Thailand

thought i would finish up my blog/journal before i head back tomorrow. after today it will just be alot of waiting around at various points ( bangkok, bahrain, london) which wont be fun to do or read about at a later date, so i am not going to bother.

i am now back in bangkok, again, and each time i return it feels more relaxed and comfortable. i will admit now, as i dont think i did it when i first got here, that when i first arrived it scared the crap outta me, but now - me being the experianced traveller i am i kinda like it.

pattaya i didnt like so much, i think i am about 40 years to young to fully appreciate it for what it is. although plenty of westerners, of a certain age, seemed to enjoy it. so i only stayed a couple of nights and got back here on saturday. did some crazy shopping and bought enough clothes to ensure that i had to buy a cheapo bag to transport them back home.

i got introduced to the craziest street in bangkok - soi cowboy - by the ex-number 1 in germany at table tennis and have spent a couple of nights really 'living it up' before i go back. also found a nice little indian restaurant which is showing the cricket and so have been camped there the last 2 days, praying for the good old english weather to help us out. touch wood it looks like it might just do it for us.

so its my last night in bangkok and to be honest i am planning to go out on a high - my plane leaves tomorrow night at 6 so i figure i have all day to sleep off whatever i do tonight and it would be a good way to finish the trip off.

so as this journey draws to a close i thought i might do a list of my high and low lights. so;

Thailand

highs - Ko Phi Phi, tiger temple at khanchanaburi, jungle treking, oh and the thai lasses

lows - stupidly long bus journeys

Laos

highs - tubing in vang vieng, fast boat to luang prabang

lows - being sick out of a bus window

Vietnam

highs - doing my padi course, nha trang, shooting a double barrel shot gun and an ak47

lows - halong bay, 3rd degree burns on my chest

Cambodia

highs - killing fields

lows - bed bugs and everything else really

Malaysia

highs - teman negra, shopping in KL

lows - perthian islands

i have really enjoyed my time here and hopefully i will never forget it - although my memory is friggin useless. anyway it might give me an excuse to come back.

to all those i have met, i thank you - for without you it wouldnt have been the same. dont get me wrong - i didnt like all of you, and you do meet alot of idiots over here (mainly english it has to be said) - but i wouldnt have changed it.

maybe see you next time - looking at going to the following places, hopefully sooner rather than later - central america, south africa, europe, canada, south america, india..............................

well i am now in seedy pattaya, 2 hours east of bangkok and its pretty much what i expected it to be. i decided to head for here after spending a few days in khanchanaburi. arrived last night after a 4 hour bus journey, via bangkok.

when i got to khanchanburi i managed to find a cheapo room, near the river kwai. first thing that struck me was the size of place in general - they advertise it as a little town when in reality its a decent size. the main draw for me of going at all was the tiger temple run by monks, where you get to sit and stroke etc wild tigers. i have met so many people who have done it and said that its an awesome thing to do. so when i got there i looked into it striaght away and was told that now no one is going there because of a dispute with the tour companies. nightmare and i was gutted. a couple of days later i made enquires and found that if you get a taxi they might take you.

in the end it took me standing on the street for a couple of hours flagging down random folks to get one booked. the only other problem was a lack of people to go with me - in order to share the cost of it. went back to the guesthouse and basically acted as a tour guide for the temple and managed to get 5 other people to come along with me. result.

the day was really good and the tigers were great. got a few pictures of me stroking them and cuddling them - wild, non chained tigers. hopefully the disposable camera did its job and they will come out ok. afetr we return 'my' group went out for a few drinks and a meal and i felt like a tour operator - although no one gave me a tip! that night two of them, an aussie couple, stayed up with me to watch the england game and spent a small fortune drinking sangsom. all three ofus felt shocking yesterday on the trip back to bangkok, before we split and i went to pattaya.

i did a tour of hell fire pass the historical site, erawan waterfalls and then a 2 hour train ride back along the railway and over the bridge. it was pretty good and very cheap - last minute and cancellation of another trip meant they gave it me for half what it should have been.

