn’t believe seeing 4 rows on loungers whereas in Karon there is generally just the one row along the wall.

P.S. There are topless swimmers in Thailand, even when it’s really rude to do so in their culture. 80% of men wear speedos. I feel overdressed wearing a tankini. 

We got a tuk tuk back to Karon 500B > 300B. Probably could of got it for 250B.  Transport is so much more expensive here, I can’t wait to lounge around tomorrow. 

Day 13 – Krabi – Phuket

Saturday, April 19th, 2008

We got an AC van to Phuket, luckily we got the front seats so we were pretty comfortable. The journey took us about 3 hours. Our resort in Karon Phuket is a shock to the system after our bungalow in Krabi. It had a massive long drive, GARDENERS, and we were greeted at the entrance and escorted to a comfy booth where we sipped on juice upon arrival. Our resort has the perfect location, you can’t get any closer to the beach! I love our room and it’s great to get free stuff in the bathroom because it means I don’t have to go out and buy any toiletries. We’re on the 2nd floor and can see the beach from our balcony. After settling in we swam around in the FIVE SWIMMING POOLS and swam up to the bar in the middle of one of the pools! I love this place!

After a shower (oh my goodness the shower pressure is heaven) we caught a tuk tuk to the temple market. The tuk tuks arn’t as cute looking down here (they’re little red vans). They had some pretty cheap stuff there. P.S. tuk tuk prices here are ridiculously stupid. I bought some cheap nail polish. We walked back from the market which took quite a while. On the way back we found some markets in Karon. I find it really annoying when you try to look at something when you have shop owners breathing down your neck.

Day 12 – Krabi (island tour)

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

Our tour picked us up from our hotel and took us to Ao Nang to meet with other people on our tour group. There with about 20 other Thais and an Australian, at least we felt like we were more in Asia today! Today we visited 4 islands in a speed boat…

1st – Sand bars – beautiful water/sand, but too many tourists
2nd – Forgot the name – snorkling, had really colourful fish…and I saw finding nemo!!!
3nd – Chicken Island (because a rock is shaped like a chicken’s head – had lunch there
4th Poda Island – pefect clear, blue water and nice sand. I would definitely recommend staying a day there!

TO BE CONTINUED….

Day 11 – Krabi

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

After a big sleep in our bungalow (more like a run down little brick house) we caught a long tail boat to Railey beach from Ao Nang which cost 80B. The beach is a stunning beach, clear green waters and big limestone cliffs. The only thing that let the beach down was small rocks when walking into the beach and the number of tourists (not too many, it’s just I didn’t feel like I was in Thaland! Only a couple old ladies bugged us about buying sarongs or massages while little kids carried around plastic bags with overpriced cold drinks.

There are so many beautiful islands close to Krabi and I wish we could stay in Krabi longer! Because the Songkhran festival is still happening in Krabi we had to walk back to our place as the traffic was one way. Luckily we still had our togs on because we got really drenched with water and talcum powder…I love this festival!!!

On the way back I found the magical pancakes Kirsty went on about…THEY ARE SO TASTY. We had banana and chocolate and they cost 30B. When we got back to our bungalows they didn’t have any clean towels, ours were of course soaked from bringing them through the gauntlet of water fights. We were so annoyed so we got our banana fruit shakes from the restaurant next door instead hehehe.

After we had finally dried off from our drip-dry shower we ventured out to Ao Nang. On the way we had pinacoladas on the beach. We had dinner at a really nice restaurant and we sat in our little bamboo hut on the beach. With our wee bellies full we ventured out to do some shopping, they mainly have surf shops there.

Day 10 – Chiang Mai – Krabi

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

After packing up for Krabi Si and I treated ourselves to a foot/leg and shoulder massage. While the woman was massaging my legs I fell asleep, I’m not actually sure how that happened considering she was ramming a stick hard into the pressure points of my foot. After she whacked me to wake me up (Si told her to!) she massage my shoulders. For a little woman she inflicted a lot of pain on my shoulders. She was using the boney part of her forearm. Funny enough I came out with my shoulders feeling soooooooo relaxed. 

We went back to our guest house, dipped our feet in the pool and off we went to the airport. The flight was pretty good. Krabi airport seemed a long away from our bungalows in Hat Noppharat Thora (next to Ao Nang beach). Our A/C bus cost 150B each, much better than the 800B van. We arrived at our bungalows and they were  ****. It made our guesthouse in Chiang Mai look really good. There are dozens of cats hanging around and ants in our room. Hmmm.

Anyway our place was only a couple minutes to the beach and a short 40B tuk tuk to Ao Nang (I can’t believe we trust these guys after the crazy men in Bangkok). Ao Nang beach is more of an esplanade with lots of restaurants than a luxurious beach, but its the place to go to take your on short long tail boats to the really nice beaches.