The photos of Tom and I after getting beaten up

Tom and I the morning after..


Tom having his handcuff cut off, You can tell he was drunk because he let me do it! IDIOT!!1


From another angle


Close up of Toms face


Close up of me face, lush i know

Chang Mai

The first few days in Chang Mai we spent chilling out, reading and playing in the pool. We'd all decide that we'd do a jungle trek which would take three days and two nights so we booked onto that and the first day of the trek would be on the 07/08/09.
We got picked up from the hotel at about 9:20 and meet our guide whose name was Bon. We drove towards the jungle and stopped on the way to check in with the tourist police and stopped to get some food and water for when we stopped overnight. The first day we walked through loads of paddyfeilds and through some jungle but nothing too hard or too heavy. We arrived at the Karen tribe village where the locals meet us and tried to get us to buy some of the handcrafted jewellery, needless to say I didn't buy any but the others bought some bits ans bobs. By the time tea came we where all starving and where a little worried whether the portions would satisfy our hunger. We needn't have worried, Bon had organised starters main and even desert which we had with a few beers. The accommodation was very basic being in the jungle an all. A few mattresses on the floor and all covered by mosquito nets which made a massive difference because i would imagine we would have been eaten alive it we didn't have them.
The next day we awoke at about 8 to the sound of the tribes livestock, cows bells ringing, roosters crowing and dogs howling. Not the nicest way to wake up. We all gathered around the table and had our breakfast which was boiled eggs with toast and plenty of toast and jam. We set off for our longest days trekking which would be about 5 hours. The first half all uphill until lunch when we would descend down to the waterfall camp where we would spend our second night. The walk was really Nice and when we to to the top of the hill we saw an amazing view over the valleys and jungle. We stopped at another village of a different tribe where Bon cooked us lunch which was noodles and again we had plenty to eat before leaving. The tribe people again came and tried to sell us lots of hand made stuff but this time everyone was a little smarter and didn't buy anything.
The walk after lunch was really nice and every so often Bon would top and show us some wildlife or plant that moved when you touched it. We saw a few big yellow spiders as well as plenty of termite mounds.
Before we arrives at waterfall camp we could hear the water fall, the day was really hot and we'd all set our hearts on having a swim as soon as we got there. The camp was really nice, right next to the stream and about a minutes walk from the waterfall. We threw our bags into the huts and changed. Bon showed us where the pool was deepest and showed us where we could jump in from. The highest one on showed us was about 4 feet above the water. After he left Ben started to make us new ones and by the time we left Ben and Chris had found at least 7 other places to jump in, the highest was about 15 feet above the water. I puppied out after the 3 lowest.
We tried a spot of fishing which was a good laugh even though we where only using bamboo rods. That evening we had a few beers and played cards while Bon explained all about Thai culture which was really nice because we all had a few questions about the culture. We all got into bed early ready for the last day of the trek which would be the most interesting.
Bon had cooked us another great breakfast which was scrambled eggs and toast, we headed out of camp at about 9:30 and climb up the hill to where we would stop to see our first piece of wildlife for the day, a tarantula. Bon got a stick and started to tap it outside the hole, next thing the spider came out and reared on his hind legs started to bite at the stick making a snarling noise, we all took a few photos before leaving him be. We got out of the jungle and jumped into the back of a pick up truck which took us to where the elephant trekking would start. Chris, Frenchie 1 and I all got on the elephant and headed into the jungle, we all took it in turns to ride on the next and feed him bananas. We walked through water which was really fun, the elephant was really well behaved, sometimes if you didn't feed him a banana he would give you whiff of his breath which was less than fresh. The elephant trek finished and we all stopped for some pad thai for lunch and the went down to the river where we would bamboo raft for an hour before meeting Bon at the bottom and returning back to Chang Mai.
The rafting was really fun, the guides didn't expect us to be racing each other or jumping of to flip the other teams boat over. At one point Ben was guiding us down the river and we crashed straight into a rock which was hilarious because we all went flying into the water. The rapids where also really fun and we all ended up in the drink a few times. When we all arrived back at shore Bon checked to see if we all enjoyed ourselves and then we headed back to our hotel.
Everyone had a great time and we even made a pair of french mates.

Since being back in Chang Mai we've been rather active. Yesterday we went to the Tiger Kingdom where we all spent 15 mins petting tigers and having photos taken with them. At first i was really scared because we heard that they had only been open 2 years and three people had been mauled by the adults so that was out of the question for me. I decide to go into the pen with the medium sized tigers, all between 6 months and a year. It was an amazing experience and i would recommend anyone do it if you have a chance.
The same day we also visited a temple on top of a mountain which offered a great view of chang mai. The only problem was the other tuk tuk had a flat tire about half was there so we had to cram 6 people in our tuk tuk which was a great laugh but rather uncomfortable.

Next stop Loas to Vang Vien to go tubing.

At this point i was very very scared!


Frenchie, Chris and I on our home boy Nelly.

