Matt and Dave's World Trip: We're still alive!!

Hello!

Sorry it's been so long since we blogged, but you know what it's like, beaches to sit on, beers to drink....

So, first things first. Dave's toe. Definitely broken, but getting better every day. It's ok to walk with shoes on now, but still need to be a bit careful when barefoot.

Anyway, enough about all that. Something else is broken...... THE CAMERA!!

The 'waterproof' camera, it would appear, is not 'sea-proof'. We'll get to that bit later, but for now there's no pics. There will be in the next couple of days though.

Wednesday 21st November

This was the night after the toe incident, and we had to do a runner from the hotel. Ideal timing. Long story short.... all the shenanigans in the sea the night before led to the unfortunate loss of our hotel room key. When we got back that night, we had no choice but to go to reception and claim that we'd handed our key in, and therefore they must have lost it.

Eventually they agreed to let us in the hotel room with the spare key, but wouldn't leave it with us. No key = no electricity. So we slept with no air con and no lights and only 19 fully working tootsies between us.

The following morning we decided it wasn't a good idea to go past reception and get told off, so we headed along the beach and checked in to the 'P & P Resort'.

We went to the beach for a while, and in the evening returned to the beach party and set off firey lantern things. They're kind of mini hot air balloons, and you set fire to the bottom bit, and it floats off in to the sky. For MILES!!

Then we went to the Mango Tree club for a drink or three, and by 3am we were ready to watch England lose to Croatia. So we did. In an English pub called Black Jack.

It was full of England fans, and three Croatia fans too!! After a quiet word from one of the rather large England fans, they left. Anyway, we lost and McLaren walked away with 2.5 million.

Thursday 22nd November

Really lazy day, played frisbee on the beach (Matt had to go and fetch it if it landed too far away!!)

Also, we met an Irish lad in Speedos who had just recovered from Dysentry.

Had an early night after a couple of drinks in 'Solo' bar. Very refined.

Friday 23rd November

Another lazy day, then in the evening we went out and played Jenga and Connect 4 with some locals. We lost.

We made the fatal mistake of dancing again, in a club full of locals, and looked very silly, but we're used to that now.

We ended up back in the Jenga / Connect 4 bar which was simply called 'Snatch'. Best bar name ever!!

Saturday 24th November

Tonight is full moon night!

Unsurprisingly we had a lazy day, and were due to be picked up between 10.00 and 10.30pm to get a boat across to Ko Phang An (everywhere you look it's spelt differently!). Our taxi finally turned up about 11.30pm and the rudest man in the world drove like a nutcase for half an hour to other hotels, wondering why people weren't still waiting to be picked up!

We eventually got to the seaside and had to wait for ages for a boat to turn up, so we had a beer on the beach.

Finally our speedboat turned up, and after a very exciting (and bumpy) ride over, we arrived on Ko Phang An about 1.30am.

We got stuck in to the buckets of vodka (you buy a bucket, a small bottle of vodka and a can of coke, then chuck it all in with loads of ice, and hey presto!)......

.......and then we discovered an official 'sleeping area' on the beach!!!

So Matt went and got about 20 winks, while Dave laid by the sea pondering life's big decisions... Shall we get another bucket now or later....?!

The party was amazing, thousands of people in various states dancing on the beach and in all the bars. I think we've lost the pictures though on the damaged memory card. Gutted.

(NEWSFLASH...... We've got the pictures back!!)

We waded (fully clothed) out to our return speedboat about 6.30am, and finally got to bed about 7.30am. Brilliant night.

Sunday 25th November

Got up about 1pm, feeling a little bit tender, and booked our bus/boat to Ko Phi Phi. Had some food, packed our bags and got to bed about 1.30am.

Monday 26th November

Got up at 5.40am (!) and got picked up by minibus to go to the pier. Got the 8am ferry across to the mainland.....

......and got a bus from there across to Krabi on the West side of the mainland. It took about three hours so we both got some sleep.