the waterfalls were probably the highlight, as it is a 7 stepped jobby. the walk upto the 7th step was long and steep but worth it for the swimming. no one tells you about the fish, i mean you can see them, some pretty big but no one tells you what they do. the little buggers bite you, well clean you as you sat there, which was strange/painful/strangely nice.

my cheapo room turned out to be a bit of a nightmare really - i got bitten badly everynight by ants on my feet - again. so they are back to being a real mess. thats one thing i will def not miss about asia.

so i think i will stay here tonight and then maybe head back on saturday or sunday to bangkok before i fly out on tuesday.

everynight untill i leave will be taken up by watching the 5th and final ashes test, in which i have no doubt england will stuff it up.

i am now back in bangkok having left Ko Phi Phi yesterday on the last of my long trips, apart from the flight back. complete jounrey yesterday took roughly 23 hours from start to finish and when it did i couldnt have been more happy about it. why do people snore when they sit next to me on long overnight bus journeys?

anyway on Phi Phi i found i nice guesthouse to stay for the 10 nights i planned to stay and it turned out that i was the first person to stay there since the reopening after the tsunami. maybe thats why he gave me such a reasonable (well for phi phi) price. it turned out the guys working/owning the place was mental and inisted that every night we had a little party to celebrate the fact that he had a customer(s) in. this turned out to be an event which took place everynight whilst i was there and often ended in a near by bar.

whilst i was there i decided get off my arse and do some volunteering work with a charity on the island. as a result i did various 'exciting' tasks such as gardening (strimming) the memorial garden, picking up litter from the beach and moving collected rubbish into a pile so it could be burned at night. it was good to feel like i was doing something useful and giving something back, especially as it was my second time there.

despite this i wanted to do something more tangible and actually see the benefits from what i was doing. so i offered my services to Ahn and Dunm the guesthouse owners. they couldnt believe that a paying guest, wanted to work for free. but 'shockingly' they let me work for nothing for 5 days. i painted the outside of the building, helped to dig the foundations of the next project (toilet block of a camp site) was let loose with an nail gun and even put up curtains in the rooms. on my last day of 'working' i went to the pier with them to drum up business and get some guests for the finish rooms.

between the 3 of us we managed to fill the guesthouse and had a 'little' party in that honour. this ended up in a bar called hippies and it was the half moon party night. it was pretty good from what i remember of it untill i had an arguement with a bartender about the lack of change he had given me, and he decided it would be good to smash a bottle over the back of my neck and get me thrown out. the cuts and bump my neck has more or less healed now and the 3 day headache i had has gone. i still dont know what i said to him but as he didnt speak much if any english i guess i will never know.

anyway for all my efforts with the guesthouse they got me totally drunk everynight - an exercise which became even more enjoyable when we got a group of swiss lasses to stay. and strangely i must have done something right as they offerred me a job working within the empire. they are planning to build a 2nd guesthouse, a campsite and a bar in the next 6 months. i saw the plans for it all and it looks pretty good and he said i could work in any of them and have free accomodation and a small salary. its a nice thought but i took it with a pinch of salt, despite that fact he has got my email address and my mobile phone number so you never know.

i had a day off from working and getting beat up and went snorkelling with black tip sharks. i wanted to go diving but no one was doing the wreck dive so the sharks got my attention. it was brillant and as you didnt have a tank on your back you didnt scare them away straight away and got to swim around a group of them before they realised what was going on and buggered off.

so i am now back in bangkok, at the same guesthouse as before doing the same stuff as before i guess - like nothing has changed in the time since i first arrived. i am staying here for 2 nights i think and then i am off to either pattaya or khanchanaburi, probably the later first as i think i am more likely to wanna stay there for an extended period, what with the tigers etc.

only ten days left!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hollywood didnt exactly come calling for me after the 3 days of filming for Blackbeard.

caught the ferry back across to ko samui and then from there a taxi and another ferry back to the main land, where chaos engulfed us. due to the demand for extras shed loads of people had turned up for it so there werent enough buses etc to take us all and everyone got split up from friends etc. managed to get on an early bus and got a pretty nice bungalow right on the beach with air con, fridge and a tv. the best room we had had for ages. i had to go straight away for a fitting for my costume - a red coat no less, army dude type chap. got back at midnight and got up the following day at 4.30 for the pick up.

