Some people you meet for a reason...others...?!

Some of the regulars we've met since we've been here (no doubt there names will crop up now and again)........King Dave, whose first impression was to drag us around the hostel when he was slightly inebriated to meet all the residence...then he sat on Amy?! Alistair from Glasgow...from where? Glasgow...where? Glasgow....oh, you said Glasgow!!!!!!!!!!!!! Matt, Matt's Matt, blonde Matt, long-haired Matt, stupid Matt, Jamie 'ginger' Rotten Nuttz, Paul the receptionist or Paul the cleaner depending on the day of the week, Sarah from Canada, Big-eyed Dara, Smelly Jamie, Henry, El who is working for a recruitment company and promises to find everyone a job, Dibs the mother of the hostel and Nico the German chef :)

First Impressions

First impressions of Melbourne weren't too hot, since we turned up in flip flops at 5am, shattered and freezing - trying to figure out the trains was a bit of a hassle and after shivering on the WRONG platform (thanks to the train information guy) for a fair amount of time, we made it to the right platform just in time to see our train speeding away, another one in half an hours time! Then there was the long walk to the hostel..Back of Chapel with the most comfortable bunk beds ever is to be our new home for the next little while. That day was a bit of a write off as we slept through it all and then watched tele in the evening - a luxury we have been without for the last three months! Luckily everyone thought we had just arrived from the U.K. and that we were sleeping off the jet-lag., not just being lazy!

We shared a room of six and had free range of the kitchen, tv room (with the biggest tele you've ever seen), internet room, bbq area (I'm in the BBQ area!-thats where you'll find gem when she's drunk, obiously??:) and some of the most helpful staff ever. In fact, aside from the unhelpful train information guy, everyone in Melbourne goes out of their way to see if you are ok!

So it's cold and our new found 'student' house has the expected low quality heating system, maybe that's why it was so hard to get out of bed in the mornings! and where it is more convenient to walk to the shop than it is to the fridge. We live just of Chapel Street which is the funkiest place in Melbourne, with bars, cafes, shops right on your doorstep where everyone looks like they just stepped out of a (weird hair) salon or right off the catwalk.

Never thought I'd be so happy to cook for myself....but with heinz beans so readily available!! (the aussies dont understand the beans ON toast thing!?!?!)

Australia is soo laid back but we have discovered that it has to be when the escalators and elevators move as slowly as they do and it takes a minute for automatic doors to sense that someone is standing in front of them! If trains are late, they lead you on to believe it's still arriving at the same time and T.V. advertises now next and later as opposed to telling you what time things are on!

Sing a pore for me

tigerairways.com if you ever need cheap flights in Asia!

First stop, the shops! We found topshop!! ... and nemo ;) We were quite excited, although the sudden increase in price wasn't so appealing. None-the-less, the streets of Singapore were alive (with the sound of music and performers) so we managed to wile away the day.

In the evening we headed to the night safari, camera in hand and night photography mode switched on...first obstacle was actually getting there which should have been easy since we booked to go on a bus through the hostel, but it wasn't. The Bus was full so we were the lucky four that had to go and grab a taxi...again another easy task? No, we stood for 40 minutes on many different roads trying to flag one down but no-one was having it. One did stop but decided against us when Ayms tried to have a workd? So back to the hostel, defeated and we find out that the bus hadn't turned up yet, some other people had gone off to get a taxi so there was now space for us...a roundabout way of getting there but we did eventually. Then you get to the night safari, all geared up to take some award-winning photos and they tell you you aren't allowed to use the flash...ahhhhh!

We visited Sentosa island where everything is super expensive but where they sell excellent popcorn. We scoped out all the free stuff to do which mostly involved riding the tram. On the one occasion we did decide to walk somewhere, at the point when we were too far from any sort of shelter the heavens opened and we got caught in the biggest downpour I've ever seen - just when you think it's easing, nope, it's just taking a breath so it can pelt raindrops on you even harder.

Drenched and a little cold, we continued to the tour and visited the musical fountain which wasnt being too musical or too fountain like i.e no music and no water?!?! whats that all about?, we found a walking trail to take you to the lost civilisation but we couldnt find it?! It was more like the Gem and Amy get lost walking route!

In the evening we made for the free Singapore Arts Festival and watched some fire shows and weird flourescent uv lights show - seriously - people get paid to do this?

We made it to the obligatory Raffles Hotel but felt to scruffy to go anywhere near the inside and that was our time gone in Singapore...and Asia!

