Full Moon Party Koh PHi Phi

Ah the pace of life is easy here. Gt up at 8, stroll down to the cafe for a full English, watch a couple of episodes of Family Guy while I eat; then a two minute stroll to the pristine beach to sun bathe and swim till lunch.

Lunch is usually about a litre of fresh fruit ice blend smoothie, then it's time to shower and cool off under the a/c while watching an afternoon movie on cable. Quick siesta and then out for the night.

You could get used to this.

I already have.

So it's full moon party night and I have to say I'm pleased with my decision not to go to Koh Panang. Everything is so much more intimate here on Phi Phi, there are no worries about police or crime and the bars and restaurants here have really stepped up for the full moon party with fire shows, live bands and all night dancing. Transport is easy on Phi Phi as everything is just a short drunken stagger away.





You can't beat a band and a fire show, especially when a 1 litre bucket of vodka and coke costs £2.

My head WILL hurt in the morning but then again my most pressing engagement for tomorrow is lying on the beach for 4 hours so I should be ok.

Back to Phi Phi

Well Koh Lanta was nice, you just can't beat a cold beer and a breathtaking sunset. Truth is though, I miss Koh Phi Phi. It's just got everything I need - so I'm heading back there.

On balance I thing I will skip Koh Samui and the Eastern seaboard on the basis that at their very best they can only hope to match Phi Phi and at their worst they will be like Patong in Phuket which was a nightmare.

It means missing the full moon party but again if I want the thrill of thousands of drug infused teenagers, 40 year old power drinkers and undercover cops I can just go to Watford town centre any Friday night.

So it's back to the lovely Phi Phi Don:

Well full moon party is looming and they throw a big bash at Hippies Bar on Phi Phi Don so stay close for the blow by blow action....

Mr C

Bye Bye Bangkok

So this will be my last entry from Bangkok, for a while at least. I'm heading off to Thailands second city, Chiang Mai in the far north of the country. Chiang Mai serves as a launching point for treks into the jungle, rafting, lion taming (only joking) and other such rugged outdoor manly persuits.

I decided to use one of the thousand+ agents in Bangkok to handle the booking of travel and acomodation for me. There is a national travel agency like ABTA called TAT (Thailand Authority for Travel?) and as long as agenst have a licence from them you should be ok.

They in turn booked me on a flight offered by the local version of Easyjet, a canary yellow airline called One Two Go! The fee for a one way flight, the princely sum of 29 GBP, not forgetting the airport tax from this LPG, green fuel friendly country just 1.25GBP. I could have travelled for less than half that on the overnight train however that would take over 12 hours while the flight is 90 minutes.

So what are my thoughts on Bangkok? It's a suprisingly clean city, with every street based businessman rising at 6.30am to scrub the whole pavement outside his or her business - try getting London shop keepers to do that!

It's also a city that perhaps tries a little too hard, its hectic 24 hour party and shoping culture and continued touting of everything under the sun from Tuk Tuks and Taxis to ping pong shows and "boom-boom" can quickly wear you down.

However with hindsight it would be an excelent base form which to set out on a number of excursions - to the floating market, to the bridge on the river Kwai, to the summer palace etc and then return to Chinatown for dinner at an upmarket restaurant. Perhaps I'll try this approach on my homeward leg.

So here are some final images of the big city: (I will add more later but this connection is soooo sloooow)

the strange white elephant, revolving clock roundabout??

The bankrupt Shell franchise, hastily converted into a night cafe
The independence monument
The poverty, even on the Kho San, amidst the fast paced trading

Next: Jungle Trekking in Chiang Mai

In the Beginning..

So here we go, less than 24 hours until I take off and at 1 am in the morning I'm still not quite ready. Bear with me, if this plan works out the posts that follow will I hope be both informative and entertaining!

On the advice of friends who have "done Thailand" I'm traveling light, 3 of each of the essentials, underwear, socks, credit cards. I'm cheered by the thought that all being well I can breeze through Heathrow with just hand luggage and hopefully avoid the otherwise chronic stress that all major European airports seem to inflict upon their customers.

Travel Supermarket came up trumps with a 1 month return flight for just £330 - unfortunately our wonderful government slap another £149 in tax on top very nearly 50%

I have opted to take the train into Heathrow, not the easiest journey thanks to our inadequate grasp of public transport in this wonderful country, into Marylebone and then back out on the tube which will take the best part of 2 hours to cover the 40 odd miles. However it has the advantage of avoiding car parking fees and the flexibility to extend my trip without working about the licensed bandits at NCP fleecing me for every penny I have!

Anyway enough wingeing from me. There is a subscribe button somewhere below from "Atom" which will bookmark this in your browser and make it easy to check in with my progress from time to time. If anyone uses particular services Digg It etc let me know and I'll add the buttons.

Ok its late and I need to book my first couple of nights hotel accommodation at www.thailand hotels.com and get some sleep. Watch this space!

Mr C