Chad and Sharon Moore

We caught an early ferry from Phuket to Koh Phi Phi Don (KPPD) - We even got free coffee and cake which was great :-)

It was a bit hectic at the pier as the touts rushed up to us telling us about their hotels.  We decided to have a look around ourselves and set off towards the village.  We found a place after 1/2 hour or so.  It is hard work carrying all your stuff on your back in the heat!  Thank god we didn't go too crazy with the shopping!

Our hotel was in a great location - near to the action and a 30 second walk to the beach :-)

There are no roads in KPPD which makes the pathway very busy, the locals make a beep beep sound as they rush past on their bikes and deliveries are made using large trolleys.

So far on this trip we haven't been amazed by the water and fish - maybe living in Australia has spoiled us.  When we stepped onto the pier in KPPD we were amazed.  The water was clear and full of wonderful looking fish.  KPPD is part of a collection of islands 40km offshore from Krabi, South Thailand.  It is the largest island with cliffs plunging into the sea, gorgeous white sandy beaches and warm clear water. It really is island paradise.

One of the great things about moving around is exploring a new area.  After checking out beach bars for enjoying later :-) we decided to get a bit of exercise.  Twenty minutes later, we are looking down onto KPPD from a lovely viewpoint, wow, what a view :-)

KPPD has a great vibe, nice bars, restaurants and enough backpackers to set a relaxed atmosphere.  We have booked an all day boat trip for tomorrow.  Sharon has a chance to face some fears - so first of all we will face some beers :-)

Boat trip report soon, if we survive !!

Everyones idea of paradise is different.  Patong may be ideal for men looking Thai companionship ;-) It may be ideal for people looking for that Costa Del lifestyle in Asia.  Is it ideal for us.....

After a short local bus trip down from Khao Lak we arrived in Phuket Town.  From there, a quick truck thing(can't remember the name) took us to Patong, the main tourist area of Phuket Island.  We had ample time to find accommodation so we checked out 4 or 5 places.  Cheap meant staying in a brothel :-), no thanks, expensive meant staying in a luxury resort, we wish :-) we got a good rate (800 bht) in a nicer area - aircon, tv (watched another footie game - sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet) and a massive room with balcony.  Sharon was happy too.  We nearly stayed at another place until a nice Asian lady remarked how nice the rooms were as she had visited a few  with various men - thanks for that image!

So, Patong, it has sleazy bars, tourist beaches, western food and cheapish markets - not our cup of tea.  It was worth the stay though as it really is a great place to people watch and opens up all kinds of discussion on East meets West, etc.

Next stop - Koh Phi Phi

PS Big Happy Birthday Mum - look forward to taking you out for a slap up meal when we get back (well, if we can afford it ;-) )

PPS The question mark on this keyboard does not work :-( 

I had a couple of recommended places to stay, so we tried them first - both were closed for the night... hmmmm.  If in doubt, have a beer:-)  We followed the sound of laughter, a sure sign of alcohol consumption!  In the dead of the night, Malones Irish Bar came into sight.  Thank god the Irish like a drink - sorry Shakira, Shakira and Mick:-)  Our luck was in, the restaurant next door had a hut available. Sweeeeeet.  Even though they were closed within an hour, food, beer and accommodation was all sorted.  This travelling malarky is easy :-)

The hut was nice and quaint but it was Sharon's birthday so we moved to a place with air con, tv and a fridge and explored Khao Lak.

Khao Lak was one of the areas badly damaged during the Boxing Day 2004 Tsunami resulting in 100 of the 134 hotels being either destroyed or damaged.  Of course, we all know thousands of people died when the waves hit and whilst walking along the beach, we saw a few shrines to various tourists who had lost their lives here. 

Since then, it looks like Khao Lak has bounced back strongly.  It has plent of natural beauty to offer and tourists are coming back (especially the Germans!).

We have spent the last few days eating, drinking and sunbathing.  Sharon has swum in the sea a few times and all her practice seems to have paid off.  It has been relaxing here but now it is time to move on to Phuket which is dubbed "Pearl of the South" by the tourist industry but many consider it tourist hell.  We will wait and see.......

ps. Have a great 30th party tonight Big O!

Today was always going to be a difficult day.  We were planning our longest journey yet - PKK to Chomphon to Ranong to Khao Lak.  I had made this decision so that we would be in a nice beachy location for Sharon's birthday - it was a risky move as it relied on various methods of transportation working together!  We were up early in PPK, the hard bed made that part easy :-)  We grabbed a little snack from the trusty 7 - 11 and caught the 8am local bus to Chomphon, once again the only farangs in sight.  This journey took 4.5 hours, enduring the driver's choice of very loud thai rock music videos (I didn't know it existed either).  So, we get to Chumphon where I found out, with great difficulty, (my thai is still next to nothing) that the next bus to Ranong wasn't for 3 hours... doh ! This put a spanner in the works.  Still, never say never.  We managed to get a cheap local shared minvan going to Ranong leaving in 1 hour, sweeeeet.  So, Sharon and I squeezed into the back seats - we soon realised why everyone else avoided the back seats.  Lets just say we spent the next 3 hours reliving our days of the space hoppers!