AUSTRALIA HERE WE COME!

Half Professional Divers

Arrived in Krabi after another painful day of travelling...luckily there was pizza at the end of itwhich half made up for the prison cell we had just paid to stay in. The 'cell' had no air-con, no hot water and it's hard to believe that paint exists in thos town, the would-be-white plastic chairs on our 'veranda' were beyond salvaging (in colour and in chair-safetyness), the beds were designed for five year olds and the tiger/bear/giraffe print sheets and flannelette covers left much luxury to be desires. Oh, and we supposedly had a 'cleaner' who, the longer we stayed gave us increasingly worse towels...they'd start off a dull green colour, then the next day you might get one with a hole in, then the next day some weird stains!? and she also took to hiding Amy's mobile phone under her matress!!

After a long day we collapsed in the why-did-they-even-bother-with-the-matress-it's-so-wooden mattresses!!

The next day we ventured out into the horseshoe shaped town and realise the entire place should have come with a health warning...welcome to Ao-nang, Krabi, AKA a death trap where electrical cables run along the pavement, sometimes a couple of inches off of the ground like they are trying to resemble some sort of trip wire?! they run through puddles, past random craters in the floor which you have no doubt are there for a very good reason, yet you can never figure out what that might be...and what's left of the pavement for you to walk on may as well be made out of ice.

It's our own fault for not picking up the lonely planet for a week but since we knew the only things we needed to do here was meet up with the Irish folk before they moved on - check, meet Kit's cousin - would have done but he upped and left to Koh Tao! and learn to dive - half check!

Our dive instructor was called Marcus, he is from Germany...

DAY 1 Classroom Theory

Since it is raining outside we decided to get this part out of the way - not too strenuous although trying to get your head round air density, water pressure, neutral and positively buoyant, salt water differs from fresh water how? lungs over-expanding, nitrogen narcosis....ahhhh!

DAY 2 In the Pool

The pool stuff was good, it was at first very bizarre to be able to breathe underwater and some of the exercises took a bit of getting used to...luckily Marcus was the patient type...until...the best bit was towards the end of the day when me and Ayms had exhausted ourselves and spent the day breathing in nitrogen, the giggles were bound to arrive at some point! So at the pont when Marcus said we had to take off our BCD's and climb back into them...reminiscent of the time me and Amy tried to jump on lilos and failed miserably, we were already in stiches...the final task of the day was dragging each other the length of the pool in some pretty weird positions, Marcus soon turned into the "we dont want to spend all day doing this, do we?" monster ;)

DAY 3 Out at Sea

Another early morning, we headed out to the boat which was to whisk us away to sea. We stood at the shore comtemplating the rain, the wind, the rough sea, the big waves, low visibility and certain death and decided our first diving experience in the sea shouldnt be one fraught(?) with danger, not a problem, still two full days left to get it done.

So another day to waste in Krabi, where there isn't too much going on in the low season when it's constantly drizzling! Back to the cell it is then!

DAY 4 ...Amy gets a cold...

In case anyone isn't aware...it is a big no-no to dive with a cold. CANCELLED! But this did prompt a bit of an upgrade in the room situation. Me and Amy were aware that one day paying the extra four pounds for some hot water would be very worth it and today was that day! Since wandering around in the rain and showering in a cold shower had probably contributed to Amy not feeling too well we gave in to the budget and in return got some hot water, clean towels, a broken tele and a fridge!

We ran into Gerry from Halong Bay and went out for a drink with him and danced with some ladyboys.."no money, no honey", "never try, never know". All in all this was good preparation for our final exam the next day and me and Amy both passed with flying colours!

Schnitzeleria

Me and Ayms didn't have too many plans set in stone before we came away, we had certain things that we knew we wanted to do, certain places we knew we wanted to see and certain beach huts that we have dreamed about since we became friends!

I think this may have been the beginning of our extensive travelling plans - one day you might be feeling a little stressed...maybe a little tired, bored at work or maybe just a little sad...and what makes you feel better?! I know what, lets imagine we are in a beach hut in Thailand...laying on the beach, looking out at the open horizon, maybe the sun is setting...there are definitely palm trees...clear blue seas, white sands! And suddenly all is well with the world.

We managed to live the dream and all in all it was pretty wonderful. The beach hut - we booked before we came away, we thought it was a bargain at 90 pounds for the week (normal spending money for a whole week in Thailand, including accomodation!) Aye well! It was beautiful! Comfy bed, gorgeous bathroom, right on the beach overlooking the sea, sunsets just around the corner, great restaurant, and lovely staff and guests!

