Bangkok Airport

We left Ko Tao for Bangkok and while there we picked up a guide to India and a few toiletries. We spent the night off Ko San Rd with a plan to head early to the airport.
We got to Bangkok Airport at about 7.30am and Terry stayed with the bags and I wandered along the counters, quickly realising that most of them were closed as it was a Sunday.
I eventually found an open Jet Airways desk that was able to give us a flight to Kolkata, (Calcutta) for less than 370 Euros. It was, however, leaving in one hour and ten minutes time. We went to the check in desk, where there was a chaos of Indian men who were not only checking in their luggage but also sound systems, women’s shoes, flat screen TV’s and dogs. We then went to the bureau de change but they had no rupees so we changed our few baht into dollars. Then we stopped and picked something take away for breakfast. It was not until we were on the plane that we realized that we were flying first class!
It was really nice, a cold towel on arrival, good food on real crockery and an entertainment system. We could even have had champagne if we wanted. However we decided that it was way too early and that not even the queen would be drinking that early.
The flight was delayed and we arrived about an hour late to Kolkata. But alas the flight was so short and the friendly captain kept giving us reports so we didn’t get to finish our movies. So if anyone knows how Get Smart (Ter) or Indiana Jones 4 (Siobhan) ends leave us a comment.

Ko Tao

So we got the bus from Bangkok to Chumpon and stayed there overnight in a completely overpriced room.
We got a share jeep the next morning to the port. It was the earliest we had been up in Thailand and so we actually got to see the monks receiving alms.
We arrived in Ko Tao at about 10 and we hopped in a share jeep to Sairee town to Sairee beach huts.
Myself and Siobhan Harrison (that’s the 2nd Siobhan we’ve met), who we met on the ferry, walked the beach to price different accommodation options and we ended up staying where we had landed.
When I got back there terry was talking to Scuba instructor Anthony and asking about dives.
We went for a wander about the town and then went to a bar called Choppers for happy hour and food. I was a wee bit hung over the next day.
Much of our time on Ko Tao was spent chilling, wandering about, playing pool and diving.
Terry went on 6 dives and I went on two. Our dive master was Dan. He was very chilled and helped me out after with a lift to the police station.
















On one of terry’s dives they even saw a 2 meter reef shark. Dan was very impressed with himself for seeing the reef shark but also because his high pressure hose broke during the dive and he still had more air than Terry left in his tank!
I was very impressed with myself for actually diving again but also because it involved stepping off the boat, which I had never done before. It took me about ten minutes to step off the first time. Also there were two lads doing their 3rd open water dive at the same time and I was way better at taking my time and not panicking when I equalized.
We decided to rent a scrambler for Ter and a quad for me. We tried to take a trip about the island but ters bike kept cutting out. Eventually he could not start it at all. Eventually a small boy showed up, walked the bike to a workshop and repaired it in about 10 minutes. Ter and I had sent the day arguing as I kept spinning off and so after it was all sorted we went to happy hour in Choppers and met the lovely Inbar and Stas who had just gotten engaged.

We also went to a lady-boy show which was fairly good and I took way too many photos.
The next day Terry was going to the post office for me as I was sick from booze again. He took the quad but was back in 20 minutes telling me he had nearly died, that the wheel had come off the Quad. He went back to the shop to watch the guy take the bike out of the ditch. He arranged to meet the owner at 4pm.
We went back at four and the owner tried to charge us about 800 euros for damage which we had not been at fault for. I saw red and started crying saying terry could have been seriously injured and there was no way I was paying any money. This was a problem as he had my passport!
Dan happened to be passing by and he took me to the police station.
The police man was not too helpful. He told me the shop, Sairee Star Travel was known for this but that he could not help in a civil case.
I went back and said this to terry who was keeping an eye on the quad. I told the shop owner that he could keep the passport, that I would get a new one. Then I went to call the high consul.
Between the jigs and the reels the high consul in Phuket was fantastic but the best she could do was get the man down to 10,000 baht, (about 200 euro).it made us sick to pay it and we had lost two days to sleepless nights and waiting for calls. The next day we left for Bangkok with the plan of spending the night, picking up book about India and going to the airport the next day and hope we can get a flight. Which we did…

Chiang Mai

Beautiful, lovely Chiang Mai.

