a backpackers journey...from Koh Phagnan to Pai

12.02.2012
11.00 am pick-up from the guesthouse ( hostel, hotel or resort..wherever you are staying in) to the pier
12.30 pm take a ferry to Chompon ( Mainland)
Duration: depending on the waves, current and the stage of the motor ( ours just went off like every 40 mins for a minute before roared into full-power again) from 5 to 7 hours.

tip: sleep as long as you can and wherever you can...even outside on all the backpacks..actually the best place to be..inside half of the people were throwing up

deep sleep on the ferry

Did it? Still alive, still everything you have eaten today in your stomach..and you managed not to fall overboard? Congrats! Collect your bags..eat a quick snack..go to the toilet..and enter the next means of transport

12.02.2012

7.20 pm Bus to Bangkok

Duration: depends again..traffic, driver..blabla...we arrived at 4 am the next day.

13.02.2012
4 am, Koh San road
squeeze yourself with your luggage through hundrets of people still partying in the street...
order a Pa Thai and get someone to find a guesthouse ( in this case Ana ;-) )

13.02.2012
5 am till 11 am..sleep and stretch as long as you can..in this case the bed was hard as a plank..but whatever.

13.02.2012
12 noon till 4 pm..get sorted,buy a train ticket, be lucky that there are still 3 tickets left in the sleeping wagon to Chiang Mai, eat, drink, sit around, go on the internet, sit around..wait.

4pm..take the Ferry down the river to station Nr. 4

walk 15 minutes to the Train station.

Eat again.

13.02.2012
6.10 pm take the train to Chiang Mai
Duration: arrival time should be 7.45 am, but actual arrival time was 9.45 am...always..i repeat: ALWAYS plan 2 or 3 hours more into your timetable!

14.02.2012
9.45 am Arrival in Chiang Mai

9.55 am take a Tuk Tuk to the city or the guesthouse you want to go to..

10.15 am  Breakfast..sit..wait for your room...check the internet...meet with new people at the table and meet with people you already know from somewhere else..in this case.. Matt Diamond from the Rhombus crew. He wanted to leave to Bangkok the same night..but we convinced him to stay with us and visit Pai with us. 138 kms north from Chiang Mai.. supposed to be a really nice and calm and esoteric town. That´s what we needed....a break from the party's , some yoga, good food, time to relax in a hammock..

Soooo,
15.02.2012
11.30 am..same game again..pack up your stuff, get a Tuk Tuk to the Busstation, buy a ticket, wait an hour and get on a Minibus to Pai
1.30 pm bye bye Chiang Mai

15,02.2012
4.30 pm..hello Pai.

More to Pai....soon.

xx, j

Island hopping.. Koh Tao Koh Phagnan

A new year begins..and it is gonna be legen-wait for it-dary!!

So after a heartbreaking goodby from the Canela and Rhombus Crew and also from Joanne, who had to fly home for an interview i was alone in Krabi, waiting for the storm that forced the  Ferry to Koh Tao to stop working to loose its force. After nearly 2 days of waiting i could take the afternoon bus and the night ferry where i met one lost sister.
Writing our names in the Ferry guestlist she goes: Judith Thiele..i just couln´t believe my eyes and said..You must be kidding me! Rather puzzled she looked at me but as soon as i wrote my name down her eyes widened as well.
So, here we were, 2 Thiele´s on the Ferry to Ko Tao..and as soon as we arrived everything was clear. We did the Padi together, shared one bungalow and of course  also where Dive-buddys. This 4 days where really intense, especially after 2 weeks of party. My brain was fuming because of all the new vocabulary and techniques i had to learn to finally be a Diver.
This experience was amazing and brought me nearer to one of  my favorite imaginary life's as a kid: being Arielle the Mermaid.
Unfortunately i seem to have really small ear channels so i took ages to get down to the others..but well, i also enjoyed just seeing bubbles for a while ;-)
                                                           

