Hi all
Well I hope you are enjoying the instalments so far as well as the pictures. I was going to upload some more today but it is Songkrahn. This is a festival to celebrate Thai New Year and basically its one giant waterfight. I ventured out earlier to change some money and got absolutely soaked (luckily I brough my water proof money belt) so I've had to leave the camera back at the bungalow for fear of it getting wrecked in the madness.
Thanks for your comments and emails by the way, really enjoying getting messages from back home. A couple of quick responses here - Cat, Tim Tams can be found in the UK in Tesco (at least the main one in Taunton sells them). Karen - I'm liking the mad idea of a you coming to Fuji :o) look forward to discussing later.
Since I last wrote I have finished reading Pride & Predjudice (ahhh) and have started reading 'Anna & the King of Siam' (remember the movie The King & I with Deborah Kerr and Ule Brinner). Maybe this is one of the ways travel broadens the mind - I'm doing a good deal of reading. OK its not really weighty literature but at least I'm keeping the grey cells working!
I spent just over a week altogether on Koh Phangan and very beautiful and varied it was. The south is much more touristy then the North West/North but all good for diffrenet reasons. In amongst my pics are some of the bungalows I stayed in at a place pronounce cho (as in jo) lok lum (Choloklum) that cost me 200B a night. The black bits on the mosquito net are tape by the way not insects. But the funniest part was that the art around the walls were covering up bloody great cracks. The shower was literally a right angled pipe coming out of the wall (cold water but that doesn't matter too much here). Choloklum itself though was a pretty little fishing town (if a little on the stinky side bacause of the fish).
On Thursday I met up with some friends from back home Marcus and Lydia who are here on holiday. We all headed across to the next island on from Koh Phangan call Koh Tao (turtle island). We've not seen turtles yet but we did go snorkeling at different sites all round the island and it was amazing. Will have some pics to upload when I can get them developed. I even saw a black tipped shark! I can't wait to go out again but got a bit but burnt yesterday so I'm being sensible and staying undercover until the pain has subsided!
We are staying in Rocky Bay and the bungalow I have is a little rustic (cold shower and a non flushing loo) but has great views over the bay. I was however a little freaked out and glad of Marcus & Lydia when I got back to the room on the first night to discover a flipping great ghecko in there. Now, I've already encountered ickle ghekos like the one in my picture, but this fella was at least the area of a breeze block! Not nice! I know it was probably more frightened of me (yeah right) but it still freeaked me right out! So still getting used to the wild life!
I shall be heading out of here in the next few days. Not exactly sure when, prob Wednesday. Will be going back up to Bangkok, then Kanchanburi (of Bridge Over the River Kwai fame), Ayathia (old capital probably have spelt wrong), then Chang Mai/Chang Rai & Pai.
I shall keep you updated as I go! I hope all is well with you guys back home.
Love to you all.
Nx
