Got Net?

Yay! Back in Kantiang for the 4th (or 5th?) time. Because were we going to be here over new year Lanta Marine was full so we had to stay down on the beach at Kantiang Bay Resort. Being 10 meters from the beach was good, but the place has went downhill recently. The bungalows were grubby and pretty disappointing, nobody in the restaurant seemed to have a clue what they were doing, the food was mediocre and the staff definately didn't serve with a smile. Lanta Marine resort is still ace though. Left there at 5:30am this morning, and the party went on until 7am apparently. The staff are as friendly as ever, and one of the guys appeared when we had just arrived and said it was good to see me again. Can't believe they actually remember me, they must get 1000's of people going through that place in a year.

The luxuary resort Pimalai is supposed to be putting on a big firework display at New Year, should be fun - looking forward to drinking some mushroom tea and watching the sky exploding for new year.

Kantiang beach from the South end. The image on Flickr has notes showing all the bars and restaurants.

New Year 2008/2009

The Shroom Bar up by Lanta Marine was the obvious choice for New Year, needless to say, it rocked. nothing much to say about it other that look at the photos:

New Year Fireworks
Me and Anne watching the sun come up on the 1st January 2009

Fireworks! Love 'em!

More Firework Fun:

Diving at Ko Haa

Something I've wanted to do for years is go scuba diving. Before I went on this trip I took some lessons at home, it was all going well until the instructors sprung a swim test on me. I've never been a particularly good swimmer and I couldn't swim the required 200m or complete some of the other tests. I thought that would be the end of it but I found out on Ko Jum I could do a DSD or Discover Scuba Diving, which is pretty much day diving without having to learn too much of the theory or complete a swim test like you have to do for your PADI.

I'd got to know of the instructors Vikki pretty well (her boyfriend worked at the bar) and ended up arranging it through her. It was split over two days. One morning in a pool learning the basics, which was easy for me as I'd already learnt them in the pool back home. Then the next day it was an early start leaving on a dedicated dive boat out to Ko Ha. There was about 15 or so people on the boat, most doing some sort of diving course or just along for a bit of snorkelling.

Scuba diving in the sea  for the first time sort of blew my mind a little - possibly one of the bestest things I've ever done in my entire life. Ever. I even met Nemo. I've really never experienced anything like it, I totally understand why people get hooked on it. It was incredible, like being an astronaut in an alien world, utterly bonkers. I was simultaneously shitting it and having the time of my life. On the second dive I went down a little too fast and nearly landed on a clump of sea urchins. I had a fight with these critters on a snorkelling trip a few years ago and lost. It was a painfull lesson - the spines took about a month to finally completely grow out my foot. So it sort of freaked me out a bit and I nearly bailed back to the dive boat. SO glad I didn't. Thanks Vikki for calming me down enough to go on :)

Various dive photos - click the images to view larger

And finally...

Kantiang was as awesome as ever. I only planned on staying for 5 nights, I ended up moving from the not-so-nice bungalows on the beach and moved up to Lanta Marine and staying for a total of 10 days

Every night pretty much turned into a late one at the bar, I met a bunch of folk, and saw some familiar faces, and lots of sunsets (and a few sunrises). It doesn't surprise me that so many people come to Thailand, find Kangtiang, then stay way longer than they were planning on. It seems to have that effect. Can't wait to go back!

Sunsets with Ko Ha on the horizon, taken from Top View
Various pics from the bar in Kantiang

Finally moved out of Anne's house in Krabi town and hit the beaches properly. We stayed at the 'Oonlea' bungalows on Ko Jum, run by a lovely French woman called Valerie. Within hours she knew all our first names and was more of hostess than a bungalow outfit owner. Highly, highly recommended. The food was excellent, presumably the French influence. A bit on the expensive side, but when the resort is easier to get to by boat than on the winding single track trail that runs along the side of the island its nothing to complain about given the effort it must take to move things around. The bar by the beach is ran by a friendly English bloke called Jim, great place to watch the spectacular sunsets over Phi-Phi.

