Posts with tag 'Islands'

Bangkok again, train, boat beach

I haven't posted in a while so this will possibly be a long one...

Met the lads in Bangkok as I said early. It was so good to see them again. We hit Khaosan road that night with Will who we had traveled through Laos with. That man is probably one of the funniest guys you can meet. A true hero. We basically just went out drank and talked. Had an awful lot of fun. After a while the lads, all bar me and Ian, to go to a ping pong show. Suppose, "when in rome..." I didn't quite see the attraction so me and Ian stayed in a bar and just talked a lot of shite about a lot of things. It was so much fun.

The next day I bought a fake student card, mainly so I can get a discount to matched and stuff. Unfortunately the clown that made it put me down as being in college in TKINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN. Oh well, might work in Oz. Not too pushed if it doesn't. After that we caught a train from Bangkok to Chumporn (or something to that effect) on the way to the islands. We just played 25 and Ian started to teach me a little about photography. He's letting me use his other SLR camera. started to get the hang of it on the boat to Ko Phangan.

So here I am in Ko Phangan. Been here for 2 nights now. The full moon party is coming up soon so each day the place gets noticeably busier. Have spent most of the time eating toasties and sleeping. Went to beach parties the last 2 nights. The first night I got quite drunk, last night I didn't drink all that much but had loads of fun. You can pretty much just wander around talking to random people. I'm really one for the dancing to the kind of music they play. Spent yesterday and most of today panned out in the bar at our bungalows. Hammocks rule the world :)

The beach we are staying on, Sunset beach, is fairly horribly. Its dirty and the water is murky and the sand is gritty. Still enjoying it though. Its too hot to go out in the day too. From 11 to 3 I pretty much have to stay in the shade. Not that its a problem. It was 4:30 by the time I got up today. Its a nice change of pace though to have 7 nights in one place. I don't have to think or worry about trains or buses, can just relax and gather myself a little.

Till next time,

Brian

Spur of the moment

So yesterday things took an unexpected twist and I leave for Kuala Lumpur in a couple of hours. From there, me and Ian fly to Jakarta. Just decided yesterday that it'd be a good thing to do. Means though that I'll be missing out on the Full Moon Party tomorrow and diving after in Ko Tao. THe diving I would like to do too but I've been on a tourist track the whole time so this is my last chance to deviate from that. Should be a lot of fun...

I know this sad but its something I have to do..........
I'm going to Java and staying in Jakarta. After that we might rent an Apache bike and head to the C. I hope there are no Pythons! We dont want to cause a stir so we have to remain very PC.

For those who get that... sorry, I know its sad. But when again will I ever have the chance to do that. Haha.

The last couple of nights have been fun. Again its just been more of the same. Relaxing all day and heading out at night. We went on a boat trip around the island yesterday which was good. Did a bit of snorkling and played some volleyball. Not exactly the sexy image normally portrayed of beach volleyball!

Last night was the first night not at the beach. Instead we went to a pool party. That was lots of fun. Jumping in water that I'm fairly sure was mainly piss by the end of the night. Met a few of the people we've seen for the last few days. Never got to say bye to some of them though which is a pity. THey were a good bunch. Its kinda taken me by surprise leaving so early. Can't wait though.

Will keep y'all informed

Brian

SE Asia, A quick guide

Right here is my guide/advice/review for SE Asia....

We arrived in Bangkok and spent 2 nights there. We stayed ages away from Khoasan road the first time we were there which was a huge mistake. You're stuck in traffic for hours then if you want to get there and it's where most of the stuff is happening too. We went into T.A.T to book our hotel the first time round and while we were there we booked trekking in Chiang Mai and our trip into Lao. If you wanna do it that way then thats fine but they will over quote you so haggle with them. I would advise not booking a place until you've seen it first. You can book something when you get to a place. We got the Vietnam visa sorted there too which is a must because you need it before you go to Vietnam. The second time round, we stayed on Rambuttri in a place called the Orchid Guesthouse. It was reasonably priced quiet location and near to everything (parallel to Khoasan).

In Chiang Mai, we stayed in BMP Residential which was nice, had a pool, was close to town, and organised the trekking. We got a VIP bus up there which was savage. Talking to other people who've been trekking I'd recommend going with the BMP Residential, they're the only crowd who spend a night at a waterfall, from what I gather (thats the 3 days 2 nights option). That for me was one of the highlights of the trip. Outside of Chiang Mai there are other places to see but I'm not sure of where or when.

From there we went to Chiang Kong to catch the slow boat. No matter what anyone tells you, you get you're visa at the border. If you do get the slow boat bring cushions the seats are uncomfortable. Lao is a gorgeous country but we spent the time on the tourist track. Tubing in Vang Vieng is decent but to really experience Lao I think you might need to get off the tourist track a little, I'm not sure how easy that is though.

Vietnam was the same as Lao, we just stayed on the tourist track. Around Hanoi there's Hao Lon bay (check spelling) and Sampa which we didn't see and are meant to be good. You can buy a bus ticket from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh for US$34 which lets you stop off in a few places. You can get suits in Hoi An but apart from a decent beach there is nothing else there. Hue looked nice but we only spent a couple of hours there. There are plenty of tours available but it might be best to see how much of the time you spend in a bus though. We didn't do anything. There is nothing in Nha Trang, maybe diving but Kho Tao is meant to be better.Stay a night or 2 and get drunk but don't waste too much time. The islands off the coast are meant to be nice, again we never made it there. Ho Chi Minh is cool. Its a good city and the tunnels are worth a visit along with the war remnants museum.

Kho Phangan is Ibiza but 10 years later. Full of English and Irish with nothing to do but get rotten drunk on a beach. Its good for a couple of nights but you need to be there long before the full moon to get anywhere. We were there 5 or 6 nights before. We stayed on the sunset beach which I think is close enough and far enough away from the action. Need to ask Jonny though.

Indonesia for me was the best place and the only thing that comes near it was trekking. The people there are amazing. We stayed away from Bali but there are the Gilli islands and Lombark in that general direction that we wanted to go to. We went to Sumatera, stayed as little as possible in Jakarta. If you only have a short period of time then Sumatera is you're best bet. If you want to climb a volcano the go to Berastagi. That place is amazing, the food, the people, everything. Around there as well is Lake Toba and Ketambe which we didn't get to see but heard great things about. From Sumatera we went to Bintan island. This place is a 2 hour boat journey from Singapore so you should make time for it. We stayed on Trikora beach in Yasin Bungalows, which is easy to get to. I would recommend going there during the week because a lot of people from Singapore go there for the weekend. I really recommend making time for the place.

KL is a really nice city and worth a visit but we didn't spend long enough there so I can't tell you completely what I make of it. I did like it though. Singapore is only good if you want to shop. After everywhere else in Asia it'll seem made expensive and drink is extortionate, even compared to Irish prices.

Any questions about anywhere, leave a comment and I'll do my best to answer....

Brian