Hello all, hope everyone is good and well. So back on the road again and back to being a 'proper' backpacker, gone are hot showers, my own room, SKY TV and friendly faces and hospitality. Leaving OZ was more like starting travelling again and as i stated in my last blog it felt more like home than travelling, that said it was welcomed and its not like i haven't been to OZ before. I had a 9 hour flight from Melbourne to Bangkok, I must admit i was less than impressed with the flight. Even though all my flights are with Quantas, they outsource to Jet star, a less luxury airline. There were no personal TV's and food, drinks and snacks were all chargeable. However to my joy 2 hours into the flight I was advised by the stewardess that I had already pre-paid hot meals and a drink, had I?? I am guessing this was due to the fact that Quantas had outsourced to Jet Star. I could have purchased a 'entertainment unit' for $15, however i was tired due to the heavy and late night the previous evening with Kate and friends, I also had purchased a new book after finally finishing Danny Wallace's 'join me' which had taken me nearly 4 weeks to read, which was surprising as i really enjoyed, is definitely worth a read. My new book, 'Into the Amazon' is also turning out to be a great read, a true story about a guy and his wife from Bristol in fact, who venture into the Amazon rainforest to discover unmapped lands, it wont be long before i finish it.
I arrived in Bangkok at 8pm, I had already booked a hostel for 2 nights on the recommendation of Joe, who if you remember i had met in India, it was called 'Lub'd' and had some great reviews. I had researched how to get to the hostel before leaving Melbourne and the fastest and cheapest way would be the MRT and then switch to the Skytrain. The Hostel was situated in the 'Siam' area of the city and was next to the impressive MBK shopping center with 7 floors and the National stadium. The train and skytrain altogether took 45mins from the airport at mere BHT50 (£1=BHT50) pretty cheap i am sure you will agree. I got off at Siam, and went in search of the Hostel, i had read it was directly opposite the station, this didn't seem to be the case. I asked around and finally found a policewoman, she said that there was no hostel of that name around here, now feeling tired and agitated, i was already sweating carrying 20KG's and the humidity, which isn't that bad but when your slightly stressed and tired carrying a small person, its not nice. she advised me to go to the 'Information Center' and grabbed me a tuk tuk, we drove 10mins away from Siam, I knew already that this was not good, not that i thought i was in danger but i knew the hostel was close to the station. We got to the information center, I guy greeted me and asked if i wanted somewhere to stay, at this point i was calm and said no, i have somewhere i just want to find my hostel and gave him the address. After 5mins of him trying to get me to change and sell me al sorts of trips I lost my rag, and quite bluntly said 'I just want to got to my Fcking hostel' he gave me a hard glare and then instructed the Tuk Tuk to take me to Lub'd Hostel, i was there within 10mins and the Tuk Tuk drive knew exactly where it was, I didn't pay him for the return journey and he didnt complain. The hostel was great, 24hr staff, free WIFI as well as 6 up to date PC's, also free for use. The whole place was immaculate clean, hot showers and clean bathrooms. I was stying a 4 man dorm and there was one other person in my room, who returned later, Galen, 27 from Canada. I slept well that night. The next day Monday 17th, I chilled for most the morning and figured out what i was going to do. I decided to visit the 'Grand Palace'. This was about 15min taxi ride to the west of Bangkok. I had been warned about Taxi's and the fact they should always use the meters, i jumped in one and he confirmed the use of meter, it came to BHT65, getting round Bangkok sure was cheap. I was wearing shorts, this i found out was not allowed, however of course there were people hiring out long trousers in abundance for around BHT30, Once sorted i headed into the Palace complex at a cost of BHT400. It was busy, with many large groups on guided tours, I opted just wonder around thinking there would be information as you walked around, this was not the case, no matter. The Palace and Temples were very impressive, after India and the amount of Palaces and Temples I had seem there, i had been reluctant to visit another but i am glad I did. I left an 1hr 30min later with some cool photo's. I decided to head for the infamous 'koh San Road'. popular with tourists the road is probably half a KM long and the