Back home

I got up at 7am on my last morning on Phi Phi as I had to get the morning ferry back to Phuket. I headed down to the dock and boarded the ferry, climbed on to the top deck, put my bag on the floor under my head and promptly went to sleep. I woke up about five minutes away from Phuket. Which was nice. I disembarked and found a bike taxi driver, haggled the price to the airport to 300 Baht and hopped on the back. Around an hour later we got to the airport (it's a long way) and I grabbed a burger (first one in weeks) and then sat on a chair for about five and a half hours waiting for check in to open. Once I'd checked in aI headed through to the gate and spent another hour or so waiting to board my plane to KL.

After a couple of hours on the plane we landed at KL and I limped through the airport to my next gate, where I had a couple of hours wait until I could board my flight back to Heathrow. Once on board the plane (my first 747) I grabbed some sleep when I could, watched a load of movies and ate the average airline food.

Landing in Heathrow was weird, as I was officially home.

And that's it. Over. Until next time anyway.

Time for a Phi Phi

After a few days in Phuket I decided to head for Ko Phi Phi Don (known as Phi Phi (pronounced Pee Pee)), an island about 42 KM off the coast of Phuket. I headed down to Rasada Pier in Phuket, bought a ticket and then sat around for a couple of hours waiting for the ferry. Being a novice I sat inside the boat, not realising I could have perched on the top deck in the sunshine. A couple of hours later we docked at Phi Phi, and were immediately acosted by hundreds of touts all trying to get tourists to go to their hotel or guesthouse. Obviously, having nowhere to stay and no idea where I was heading I ignored all the touts completely, and headed in the general direction I thought a hostel I had heard about was in. Like I had a clue.

I followed a couple of backpackers through 'tourist town' and eventually found the hostel I was looking for ('The Rock'). I checked in, dumped my bags and headed off for some food. I got back to the hostel after my lunch and met the guys who were already staying in my dorm. We all had a bit of a chat and a beer, and then we all headed off for dinner, and more beer.

We headed off to Papaya, a restaurant Adam had heard about that did large portions for a few Baht more than the other restaurants. We got there, ordered, and it was then we noticed the fridge. There was a cat in it. Licking herself clean, as cats are prone to doing. It transpires that the cat jumps in the fridge when she gets too hot, and jumps out again once she's cooled down. Fridge Cat instantly became a talking point, and was visited many times over the next couple of weeks.

Ah yes, the portions. Jebus, they were huge! We learnt very quickly that when visiting Papaya that it's best to share a main course between two, as it's almost impossible to finish a main alone. Oh, and it was gooooood. If you're ever there, I recommend the Masaman Curry.

So after dinner we all headed back to the hostel where we had a few drinks, before heading down to Reggae bar, and then on to Hippies, a bar on the beach where everyone seems to congregate around midnight for the last two hours of music before the curfew.

Papaya, then drinks ending in Hippies became a pretty standard overall template for our evenings on Phi Phi, with some variations such as drinking games at the hostel before heading out. One night we all bought buckets (half a bottle of spirits, 1 can of coke, 1 Thai Red Bull (very small, flat and very strong) and some ice) and played 'Ring of Fire' (with international drinking rules on top) which got pretty messy.


Days usually consosted of hanging on the beach or on 'the stoop' (the walkway along the side of our dorm) relaxing. A few of us went up to Phi Phi viewpoint a couple of times as there's an awesome view.

On the way back from our first visit to the viewpoint, Lotta and I turned off the main street and headed for the beach, and spent an hour or so walking through the surf avoiding crabs and jellyfish, and enjoying the water. Ah yes, jellyfish - they were harmless enough, although they did feel weird when they were all floating around you whilst swimming.

On the second excursion to the viewpoint, a few of us decided to try and walk down the other side of the island as we'd heard there was a nice beach and a waterfall. Unfortunately, we got lost. We ended up walking through the forest for some time, and eventually stumbled upon a huge reservoir which was part of a building site. Undeterred we walked around the edge, and then scrambled down a very steep and dangerous hill in to more jungle. After hacking our way through the foliage for what seemed like forever we found a path, which we follwed and eventually arrived at a deserted beach. Jackpot! We all jumped straight in to the ocean with the frisbee and spent a few hours enjoying the water, before heading back to town (we actually found a much easier way back).

I ended up taking a completely different group of people back to the deserted beach (Lo Mu Dee) a few days later (taking the easier route) and discovered that the sea was infested with enourmous sea urchins (we hadn't noticed on the previous visit as the tide was in). I wouldn't be suprised if the nasty sting I got that caused my foot to swell to huge proprtions was an urchin sting...

So that gives you some idea of my time in Phi Phi. ;)

Wat Chalong and Ska Bar

Ok, so, Wat Chalong. Wat Chalong is Phuket's largest Buddhist Temple, located about 6KM south of Phuket Town. I took a walk down in the morning from the hostel, on a very hot day. The hot day thing is significant, because being a worldy traveller type person I was fully aware that you should be covered up when visiting a temple (shorts and T-shirts aren't really acceptable) so I was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt. I lost about 5 kilos on the walk.

I got to Wat Chalong and decided to have a walk around the grounds, doing my best to avoid the stray dogs which were lying around everywhere (they get well looked after by the monks) and admiring the various buildings. Someone decided to let off about a thousand firecrackers in a special firecracker-setting-off-hut just as I walked past, scaring the bejesus out of me and half a dozen farang standing nearby. Walking around I was appaled at the number of ignorant tourists who were dressed completely inappropriately - strappy tops, tight shorts etc. I wondered briefly if they would go to church in the UK dressed like that, scowled at them and made my way to the temple itself. I think.

I say I think because there were so many buildings it was hard to tell what was what. I'm pretty sure the building I headed for was the main temple as there were people praying there, which is usually a small clue. That said, there was a larger building with a couple of people praying, but I think that was something else.

The various temple buildings are unbelievable - gold and red with intricate details, large statues and all sorts of other things. I spent ages walking arounf the insides of the various buildings, doing my best not to offend anyone inadvertently (taking my shoes off, not pointing my feet at any Buddha images, not climbing the statues and mooning people, that sort of thing).

I guess really a guide would have been usefuol so I actually knew what I was looking at but it was very interesting nonetheless, and somehow calming too. Except for the firecrackers.

In the evening I popped back down to Kata beach, and this time I was successful in finding Ska Bar. Tucked in to the rocks at the south end of Kata Beach and built around a huge tree it's got to be one of the most chilled out bars in the world. They play reggae constantly and you can sit there enjoying a cold Singha watching the sun set over the sea. I recommend.