We ran into a group of Irish folk just after we arrived...Derek, Dave, Iain, Keira, Ste and Owen and bonded over the football! World cup fever and mosquito bites soon took over! I watched the first England match (in between power cuts) in the company of 9 Irish, 1 Scot, 3 Thai and 1 Jack Osbourne wannabe...so obviously everyone was rooting for them to win!

Our resort was based half way between two main towns, this meant that the taxis ran between them constantly - convenient huh, the best of both worlds - quiet and peaceful when you want and crazy party towns just a taxi ride away...well, that would have been ideal had the taxis ever been empty! They rarely left either town unless the back of the taxi was almost full so the chances of being picked up along the way were pretty slim...even slimmer when it was either roasting hot or raining! Then when you did eventually get in the taxi you had to hang on for dear life while the taxi soared over the log-flume style hills.

Our main reason for coming to Koh Phagnan this week was to experience the much talked about Full Moon Party. Some poeple rave about it others tell you not to bother, so the most objective thing to do is to go and partake in a few beverages and see what all the fuss is about - it's a hard life! We went with our new found Irish friends and it is very much like a party on the beach with market-type stalls selling buckets of alcohol and the bars blaring out different kinds of music up and down the beach. Then throw in some kids selling flower necklaces, paint and flashing headbands...(kids that most definitley should be tucked up safely in bed) and there you have it, oh, and the othe few thousand people of various levels of drunkeness.

We purchased some flower necklaces, borrowed somebody else's paint which Amy then managed to wipe on a girls white top as she walked past ;) Some poeple see elephants when they go to the full moon part, we saw 118...and you can only imagine how excited we were to see our long lost triplet! I reckon we may have danced on a table that was too small to be dancing on and then we jumped in a truck and got a lift home...and the night doesn't end there! Amy befriended a little dog on the way home and walked it all the way to our hut!! The main thing is we SURVIVED!!

The rest of the week looked a lot like football, going out, eating (even though tummys and budgets often disagreed) and I think we discovered where the taxi square was on our last but one night, useful :) Then we hop back on the uncomfortable boat - that's right, they still haven't added the sofas and cushions!

To Krabi....

Oh what a thing to do, Cos you were all yellow

Last visit to Bangkok...finally! Just another stop gap before we head off to Koh Phagnan. It was the King's birthday...and all the Thai people were out in force in their yellow 'we love the King' tee shirts. It was a bizarre sight to see, hundreds of people wandering around in the same yellow tee shirts.

The bus to Koh Phagnan was an all-nighter plus some since the damn thing had a lot of problems going up hills...or small inclines is a better description! Regardless of the engine continually cutting out the diver was very persistent at revving the engine until everyone on it thought it might explode, instead it just cut out again. A quick pitstop at the next garage and away we go again.

We finally make it to the coast and have to wait for our boat to take us to the island. Having not slept too well on the bus me and Ayms definitely had our morning faces on - the ones where we know we are both too tired to make conversation. LUCKILY some lone traveller appeared and was pretty chatty considering it was 6am, she didn't quite get the whole silent vigil thing but soon enough she gave up and went and found some more lively human beings to converse with.

The boat was insanely uncomfortable...we have been talking lately about how much easier travelling must be these days and in fact we are very lucky...but sofas and cushions would have gone down a lot better than the plastic chairs they actually installed on the boat! It was also a lot longer journey than I had anticipated, I imagined it would have been swimmable (i.e. you might be able to see the island from the shore) but no, two hours later and STILL there is no sign of our beautiful beach hut.

Chiang Mai

Next stop - a cheeky flight to Chiang Mai, in view of our impending week of doing nothing in Koh Phagnan we decided to cram as much as possible into the week leading up to it.

We were only there for two days but that was enough time for me and Amy to become professional Thai style chefs (we got a certificate and everything!)! The day of the cooking course was wonderful…our teacher was called Nokky and she was the biggest, brightest, loudest character you could ever imagine! We learnt to cook spring rolls, Thai green curry, chicken with cashew nuts (which we have since successfully recreated!), noodle soup and the sickliest sweet dessert ever – then we ate it all! Suffice to say by the end of the day we were the size of a tuk tuk :)

Chiang Mai was a lot bigger than we both imagined and thus slightly more expensive (and I mean expensive in Thailand terms) we booked into a (recommended) hotel for ten pounds a night…fifth floor?! Can’t be bad…oh yes it can, when there is no lift to get you to that fifth floor! We lasted one night in this place then decided to hot-foot it to the hostel down the way where we knew Alex (from Halong Bay) was staying. A slight downgrade but there was a pleasingly distinct lack of stairs to climb to get to the room!

