Ton Sai, Phi Phi and Ko Lanta

Penang Beach, Krabi
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It's early in the morning and we've many k's behind us, we're tired and our tempers can range from being polite but gritting our teeth to just blatently falling flat on our bellies and our fists hitting the ground, if only our back packs would allow. Instead we'd fall like turtles and squirm around on our backs till one of our pals was embarrassed or felt pity. Anyway we're in Au Nang, but we didn't realize, we thought this was Krabi town and no more, until 2 hours of pondering around later and a local climber informed us that we need to grab a boat taxi, you know the guys in the shirts who have been eyeing you up and watching you walk up and down the streets for the last few hours, and get yourself onto one of the Islands. So Ton Sai it is, a quick 5minute soaking by the spray of water that the boat creates and we land in a tiny bay with a back drop of a jungle and mountains. Okay its beautiful, but where is everyone? mind it is 8 in the morning and most people are far from wiping the sleep from their eyes.

Gin time
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A quick strut into the jungle, ready to ditch our bags and take the cheapest hut going, after much bargaining on the much steeper prices (still, compared to Britain accommodation is easily a 20th of the price) we make it to our sweet, average sized bungalow, fight of our backpacks, and head for breakfast. Result. For the next 2 days we lay motionless on Ton Sai beach, Penang and East Raileigh beach, easy peasy and much what I needed. On the evening we find a bar selling Shisha pipes and chuff away on Water Melon flavored Tobacco, scrummy, and many Chang beers.

back drop of a jungle and mountains

Ton Sai, accomodation in the jungle
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Next stop after a pile on boat trip we discover Phi Phi, again we land thinking this is it, fat, old and hairy tourists tucking into western food and slapping on factor 2 leaving their rubbery skin a burnt orange off brown color and the saggy women with their bits hanging out of their tiny, mis-functioned bikinis. Then, to my relief the bar man informs us we need to jump on a taxi boat to Long Island. Now I'm starting to see where the money making scam is coming in.

5 minutes and 34 seconds later, I've had the salt spray in my face and we land onto a white beach, the clearest of water with fish circling my ankles while I straddle to land with my annoyingly heavy back pack (before you go there, I need everything I own). First of all we head for the PADI dive center to see if we can catch some free lodgings as the others want to take their open water and I'm hoping that if I do a wreck dive I can scramble in for some free accommodation. It works but not for the first night, instead we're 100 steps up on Phi Phi hill with the best views over the bay for one night. Up early the next day and I'm off for my first wreck dive, the story being that the car ferry ran aground in 1997. It just so happens that there was no cars on the ferry at the time and the company now owns a nice shiny new floata. Anyway, 31metres down and I find the toilets where a sea snake has now taken the U-bend as its home. We squeeze into many swim throughs spotting some bizarre and amazing sea life, I've no idea what each were but just being down there was enough to entertain me. After lunch we dive to 18 meters at Shark Point, but the sharks were on holiday. We swam round the pinnacle, all the various tropical life were fascinating but for me the swarms of millions of fish circling around me, engulfing me like a cloud of smoke, often changing direction and the light catching their scales, it was something special and I had to blaspheam to show my appreciation. God damn beautiful!

O Oh Sam Sung with the boys
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The next few days I'm lazying on the beach trying not to eye up the banana shakes and Mega Almond ice screems and save the pennies, but I surrender to the saliva glands doing over time. A night out with a canadian couple and the locals later and I've a serious Chang over not to be proud of. Thats enough of stunning Phi Phi, I'm ready for even more of a chill out on Ko Lanta.

An hour on the boat being offered various accommodation on (another) Long Beach in Ko Lanta, all at reasonable prices but feeling we're being lured into submission we say 'no, we'll find it ourselves'. Once landed and wishing we had taken the locals up on their offers as everywhere's full, we finally, after another tantrum later, find our digs. It's the ugliest bungalow on very high stilts but the low price takes our fancy. On the inside its quant like all the rest and we're happy. The next few days we lazy around on the beach with the Canadians, me being irratated by the beads of sweat falling from every inch of my body and suffering from the previous nights heavy intoxication, craving for my 4th bannana shake and ANOTHER hot curry, the evenings just topping up from the night before at the same beach cafe we named 'home' and visited easily 3 times a day.

Ummmm don't know
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Although its chilled and good fun, all the bathing, eating and drinking starts to become a little repetative and the tranquil scenery which is spoiling me is starting to look boring (and it just isn't the North) and we decide its time we visit Malaysia leaving 'No money no Honey' Thailand and the Canadians behind......