only traffic are taxi's and Tuk Tuk's. In the day the street's are lined with the usual market stalls selling anything and everything, shops's were also in abundance and small alley ways off the road also hosted stall after stall. It was 12.30pm and when i had reached the road it was quiet, i later found out that everything doesn't get going until 2pm and then runs till around 11pm, by which time the bars, restaurants and ping pong establishments come alive, along with many food street vendors selling numerous thai delicacies. I grabbed some lunch, a Thai green curry which was awesome and had a couple of beers. I thought about staying and getting drunk and hoping to meet some fellow backpackers but I wasn't really in the mood, I need some toiletries also, so found a 'Boots' of all places and headed back to the hostel. That evening I read and got to know Galen a little more, not that hungry there was a number street vendors just outside the hostel, so grabbed some sort of noodle soup which wasn't too heavy, however it was hot hot and gave me the sweats, was nice though and of course cheap, cheap, cheap. Earlier in the evening I had also booked to stay the another night as the following day I wanted to do a day trip and it didn't finish till late, i perhaps should have moved as the all action of Koh San Road was 20mins from where Lub.d was and the skytrain didn't pass this way, however i didn't and booked another night at BHT500, still pretty cheap. I also booked on a day tour, this would take me to the floating market, the bridge over the river Kwai and the controversial 'Tiger Temple'.
Tuesday 18th - Was up at 6am to grab some breakfast as i was being picked up at 7am. A small minivan arrived just after, there were already 4 other passengers. Indian's from Bangalore who wwere now living in the middle east, a brother and sister from the middle east and their partners. I was to have a great day with them, their English was perfect and different to most Indian's, they were very friendly and funny and joined me in their conversations. Matthew was our guide for the day, Thai from Bangkok and again luckily for me his English very good. Our first stop was the floating market. This was situated 100KM west of Bangkok and took just over 1hr 30mins to get there. Damnoen Saduak Floating Market is well on the tourist trail after the Bond films. Totally chaotic, small 'klongs' or canals are filled with small flat boats jockeying for position, expertly paddled by mature ladies ready to stop and bargain at a moment's notice. It's colourful and noisy. Long boats are piled high with tropical fruit and vegetables, fresh, ready-to-drink coconut juice and local food cooked from floating kitchens located right on the boat. We jumped aboard a long board and had a 20min ride through the canals, occasionally stopping at one of the many shops to gander at the goods they had on offer. We were then dropped off in the heart of the canal's, almost on a small island where again it was a shoppers paradise. I opted not to go on a spending spree, though was tempted by some canvas pictures of the market in black and white, size and space in my bag put a dampers on that idea. We left the Market and headed for the 'bridge of the River Kwai'. made famous by the old war film. In all honesty I was less than impressed, as from the title of the attraction it was just a bridge over the river Kwai. Not all was a disappointment here, this is where we had a buffet lunch on a floating restaurant. It was pretty good and was all you can eat, i refrained to only 2 helpings with some fruit for dessert. After lunch we headed for Kanchanaburi province, this was the home to our next attraction the Tiger Temple. A buddist temple established in 1994 its a sanctuary for wild animals including 15 Bengal Tigers. The temple is always surrounded by controversy given that the obviously the main attraction is the tigers and you can get up close and personal with them, as I later did having a tigers head on my lap. This brings the question of how does a Tiger let you do that, of course the first question on every one's lip's is 'are they drugged?'