When we got to Krabi we had to wait about 90 minutes for the boat, so we munched on some lunch.

Got the 3pm boat across to Ko Phi Phi Don, which is the inhabited of the two islands.

When we arrived we walked around in sweltering heat with big rucksacks until we found the Andaman resort. About 20 quid per night for air con, private bathroom (with flushing toilet!) and our own pool!!

Life's tough out here.

Went for some food (everything's a lot more expensive here than on the mainland and Cambodia etc), and then went to an Irish bar for a drink, then Apache bar, then Hippies. Hippies is amazing... More on that later!

Tuesday 27th November

Got up late (can you believe it?), went for some food. We watched 'The Beach' in a bar, and then went to the Reggae Bar. This bar is crazy. There's two full size boxing rings in the bar, and every half hour or so, there's a proper thai boxing match. In between these fights, tourists are encouraged to get in the ring and beat each other up for a bucket of booze!!

So we watched some scores get settled, including some girl fights. The place is awesome!!

We ended up in 'Hippies' again for the end of the night. It's a brilliant place, and only really gets going about 2am. It's right on the beach, and there's fire shows to watch, and you can paddle / dance around in the sea while you drink. It's such a nice bar, so relaxed and a really good atmosphere.

Wednesday 28th November

Dave woke up and had a sandwich full of ants.

We both got a sandwich the night before, but Dave left a little bit on the bedside table. When he woke up he started munching on the remains, and when he looked down at where he'd left it, there were loads of ants running around. Tasted ok though.

Today was world record attempt day... Matt claimed he could hold his breath underwater for 1 minute and 35 seconds. Dave's first attempt was a whopping 1 min 45... thus battle commenced!

After lots of deep breaths and near-death experiences, Matt's lungs proved superior to Dave's, with a cracking time of 2 mins 15 secs!! Dave only managed 2.05. Livid.

Had some BBQ chicken and sweetcorn, and went to Reggae bar to watch more people fighting each other. Played pool with some Aussies (we won!).

When we got back to the bungalow there was an Aussie asleep on our front porch. Don't think it was pool-related though.

Security man got rid of him though, and we slept, safe in our beds.

Thursday 29th November

We got a boat at 9am to go and visit 'The Beach' from the film. We went kayaking and snorkelling, and saw some amazing fish swimming right next to us. We had to clamber through a cave to get there, but it was amazing.

Far too many tourists and speedboats but still pretty special.

Then we were served lunch on the boat (rice and chicken, yum yum!), and moved on to 'Monkey Beach'. Here, there was a beach, and a monkey. See what they did there with the name?

After a bit more snorkelling and kayaking we got back on the boat and moved on to another beach. Simply paradise. Totally clear water and soft white sand.

We met Mr Universe (well, he thought he was), and headed back to Phi Phi Don.

Had a nap, some food, then an early night.

Friday 30th November

Really lazy day, played some frisbee in the pool, went to a bar called Carlito's for food, and ended up in Hippies bar chatting to a bloke called Andy. He's from Westminster and he's a Charlton fan.

Saturday 1st December

We've been away a whole month!!

More pool / frisbee action, and went to the BQ chicken place again. You get half a chicken, salad and chips (they're on the menu as 'Friend Fried', and that's not a typing error!).

Not sure how much it would cost to get Matt fried, but we're looking in to it.

Went back to Reggae Bar again, and saw a Swedish girl get beaten up, and then a drunk English bloke get beaten up. They wear head protection so it looks worse than it is!

You'll never guess where we ended up... Hippies! More beers and paddling, then bed.

Sunday 2nd December

We went for a walk to the viewpoint today. It's 1000 feet above sea level, and you have to start the walk at sea level. Matt decided the steps and height might not be such a good idea, so Dave ventured on alone.

After going up about 100 of the steepest steps in the world, and then a long walk on a steep winding path for what seems like an eternity, you reach the top.