Ko Phangnan

I havn't updated my blog in a while because … well I’m on holidays so I will try and remember what has happened.
We enjoyed our last few relaxing days in Ko Lanta then headed back to Krabi for a couple of nights. We were walking around the town on our last night when some guy a restaurant called out “free buffet” so we went and checked it out. Turns out it was their opening night and they were putting on this huge free buffet with beautiful local Thai food. Jess went for the vegetarian looking soup which was in a clear broth and she had one sip and tears started running down her face it was so spicy but looked so innocent Jess kept sweating and crying for a few more minutes then a band started up and we had some more drinks and dancing.
The next day we had a bus to catch but not till 6pm so we sat around in a movie bar watching movies and generally being hung over. We got on the bus to Surat Thani where we had to get on the night boat to Ko Phangan. The boat looked like a giant bath tub and the upstairs part where we all slept was like a hall with a 4 foot high ceiling and mattresses lying next to each other was pretty cosy and we had a good laugh wondering how we were gonna sleep there. It ended up being really nice it was quiet and the windows were open and the boat gently rocking and we actually ended up sleeping really well.
We woke up to the sounds of people yelling “Taxi” from the pier so we jumped in one and headed to our accommodation. We arrived at about 7am and there was no one around so we waited and hour and finally got checked into our rooms. The beach where we were staying was amazing so we just hung out there snorkelling. It wasn’t quite as spectacular under the water as Phi Phi but we still saw some interesting fish and some big schools. At lunchtime we ran into some people we met at Ko Lanta and organised to go scootering around the island the next day.
We set off on our scoote

rs looking for an elusive waterfall but the maps we had were not accurate and after some extreme scootering around some crazy dirt trails and a bit of hot uphill walking we gave up and headed to the beach where the Full Moon party is. What a crazy sight that was. It was day time so not much happening but you could see all the bucket stalls with signs on them like “get fucked up bucket” and “no bucket no boom boom” check the photo for more genius names. Simon decided to party on there that night so Jess and I headed back. On the way home we got a flat tire thankfully but also sceptically right outside a mechanic. Didn’t cost too much so we had dinner and headed home for an early night, as we had the full moon party the next night.
Full moon party what can a say…..crazy madness…never seen such a spectacle.
So many messy people. I had to pull one guy out of the ocean, which was the world’s biggest toilet; I think he was trying to swim home. Was good but won’t be heading there again.

The next day obviously did nothing which was good as the weather really turned was super windy and rainy. The weather was just as bad the day we had to leave and we heard rumours of ferry’s being cancelled due to rough seas. We were a bit worried cause our Thai visa was running out and we had to get to Bangkok and on to Laos. But it turned out alright the ferry was just late and the bus to Bangkok waited for us. It was a 10 hour bus ride to Bangkok supposed to arrive at 6am. 4:30 am we arrived dropped in the middle of Bangkok no idea what we were gonna do. The good old taxi drivers that are always there came up with an idea and dropped us at a 24 hour Mc Donald’s and told us to wait and he will come pick us up at 6am and take us to a travel agent where we can get tickets to Laos. His travel agent was really expensive and only had a bus so luckily he was right near the train station and after much deliberation we ended up with a ticket on the night train to Laos which didn’t leave to 7 that night. There was baggage storage at the train station so we dumped our bags and headed into the shopping district. What we didn’t know was that the big shopping centres didn’t open till 10 and it wasn’t even 8 yet. We killed time for a bit then wandered around the shopping centres, found a huge food court and then caught a taxi boat to Wat Pho which is a temple with a massive gold reclining Buddha statue. It was huge and very impressive the rest of the temple was great too even if we were a bit tired and hot too appreciate it. We then wandered around and got lost in a Chinatown market and ended up back at the train station for another overnight journey.
We all had upper bunks which to me looked like I wasn’t gonna fit or it was gonna hold me but once they folded out it turned out alright (not as good as the boat) .
After another night on public transport we finally arrived very exhausted in Laos.
We have been here almost a week now but will write about that later because….. well…. I’m on holidays.