. After asking this question to Matthew, he explained no, they are just have been brought up from a young age around people and have been tamed. I would wait to see for myself and make my own assumptions. We arrived at the temple, signing a disclaimer which basically said if a tigers decide to use you as a toy and maul you like a rag doll, the temple is not to blame, fair enough i thought. We headed for the Tiger 'pit' first of course. There were plenty of tourists, all wanting to get their picture with a fully grown Bengal Tiger. For those that know me, you will know i was first in line, big cats I think are amazing, beautiful animals and of course need to be respected, with the whole drugging issue in the back of my mind it was still perhaps going to be the only chance I'd ever have to cuddle a fully grown tiger. There were around 10 tigers, all sprawled out in the shade, all with thick metal collars and chained to the floor. Apart from one, who was pacing back and forth eyeing up the tourists, he certainly wasn't drugged. I must admit on seeing them, they really all did look lifeless, only there huge rib cages lifting up and down as they breathed, gave away that they were indeed not dead. You were lead by hand by a guide, slowly moving between the tigers, they would tell you were to sit and what position to take, then a guide would take pictures using your own camera, I wasn't sure how I felt the whole time, feeling amazed at the fact I had an Tiger on my lap but also a strong feeling of in fact they must be drugged, even when the trainer placed the weighty tigers head on my lap, not once did it open its eyes. I am still now 3 days later unsure how to feel about the experience. We left the 'pit' and wondered round the grounds coming across another more enclosed pit with 3 younger tigers, these were very much not drugged and was an awesome sight to see them play fight with each other and make deep roar type noises. I got some great pic's of the beautiful cat's at play. We were soon back on the road and heading back to Bangkok, this would take around 3-4hrs depending on Traffic.
It took almost 4hrs and i arrived back at around 8.30pm. Not that hungry, checked some emails and such like and then chilled out in the communal area, here I met Kerry-Lee and Emily. Kerry 27 from South Africa but currently living in the UAE and Emily 29 from New York. We chatted for a while and decided that we were all going to head to Koh San Road for lunch the following day. This was my last night in the hostel and as yet I still didn't know where I was heading next. I knew it would be south Thailand. The previous day i had booked up for the infamous full moon party on koh Phagan island which is situated to the east oof Phucket but this wasn't till the 10th November, I would arrive on the 7th so being only the 18th October i had at least 15 days kill. I had in my mind that i would go down to Phi Phi island, which is the east of Phucket spend some days there, then head back to the mainland and stay in Phucket somewhere for a while, then head on over to Koh Phangan. I was tired and i had seen a number of travel places on Koh San Road, so when we headed there the next day i would sort it out, as i knew that it would be an over night bus down to Phucket which left at around 8pm, meaning i would check out of Lub.d in the morning and then leave my bags in storage, find a travel place and then book the overnight bus if i could for that evening. This you will soon read didn't happen!!!!
Check out wasn't until 12pm, so i chilled out and made the most of the free time, Galen had left early so had the dorm to myself. I met with Emily and Kerry at around 2pm and headed for Koh San. We found a bar and ordered food and a couple of beers. We had been sat outside however within 20mins the rain was coming down with ferocity. We moved inside and had more beers. The rain wasn't subsiding, by now on my 4th beer i was getting bloated, then came the decision that would end all my hopes of getting the night bus to Phucket, I spotted a cocktail list, soon myself and Emily were on long island Ice teas, my favourite and for those of you that know it, strong as hell. Kerry restrained but got on the whisky. We were soon well on our way and it was only 5.30pm. I then spotted a guy sitting alone, he made comment about a waitress who had a rather deep and manly voice, of course she was a he, we laughed and I invited him to come over. His name was Raphael from France and he was one funny guy. The cocktails kept coming, we soon had another recruit, Jay from Korea hag also been sat on his own, again we called him over, 21 and a lively and funny guy, we were all soon chatting, laughing and of course drinking. We soon moved onto the next bar, Koh San Road now fully alive with people, street vendors and tourists. We found another bar, here we gained another 2 recruits to our ever expanding collective. Ryan and Sue from the UK, again great people and very funny, the shots were soon out and the night was getting messy and so was I. We moved on again and Ryan and Sue left us, it was now midnight, at the next bar, here bumped into 2 girls from the hostel who I had chatted with the previous day about full moon. Clare and Kate both