SORTED! Remember? Signals, Orientation, Regulator,Time, Equalize and Descend ..ha..and all that without looking it up again..Brain still works ;-)

4 Divebuddys per instructor..wonderful

beautiful Koh Tao

The day we completed our Padi was one of the hardest..getting up at 5 am to do the 2 morning dives as the first ones on site,...completing all skills under water necessary ( clear your mask, taking it off and on again ( yes..all under water and your mask is without water after clearing), doing the emergency routines and being amazed about the busy life in the sea. Our first dives where logged in our logbook, a quick lunch back on the island and off we went to take the ferry to Koh Phagnan to meet Ana and to go to the famous Fullmoonparty.

Crazy bucket time again...ooouuhh, tonight´s gonna be a good night..tonight´s gonna be a good night, tonight´s gonna be a good good niiight. People where all happy, painted in neon-colours all over, everybody with his own favorite mix in the bucket.

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Judith,  Ana and me

It was so nice to see Ana again so we felt like being a little bit with the guys from Koh Phi Phi again which we send all our love and good wishes through the most amazing fullmoon i have ever seen. Perfectly shaped with a ring surrounding it and a cloudless sky that affronted all the bad weather forecasts for that day.

the perfect fullmoon

Going through all the same music again we had to laugh a lot reminding each other about one of the guys..
i have a hangover..ooohhhhhh, i´ve been drinking to much for suuure..( this one goes to Bruno that was kept on the boat one night wishing to hear this song instead of tonight´s gonna be a good night..that made him want to party..but no chance..dingy was gone, kajak too, and the only people passing by where already fully loaded.)

We had a perfect night and danced until the sunrise.But after 26 hours of being awake our eyes definitely   just wanted to shut and our bodys where happy to lay down..even on one of the worst beds ever. Didn´t matter...as soon as head touched pillow...gone.

We spend 3 days on the island, jetting around on our motorbikes to explore other places, partying a liitle bit more for Ana´s birthday including a crazy jungle party where i decided to run into a barbwire
(and no..i wasn´t drunk..ok, maybe a little, but not to much...i just didn´t see it..it was dark!..and who the hell suspects a freaking barbwirefence in the middle of the jungle..see..could have happened to you too!)
That only stopped the party for a first aid disinfection ( Judith was a good nurse!) to cover it up and then to dance a bit more before going home for sunrise again.
3 hours later we had to get up, pop our belongings together, return the motorcycles, get a proper bandage on my tiger attack scar ( now i tell everybody it was a baby tiger..looks like it so..why not?!) buy some brekkie and take the ferry to the mainland.
Bye bye islands..hello big long journey to......
Chiang Mai.

Koh Phi Phi

I heard horrible things about Koh Phi Phi....and they are all true! Forget about the paradise that it was a couple of years ago...the secret spread to fast...and now it is a second Mallorca. Well, that was very dramatically now...of course their are quiet and nice places on that island..but we had to stay in the busy part as it was cheaper and of course to be close to Joannes friend Alex.
Well, and as we only wanted to stay 3 days it wasn´t that bad to go out and go a little crazy. HA! If we only new.
Can you think of a reason to stay 11 (!!!) days instead of 3? No?...Sure?
Well, what about meeting 5 brasilian guys and 3 Kiwis sailing the wold on their yachts. YES! That´s the whole explanation and from then on we looked at each other every day and said...Why not stay one more day? ( it turned out that " Why not" and later " E por que nao" will be our favorite answer to everything)  Another drink?...why not..another song?...por que nao....another day? Why not stay?!.
And when Ana ( also from Brasil) came to join the guys we had a new best friend to share our mischief with.
This guys party really hard, so i have to admit that the 10 days go down in a  blurr sometimes and even trying to sort out what we did when brings me a headache. But to break it down to the simplest: Waiting on the beach, having a party on the boats during the day, singing , playing guitar, cajon, maracas, going for a swim, trying scurfing ( wakeboarding on a surfboard..and yes..i did it ;-) )..drinking one more cuba-libre..dancing on the roof...getting ready to go for the beach, squeezing into the dingy, dancing on the beach..drinking a little more...dancing more...going home or back to the boat to hear some more guitar playing and singing.It was wonderful and we had the best time ever with our new friends from Brasil and NewZealand.
And once more that proves what´s important in life...it´s the people you are with, they make your day!
Muito obrigada por esse tempo veio gaucho na Candela !!!
Thanks guys for that amazing time on board of Rhombus!

