Crusoe in South East Asia

The last time I updated you guys was from Ko Phi Phi. Since then I’ve travelled by boat to the beautful penisula of Railay. The place feels like an island as the only way to access the place is by boat as its surrounded by limestone cliffs. Thus the place is car free and not (yet) over developed. There are also colonies of monkeys around.

Monkeying around on Railay

To arrive on the island we transferred from a large boat to a small boat (in picture below). The approach to the island is incredibly beautiful and one that I will never forget. Had to jump off the boat into the sea and walk the rest!

Arrival to Railay

Met some olympic curlers straight off the boat, hung out with them for a couple of hours and discussed the current curling situation worldwide, of course coming from my vast background of curling knowledge. (I bet half of you who read this don’t even know what curling is…To be honest neither do I really…) They were awesome in helping me find a place to stay having a more thorough guide to the area.

After some serious negotiating, I managed to secure a  place to stay high up in the village at a place called Rapala. Am paying 250BT a night which I hear is a good rate for Railay. (I haggled him down from 300). I have my own little shack with a hammock outside. Is pretty nice and can hear the toads at night. Never knew how loud they can be!

According to the guides this is the best place to rock climb in Thailand. So this morning at 8.50 I met up with the guide I’d arranged the night before. When price haggling the leaflet asked for 1000BT. I offered 800, he said 700 so I agreed!

Waking up early for climbing I emerged from a dream about having industrial chemistry exam in a couple hours and not being at all prepared. Felt so good to realise it was only a dream!

Climbing was awesome fun despite having not climbed properly for over a year. Unfortunately however I managed to head but the rock at one point and the rock won. I found out I have a big lump on my head which is kinda fun. But no worries I can still walk straight! According to an eye doctor I met from New York its not fatal!

Crusoe Climbing in Railay

Now? I’m just about to head out to arrange a speedboat to take me to the Malaysian island of Langkawi. Apparently Im going to have to depart at 6am but its touch and go as to whether the tides will be good and if I will be able to make the journey or not.I’m in 2 minds about going. Part me of thinks there cant be anywhere better than here but the road ahead is calling….(or sea I guess!)

Can’t write any more I’m afraid due to the cost of internet being high (they use satelites as we are in the middle of nowhere!)

Yesterday was probably my best day, although I’ve had so many its hard to tell! The tour was amazing, I’d definitely reccomend it and would do it again without hesitation. (Price for those interested is 550BT).

The highlights for me were snorkeling and Maya bay (the location for the film “The Beach”) Fortunately the sun wasn’t too strong so I didn’t get burnt (always a problem) My sunblock bottle exploded in my bag a few days ago so my supplies are running out. So am thinking of starting a new race of people, the reds. (In no way associated with Man U who I do not condone and will never mention on this website again)

Where I went snorkelling

Anyway where was I, to arrive to Maya Bay the boat mored near by and everybody swam to a big whole which we had to climb through. Maya bay is located on Ko Phi Phi leh. The island where everybody stays and I’m writing this from is called Ko Phi Phi don. Leh is a national park and is such unspoilt from over developing which unfortunately affects other areas badly such as Phuket. The beach at Maya bay is perfect and incredibly beautiful. I’d heard that in filming the movie “The Beach” they had damaged the beach by trying to create sand dunes however they’ve done a good job of repairing any damage caused as everything looked perfect.

Crusoe at Maya bay (location of "The beach")

Snorkelling was out of this world. I’ve only had a brief encounter with it before in the South of France but this was way better. Jumping off the boat with flippers and goggles I swam round a secluded bay. The water was quite deep in places however perfect visibility. I’d describe the experience as a hybrid between swimming in the London aquarium and watching a nature program, however much much more exciting. I have to admit I did feel a bit nervous due to the water being quite deep and being on my own in the middle of the water and that if I got tired I’d probably drown..Thus I tried to keep an eye on the boat however at times got a bit carried away and possibly swam too far away. Luckily, I managed to make it back and am still in one piece!

Food was served on the boat which I scoffed down with 2nd helpings and thus didnt need to buy any dinner!
In the evening I checked out Reggae bar which attracts many tourists due to it having a large boxing ring in the middle of the bar where drunk tourists fight each other. It was supposed to be Muay Thai fighting however in reality it was more drunk(en) boxing.What a great idea! I saw one tourist knock out his mate and a couple of woman with bloody noses. I’m making it sound like a free for all which it wasn’t, it was controlled. However, apparently the other day a guy got his nose broken and dislocated his shoulder. The atmosphere was incredible and everyone was loving it. I was a bit alarmed when I felt like I wanted to fight too but luckily I was sober enough to realise my fighting days are over and probably best left to the bus stops in London…

I agreed with the person sitting next to me Weatherspoons should bring this past-time to the UK. It would definitely spruce up the nightlife of my area thats for sure. Just get all the drunks off the street and make them fight in an arena!

Drunk tourist knocked out for 1 minute

By this stage I’d bumped into the girls I met on the boat to Phi Phi and we all headed for the beach to check out the bars down there. The atmosphere was very live and loads of people were playing with fire! Very fun. Gave it a shot myself with only 1 eyebrow lost and a couple of burnt toes. Highly amusing.

Crusoe and the fire games

Managed to get drunk last night without buying a single drink. A personal best for me! Drinks were very expensive so not really sure how I managed it but was happy either way. Finished the night at 4.45 when I thought it was about 1am. Normally I’m tired by 2 so this must have been a good night!