from London, we had another 2 willing recruits and soon we had more as they attracted 3 English guys, one who was living an working in Thailand, they had all met that night also. From this point i really cant remember much. I have debated entering this next bit but i think most of you will have a laugh at my expense. I was feeling the effects of the cocktails and shots and suddenly felt ill, it came on quicker than a speeding bullet, I was not going to make the toilet, i turned my head and luckily it was only myself Kerry on this particular table, yes you guessed it I chundered a brownish fluid all over the floor, 'that will be the long island's then' i thought. I was devastated, I am never sick, either on the night, during or the next day when drinking. I was hugely embarrassed, however this had given me a second wind and i felt better. We quickly moved on to another bar, with only Kerry knowing i had just painted the bar floor with the contents of my stomach. Tt was now getting on for 3am, we attempted a club but it was already closed to new party goers. At this point i then realised i was homeless, i had no accommodation and though Emily and Kerry had spare beds in their dorm, the hostel are very strict on non guests staying over and being as the dorm was all girls, the other guest may have not approved. The hostel hadn't been rammed, i was sure they had a spare bed, we got back and so they did, i grabbed my backpack from storage and passed out in my empty 4man dorm fully clothed. It had been a funny, messy, fun night, despite leaving my mark own kind of mark on koh San road.
The next day I am sure you can imagine, I was far from feeling my best, i was still drunk when i got up and showered at around 10am. I checked out still not having a plan, i put my bag in storage and sat on the sofa feeling sorry for myself and chatting with Emily and Kerry about how the hell a quiet lunch had turned into a 15hr drinking binge, the culprit out right was the Long island ice tea's. My head was hazy and i couldn't think, it got to 4pm, after considering going to go Koh Samui with Emily and then deciding it wasn't logistically going to work I still didn't know what i was going to do. Phi Phi was top of the list but i didn't want to travel 15hrs in the state i was in. So remembering that the Indians from the day trip had mentioned a place called Pattaya, which is just south of Bangkok and only 1hr 30mins bus ride at a cost of BHT113. Its a beach town and popular with Thai's due easy access from Bangkok. I made a decision that I would go, booked a hostel for 3 nights and headed for the bus station via the Skytrain, this was a very unpleasant experience in my current state, the train was packed like sardines and hot!!! I was thankful to get off. found my bus and headed for Pattaya.
Now in South Pattaya staying at a hostel called Jomtien, I am sharing with 2 guys who i haven't as yet really met. The sun is out, so on finishing this post going to head the beach for the first time since GOA in the first week of my India travels. I neither loved Bangkok or hated it, it was fun, I got to see and hug a Tiger and left my own special souvenir on Koh San Road!!!!
I arrived in Bangkok at 8pm, I had already booked a hostel for 2 nights on the recommendation of Joe, who if you remember i had met in India, it was called 'Lub'd' and had some great reviews. I had researched how to get to the hostel before leaving Melbourne and the fastest and cheapest way would be the MRT and then switch to the Skytrain. The Hostel was situated in the 'Siam' area of the city and was next to the impressive MBK shopping center with 7 floors and the National stadium. The train and skytrain altogether took 45mins from the airport at mere BHT50 (£1=BHT50) pretty cheap i am sure you will agree. I got off at Siam, and went in search of the Hostel, i had read it was directly opposite the station, this didn't seem to be the case. I asked around and finally found a policewoman, she said that there was no hostel of that name around here, now feeling tired and agitated, i was already sweating carrying 20KG's and the humidity, which isn't that bad but when your slightly stressed and tired carrying a small person, its not nice. she advised me to go to the 'Information Center' and grabbed me a tuk tuk, we drove 10mins away from Siam, I knew already that this was not good, not that i thought i was in danger but i knew the hostel was close to the station. We got to the information center, I guy greeted me and asked if i wanted somewhere to stay, at this point i was calm and said no, i have somewhere i just want to find my hostel and gave him the address. After 5mins of him trying to get me