not even two weeks of our travels have passed by now, but it feels like a lot longer. so many things to discover... so, where did i leave you? that's right:
...DARY!!!!
and legendary it is so far. we started off in bangkok, where we had pre-booked a room for two nights. it is said, that you either hate or love bangkok. and at this point we hate it! it is hot, smelly, full of cockroaches and rats and it bloody dirty. i am very sure that this description does not fit to bangkok as a whole, but it certainly does match our impression.
all this packing up and leaving was rather exhausting, more exhausting than we thought and even noticed. so when we arrived in bkk we wanted to relax. so this enormous city didn't exactly give us what we needed.
we wandered around a little, tested the famous china town street food (very good and cheap indeed) and didn't do much more. we met up with don, a mate of mine i know from diving in egypt. that was the first time we both felt good. it was nice to have a chat with someone you know in this weird place. we also checked out the koa san road, where all the parties are and so on. meh... not sooo cool and NO, i don't want to buy blinking-flashy-things to put on my head!
so we decided to go south. we needed sun, beach, peace and quiet. and that is exactly what we found on kho pha-ngan. we took an overnight train from bangkok to surat thani, from where we got a boat to the island just off the east coast in the south of thailand. since whether bonda nor i have ever been in anywhere in asia we had to put our faith in the lonely planet guide book... and it worked.
we checked in to a bungalow in "sea side bungalow", a place run by a thai family and they are absolutely awesome. they told us first of all "to make this our home" and did all the could to ensure we felt that way. such nice people. we were in haad rin, the party place of the island. now luckily (for us) the main party beach is the sun rise beach in haad rin. we were on the sun set beach, which is quiet and peaceful. within a ten minute walk however you are at the "other" beach and can have a party and a bucket (which is dangerous, specially if it's filled with sangsom. mr crowley... finally i am able to fully understand). we also quickly found our "local" bar, where we would have a drink every day. the magic reggae bar, run by peng and peter pan... the real peter pan from never-never-land. true story. sop basically we were all happy. swimming in the sea, sun, fun. we also rented a scooter to explore the island, were we went to the than sadet waterfalls. unfortunately there was not so much water, but it was beautiful nonetheless. generations of kings were impressed by these falls and so were we. we also visited kho ma, a very small island of kho pha-gnan, connected to the main island only with a sand bank... very nice.
now during all this fun we didn't think that bonda has a f***ed up ear. problems started in switzerland, were getting better, but sea water, wind and air con didn't really help. so her small ear discomfort mutated into a full blown infection. not so cool... not cool at all!!! we went to a doc twice on the island and when ever it started getting better we overdid it and were back on square one.
in the mean while i was in contact with thomas and birgit, two friend from sinai divers in sharm-el sheikh. they lived in khao lak for over ten years and moving back and forth to egypt depending on the season. they are still here now clearing out the home bungalow after ten years because back in egypt they are "more in the business" and have to spend all year there (except holidays). so we moved over here to khao lak and this is where we are now. thanks to t&b we are staying in a motel that reminds me of a 4-5 star hotel for 15 bucks a day... awesome. we also went to another doc here. he gave bonda more meds and we decided to stay here till she gets well.
thoams and birgit are great. they really are!!! we both feel sorry for them, giving up all they have here. and still they are taking the time to show us around, once again on a little scooter.
khao lak was struck by the tsunami mid last decade. thomas and birgit were here at the time and told us a few horrifying stories along with a few stories that could go through as miracles. amazing what they have seen and done. they are both really good people and i hope life will always give them back what give.
they took us to see the police boat, a cop ship that is now 2 km inland and is still sitting there. they are at the time building a memorial site around it. we went up and down the coast, looking for interesting thing on the beach, crab racing, eating, visiting local markets and so on.
however... it is rainy season here right now and it is therefore raining a lot. today it started raining in the night and so far never stopped. my lovely bonda is feeling a little weak from all the meds and so we thought we'd have an easy chilling day. i went out once (and got really wet) to get some food... otherwise we are chilling.
once banda is all good again we will probably go to khao sok national park and hang out in the jungle, the mighty jungle for a while... btw: i can't get that song out my head! that one and the indiana jones theme song. everything here makes me feel like indiana jones. ta ta-ra taaaa, ta ta-taaaaaaaa....
my dad told us just before we left: "there will be bad moments and there will be good moment. just make sure you have slightly more good ones than bad ones!"
well dad... so far we are winning!!!
much love to you our wold, our families and our friends!!
dee and bonda
our view from our room in bangkok
dee in china town bbk
good food
don and dee
put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up....
bucket... the best and the worst thing :-)
bangkok main station... waiting time is the hardest time
over night train to surat thani
our bungalow on kho pha-ngan
view form our bungalow
hanging out (not posing for camera)
thai dee... (hitchhiker please notice I HAVE MY TOWEL WITH ME!)
our bungalow from outside
mr crowley... i understand!
scooter action
in the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight...
ok... this looks like bonda can actually ride a scooter...
than sadet water falls
than sadet water falls
elephant fan...
scared of elephants...
sun set....
kho ma
kho ma
in khao lak. bonda, birgit and thomas
sinai divers in thailand :-)
local market in khao lak
tsunami memorial
scooter trip... best roads ever :-)
thomas and birgit
bonda and dee
birgit, bonda, thomas
birgit, dee, thomas
love ya babe
view into the jungle from our motel in khao lak
finally this stuff is uploaded... off to puket tomorrow and i have to sleep. drinking all the sangsom while waiting didn't help my health, but it was fun...
i hope you enjoy and please give me some feedback.
cheers,
mr dee