we were all driven about an hour into the middle of the countryside. had food and then everyone got changed and was ordered down to the set to start being extras. sounds like fun but straight away it was clear it wasnt going to be much fun at all. the first 2 days were the hottest that they had whilst filming and people were struggling with the heat. the main problem being that everyone had to stay in costume all day - for me that meant a shirt, a waistcoat a thick knee length jacket, knee length socks, long trousers, black shoes and chaps - plus a sword and a pistol oh and a hat. the sweat pured off me for the entire two days and at times i thought i was going to pass out from it.

other people were worse - one blokes shoes start to melt into the floor and one got water blisters up his back and arms from wearing the coats. anyway i only lasted two days of this (14 hour days dont agree with me) and contented with my acting and number of potential on scene moments i decided to stay in bed on the third day and sleep - which i achieved pretty well, managing 15 hours. after which i chilled out on an empty beach for the rest of the day - all for free.

that night there was a shin dig at one of the hotels and we hitched a ride to it and had a good night chatting to the crew and other random people from the set.

yesterday they drove us to the main city and then i had to decide where i wanted to go - two choices being back to either ko samui or ko phi phi. i missed the bus to ko samui so i caught the one to ko phi phi, which is where i am, after a night in krabi. the boat across was shockingly rough (again) and the weather is throwing it down still now a couple of hours later - the island is starting to flood due to it.

i am staying here for at least 10 days and got a cheap room on that fact, i plan to do some helping out with http://http://www.hiphiphi.com/and also maybe some diving if my cold clears up and if the weather improves maybe some sunbathing - who knows !?!?!

i am now in Koh Phangan, just north of Koh Samui after a couple of days more on Samui. did the whole renting a bike thing for a couple of days and went exploring around the island. the first day it prompty rained from just after i collected the bike till the early evening, but we braved it and went to meet some friends from my travels who were close by. the second day we and the landlord of the hostel went to play crazy golf in the north of the island. it was boiling and it took us ages to finish, but we got starting talking to the owner and he told us about a movie which is being made on the main land called 'Blackbeard' and for which they require extras. all three of us put are names down and i leave tomorrow to go back to the mainland to 'star' in the movie. it sounds like a laugh and you are supposed to get free transport, accomodation, food etc and also about 1200 baht (70 baht to a pound) a day - and its 3 days so we thought why not.

in the evening i went out to watch the footie and to have a few cheeky drinks, which turned into a all nighter and as a result i didint get to bed till stupid oclock in the morning. next day caught the ferry to Koh Phangan with lucy and also the guest house owner from Luis guesthouse in Lamai. i would reccomend anybody to stay there as its small, cheap but with a massive tv/stereo system and free pool table and a small bar. added to this Lui is icelandic and completly nuts and his mrs is a thai lady who is crazy - it made for a really good week - by far the best guesthouse i have stayed in so far on my travels. we all really got on so we invited him to come wityh us to the next island up for a few days untill the movie work starts.

first night on the island was the half moon party and as it looks likely that i will miss the full moon party i proceeded to enjoy the moment/evening. it was ok but nothing really special - the main problem is that everybody comes here especially for the parties so they are maybe on 2 week holidays and so they are clean, unsmelly, smartly dressed folks whilst i am none of the above for more than about 30 minutes a week (at a push). these people have been nicknamed - "makeup backpackers" and they are everywhere here. its not even an especially nice island - its ok but not as nice as Ko Samui in my view.

despite that we decided to rent bikes and see a bit of the island for a day, we were warned that the roads werent great and that tourists are always crashing into things. 5 minutes out of the main town area where we are staying we found the first crash site where a bloke had hit a car. managed to avoid anything of this sort for the rest of day and caught the sun nicely, as it was boiling all day.

today i have been diving - in 'one of the best dive sites in thailand' but dont believe the hype on that one. we dived sail rock, which is 40 minutes out to sea and it was ok, but not as good as other ones i have done. the best part was a vertical swim through called the chimney where you are enclosed all the way around apart from going up -it was pretty cool but the water quality was poor and there wasnt anything really big to see.