Awesome Sunsets from Ko Jum - the big cloud in the one the right looked like Stay Puft - marshmallow man out of Ghostbusters

In the evening we got a crazy taxi to Joy Bar. By 'taxi' I mean battered Honda bike driven by a slightly manic Thai guy wearing a head torch with a welded on side car that can fit 3 people, maybe 4 if you had been going easy on the burgers. Joy bar has excellent pizzas (Domino's could learn a thing or two) and a quick walk along the beach to Freedom bar led us to a really chilled bar and friendly staff. Another taxi back along narrow paths through coconut groves and a hazy night cap on Anne & Fees balcony ended an awesome night. Fell asleep under my mosquito net listening to the sounds of beasties in the surrounding jungle.

Anne & Fiona in a Ko Jum taxi

Tropical Gardens at Oonlee

Woke up in the morning hearing load bangs and thumps on my roof. It turns out there was a troup of monkeys having breakfast up there. Watching them, watching, me through my slated glass windows it felt strangely like I was in an inverted zoo, with me being the exhibit and the monkeys coming to visit me.

In fact I liked it so much at Oonlea that I might go back for a few days on my way back to Krabi and do some diving with one of Jim's mates that does some diving instructing, sort of depends how turbo things get in Kantiang.

This is a summary of a month long trip of SE Asia - it links out to other detailed articles. Laos first, then Thailand where spend Christmas & New Year with friends Anne and Fiona from home. Christmas and New Year on the beach - bring it on!

• Arriving in Vientiane
• Exploring waterfalls in Vang-Vieng
• Journeying to the centre of the earth

This map shows where I am:

13 Dec

Left wet, rainy, cold glasgow - huzzah!

14 Dec, 2am local time

Arrived in Dubai, possibly one of the swishest airports I've been in. I love the fact there's people from all over the world here. Everytime I come through this airport I know i'm on my way to start a Big Adventure. I've never, ever, tried McDonald's Arabic attempt at fast food though - the McKofta. The new Terminal 2 is biblical in proportions, its the first time I've see it open. Huge doesn't even begin to describe it. Its so long that it actually has a vanishing point.

14 Dec midday

Woo-hoo!! Almost in Laos! Until I got outside Bangkok airport it didn't really sink in that I was back, then the heat and smells all kicked in and I realised I was back - yay... happy days.  I wasn't too sure I'd even end up here at all after the protests a few weeks ago, but its all good now. I've got 5 hours to kill before my flight to Vientiane in Laos - from previous trips I know there's a shop just outside the airport where I can get a few beers. Just round the corner from *that* there's a small garden. Ahhh... beer in the sun in December. No idea why this wee garden isn't packed, seems nobody else really knows about it. (Neil if you're reading this - I was sitting in exactly the same spot as last year :)

15 Dec - Vientiane

I'm here! 36 hours of planes and airports and I've landed, in a small turbo-prop plane.Absolutely knackered by the time I arrived. Hotel is much, much nicer than I expected. As is the whole of Vientaine really.  Its  very clean and tidy - even the traffic isn't that bad. Its a little bit like Chiang Mai, except like wandering around a big park. So far Laos is and isn't what I expected. Vientiane is the capital, so there's a lot of embassies and posh government buildings. Everything is very low-rise, hardly any buildings are over 2 or 3 stories tall, and its very green. Loads of trees, fountains and gardens everywhere. [2 DAYS in VIENTAINE article to be added]

Wat Simuang	Vientiane skyline from the top of Patuxai :)
Buddha Park - the giant pumpkin	Naga, Wat Chanthabouli

So far I've discovered breakfast is the best meal here. Because of the French influence (a lot of SE Asia used to be under french rule) you can get freshly-baked, still warm bread and excellent coffee and bagels. Found a deli this morning where I'd just like to eat in everyday. Fantastic toasted bagels and free refills of excellent fresh coffee. Don't even get me started on the cakes. yum yum yum.