We arrived in Ranong to be greeted by a massive storm, money grabbing taxi drivers and the news that we had just missed the bus to Khao Lak!  At this point the taxi drivers were circling us like vultures, remembering never to trust a taxi driver, we found the bus station and waited for the next bus.  Of course, the fun continues.  The 5pm didn't show, the 6pm didn't show.  The bus station staff reassure us that the 7pm will definately turn up - yes it did but at 7.45pm!  The bus was full.  Did we still want tickets?  Hell, yes.  Standing?  No worries, just get going.  To be honest, the people on the bus were really nice and Sharon was offered to share a seat with two girls (well, one I wasn't too sure of).  I opted to stand as I didn't want to squash anyone.

Finally we were on our way to Khao Lak.  The next issue was arranging accommodation! As I wasn't sure if we were going to get there, I figured we could play it by ear which is fine if you are arriving early enough but not when you are going to turn up at 11pm!  The storn continued outside, the world became dark and I tried to remain calm standing on a bus for 3 hours saying to myself that worse case scenario we could sleep on the beach under the stars and watch the sun rise - it would be romantic :-)

The bus finally pulled into Khao Lak.  It was raining, dark and deserted but at least we had made it for Sharon's birthday.  Mission Khao Lak was successful.

Where did we sleep? Find out in the next journal.........

PS Thanks everyone for their comments and birthday wishes for Sharon x

Prachuap Khiri Khan

After leaving crazy Bangkok on a local bus, which turned out to be quite comfortable and half empty (phew), we headed south to Prachuap Khiri Khan ("PKK"). 

PKK is very laid back and just what we needed after 4 nights in Bangkok.  Not many travellers visit this place which is a shame and it is a really nice place.  After arriving, we headed towards a hotel and that is when I had to face one of my biggest fears ....... the dreaded squat toilet!!!!  I have also found that the beds over here are really hard - felt like concrete!  All this didn't worry Chad as he was very excited when we turned on the tv and he was able to watch an Australian tv channel showing the Sunday footy show so he got a fix of rugby league :-) Go Manly !!!!

Chad and I then went exploring in search of the monkeys !  It didn't take us long to find them.  They were at the bottom of Wat Thammikaram and were all running around like maniacs.  Chad tried to take a few pictures but they don't like you getting too close.  Believe me, they might not be big but they can be scary. 

We decided to visit the Wat - Chad wasn't too keen after reading how many steps there were up to the Wat :-(  Whilst climbing, Chad found a nut on the ground and threw it towards one of the monkeys who was guarding the steps, which is fine but it bounced and landed right at my feet! I've never moved so fast, especially when the big crazy monkey started making its way towards me!

PKK has a fantastic market.  I was very tempted to do some more shopping but managed to restrain myself as would have to carry everything.

The locals are very friendly and don't often see many farangs (foreigners).  They pointed at us and tried out their english - it is kind of strange when kids stare at you.  It was nice to not have people pestering us though. 

We had a lovely evening listening to a local concert right on the beach in honour of the King's anniversary.  We saw our first lady boy too. 

Next stop - Khao Lak

Bangkok

The trip started off well.  We had loads of spare seats on the flight and copious amounts of alcohol.. hic, and watched some great movies (The Departed and Dream Girls).  I wish all flights were like this :-)

We are staying in a hotel near Khao San Road (backpackers haven) which is luckily not too noisy. 

So far we have been shopping at MBK - my heaven and Chad's hell :-)  I even got to try out my haggling skills and didn't do too badly - managed to get 70 bht off a sarong!  I think I need more practice though... he he :-)

We have been trying to stick to our daily budget.  So far, we have been getting our food from the market vendors.  I have to say, the food is fresh, sooooo tasty and best of all, cheap!  Chad is very impressed with my beer drinking skills.  We have been having Chang beer every night (large bottles - 45bht) and I am handling it well and even enjoying it, shock horror :-)  I'm sure I will have withdrawal symptoms from not having my vino :-(

Below, Sharon enjoying a healthy breakfast.

We have also been to the Grand Palace which was fantastic - lots of vibrant statutes - a great insight into thai history, it really is amazing how much they revere their king.  Not how we treat our royal family.

We have had all the usual "tuk tuk" scams tried out on us - we are clued up thanks to the Lonely Planet guide and they haven't fooled us yet.   

It has been hard trying to adjust to the humidity but the hotel pool is certainly helping us to adapt :-)

We are looking forward to getting out of the hussle and bustle of city life and heading to the beaches to relax. 

Next stop Prachuap Khuri Khan........ hopefully :-)

Ps. Many happy returns to Chad's Nan, hope you had a lovely day.

Ok, it's Wednesday morning, we are packed (well sort of) and we are thinking of the things we know we have forgotten. Lots of thanks to Lee Patrick for his help with moving all our belongings to a friend's garage, also thanks to Emma for providing the aforementioned garage. Lee, it's amazing how much effort you can put in outside of work hours :-)

Thanks to Nicola and Owen for putting us up for a couple of days, check out the view from their place!! It's been hell staying here......not :-)

Last night we had a lovely evening at the local Manly Trivia night (pub quiz) it was great to see everyone before we left. Sharon won a spot prize, which was typical as we have packed everything! So presents were dished out to a lucky few friends, for example you'll never know when a Victoria Bitter cool bag will come in handy Kev! Talking of presents, many many thanks to everyone who contributed to our special present of lots of Thai Baht, wow guys you really shouldn't have. As organised as we have tried to be, we still hadn't actually got any currency so it saves me a job, sweet!

Please enjoy our travels with us, feel free to leave messages of encouragement and advice, and of course keep us up to date!! We need to know all the gossip too :-) We will be checking our hotmail accounts if you can't be bothered to join this website.

Next stop Bangkok.......