Les Journey Miserables

So off to Ko Pha Ngan it was, easy as that, "no it's OK we don't want one of you combo tickets Mr Travel Agent, we will do it ourselves, we are super lads...". Uh Oh! In theory the plan was good, ferry, bus, ferry, simple. Unfortunately due to misleading information in the 'Traveler's Bible', the bus took longer that expected and the ferry was twice the price. We also missed the day ferry options so had to take the dreaded, cargo filled, night ferry. Luckly on arrival, we were impressed with the ferry's cribatronic set-up and the low patronage, with the boat only comprising of us, a Swiss stoner shell collector, a Thai family with hamsters and a few chickens. The ferry arrival was even nicely delayed by an hour making a 6am docking...

We opted to head for Haad Rin, the party town on the island. However, with Full Moon having been and gone, this town was pretty dead, but perfect for a chilled few days with both of us suffering from the horrific symptoms of 'Man Flu'. This also made accommodation easier to find, thus getting a centrally located private room in the 'Hill Side Bungalows' for a fraction of a Full Moon price.

After a wander around town, I decided to try and complete a secret travelling aim of catching a fish on each of the 4 continents (mainly to make Dad and Phil jealous) and with only Asia left to tick, I booked myself on a evening fishing trip for that day. With swift transport to the departure point and a rapid beer stop, I got our our long-tailed fishing boat with 5 Danish louts, a strange Russian couple and a Japanese chimney and headed out into the Gulf of Thailand. The fishing started slow with only the guide catching fish, stating how we were 'just gonna eat fry rice hahaha', however it eventually picked up with the female member of the Russian couple catching a huge White Snapper without really realizing what was happening, devastating! It of course wasn't long till I had hooked into a Snapper of my own and got the nod it was bigger enough for the BBQ later, happy! I even managed to sneak out a couple of Grouper whilst the BBQ was smoking away. After our feast of freshly cooked fish we headed back, only for our engine to blow at 11.30pm and have to get towed in with the Thai guides still laughing and joking away about how mad their wives would be, real super lads.

The next day came and it was time for the obligatory scooter rental day to circumnavigate the island. On route we saw a waterfall with no water, walked to a scenic viewing point sweating buckets before reaching a snorkeling destination in the islands northern region. Unfortunately the underwater world didn't quite match up to the delights of Ko Phi Phi but was good fun all the same, even with the world worst snorkels! The we took a nice leisurely cruise along the coast, stopping only to take in the beauty of the Island and it's surrounding seas. The big evening we had planned unfortunately never materialised because we were both shattered and the island was in a sleepy rest between moons. We did manage a quick viewing of Chelsea beating Utd which was much to the approval of the local Thai boys.

In an attempt not to repeat previous mistakes we brought one big ticket to take us back to KL that started by taking the night ferry. In preparation for this we spent our last day on the island just chilling, catching some rays, watching some F1 (that was in KL, nearly such good timing) and annoying our hostel owner by just smelling in his common area and not buying anything. Finally after one last meal with fried rice lady, our personal cook on the island we headed for our night ferry and the start of our 4 leg, 28 hour journey back for our Indian Visa!

The journey started very uneventful with only the night ferry getting in early (4.30am) causing any bant. However the full, cramped minibus from Surat Thani to Hat Yai (leg 2) induced much more excitement when after a seemingly routine stop, the driver lifted the seat and the engine decided to spontaneously combust making the minivan temperature reach boiling point, literally! Lucky what would have caused a 2 week delay in England was fixed in 20 minutes, new fan and all and off we went. Leg 3 and another cramped minibus over the border to Penang before hitting leg 4 with a Hitler-style conductor and a 1.30am arrival back 'home' to KL, smelling like very smelly people.

Being back in KL meant one thing, finally getting hold of a coveted Indian Visa which after two more visits to the office and 30 quid I can officially confirm we have! Happy days. To pass the time in KL we also frequented Batu Caves which houses the biggest statue of some Hindu person in the world but more impressive were the huge caves and crazy monkeys that were running wild inside. We also cruised around the Golden Triangle, the CBD of KL and got up the Petronas Towers to the view deck to marvel at this engineering master piece one last time.

Tomorrow we are off to Siem Reap in Cambodia, the home of Angkor Wat, just set the 3.30am start time into the Casio, could be a long day.....



P.S We hoped never have to say this, but unfortunately Larry the Laptop is terminally ill. Due to 7 months months of abuse he now rarely wants to turn and and even when he does its not for long. This may mean that blog posts from now on could be shorter (I can see you celebrating already) and have a lack of picture but we will try our best!