Long week of nothing

Well, i was reading back over the end of the last blog there to see where i pick up, and it says sunday, but it could have been any day. Nothing particularly noteworthy happened the few days in Pha Ngan, basically, get up, breakfast, walk around, lunch, sleep a bit, walk around more, dinner, pints, handsome burgers, pool/pints, more handsome burgers, sleep. If anyone ever makes it to Thong Nai Pan, places to visit are Star Huts for the sleeping (nice spot and cheap as all hell), Handsome Sandwiches for eating (thinking of having my Christmas dinner there, the burgers are amazing) and Rasta Baby Bar for the drinking (most laid back/relaxing pub ever, and the food is deadly).

Anyways, at some point (not sure which day) we headed for Koh Tao, the third island here on the south east coast. The ladies from Handsome Sandwiches drove us into town in the back of their jeep (scary stuff, those ladies drive like fuckin maniacs) and after walking around Thong Sala for a while (shithole) we went to our ferry... And waited. Had a few beers (50c a can from the vendors, and ice cold too - job), talked to this canadian punk guy and this english pete doherty lookalike and occasionally walked into the sun to remind myself why i was sitting in the shade. After about an hour and a half, we got on the boat to find out there were huge flatscreen TVs everywhere and a fully bitchin sound system... Playing a live acoustic DVD of The Scorpions (them who done Wind of Change) (the one with the whistling). Hellish. I pulled out my MP3 player and listened to some D4 while the ozzies and kiwis slept and alex played with a parrot. The crossing was kind of cool as we passed loads of insanely large fishing boats, or to be exact, small boats with huge cages on them. How they stayed afloat i'll never know. We got into Ko Tao around sunset, and after walking the beach for a while, found a resort that had cold water fan rooms (with TV - score!) for about e12. Grand out, found a nice restaurant that did great curries, cheap beer and free pool, and then headed to another beach front bar with cheap cocktails, beers and buckets (literally, a tin bucket filled with booze with about five straws hanging out of it for a fiver) where you sat outside on beanbags. Sweet.

The next day, everyone got up and rented a longtail (sort of a taxi boat) to go on a trip around the island and do some snorkeling, but being as i can't swim and seven hours of direct sun is my idea of hell, i opted out. I was pretty wrecked at this stage from the travelling the day before and the drinking all night, so i camped in my room for the day, watching free movies and enjoying not being boiling hot all day. Score. When they guys got back that night, we got some dinner, played a tonne of free pool, and headed back to the beanbag spot. Thursday (i think) we rented a load of scooters for about e3 each. I'd never driven a bike before, so i was a little nervous, but it was a piece of piss. We drove around for about five or six hours to see the island, which was cool except that most of the island is inaccessible by bike so most of the day was spent driving up busted roads only to find them too busted before turning back. Still, i really loved the scooters and can see why all the ozzies at home have them. Definitely getting one when i get home. In the evening it rained, so we found another bar with free pool, had a few drinks, got some eats, and relaxed.

Friday i was good and ready to leave the islands. Being that i can't swim and i hate direct sun, island life has feck all to offer me except napping all day and drinking all night, which is all well and good except that the islands are about 35-40% more expensive than the mainland. Alex, the ozzies and i hatched a plan to head north saturday (today) which evolved into a plan to head back to samui (land of flooded jeeps), ride some elephants, and fly out monday. Job. Saturday evening we went to an ozzie bar with cheap beers (two chang for e1.60), paid for pool (booooooo), and half price thai food (sound). After a few hours there we headed to a beach bar and had the craic with some english girls we ran into.

So this morning we got up early and got a boat to saumi, checked into the swankiest hotel i've ever stayed in (e30, which is way over my budget, but the place would cost upwards of e300 anywhere else so for one night, why not), and came across the road to check flights and write this.

So sorry this one is so boring, i'm exhausted and not much happened that makes a good yarn. That's not to say it's not been fun, just beach life is quiet and relaxing, and Dan Brown don't write no quiet relaxing thrillers. In the next week i expect to be back to bangkok with alex for a few days before he goes home, which, his being a madser, means a bunch of insano nights out (and seeing as so many people have hinted in emails and such i'll remind y'all neither myself or alex is gay, he's just a cool dude). After that i'm off to chiang mai for the Loi Krathung festival (where they send thousands of candles down the river every night for a week - sweet) and then possibly up to pai to volunteer on an elephant farm for a few days. No shit.

Laters...