Time for some real travelling

Tom and I left Phi Phi and headed back to Krabi where we would split up for a few days. Tom would be going back to Koh Samui to see his parents and I would be meeting Rebecca and co in Phuket before heading towards Chang Mai. The day Tom and I parted company I headed down to Malayasia to spend about 20 minutes there before coming back to Krabi. The purpose for my visit was to do a visa run which cost about 20 quid. A man basically drives you to the border and waits for you to return before driving you back to your hotel. The whole process takes about 12 hours but is definitely worth it as you get another 15 days on your visa. I got back to my hotel at about 8pm and went out for a bit top eat before going to bed.
The next day i had to be up at 5:50 to get a bus to Phuket to meet Rebecca. I had to get the public transport bus which was dirt cheap. I arrived in Phuket town at about 11:30 and got a tuk tuk to Rebecca's hotel. We all went for breakfast before booking tickets to Bangkok where we would continue our journey to Chang Mai on the night train. The bus would take about 18 hours but because it was a night bus the chairs went practically flat so you could get some shut eye.
We arrived in Bangkok at about 5am and found a hotel that would let the 5 of us stay in a double room for a few hours as we intended on heading north the same day. Rebecca, Jess, Fray and Ben all squeezed on the double bed and i took the floor. I couldn't sleep so i got up to go to the toilet i managed to lock myself out of the room. I didn't want to wake any of them up so i ended up going downstairs for a beer at about 7am. I stayed down there drinking beer until about 9am when i plucked up the courage (because i was steaming drunk) to try and wake Rebecca up. She opened the door and i got changed and had a shower and went out for some breakfast which by that time i really needed to wake me up.
We booked the train on the way back from breakfast which would also take about 14 hours.
The train is called the sleeper train and you can buy a ticket which means you have a bed. We all got really drunk on the train and made a few new mates. Chris who has been travelling with us for about a week and we expect another week with him at least. Franko and Paul are staying in Chang Mai and we meet them for drinks every now and then.
Over the last 4 days of travelling mentioned above I had been in transit for something like 50 hours. Happy days.

Time for some photos..

Sorry there hasn't been any photos so far as the last three posts have been composed soley on my mobile which isn't easy and doesn't have a spell checker.

Phi Phi's best football team.


Tom and I in the Bamboo lodge


Holding a blowfish


Koh Samui jungle trek


Night out on the beer with the lucky ballon.


Koh Pangnan scooter trip

Phi Phi Island, a week in paradise

We arrived at Phi Phi and knew that we would have to avoid and ignore the Thai people shouting at us to stay in there hotels as they add a few hundred baht on for commission. The six of up walked straight past them and found a place to stay called Sand Seaview resort. They only had two concrete rooms and one bamboo room so Tom and I took the bamboo room because everyone had offered that we could use their hot showers which meant we would be saving a few hundred baht a night. On Phi Phi we went out on kayaks and a day fishing trip where we caught a baracuda which a really nice Thai guy cooked for us for free. The boys and I played football with lots of thai people from 5 until 7 most days which was a really good laugh, we even won more games than we lost. We made really good friends with a few of the people that worked there. One was called Thai, another Chai and Big and little boss. We didn't know this yet but those friendships would really count two days before we left. One morning Tom, Rebecca and I swam over to a small beach around the corner from where we were staying which was about 2 kilometers away. The whole of the bay we stayed on in Phi Phi had white sand with amazingly clear water.
We visited "The Beach" one day which is called Ma Ya bay and even got some snorkelling done which I assume Bampy will be pleased to hear. We did go out for a few drinks on two occasions. The second night we went out it all went rather pear shaped and left Tom and I a little bruised and battered. Our intentions for the evening was to go and watch our new thai friend Chai fight in a thai kick boxing fight in reggae bar which is a really popular spot for backpackers. We couldn't see him when we arrived so we went to another bar on top of a building and had a few drinks up there. When we'd finished there we went to Jordans Irish bar and had another drink and a dance session which was really fun. Ben, Fray and Finland had all gone to another place but we had planned to meet up with up later.Bex and I went outside for a chat, we had been sitting across from the main doors when i saw poor Tom come playing out of the door stumbiling backwards before hitting the deck hard. Next thing i know there's about four thai men standing over him kicking him. At this point I got up and ran over and thumped some thai guy in the head. After that it all went black and i woke up with Bex laying over me shouting. I don't know how long i was out for but when i came around i got up and grabbed Tom and said " We've got to go". We both ran as fast as we could back to the hotel. I was bare foot because i'd lost my flip flops. We where running along the road and Tom kept shouting about his wrist, as one was tightly locked up in a hand cuff. Turned out the guy who had started on Tom was a Thai police man who was drunk and has a nasty habit of beating up westerners. He's also a Thai kick boxing champion which i hope explains why Tom and I put up such a poor resistance. We got back to the room and Rebecca and Jess turned up about 15mins later being escorted by an irish guy. They were shaken up but not as much as Tom still having one hand in a police handcuff. The Irish guy left and we began to think of ways to get the handcuff of Tom's wrist. This is where it all gets a little Hollywood. Jess suggested three amazing options, if it was a blockbuster film. They are as follows...
1. Pick the lock with a hairclip.
2. Use her hair straighteners to heat the metal and bend the metal.
3. Use a breeze block from outside to smash it off.
Obviously I tried to calm everyone down and said that there was a building site around the corner and in the morning we would get Thai or Chai to go and get a hacksaw so we could free Tom. At that point Chai turned up to see what was wrong and next thing i know i'm standing outside Big bosses bungalow asking for a hacksaw. About half an hour later Tom was free. He's still got the smallest part of the handcuff to keep as a memory, he may even make it into a bracelet just for a laugh. The next day i could bearly see out of my right eye because it was so swollen. Small boss had already been to the police station to kick up a stink. Everyone found it slightly funny the next day because if we didn't laugh I would have definetly cried. That afternoon a policeman from the main land had come over to see us because this was a really serious incident for the Thai people, everyone on the island really wants the policeman strung up. We missed the police man but after we decided that we wouldn't do anything because it could turn around on us. That evening big boss made sure that we where around because he threw a massive BBQ to say sorry. We had fish, rice and a few beers which was really nice. Lots of Thai people came over to show that they were sorry for what had happened. Thai, Chai and little boss tried on a few occasions to pursuad us to go to the police but we really didn't want to. The next day we left Phi Phi and headed back to Krabi.
Please don't be to concerned because its ok now and we've all had a laugh about it
Me and my face : )