It is a lovely walled city with a moat. I kid you not and on Sundays there is the Sunday Walking Market and all the nights of the week there is a night bazaar. I decided in Bangkok that I hate shopping but I love browsing so it is all good.

We hopped of the train and onto the back of a truck and went directly to Awana sleep and swim. For 600 baht we have a lovely room, like really nice. The swim is more of a paddle but that is ok. We are a small stroll from the moat and the Thae Pae Gate. We spent the first day wandering about and seeing what the town was like. We arrived on a Sunday so we had a look at the Sunday market. We went for food and then went in search of a bar. We ended up in a rock bar with a cover band made up of the bar owner, his son and a guy in his late fifties playing lead guitar, wearing leathers and a wig of curly hair. There also seemed to be a large gang of urban cowboys, hats ‘n’ all! We chilled there for the evening, drinking rice whiskey and cheering on the band.

The next day we decided to book a jungle trek. We looked at our options and booked a two day/one night trek at a cost of 1400 baht each. We met with one of the guides that evening, Mr. Ku, and he answered some of our questions and lent us small backpacks. So we chilled at a Muay Thai match, ate and packed that evening. The Muay Thai night was mad. It looked like a lot of hugging and kicking to me during the earlier pairings and the first ladies match was very poor. but as the skill level increased the matches became more interesting. There was even a fun match where 4 boxers were placed in the ring, blindfolded and one of their trainers was placed in there without a blindfold. The whole purpose was for the boxers to take swings and kicks if they felt anyone near them, even if it was the trainer. The trainer would just randomly come up and thump them or spin them around or something. There seemed to be a good friendship between all of the boxers and the hung about the stadium afterwards chatting to people.

The next morning we hopped into the back of the van with Sabrina and Stefane from Belgium, Bonnie and Dominic from Germany and Ibrahim from Turkey and our guide, Tim. We went first to a market so Tim could buy our dinner and breakfast and then we headed to a small village for a lunch of fried rice and fruit. We then started our 3 hour jungle trek to the river village of the Lahu people.

We were shattered and sweaty when we got there let me tell you. We knew we would be staying in huts but it did not occurred to me that there would be no electricity. The place we stayed was right over the river and was made of bamboo and wood. The owner was not Lahu but was Akha and was a very happy lady. We were told that there were about 50 families in the village and that it is only accessible by the track we used or the river. The nearest school was 6km away and many of the children stayed in the school during the week. The tribes’ people marry very young, from about 15, and one of our assistant guides told us he is 17, married and his wife was expecting a baby.

Some of us went for a swim in the river to wash off some of the sweat and then waited for dinner as we were wrecked.

Dinner was cooked over an open fire in one of the huts but was lovely.

Our guide brought out a guitar and a sing song ensued. I went to bed before it finished but Ter and some of the men stayed up and had a few beers.

It was kinda cool going to bed by candle light in our groups hut but we were basically on thin bedrolls with thin blankets and it was actually cold.

I got very little sleep because of loud rain and was not appreciative of the gang of cockerels that started their dawn chorus at 4am. Ter slept quite well after his beers.

While we had our breakfast of boiled eggs and toast we watched our bamboo raft being constructed. We then went on an elephant trek on Thai elephants. They are smaller tan Indian and African elephants. Apparently the Lisu are the people with the best voodoo to control the elephants. The trek was a little scary for me at times because 1. We were going under low lying trees; they contain large insects and 2. The track was steep at points and elephants can slip, apparently. I would just like to assure you that Terry is both a good seatbelt and insect hunter ;)

The elephant kept stopping to eat and at one point tried to fell a tree!

