Phuket, Phi Phi and everything before!
I thought I would update my blog. I don't really feel like I've done much to warrant an update, but I thought I'd keep you up-to-date anyhow!
After our trip to the Death Railway, we made our way back down from Kanchanaburi to Bangkok, ready to leave the country for our 'Visa run'. We didn't do much in Bangkok (again), apart from eat, drink and wander around the local alleyways. This in itself was quite nice as we actually found a peaceful spot by the river, and it was virtually free of touts and tuk tuks!
I feel like we're really on holiday now though - I've had enough of temples and I think I've finally seen the last of them. Now we're just being lazy tourists - hence the lack of blog updates.
From Bangkok, we flew to Singapore for the night, spending the night sleeping on a row of seats in the airport. It was uncomfortable, but cheaper than getting any accommodation in Singapore itself. Especially as we landed at 11.30 at night and were leaving for Phuket at 8.30 the next morning.
So we arrive in Phuket, tired and sleep-deprived. We get hounded by an airport load of touts offering us accommodation and taxis at extortionate prices. Thankfully, we have wised up to the ways of Thailand. Whilst Chris was being hounded, I found the 'official' information desk and located the metered taxis (at least 100 baht cheaper than the touts). This equates to roughly £2 difference, which may not seem much, but every little counts. Bartering is generally the best way to get anywhere in Thailand, but there are some places you just shouldn't barter - taxis being one of them. The meter is so cheap here (we drove an hour from Bangkok airport to our first hotel and it cost us £8).
We got our taxi (eventually) to our accommodation which was in Phuket Town. It's away from any beaches and much of the overly-tourist areas, but I liked this. It was cheaper and I felt we were still in a bit more of the 'real' Thailand. Still tired and sleep-deprived, we headed off to find some food. The best we could find was a lady selling food with VERY little English. We managed to communicate and got ourselves some noodle soup, fish and water. It was quite nice, but I was ready for some sleep by the time I'd eaten. That wrote-off the rest of our first day. We just slept then woke for dinner & a pub quiz.
We happened across this bar with a pub quiz. It was quite fun - full of people from Alaska and the quiz was run by an Alaskan (the pub was run by a Turk... strange combination but everyone seems to get on with everyone over here). Unfortunately Chris and I were in the smallest team (just the two of us). We didn't come last though, which I felt was an achievement! Probably just as well we didn't win - the winning team got a bucket full of beer. I never realised how little I knew about Alaska though - there was a whole round dedicated to it. For example, did you know there are 7 types of Salmon somewhere... I forget where now. So that was a useful fact 'eh!?
We enjoyed the quiz so much that we went back the next day for a 'quiet' drink. The owner of the bar recognised us and bought us free drinks, and then more free drinks, and then the locals started getting in on the act. We had planned to leave around 9.30 - 10... we ended up leaving at 1.30am. So that put paid to our planned beach antics the next day. Day 2 wasted! We finally made it to the beach on Day 3, the day before yesterday.
Yesterday, we made it to Koh Phi Phi. A beautiful, expensive, island that was made famous by Leonardo Di Caprio in the film, The Beach. Can you believe I'd never seen that film until the ferry over yesterday!? Unfortunately I have developed a cold so yet again I've been a bit useless, other than beach-lazing. Last night was lovely, the beach bars put out mats and basically wait on you while you sit and admire the sea or the local fire-shows (Thai men juggling with fire, literally) all around. It's very loud, but that's what Phi Phi has become. If you've seen The Beach, it's underlying story is actually quite apt. Tourists have probably spoilt this paradise.
The island, like many others, was destroyed by the tsunami 6 years ago, but extensive efforts have enabled it to be built up to the tourist-trap it once was. This time, most buildings have escape routes to the roofs, and there are clear signs for a tsunami escape route, up many, many steps. Chris went up to the viewpoint this morning (thanks to my cold, and my severe dislike of steep hills and steps, especially in the heat, I chose not to go). Apparently they were cashing in on the Tsunami with Tsunami DVDs and a Tsunami Book at this viewpoint! I'd say that it's a good way to raise money for such a catastrophe, but the island is so expensive that I can't actually believe this is necessary.
So for the rest of today, we lounged on the beautiful beach, which is so close to where we are staying. It's a lovely area, but a bit noisy at night. We are hoping to go snorkeling soon, and maybe even to a Blues Festival back in Phuket. We'll see. I'm enjoying this lazy life for now though - making the most of it as we've now got less than 3 weeks before we fly home. I'll be sad to end the adventure, but look forward to home comforts, like Robinson's Apple and Blackcurrant!
Hope everyone is ok
xXx
PS, Apologies if there are any awful spelling errors - computer just had a funny 5 minutes and added in words without me doing anything!