to change and sell me al sorts of trips I lost my rag, and quite bluntly said 'I just want to got to my Fcking hostel' he gave me a hard glare and then instructed the Tuk Tuk to take me to Lub'd Hostel, i was there within 10mins and the Tuk Tuk drive knew exactly where it was, I didn't pay him for the return journey and he didnt complain. The hostel was great, 24hr staff, free WIFI as well as 6 up to date PC's, also free for use. The whole place was immaculate clean, hot showers and clean bathrooms. I was stying a 4 man dorm and there was one other person in my room, who returned later, Galen, 27 from Canada. I slept well that night. The next day Monday 17th, I chilled for most the morning and figured out what i was going to do. I decided to visit the 'Grand Palace'. This was about 15min taxi ride to the west of Bangkok. I had been warned about Taxi's and the fact they should always use the meters, i jumped in one and he confirmed the use of meter, it came to BHT65, getting round Bangkok sure was cheap. I was wearing shorts, this i found out was not allowed, however of course there were people hiring out long trousers in abundance for around BHT30, Once sorted i headed into the Palace complex at a cost of BHT400. It was busy, with many large groups on guided tours, I opted just wonder around thinking there would be information as you walked around, this was not the case, no matter. The Palace and Temples were very impressive, after India and the amount of Palaces and Temples I had seem there, i had been reluctant to visit another but i am glad I did. I left an 1hr 30min later with some cool photo's. I decided to head for the infamous 'koh San Road'. popular with tourists the road is probably half a KM long and the only traffic are taxi's and Tuk Tuk's. In the day the street's are lined with the usual market stalls selling anything and everything, shops's were also in abundance and small alley ways off the road also hosted stall after stall. It was 12.30pm and when i had reached the road it was quiet, i later found out that everything doesn't get going until 2pm and then runs till around 11pm, by which time the bars, restaurants and ping pong establishments come alive, along with many food street vendors selling numerous thai delicacies. I grabbed some lunch, a Thai green curry which was awesome and had a couple of beers. I thought about staying and getting drunk and hoping to meet some fellow backpackers but I wasn't really in the mood, I need some toiletries also, so found a 'Boots' of all places and headed back to the hostel. That evening I read and got to know Galen a little more, not that hungry there was a number street vendors just outside the hostel, so grabbed some sort of noodle soup which wasn't too heavy, however it was hot hot and gave me the sweats, was nice though and of course cheap, cheap, cheap. Earlier in the evening I had also booked to stay the another night as the following day I wanted to do a day trip and it didn't finish till late, i perhaps should have moved as the all action of Koh San Road was 20mins from where Lub.d was and the skytrain didn't pass this way, however i didn't and booked another night at BHT500, still pretty cheap. I also booked on a day tour, this would take me to the floating market, the bridge over the river Kwai and the controversial 'Tiger Temple'.
Tuesday 18th - Was up at 6am to grab some breakfast as i was being picked up at 7am. A small minivan arrived just after, there were already 4 other passengers. Indian's from Bangalore who wwere now living in the middle east, a brother and sister from the middle east and their partners. I was to have a great day with them, their English was perfect and different to most Indian's, they were very friendly and funny and joined me in their conversations. Matthew was our guide for the day, Thai from Bangkok and again luckily for me his English very good. Our first stop was the floating market. This was situated 100KM west of Bangkok and took just over 1hr 30mins to get there. Damnoen Saduak Floating Market is well on the tourist trail after the Bond films. Totally chaotic, small 'klongs' or canals are filled with small flat boats jockeying for position, expertly paddled by mature ladies ready to stop and bargain at a moment's notice. It's colourful and noisy. Long boats are piled high with tropical fruit and vegetables, fresh, ready-to-drink coconut juice and local food cooked from floating kitchens located right on the boat. We jumped aboard a long board and had a 20min ride through the canals, occasionally stopping at one of the many shops to gander at the goods they had on offer. We were then dropped off in the heart of the canal's, almost