Unfortunately we didn’t have time to do a trek while we were there, so in the absence of walking for days on end to meet some tribal folk we visited the tribal museum and looked at the photos instead. We also visited the infamous night market which you are told is huge but don’t quite believe until you see it! We managed to find the massage stall which turned out to be a most amusing experience, between the woman cracking my toes and barely touching Amy's feet to make her jump, the chubby cheek and head massage - we looked like dumb and dumber just having arrived in Aspen! The comedy duo looking their best :)

Chanacanaburi? – The stuff five year olds dreams are made of!

A birthday spectacular in the town of Kanchanaburi…if I were five years old the zoo would be where it was at…now I’m 24, it’s the tiger temple! We arrived in Kanchanaburi and booked into some high class birthday accommodation at the Jolly Frog – a hammock haven on the River Kwai. Aside from the mix of 70’s style and paint splashed décor in our room, the air-con was a big luxury!
We booked our trip to the tiger temple for that afternoon and off we trot…arrive at some desolate wasteland and head towards the unknown once again. The set up looks something like tigers subtly (about as subtle as I ever am) chained to the ground, serenely strolling round their posts or impassively laying on the floor…it was all very peaceful which begs the question “are they drugged?”. However, had the tigers been supposedly characteristic - aggressive and prowling around, I’m not sure the experience would have been quite so pleasant! With everyone/thing under control and the flimsy piece of string dividing the apprehensive crowd from the tigers we are ready to go. You give your camera to one volunteer, your hand to the other and they take you around to each of the tigers, sit or stand you next to them and take your photo. Easy peasy! One lucky young lady was sat next to a tiger while the guide pulled it around until it’s head was lain on her lap…she looked mildly terrified!
We went for a birthday feast at the Jolly Frog restaurant and decided to splash out (on this special occasion) on a bottle of wine, we are quite prepared to pay up to three, four maybe even five whole pounds for the privilege!!….however, the only one on the menu was rice wine and cost about 85p for the bottle! The most happening place in town was the Country and Western/Britney Spears fan base bar round the corner which aside from the four staff members had just two guests! I got roped into playing pool with some older men (joy!) I think they kept letting me win…Amy took part in the Connect4 tournament to end all tournaments with ‘funny man’ Josh, there was some inspiring armchair dancing and a cowboy hat featured at one point too!...all this while the CD changed every two minutes to suit the clientele that walked through the door….Britney, Thai karaoke love songs, Country, Now That’s What I Call Music past and present. As a birthday treat we got noodles from 7/11 before crawling into bed.
The pre-birthday celebrations (the night before in Bangkok) were pretty non-existent until we were befriended by a group of folk who were out also celebrating a birthday. We bonded over some Oasis singing and they invited us out to a club…hmmm!? So we get in the taxi (where Jason attempted to eat a bug…which he rapidly spat back out and made the rest of us want to gag) and end up at some sort of aeroplane hanger where coincidentally they wouldn’t let you in without your passport – “well, actually that’s safely locked away at the hostel and not in my pocket waiting for some opportune thief to take advantage of me!” still the nice man let us is in and we were confronted with extortionate drinks and music almost as good as hard house karaoke. Finally we left and managed to catch the valet service in full swing outside?! Oh yeah, I remember now, I also left my car back at the hostel too!?
Our second day in Kanchanaburi we did another tour…elephant trekking, bamboo rafting, lunch, waterfall, cave, Death Railway and the Bridge Over the River Kwai…basically a bumpy ride on an elephant with a “guide”, I use the term very loosely since his guiding = picking up stones for most of the time and not paying too much attention to where our elephant was taking us…downstream, bamboo rafts which floated a couple of centimetres BELOW the surface of the river, lunch where the tour guide made everyone sing happy birthday to me and bought me a cake (plate of biscuits with a candle in the middle), waterfalls where me and Ayms (map-readers extraordinaire) got lost!, and the Bridge over the River Kwai, where in true Thai style safety procedures are pretty lapse and you can walk along the railway line regardless of the trains whizzing by!