anyway hollywood beckons so i better go..........

wasnt going to update this but just thought i would let you know that i am now down on Ko Phi Phi and its wierd. added to the fact that the first night here we had a tsunami warning (the 2nd since the original) and were moved to higher ground, due to the earthquake, and a complete lack of sleep from the bus from bangkok to krabi, the wait in krabi and than the boat across to the island all in all it took ages.

got off the boat to be met with destruction everywhere and a very tangable mood of sadness. despite that people are so very very pleased to see you and more importantly your wallet. but here it is different as they need it to live and more importantly get there lives back in order.

the beaches are still awesome and the diving etc (booked 2 for tomorrow) still are running so there is no excuse for not coming there are a few bars and the main tourist street is pretty much back to normal now, its just a lack of hotel rooms as they are still being pulled down and rebuilt. there is plenty of aid work that still needs to be done and i plan to do some before i fly down to malaysia on the 1st, if not i will stop on my way back up and help then. my intend trip to indonesia has been cancelled due to the earthquake and the fact that 2 western aid workers have been kidnapped and killed within the last month, exactly were i was planning to go.

if you are worried about the threat of a tunasmi hitting before you come here dont worry. we were woken up by banging and screaming from the hotel staff, when they had first heard about the threat. the whole island is aware of it straight away and you are taken up to the highest ground and told to stay there. they dont just go and leave you - infact they were offering tourists drinks and food etc despite the fact that it was 1 in the morning.

so dont worry and just come along and give something back to paradise!

Greetings from up north!

i headed out of bangkok on the overnight train to chaing mai and straight away i felt a million times happier (this isnt just me, everyone up here hated bangkok and the backpackers escape up here). although the actual journey wasnt the most fun i have ever had. you get given a seat, which faces another seat on the train. these two seats fold out and down and around to form two bunk beds, one on top of the other. great you think for a 13 (although it turned out to be nearer 15) hour overnight ride. however the problem is that these are built for thai folks - rightly as its there country - and so dont allow big and tall british types to lie down and sleep. this meant that we ( i was within a group of lads from the uk) had to sit around drinking and generally being loud. the thai folk who were also within the same car as us didnt take to kindly to this and so called the railway police and mayhem followed. which was fair enough but it was about 10.30 and we didnt realise that we were causing a problem. all were threatened with being thrown off the train - which abruptly meant that all fun and games ceased.

when we arrived in chaing mai, late, the backpacker hostels were waiting with land rovers and general 4x4 vehicles to whisk us away to the various places. i found mine and met a couple of lads from england (mike and ben) and a couple of lads from canada (scott and john) - who were all doing the same trek as me. got to the hostel and chilled out and showered etc then i went for a little wander to visit some nearby temples before the rain put pay to that little idea. my god it can rain plenty up here.

on the way back to the hostel met mike and ben and we decided to head towards the night market to see what designer knock offs we could acquire. it turned out that the only thing we all brought was a lovely orangemack for the trek.

on route back to the hostel we stopped for a cheeky drink or two at a couple of bars and then found an absolute quality bar. its called 'heaven beach' and its near an irish pub on the less touristy side of town. the bar had a live band playing a host of classical rock n roll and indie tunes, with cheap drinks thrown into the mix. we stayed and drank random thai beer and cocktails till 3.30 the next day. it was pretty good although the next day i was to pay for it.

i was supposed to be going on a day trip to chaing rai. leaving at 7.00 in the morning - admit it you know whats coming! i didnt go, but i did manage to stumble down to say so and they have rearranged it for this saturday. so that day was pretty much a write off as i stayed in bed till roughly lunchtime and felt pretty ill all day. but is was worth it i can assure you.

the next day we set off on are trek into the jungle 2 hours west of chaing mai, after meeting the other two members of the group - an aussie (fiona) and a brit (dan). first we were taken to an elephant 'village' and had a ride on one. sounds great yes - picture in your head lovely hot day, great for pictures. nope - thunder and lightening and rain like only thailand seems to be able to rain - so no pictures. still it was a unigue experiance and alot of fun despite the weather. after that we were driven to a restaurant at the side of the road to have lunch and then onto the drop off point.