When I woke up this morning it was 11.15. Check out time at my hotel was 11, with a hefty charge per hour for late check outs. Racing through my stuff I managed to get packed in 3 minutes flat. Luckily the woman working at the hotel loves me and so no problem! Ran up the mountain to fight off my hangover and sweated it out. Good as new! Talked to some English people at the top, nice down to earth people and then headed back down to the town for some lunch and to update you guys!

Unfortunately I’m leaving Ko Phi Phi in exactly 1 hour. Would love to have stayed here longer but now the journey ahead calls.
Now by boat to Railay Beach!

Today is my second day in Ko Phi Phi and unfortunately my last one. Have been having a really good time here and could definitely stay longer. In half an hour am going on a bit trip around some of the islands and get to go kayaking and snorkeling. Will let you know how that turns out and if its as good as the brochures make it look. Cost is about 450 BT so aint the end of the world if its not all that.

Yesterday I went to long beach. According to my guide book its one of the best beaches on Ko Phi Phi. I wouldn’t disagree as I’d say its the best beach I’ve ever been to in my life. The sea was warm and the beach reasonably empty. For a monsoon season its been surprisingly dry as it wasn’t rained yet (Touch wood!). In the evening I had my first Thai massage and managed to haggle the price down to 200 BT. Was a bit odd hearing my spine click and was a bit worried I might get broken however managed to make it out in one piece. The experience lasted about an hour and involved having someone shouve their foot in various parts of my back. But guess it was kinda pleasant. Thought it would be taking the piss going to Thailand and not having a Thai massage.

Tomorrow the plan is to head to Railay beach. Not sure about how Im getting into Malaysia yet and is something I’m trying to figure out. I’ve been informed how there are conflicts going on in the south area of Thailand and the guide book worns travellers not to head into the deep south. However to catch a boat looks a bit expensive and am starting to run out of money. Oh well….Take each day as it comes!

Today I arrived at Ko Phi Phi. I was supposed to be woken up in time to get the taxi to the boat at 7am. However no-one woke me up. Luckily, I’d packed all my stuff the night before so didnt keep them waiting too long.

Ko Phi Phi is a very touristy island with lots of acomodation however a bit expensive. As soon as you arrive by boat on the jetty touts try and sell you acommodation. The make a comision through this so its much better to go direct to the hotel themselves. I’d luckily been made aware of this by talking to a tout on the boat who told me he was bored of his job and just prefered chilling on the boat rather than selling. I got some advice from a diving shop about where to stay. The first place they recomended because of its price was called “The rock”. I was very interested in staying here as the price for 1 night was 150BT. However, I was soon put off when I looked inside. There were 17 beds, litter all over the floor and some odd looking people inside. When I asked them what they thought of the place they said it was a bit like a crack den and to be aware of the leeches in the showers….Thought I’d try the next place…Using my new found haggling techniques I got a room for 300BT which is about 6pounds at a place called harmony house.

Gonna head down to the beach just thought I’d give you an update on my journey while the sun is wayyyyyyyyyyyyy strong.

On the boat to Ko Phi Phi

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Woke up at nearly miday today after yesterdays adventures on the bus.

Am staying in Ao Patoya to the west of Phuket town. The hostel Im staying at is very cheap, just a couple of pounds a night. Am saving money by not having aircon as those rooms are more than 3x the price! However no hot water so have to shower cold, this is agreeable however due to sunburn I recieved today (more on that later). The area my hostel in is quite built up however a little seedy…Each time I walk down the road I have to run as there are many massage parlours. Today I’ve been called handsome and had my ass pinched. Although this frequently happens to me in London but thats because I live with Vish… The girls are socommited to getting you inside that its physically hard to escape. They block you in and shout massage at you. Its a little bit intimidating to be honest.

Went to check out the local beaches and literally 2minutes walk from my hostel was a huge beach! However, I’d been recommended a nice beach to the north so took a taxi there after a spot of negotiating. And chilled out there till sunset. Felt like paradise! Its quite difficult to not get burnt by the sun. I thought I’d been quite well prepared however discovered that where I’d missed a bit when applying the sunblock that I had nice red marks dotted around my back and on my elbows. However this could have been in my battle earlier to escape the massage girls not sure…

Tomorow is an early start, am heading for Ko phi phi. These are the islands where the beach was filmed.

Thats what I thought when I heard about the journey I had to undertake to get to Phuket. I was very wrong….However, this did not matter as in the end the journey wasn’t 12 hours…It was longer. The bus departed at 2pm and now cue the longest journey of my life. Longer than even flights to Japan. Longer than on the trip stuck with my sister in a hot car…and jeez that was long. In fact the journey was 14 and a half hours long! Didn’t arrive until 4.30am.

Here are some lessons I learnt while travelling on the bus:

• I think my bus driver had a really bad prostate or something…or failing that he was smuggling heroin. The bus kept stopping so he could get out and have a piss. Really pissed me off…
• Now I’m no historian (unlike my mother and sister) however looking at Thai roads I can assure you that the Romans never made it to Thailand. The roads are as curvy as a rally race track. The whole journey felt like one big  shikane…That really added to the enjoyment of the journey thats for sure..
• It appears that Thailand has no motorways as we spent the whole time bumbling along little roads about 50mph. Either that or my drivers heroin supply route took the back roads….
• When stopping at Thai service stations/sheds think really carefull about ordering super hot spicy food. It kills….

After arriving in Phuket town at 4.30am had to take the taxi to my hostel. Turned out this was nearly an hour away. When I finally turned off the light it was 5.30 am. No rest for the wicked I suppose!