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Aonang

Tom and I arrived in Aonang at about 2 o'clock and checked into our room in the Grand Inn. The room was really nice, we had a fan, air con, tv, fridge, a balcony, a safe and even hot showers. We threw out bags in and looked the valuables in the safe before going to have a bit to eat and a look around the resort. The main road runs right along the beach which is a large bay with crystal blue water and the odd island and stack rock formation out at sea. After going for the walk and pricing a couple of activites that we wanted to do we headed back to the hotel and grabbed a beer. The day was sweltering hot so we sat out the front of the hotel playing scramble and watching the mopeds breeze down the road with no less than four adults clinging onto them. After a few games we headed back to the room and had a shower then popped out to get another beer and a Pad Thai from a street stall. Tom and I went out for a beer in the evening to watch the New Zealand verses South Africe game. We wandered down a small side street and saw at least a dozen bars all with Thai girls standing outside. As soon as Tom got about a third of the way down the street a Thai girl came running over and fell flat on her face about 2 inches from Tom's feet. Suddenly Tom and I both became aware of the 20 or so pairs of Thai girls eyes staring at us. We both just looked at each other and said "Not a chance" so we turned around and walk back up the street and found a quiet Irish bar and had a beer there and caught the game where we could relax. The next day Tom and i got up and went for a walk down the beach. We grabbed some food from a food stall and took it down to the beach and ate it on a long watching the waves Andaman sea breaking on the sand. We decided to go for a swim which was really refreshing. When we got to the end of a beach we saw a monkey eating a banana with his feet sitting on a bridge which had a wooden walk way leading up around the cliff into the jungle. We walked all the way around the walkway and ended up on a private beach resort where we had to sign in just to walk along it. After the stroll along the beach we went back to the hotel to read our books and relax. Rebecca and co turned up about an hour later so we all chilled out and played cards and scrabble until the early hours.
The next day we'd all planned to rent kayaks but when we woke up the weather for kayaking was less than perfect so that went out the window. Instead we wondered around the shops, went out for a bit to eat and read. Sometimes its nice to have a really lazy day not doing anything at all. That evening we went out for a few drinks but it was only a quiet one so where all in bed by 11 ready to travel to Phi Phi island the next day.

Krabi

Yesterday Tom and I left the islands on the east coast to go over to the west coast to see the islands over here. The most famous of the islands is Phi Phi. Phi Phi is the island out of the blockbuster film The Beach with Leonardo Decaprio. Krabi is the main port that the ferries sail from so we got the bus there. We arrived there at about 9:30 in the evening. To make it over to Krabi we got a shuttle bus, a ferry, a tuk tuk, a coach and last but not least a school bus.It took about 8 hours. We arrived and found a hotel which was terrible and had some food. As soon as the lady had closed the door to our room Tom caught a glimpse of what he would be sharing his bed with that night. A cockroach, right over his pillow. We turned the room inside out then went to bed. The next day we got a taxi down to Krabi town centre and booked into a hotel for the night. We went out on a long tail boat ride up the river that runs next to the city. The boat driver took us to a few places the only one worth mentioning was a kind of fish farm where he got a blow fish out of the water and made it blow up right before our eyes. Tom and I both found this amazingly funny, he even let us take some photos of it while we held it. I'll have to post them at a later date. Were planning on going over to Muang which is the beach resort area of krabi tomorrow.