we walked, carrying all food and clothing, for about 3 hours and we arrived at two bamboo huts on the hill side by a river. it was awesome to just dive straight in fully clothed to wash away all the sweat and dirt from the walk. the huts, were built by the travel company and are only used by them, have a camp fire and table inbetween. the fire was used to cook and then we sat around it as Lar and Uootai, the guides, told us stories about there culture and the various things that happen in the jungle including the region of jungle spirit. we all went to bed pretty early and attempted to sleep. no one slept much due to the intense sound of the insects and wildlife which was just the otherside of the bamboo.

we woke to a traditional thai breakfast and glorious weather and set off to climb the highest mountain in the region at 1700 metres. the weather didnt last though and soon all were soaked to the sink with a mixture of sweat from underneath the macks and the rain which came down like someone had a hose pipe on above your head. the hut at the top of the mountain was a brillant site and we ate the packlunch of thai noodles (which were wrapped in leaves picked the previous day) with chop sticks which Lar had craved on route. and then the rain eased and stopped and we looking out across the jungle beneath us - a breathtaking view. after the brief stop we headed towards the village which was to be the base for the night. it took another 3 hours of hard walking to reach it through some thick vegetation and by this time the rain was back. when we arrived all bar dan had at least one leach attached to them, myself i had one on each leg, combined with blisters and bites.

the village was isolated from the outside world, and without any power. we were welcomed into the village in a tradition way and ate with the villagers, as the rain continued to batter down. the weather forced them to cancel the show which they do and we were given a talk instead. no one spoke english or even thai as they have there own language - karen, so the guides translated it all. after the talk we headed but to are bamboo hut and showered in the worlds smallest and coldest shower. we were then invited to drink rice whiskey with the elders of the group in a cooking hut. jesus that stuff is strong and it was only afterwards they told us that its strength was close to 55% and the locals drank it as if it was water. we also had a few chang beers and then headed to the sleeping room. Lar followed with a guitar and the children of the village came in and sang songs for us. we, slightly encouraged by the effects of the local brew, returned the gesture with - old macdonald had a farm, wonderwall by oasis and then the show stopper of - youve lost that loving feeling, re top gun. although they couldnt understand what we were saying i think they got the picture!

this morning we woke at 6.30 with heavy heads from the local brew and i for one was sad to leave. we hiked for a further 3 hours to a waterfall - in for once complete sunshine (promplty buring the crap out of my neck and arms). again all jumped straight in fully clothed to wash the sweat off. after that a further 1 1/2 hour walk to the pick up spot, which was only interupted by the site of 4 poisonous snakes and 3 large frogs.

we were picked up and taken back to the same place as we had lunch on the first day. this was followed by bamboo rafting ! sounds strange and it was. basically 4 large pieces of bamboo placed sideby side and fastened in the tradtional way with a bloke at the front with another piece of bamboo for steering. we sat, partly in the river, along the 25 foot raft and promptly went down stream over grade 2 rapids. it was mental and people were falling out all over the shop -funny but looking back now it was quiet risky but alot of fun.

got back to the hostel at around 4.30 had a shower and got dry for pretty much the first time in 3 days. sorted my gear out and handed in some washing - bargain price of about a pound to do everything - and there was alot of dirty stuff.

my trainers have pretty much had it now so i was going to go and see if my luck had changed at the market. but its throwing it down again and i am starving so i might leave it till tomorrow.

on sunday i am venturing north and east and leaving thailand to have a gander at Laos for three weeks. have been told its breathtaking but due to its undeveloped nature i am not entirely sure of internet access so it might be a while before i write again.

take it easy folks

About time i updated things before i leave bangkok and i have a few hours to kill before i check out and head to the train station.

