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By Libby1
Hey all!
Unfortunately we had to leave the Tara Ankor hotel, which Sophie's parents kindly put us up in and hit the real world with a smack, staying in grimy "guesthouses" again! Last sunday was our last night with Lot and Mol, so we celebrated by going out for dinner and watching films late into the night - in our overly hot rooms! Sayign goodbye was particularly hard on them as they had only been away for 2 weeks and so it felt a bit like leaving home all over again - however we too were sad to see them go as it had been a really good week! We travelled on a very small bus with very little leg room back to the boarder and crossed into Thailand returning to Bangkok.
We both really like Bangkok (unlike most travellers) so enjoyed returning to familiar ground! We stayed back at Baan Sabai, where we had stayed before, and trying to cut costs only got a fan room!
This room was a literal cell with two beds squashed together and NO electricity - which was a big problem as both our phones, cameras and ipods had all run out!
That night was a particularly HOT night! The next day was shopped till we dropped... no joke!
Our aim was to buy presents, but we saw so many goodies for ourselves we just couldnt resist! Although we spent alot of money we feel it was worth it and we had both previously decided to buy a box in Bangkok and send stuff home, so it seemed an ideal time to go a bit crazy!
That night we returned to Pat Pong (the red light district). We wandered around and had a drink, laughing at the amount of Thaibrides we saw. As we were walking down the mainstreet, we were ambushed by people trying to get us into their "bar" or so we thought!
The big signs stating "NO PHOTO'S" should have been a clue - but what can i say - we're naive!
Soon we were witnessing a live show - with no escape! We were swamped by women in very little clothing forcing us to buy a drink - which were so overpriced we realised this included the price of the show! After about 10minutes we legged it pushing our way through the half naked women, racing for the door!
It's funny now but it wasnt at the time! That night we changed rooms to aircon and electricity... and ironically i was then too cold!
The next day we continued to shop for our last bits and bobs before heading to the postoffice to collect a box each. Packing these was tense as there was no where near enough room as we needed, but finally queezing the sides between our knees and pushing the lid shut we magaged it!
it cost us over 30pounds to send the box home but getting rid of the laundry bag meant it was soooo worth it!
The rest of the day was then a bit of a non day with a novelty trip to Starbucks! Sophie randomly bumped into three people she used to go to school with on the Khao San Road - random!
That night we got an overnight bus to Koh Samui. It was probably the best overnight bus we've done, as they provided blankets, a film and the lights went out completely (and obviously we didnt have to sleep in the aisle or get wet from the airconditioning!) However, saying that we arrived at 5am at the port, where we had to wait for 2hours for the boat! Aparently this is normal, but it was a big shock to be worken from sleep by blinding lights and look out of the window to see your bags tossed at the side of the road!
I slept for most of the boat trip to Koh Samui, waking now and then to take pictures of the amazing view! We stayed in a guesthouse called "Lucky Mother" which were basically bungalows on the beach. The beach was lush, but as you walked further up it became littered with cigarette butts and rubbish!
We succumbed to lunch at a nice restaurant which was too expensive for us but we hadnt eaten all day and were shattered so felt we deserved it!
The food was pretty good too! Each day was spent on the beach, dipping in and out of the sea!
Sophie got really burnt on our second day (the day of the Full Moon Party) so had to spend alot of time tending to her legs in the room! On our first night I met a girl called "Kelly" who was a bit of a chav and most of her friends (we discovered) were either pregnant or had kids already!
She had done Drama at uni and seemed to think we had alot in common - which we did not! She had failed her A Levels and got in to do drama through clearing as a last resort! However saying this she was sweet and we ended up all having dinner together and then heading to the Full Moon partaaaay!
The Full Moon Party was a great experience! We got a party boat across - slightly nervous as we had heard many MANY horror stories about them sinking and the passengers drowning! We were glad we had stayed on Koh Samui and not Koh Pha Ngan as the island wasnt as nice and the beach in the morning must have been so disgusting, where as ours was inviting!
We got our first buckets (large buckets mixed with different alcoholic beverages!) of the evening and headed down to the beach. We decided to buy some neon paint and after completely covering ourselves in it we danced along the beach heading for the podiums. (This was not my brighest idea) I was haulled up onto a podium, full to the max with people, and as I was dancing I wasnt paying attention to how close I got to the edge!
I fell head first into the sand, scraping my leg on wood as i fell. A really nice guy picked me up and brushed all the sand off my and away from my eyes, and I had soon forgotten about the crick in my neck and joined the others to continue dancing!
By this time Kelly was on her second bucket so it was no surprise that as the night went on she was really sick! Neither of us particularly wanted to look after her and didnt want to go home so we took her to a bar where we left her saying we'd be back for her later! After much more dancing and drinks, we retreated to find her. We searched the bar and there was no sign of Kelly, she had disappeared... Hyped up on the atmosphere we decided not to worry and head back to the port for a party boat back, stopping off for food on the way!
At the port we found huge crowds of people waiting. Whilst we were waiting a two ambulance men carrying a stretcher pushed their way through the crowd. A man with severe stab wounds to his head,leg and stomach lay unconscious on it. We hadnt encountered any violence so this was extremely shocking, however it only got worse as then the man next to Sophie confessed that a man on the beach had just died in his arms!
Thankfully we got home safely. As we tiredly stumbled into our room we found a note from kelly had been pushed under our door, exlaining she had been to drunk to stay and had continued to throw up in the bar and the manager had thrown her out!
After a quick shower to try and get rid of all the sand we crashed out! The next day I lay on the beach (joined by Kelly and her hangover!) whilst Sophie tended to her burnt legs in the cabin.
At around 3pm we went for a brownie at the nie restaurant which we were planning to return to for dinner but they were having a stupid "Thai Night" so returned to the norm of noodles! We have decided that Saturday is now our treat day where we are allowed junk food!
Today (sunday) we got up early for breakfast at our guesthouse only to find it was closed!
We went to 7/11 for yoghurt and then boarded our minibus to the port on our way to Krabi. It was a pretty boring day getting on and off coaches and cramped minibuses!
However the most interesting part of the day has to be the monsoon type rainstorm we encountered whilst travelling - thankfully we were on the bus! Also many of the views were breathtaking!
Upon arrival in Krabi we found cheap accomodation and headed out to book tickets to Phi Phi, then eat, as we were both starving!
I confess we both broke our 'Saturday treat' rule and gave in to cake! Heading to Phi Phi tomorrow which should be beautiful! However we have heard it can be quite expensive! Happy Easter!