on a small island where again it was a shoppers paradise. I opted not to go on a spending spree, though was tempted by some canvas pictures of the market in black and white, size and space in my bag put a dampers on that idea. We left the Market and headed for the 'bridge of the River Kwai'. made famous by the old war film. In all honesty I was less than impressed, as from the title of the attraction it was just a bridge over the river Kwai. Not all was a disappointment here, this is where we had a buffet lunch on a floating restaurant. It was pretty good and was all you can eat, i refrained to only 2 helpings with some fruit for dessert. After lunch we headed for Kanchanaburi province, this was the home to our next attraction the Tiger Temple. A buddist temple established in 1994 its a sanctuary for wild animals including 15 Bengal Tigers. The temple is always surrounded by controversy given that the obviously the main attraction is the tigers and you can get up close and personal with them, as I later did having a tigers head on my lap. This brings the question of how does a Tiger let you do that, of course the first question on every one's lip's is 'are they drugged?'. After asking this question to Matthew, he explained no, they are just have been brought up from a young age around people and have been tamed. I would wait to see for myself and make my own assumptions. We arrived at the temple, signing a disclaimer which basically said if a tigers decide to use you as a toy and maul you like a rag doll, the temple is not to blame, fair enough i thought. We headed for the Tiger 'pit' first of course. There were plenty of tourists, all wanting to get their picture with a fully grown Bengal Tiger. For those that know me, you will know i was first in line, big cats I think are amazing, beautiful animals and of course need to be respected, with the whole drugging issue in the back of my mind it was still perhaps going to be the only chance I'd ever have to cuddle a fully grown tiger. There were around 10 tigers, all sprawled out in the shade, all with thick metal collars and chained to the floor. Apart from one, who was pacing back and forth eyeing up the tourists, he certainly wasn't drugged. I must admit on seeing them, they really all did look lifeless, only there huge rib cages lifting up and down as they breathed, gave away that they were indeed not dead. You were lead by hand by a guide, slowly moving between the tigers, they would tell you were to sit and what position to take, then a guide would take pictures using your own camera, I wasn't sure how I felt the whole time, feeling amazed at the fact I had an Tiger on my lap but also a strong feeling of in fact they must be drugged, even when the trainer placed the weighty tigers head on my lap, not once did it open its eyes. I am still now 3 days later unsure how to feel about the experience. We left the 'pit' and wondered round the grounds coming across another more enclosed pit with 3 younger tigers, these were very much not drugged and was an awesome sight to see them play fight with each other and make deep roar type noises. I got some great pic's of the beautiful cat's at play. We were soon back on the road and heading back to Bangkok, this would take around 3-4hrs depending on Traffic.
It took almost 4hrs and i arrived back at around 8.30pm. Not that hungry, checked some emails and such like and then chilled out in the communal area, here I met Kerry-Lee and Emily. Kerry 27 from South Africa but currently living in the UAE and Emily 29 from New York. We chatted for a while and decided that we were all going to head to Koh San Road for lunch the following day. This was my last night in the hostel and as yet I still didn't know where I was heading next. I knew it would be south Thailand. The previous day i had booked up for the infamous full moon party on koh Phagan island which is situated to the east oof Phucket but this wasn't till the 10th November, I would arrive on the 7th so being only the 18th October i had at least 15 days kill. I had in my mind that i would go down to Phi Phi island, which is the east of Phucket spend some days there, then head back to the mainland and stay in Phucket somewhere for a while, then head on over to Koh Phangan. I was tired and i had seen a number of travel places on Koh San Road, so when we headed there the next day i would sort it out, as i knew that it would be an over night bus down to Phucket which left at around 8pm, meaning i would check out of Lub.d in the morning and then leave my bags in storage, find a travel place and then book the overnight bus if i could for that evening. This you will soon read didn't happen!!!!