Since i last wrote things have been eventful in bangkok. i finshed the tourist hot spots by going to the grand palace and the vimanek mansion - the worlds largest all teak building and the old home of all the previous kings / rulers of the country. it was pretty impressive considering that there isnt a single screw in the whole place. there was also a thai dance display which was ok but lasted 40 minutes or so and the time dragged towards the end.

after the mansion i wandered round to the zoo, which was not far away. it was clear that the zoo is lacking resources in every department and the animals, which they were sadly lacking, didnt look to healthy and very bored. i suppose this has got to be expected when you consider the conditions which some of the people live in on the streets and alleyways.

for me the city is one of extreme contrasts - next to tourist spots and even the royal residence there are shacks were people live, backing onto old, drity still water which smells like and probably is a toilet. it is a bit of a culture shock and makes you feel how lucky you are to live where you live back home - where ever that may be.

was going to attend a tradition thai boxing night but i meant two scottish lads and ended up having a 'few' drinks on khao san road - which ended in what some would say was dancing and others would say was stumbling about in the rain and mayhem in the wee small hours with a group of dutch travellers. i guess the thai boxing will have to wait till i come back to bangkok if i cant find it anywhere else in the meantime.

i have been hearing great things about the south and the islands so i cant wait to get going and get down there in a couple of months, also i have been told of the islands on halong bay, vietnam which sound very tempting to me - in the meantime i am going north to chaing mai. i have got to catch the overnight, 12 hour, train up there tonight. i have already booked on a mountain trek that includes rafting, elephant treking and staying in tradtion, village accomodation for 3 nights. also the same travel company arranged a trip to see the longneck women (where the strech the womends necks with steel rings so they are oversized - not sure of teh cultural meanings of this yet-but will let you know) my 30 day visa for laos and the 2 day 1 night boat ride actually into the country.

i am really looking forward to leaving bangkok as for me that is not what travelling is all about - sure i am glad that i came but i prefer the smaller out of the way places that isnt wall to wall backpackers and everything on a plate for you. hanoi is supposed to be less like this although southern thailand is - but least there is the sea! i think my body needs the sea - it seems unnatural to be constantly this hot and not be able to go for a swim to cool down. but i guess that will have to wait another 3-4 weeks before i get to the islands on halong bay for that.

tips on dealing with the tuk tuk drivers - just say that you have already been to the shops and get a price for the trip without any shop stops - otherwise you will find yourself in numerous tailors wandering around so the driver can get a free petrol token, although the trip will cost you less but take longer - catch 22 i suppose.

Well greetings from khao san road, bangkok. I arrived yesterday lunch time - after a 4 hour delay in bahrain so your quite lucky that i am writing this already. The main reason I write this is that it is raining and i mean 'proper' raining outside and although its nice to get wet and cool down the novelty soon wore off. so i sit here beer in hand looking out onto khao san road.

it took me ages to find the hotel, i took the lonely planets advice and saved meself a few quid by getting a cheap taxi from outside the airport and not inside. dispite this the guy didnt know where it was and just dropped me off on the main strip of khao san - figuring that i looked like a 'newie' and he could get away with it. i wander around for a bit before i saw the sign, which led me down a small alley into another world completly. all the little alleys branch off into numerous side streets and markets, which have less hussle and bussle then the main strip. the main strip is best described as crazy - every turn people attempt to sell you things from trainers and hats to massages and women. none of which i have taken up (yet)

the hotel itself the sawasdee bangulumpu inn is what i pretty much what i expected - no windows but thankfully a fan, small box like room but it is pretty quite compared to the main strip, apart from the fact that the love the boy band blue and constantly seem to play them over the tannoy.

after i got in and attempted to make myself feel human again by showering and shaving i had an intended 'little' kip to get over the travelling - reckon i had roughly 4 hours sleep within a 45 hour period. needless to say i woke about 5 hours later, not feeling any more awake. but the explorer in me thought i better make tracks and a little look round. i went for a wander along the main backpacker street and tried to get myself used to life on the road again.

after that i went back to the hotel and promptly fell alseep straight away, waking at roughly 3 o'clock this afternoon feeling normal again.

havent done much this afternoon but was wandering round the stalls looking for the things i forgot - a watch, a pen and paper and an adaptor - when the storm hit and the lightening started so i ducked in here to update you all.

over the next few days i am planning on exploring the places of interest in and around bangkok, whilst attempting to sort out which route to take north and where to enter laos. think i will stay in bangkok till the weekend and make tracks to the less touristy areas further north.

i will attempt to keep this as upto date as possible.