My Sparkly, Twinkly Adventures....

Well the past couple of days have been fun!In preparation for the full moon party its been getting busier and busier....front our hillside bungalow we can see the boats coming in everyday full of people! We escaped the delights on Ban Tai after several arguments claiming we owed money for the hospital trip which we had already paid for, bust up over a few of Nicola's CDs which they tried to say belonged to them!We hopped in a tuk tuk and found ourselves smack bang in the middle of Chicken Corner...in the run up to the FMP, its super crazy!!!!Hauled our backpacks up about a zillion hills trying to find somewhere decent to stay for the next week! It was a nightmare, everywhere was fully booked, the prices had been totally hiked up and some of the places we saw were cockroach infested cesspits not even suitbable for animals to stay in!Everntually we found the Seabreeze Bunglalows and its really nice!Bit of a hike up a hill but really quiet and peaceful, amazing views of the ocean and Koh Samui island in the distance, surrounded by jungle, really nice! We have a little yellow Hammock on the balcony perfect for a nice relaxing read with a spectacular backdrop!We soon learnt it wasnt called Seabreeze for nothing....in the evenings it gets so unbeleivebly windy we thought the roof was going to come off but its nice because the heat is just so intense! Found a cool little place to eat, its typically english food, jacket potatoes, yummy sandwichs, beans on toast but after the weeks of eating Asian food its refreshing to go back to basics!!!For me Koh Pha Ngan is the opportunity to chill out a bit and just relax as this travelling has left me totally exhausted so its nice to know that the last leg of my trip is to be spent on a pretty Thai Island basking in the sun!!!!Our evenings have been mainly spent exploring the bars and restaurants and getting in on the warm up parties on the beach!Already its gettin pretty crazy: Buckets of Sangsom, snake charmers and fire shows on the beach...what is with those people carrying the owls around?!?!who wants to pay 10 Baht to have their picture taken with a scabby old bird?!?!

We spent a day in Thong Sala in search of of a pair of shoes for Nic so she doesnt have to mince around in the glass on the beach at the FMP!I loved Thong Sala, there was a great food market, live eels, huge fish, exotic fruits....Good opportunity to indulge in a bit of shopping...bought the most exquisite piece of South East Asian batik which will be fantastic for an upcoming project! Got a really cute pink t-shirt for 60 Baht also!

As we said farewell to Railay and enjoyed an amazing trip by longtail of the Andaman coast on our way back to the Krabi mainland we started the long trek back to the East Coast. We ended up in the dreaded Koh Samui for one more night which gave us an opportunity to get some well craved beans on toast before making the journey across to Koh Pha Ngan for the much anticipated Full Moon Party! Arrived on our sardine packed boat at Thongsala where we encountered the first ridiculous event.....after a debate over taxis Nicola was attacked by a hairbrush as a fat old woman hurled it 20 feet away at her head!We laughed and made our way to a remote area called Ban Tai....this place was seriously shady....dodgy guy running the bungalows...it was called Paradise Fields...it certainly wasnt a paradise!Couple of our later in our wierd multi coloured bungalow and Nicola felt ill...it was hospital time!!!Several bribes and baht later the guy agreed to take us to the only hospital on the island!!!What a joke...bloodstained beds,smeared walls, and a hefty medical bill and police interrogation later we ended up back at the bungalows to be faced with a powercut!!!Luckily we still had the Ton Sai torch and found our way to a candlelit hut which served amazing thai food!!!!The night was rounded off by being chased by 2 wild, rabid dogs, not great for 2 chicks both with dog phobias!!!!We were glad to find our beds and even more glad that we could escape to Leela Beach the next morning!!!!

The past couple of days have been amazing!Ive fallen in love with East Railay...its absolute paradise!

We paid a visit to the Diamond Cves set back into the moutain side which was amazinf, really beautiful and sparkly! Hundreds of bats, it was kind of eerie but I loved it! We ventured on to check out Laem Phra Nang bay which was the most beautiful beach I have ever seen, chrysal clear oceam, white sand, amazing cliffs!Also visited the Princess Caves which were really colourful, I loved them! Bought some pretty beads too!!!

Also visited some of the Tsunami effected areas which was really sad as it totally brought it home, here we were having an lovely time as people with nothing were striving to rebuild their homes.

On a happier note I have fallen in love with Railay and I shall be sad to leave as the west coast has a lot more I would like to see...this is a place i will most definatley visit again someday.....

We spent the following day in Ao Nang doing some shopping,fulfilling demands of postcards back home, internet and exploring! We departed Ao Nang Bay at sunset by Longtail, which was really beautiful and headed to the remote beach of Ao Ton Sai, on the Krabi Peninsula. As the boat got closer all you could see was a little beach backed with dense jungle and a rare few huts and a big bonfire!It looked really pretty but a bit too rustic for my liking...this wasnt going to be good for my fear of jungles, snakes, spiders and the dark!