love, j

underwater action

the canela

the ocean bar is open

another beer...por que nao?!

scurfing beginnings 

singing, dancing, drinking

and the party goes on..at the beach

the way down south

On our way to Koh Phi Phi, where we wanted to spend Christmas and meet one of Joanne's friends we stopped in Khao Sok Nationalpark where we enjoyed 2 days of nature, jungle and humidity. The walks through the forest where impressive, you feel so small in comparison with the trees surrounding you.

well, this was actually forbidden...but as i said..mischief isn´t far with Joanne and me...

But after that we where ready for the beach and stopped in Khao Lak to book a tour to the Similan islands..Joanne went diving and i snorkeling. It is a great place to be, not to busy, the people are really nice and you can find the best street noddle soup ever!
Our day trip was all about making jokes, laughing, nearly falling off the speedboat and exploring the underwater world. We ended that day at 4 o´clock in the morning ( really???!!!!! i didn´t see that coming!) after dinner with the boys from the boat and an improvised salsa and karaoke night at their favorite bar ( and nearly the only one in Khao lak).

Pictures are yet to come..forgot to get them from Joanne.....

next adventure: Koh Phi Phi..

x, j

Thailand--Bangkok

Wow, what a difference...and it started right at the boarder. but let me start my telling you how you even get from Seim Reip to Bangkok...well, very easy..you book a bus at the guesthouse your staying..it departs at 6 o´clock in the morning and takes 8 hours. Sounds easy, fast and good.

Check list for your journey:

• Ok, so book the bus.
• Get up at 5. to be ready for the pickup.
• Pick up is punctual..and brings you to the main-bus pickup.
• Stay around and wait for one hour...( seriously..i could have slept longer!!!)
• Get confused because the guy organizing the people gets confused and asks you 5 times if you are traveling alone or with another person..( YES:: IT IS 2 OF US!)
• Get even more confused when a taxi turns up where the hush you in.
• OK..this is not a bus..but who cares..the taxi is gonna be much faster.
• Sleep if you can ( Chris was sitting in the front and had near-death experiences because of the driver thinking he would like to be Michael Schumacher)...( i could sleep ;-) )
• Wake up at the boarder, walk across the other side, get a stamp and arrive in Thailand.
• Get the next mini-bus and experience a way of driving on normal streets in good condition..i nearly forgot about streets without bumps and holes and dust..
• Arrive in Bangkok and make your way to the Hilton Hotel.

( What..oh, yes..you read right...Chris has millions of Hilton points because he lived 2 years in one for work..and decided to treat himself to a 2 night stay in this wonderful hotel....he invited 2 friends along so one more didn´t really matter.)

• Feel really, really out of place arriving at the Hilton Lobby with dusty backpacks...dirty clothes and disgusting hair....ok, its time for a major shower and laundry!!!

Enjoy..enjoy ..enjooyyyyy the luxury ;))))
4 people in one room, some beers and music, nice talks and new friends...
one night in a perfect comfortable bed, sports in the hotel gym, whirlpool....rooftop pool...i must admit, THIS is nice!!!

view from the rooftop bar 

Chris with his entourage ;-)

And then..the best thing to come..meeting Joanne again! Yey!!!!! Together again we are up to new mischief

coffee to go...here in a plastic bag

 ;-))

more from our adventures asap..
xx, j