I read in the back of the guidebook I have that there are are hill tribes in the north that until as recently as the 1950's used to perform human sacrifice (they are called the Alak and Katu tribes - look it up) Mental. Fortunately I'm not going that far so there's little danger of me being eaten. I'd imagine bright red bald scotsmen are seen as a rare delicacy... :)

17 Dec - Vang Vieng

oooh... me likey... me likey a lot. VV reminds me a bit of Pai in Thailand, but the massive karst mountains are much more impressive. Its uber chilled here, and there's loads to do. Kayaking down the Nam Xong or mountain biking or caving. I'm a bit wary of the of the caving thing after wandering into a cave on Koh Lanta in shorts and t-shirt last year when we should have really have been kitted out in full safety gear. The one on Lanta was dark, wet and slippy, with drops presumably going all the way to the bad firey place. I watched Journey to the Centre of the Earth on the plane on the way over though, so I might give it another try. Think I'm going to try renting a mountain bike tomorrow and going cross country to a waterfall. The book I have says its rarely visited, so it wouldn't surprise me if there is a road, museum and souvenir shop there by now.

Random photos from around Vang Vieng

Was sitting by the river earlier in what felt like a bizarre petting zoo, hens, chickens, ducks and young kids all wandering around. There's a rickety bamboo bridge spanning the river, when more than two people go on it at once it make waves like that famous suspension bridge in the States thats always shown on those Discovery channel engineering programs.

18 Dec- Na Douang & the Kaeng Yui waterfalls

Figured the best way to see a bit of Laos would be to rent a mountain bike and have a scoot around. I'd heard about the twin Kaeng Yui waterfalls in the mountains. The waterfalls were pretty awesome .So much in fact there's an entire post about them here.

The Kaeng Yui waterfalls - read more here

Tomorrow its some sort of caving/kayaking thing, which I've paid a comparative fortune for ($50 compared to my $6 local jungle trip). Somebody was there when I was booking it who'd just done the same trip. "In a cave, 500meters underground, up to your neck in water" isn't a phrase you hear that often. Yikes.They've even asked for my insurance details.

19 December - Caving and Kayaking

Went on a guided tour today with Green Discovery. They do a lot of eco-friendly tours all over Laos. It was a half day exploring caves, lunch, a bit of a walk through the country side, then an 8km kayak down the Nam Xong back into Vang Vieng. The main post is here.

Buddha inside Tham None

Paddy fields around Vang Vieng

20 December - random mountain biking

I was only planning on staying in Vang Vieng for a few days then heading to the Plain of Jars, but I'm starting to run short on time and I know from previous trips visiting a place for three days is a little bit different from actually seeing it. One of the best ways of getting around is mountain bike or moped, especially given the state of the roads once you leave the main highway.

So I spend the day cycling around, exploring caves and swimming in mily blue pools like the one below. There's lots more about it here.

The natural spring at Pou Kham

24 December - Krabi, Thailand

Hanging out with Fiona and Anne in Krabi, brilliant to see them over here, in my fav country. Went to the beach today - tomorrow its a BBQ in the beach. Went to Macro of all places this afternoon and bought loads of booze. Including a bottle of Chivas Regal. You can take the Scotland out of Scotland, but not the Scotland out the Scotsman :)

Happy Christmas

27-29 - Ko Jum

Finally moved out of Anne's house in Krabi town and hit the beaches properly. We spent two days at the Oonlee Bunglaglows on Ko Jum on our way to Lanta. After Christmas it was an excellent way to chill out before heading off to Kantiang. Find out what it was like here.

29 Dec - until nearly the end - Kantiang, Ko Lanta

Kantiang is quite possibly my favourite place in Thailand. Anne, Fiona and I headed there for New Year. It was as good as always, but so much happened its getting its own page

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