We then changed and put our bags into plastic bags for the bamboo rafting trip. We have no pictures of this as the likelihood of the raft tipping and us losing our camera was high.

The three men had to assist the skipper by using poles of bamboo to help steer the raft. Us ladies sat down. We had to get off and walk at one point as the rapids were too dangerous for us ladies!

All of the men folk were overboard at one point or another. We all got soaked as the raft was often so far under water that I was mid-chest in the river. Fun! We did not tip over but we were all looking forward to a shower!

Ter and I went to a shopping centre that evening and went to the Pizza company chain, which do very good pizza. We then went to see Eagle Eye which was alright, defo better than Bangkok dangerous. We got a bit lost getting back out onto the street and were feeling a bit vulnerable on the side of the road with no public transport appearing but after ten minutes a truck arrived, woohoo.

We have been to the night market a few times. It is good but huge with a good few food options including the usual McDonalds, Subway and Burger King.

Ter - So siobs not feeling well today but she still soldiered on and went to a massage course she’s been dying to do since she read it in a book before we left. While she was doing that I had a stroll around the old town, more wats, heat and sweat. I ditched the walking tour plan and went for an iced coffee instead. Reading a book and listening to my iPod – reminded me of college – similar circumstance too, nothing to do but waste time. I gave in to the wife’s demands of shaving but I got some Thai lady to do the honors – it was a pretty poor job but I got a haircut as well for 200baht so not too bad – no photos yet but keep an eye out for the new look – its exactly what I asked for ‘A haircut’ nothing fancy. I spent the latter half of the wait drinking a beer watching the world go by while trying to get a wooden cube back together stoopid wooden puzzle beat me but not until I had missed Siobhan walking by to meet me back at the hotel. I caught up with her twenty minutes later when she walked back towards the message place.

As Ter wrote I did a Thai reflexology course, which is actually just foot massage, but I enjoyed it. Ter got a hair cut and a very poor shave. It was very bad; he had a lot of hair on his face. When Terry did not turn up at the hotel I was, of course, as cool as a cucumber. I was calmly wondering how long I could reasonably leave it to start calling hospitals! I was not feeling very well so we went and had great burgers in Mikes and then headed to a bar so Ter could have a beer.

We ended up playing pool with sisters Bim and Bam and then going to a brilliant Reggae club with them! On the way we passed a cart selling fried insects. Terry had a mixed platter while I tried not to heave. Apparently they are lovely as long as you do not mind tentacles between your teeth. We eventually decided to go home as we had an early start for rock climbing in the morning!!!

We did not go rock climbing in the morning, I was not hung over but I was still unwell. Terry, however, hugged the loo bowl for a small while.

We had another lie in and then went to pizza hut. It was really poor. If you are ever making the choice between pizza hut and Pizza Company I advise Pizza Company all the way. We went to The Zohan, which is only ok. I feel like a student but I love being able to go to the cinema whenever.

We then went on an impromptu shopping trip and bought a couple of bits for our gaff!

We are doing a lot of strolling about the city and chilling, tis lovely.

We met with Bim and went to the lake with her. It is actually a reservoir with lots of open huts around it. Thai people go swimming there and spend the day there chilling, eating and having a few beers. We went to the bar for a few drinks and then strolled about the night market. I was not feeling well I went home and Ter went for a beer.

Bim brought us to Doi Suthep and we wandered about the grounds for a while. Then Bim brought us to a restaurant that she used to work in that mainly serves vegetarian and organic food. I was stilling feeling a bit unwell so I decided to go to the doctor for a blood test. I went to a local clinic and it was really good but I had to wait about two and a half hours to see the doctor and come back the next day with a sample. Everything was perfect and it only cost350 baht including the lab results, which only took an hour.

The next day we decided to head to Ko Tao.