After our trip to the Death Railway, we made our way back down from Kanchanaburi to Bangkok, ready to leave the country for our 'Visa run'. We didn't do much in Bangkok (again), apart from eat, drink and wander around the local alleyways. This in itself was quite nice as we actually found a peaceful spot by the river, and it was virtually free of touts and tuk tuks!
I feel like we're really on holiday now though - I've had enough of temples and I think I've finally seen the last of them. Now we're just being lazy tourists - hence the lack of blog updates.
From Bangkok, we flew to Singapore for the night, spending the night sleeping on a row of seats in the airport. It was uncomfortable, but cheaper than getting any accommodation in Singapore itself. Especially as we landed at 11.30 at night and were leaving for Phuket at 8.30 the next morning.
So we arrive in Phuket, tired and sleep-deprived. We get hounded by an airport load of touts offering us accommodation and taxis at extortionate prices. Thankfully, we have wised up to the ways of Thailand. Whilst Chris was being hounded, I found the 'official' information desk and located the metered taxis (at least 100 baht cheaper than the touts). This equates to roughly £2 difference, which may not seem much, but every little counts. Bartering is generally the best way to get anywhere in Thailand, but there are some places you just shouldn't barter - taxis being one of them. The meter is so cheap here (we drove an hour from Bangkok airport to our first hotel and it cost us £8).
We got our taxi (eventually) to our accommodation which was in Phuket Town. It's away from any beaches and much of the overly-tourist areas, but I liked this. It was cheaper and I felt we were still in a bit more of the 'real' Thailand. Still tired and sleep-deprived, we headed off to find some food. The best we could find was a lady selling food with VERY little English. We managed to communicate and got ourselves some noodle soup, fish and water. It was quite nice, but I was ready for some sleep by the time I'd eaten. That wrote-off the rest of our first day. We just slept then woke for dinner & a pub quiz.
We happened across this bar with a pub quiz. It was quite fun - full of people from Alaska and the quiz was run by an Alaskan (the pub was run by a Turk... strange combination but everyone seems to get on with everyone over here). Unfortunately Chris and I were in the smallest team (just the two of us). We didn't come last though, which I felt was an achievement! Probably just as well we didn't win - the winning team got a bucket full of beer. I never realised how little I knew about Alaska though - there was a whole round dedicated to it. For example, did you know there are 7 types of Salmon somewhere... I forget where now. So that was a useful fact 'eh!?
We enjoyed the quiz so much that we went back the next day for a 'quiet' drink. The owner of the bar recognised us and bought us free drinks, and then more free drinks, and then the locals started getting in on the act. We had planned to leave around 9.30 - 10... we ended up leaving at 1.30am. So that put paid to our planned beach antics the next day. Day 2 wasted! We finally made it to the beach on Day 3, the day before yesterday.
Yesterday, we made it to Koh Phi Phi. A beautiful, expensive, island that was made famous by Leonardo Di Caprio in the film, The Beach. Can you believe I'd never seen that film until the ferry over yesterday!? Unfortunately I have developed a cold so yet again I've been a bit useless, other than beach-lazing. Last night was lovely, the beach bars put out mats and basically wait on you while you sit and admire the sea or the local fire-shows (Thai men juggling with fire, literally) all around. It's very loud, but that's what Phi Phi has become. If you've seen The Beach, it's underlying story is actually quite apt. Tourists have probably spoilt this paradise.
The island, like many others, was destroyed by the tsunami 6 years ago, but extensive efforts have enabled it to be built up to the tourist-trap it once was. This time, most buildings have escape routes to the roofs, and there are clear signs for a tsunami escape route, up many, many steps. Chris went up to the viewpoint this morning (thanks to my cold, and my severe dislike of steep hills and steps, especially in the heat, I chose not to go). Apparently they were cashing in on the Tsunami with Tsunami DVDs and a Tsunami Book at this viewpoint! I'd say that it's a good way to raise money for such a catastrophe, but the island is so expensive that I can't actually believe this is necessary.
So for the rest of today, we lounged on the beautiful beach, which is so close to where we are staying. It's a lovely area, but a bit noisy at night. We are hoping to go snorkeling soon, and maybe even to a Blues Festival back in Phuket. We'll see. I'm enjoying this lazy life for now though - making the most of it as we've now got less than 3 weeks before we fly home. I'll be sad to end the adventure, but look forward to home comforts, like Robinson's Apple and Blackcurrant!
Hope everyone is ok
xXx
PS, Apologies if there are any awful spelling errors - computer just had a funny 5 minutes and added in words without me doing anything!
posted by wobblepop at 2:36 pm
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