I tell you something Ton Sai at night is a lot different than this picture perfect by day view.....Didnt realise that the place ran on generated electricity so withine about an hour we were plunged into darkness and had to beg to buy a torch!Aslo we had run out of cigarettes so the old cinnamon cigars had to be whipped out! We wandered to the only bar on the beach...The Reggae Bar...as it happend this place is like a rockclimber colony, which isnt out scene to be honest!There was all of 10 people in the place and the only option was a warm bottle of Chang! Time to make it back to the shack and with only our tiny crappy torch it wasnt much fun!!!I was stressed out because the cliffs looked like they should have a ghost ship in tow...seriously freaky! Got into bed, can honestly say I didnt get a wink of sleep, could hear some kind of creature in the room and was terrified, thank god didnt see what it was because in the pitch black theres not a lot you can do!!!!Then coconuts and snakes started crashing off the roof in the night, Ive never been so frightened ever!!!The only good thing was the sound of the ocean, we must have been only 20 feet away so that was incredible however I have never been so happy to see sunlight ever!

Little did I know the worst was yet to come....before I left I made a vow to myself that I would not be trekking in any jungles. My fear of snakes and spiders is too severe and I have no desire to overcome these fears whatsoever. So what happens when theres no boats????the only way out of this place was not only a jungle trek but a rockclimb!!!

Check this out! I mean come on this just isnt me! Bet you never thought you would see the day Id be wading through jungles and clambering rocks!!!Whipped out tears, tantrums and hysteria as I attempted to scale these almighty rocks with my daypack!Little did I know at the top of it all was a trail through some pretty intense jungle!This is not my idea of fun I was terrified...yes its adventourous and exciting but I was beyond consolation....wading through all these trees and shrubs, I could see snake holes in the ground, could hear animals, couple of monkeys swinging around and it was strenuous, clinging onto branches and that!!!Got to the point where I had to overtake Nicola, who was tactfully trying to go ahead of me in case of any reptile or arachnid encounters so she could escort me past them without my knowledge, but I had to get out of there!Fell over a couple of times, cried, you name it, it was horrendous!Im sure you can all imagine me!Final straw was a rather rustic looking rope where i had to swing under this big branch and I tell you when my feet hit the sand of West Railay, I have never ever felt so relieved and exhilirated!I thought it would never end and It was the most scary experience of my life and yes in a way it felt good because I had really challenged myself and faced my worst fears but lets just put it this way, wont be doing it again in a hurry!
Stopped for a pineapple shake before venturing across to East Railay where we headed to the Viewpoint Bungalows!What a relief...think Im really going to like Railay!

What an exciting few days...I have so much to tell you!!!!Monday night was Ashley's birthday....Gemma had moved on so me and Nicola ended up sticking together and we all ended up having a great night out for a joint birthday for Ash and Nicola!We first went out for a lovely Italian meal, a bit of respite from too much Thai food! Experienced the delights of Chaweng nightlife....was dissapointed to say its kind of an Asian verison of Magaluf!Super tacky, a lot of drunken men...well says it all really!However, we had a great night, lots of Hibiscus trimmed cocktails and some bizarre cinnamon flavoured mini cigars?!?!? Tuesday whilst nursing our hangovers me and Nic decided to go walkabout and see what Samui has to offer....we walked to the resevoir, checked out a temple and then eventually hopped on a motobike to the Tesco Lotus!!!!Picked up some much missed Tesco value treats and then headed back to the bungalow and decided to jet off on an exciting short Island hopping tour of the west coast!!!!Origionally I had been apprehnsive about visiting the Tsunami affected areas but I figure, Im here, I want to see as much of the country as I can, and plus you only live once!!!
Tonight me and Nicola had a corker....we couldnt stop laughing!!!!Came back to our bungalow to find they had chopped all the coconuts down!!!We couldnt help ourselves but steal a couple!!!We hacked them open which was so funny and drank the milk!!!It was a truely rustic experience......

So the next morning we got on our bus at 5, hopped on a lenthly boat journey followed by an excruciating 7 hour drive in a mini-van which was super cramped and the canvas seats had bed bugs in them.....well you can only imagine the after affect of that one, i wont be so crude as to go into detail!!!

We arrived in Krabi Town and decided to spent a night in Ao Nang Bay! Stayed at a really nice place called J Mansion and enjoyed a fun night of good food, Malibu and pool playing with the locals!!!It was such a laugh!!!

Me and Nic playing pool!

Had a great evening!The after effects of the infested seats meant a trip to the pharmacy and a huge Lemon Grass oil spray to deter any more mosquitoes, bugs or creepy crawlies....later that evening Nicola could barely breath as a result of this god damn lemon grass!!!ha ha!!!