Check out wasn't until 12pm, so i chilled out and made the most of the free time, Galen had left early so had the dorm to myself. I met with Emily and Kerry at around 2pm and headed for Koh San. We found a bar and ordered food and a couple of beers. We had been sat outside however within 20mins the rain was coming down with ferocity. We moved inside and had more beers. The rain wasn't subsiding, by now on my 4th beer i was getting bloated, then came the decision that would end all my hopes of getting the night bus to Phucket, I spotted a cocktail list, soon myself and Emily were on long island Ice teas, my favourite and for those of you that know it, strong as hell. Kerry restrained but got on the whisky. We were soon well on our way and it was only 5.30pm. I then spotted a guy sitting alone, he made comment about a waitress who had a rather deep and manly voice, of course she was a he, we laughed and I invited him to come over. His name was Raphael from France and he was one funny guy. The cocktails kept coming, we soon had another recruit, Jay from Korea hag also been sat on his own, again we called him over, 21 and a lively and funny guy, we were all soon chatting, laughing and of course drinking. We soon moved onto the next bar, Koh San Road now fully alive with people, street vendors and tourists. We found another bar, here we gained another 2 recruits to our ever expanding collective. Ryan and Sue from the UK, again great people and very funny, the shots were soon out and the night was getting messy and so was I. We moved on again and Ryan and Sue left us, it was now midnight, at the next bar, here bumped into 2 girls from the hostel who I had chatted with the previous day about full moon. Clare and Kate both from London, we had another 2 willing recruits and soon we had more as they attracted 3 English guys, one who was living an working in Thailand, they had all met that night also. From this point i really cant remember much. I have debated entering this next bit but i think most of you will have a laugh at my expense. I was feeling the effects of the cocktails and shots and suddenly felt ill, it came on quicker than a speeding bullet, I was not going to make the toilet, i turned my head and luckily it was only myself Kerry on this particular table, yes you guessed it I chundered a brownish fluid all over the floor, 'that will be the long island's then' i thought. I was devastated, I am never sick, either on the night, during or the next day when drinking. I was hugely embarrassed, however this had given me a second wind and i felt better. We quickly moved on to another bar, with only Kerry knowing i had just painted the bar floor with the contents of my stomach. Tt was now getting on for 3am, we attempted a club but it was already closed to new party goers. At this point i then realised i was homeless, i had no accommodation and though Emily and Kerry had spare beds in their dorm, the hostel are very strict on non guests staying over and being as the dorm was all girls, the other guest may have not approved. The hostel hadn't been rammed, i was sure they had a spare bed, we got back and so they did, i grabbed my backpack from storage and passed out in my empty 4man dorm fully clothed. It had been a funny, messy, fun night, despite leaving my mark own kind of mark on koh San road.
The next day I am sure you can imagine, I was far from feeling my best, i was still drunk when i got up and showered at around 10am. I checked out still not having a plan, i put my bag in storage and sat on the sofa feeling sorry for myself and chatting with Emily and Kerry about how the hell a quiet lunch had turned into a 15hr drinking binge, the culprit out right was the Long island ice tea's. My head was hazy and i couldn't think, it got to 4pm, after considering going to go Koh Samui with Emily and then deciding it wasn't logistically going to work I still didn't know what i was going to do. Phi Phi was top of the list but i didn't want to travel 15hrs in the state i was in. So remembering that the Indians from the day trip had mentioned a place called Pattaya, which is just south of Bangkok and only 1hr 30mins bus ride at a cost of BHT113. Its a beach town and popular with Thai's due easy access from Bangkok. I made a decision that I would go, booked a hostel for 3 nights and headed for the bus station via the Skytrain, this was a very unpleasant experience in my current state, the train was packed like sardines and hot!!! I was thankful to get off. found my bus and headed for Pattaya.
Now in South Pattaya staying at a hostel called Jomtien, I am sharing with 2 guys who i haven't as yet really met. The sun is out, so on finishing this post going to head the beach for the first time since GOA in the first week of my India travels. I neither loved Bangkok or hated it, it was fun, I got to see and hug a Tiger and left my own special souvenir on Koh San Road!!!!
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