From: Julian Edwards
Sent: Sunday, August 04, 2002
Subject: Captains's Log part 2
Ok it's been 5 weeks since the last message so there's enough crap to fill another one now :) Oh, and those who also get Jenny's messages will probably find this quite boring unless you prefer my unique writing style of course.
Right, well we left Bangkok on a really grotty 'sleeper' (in the loosest sense of the sleeping concept) train heading south to a town called Chumphon although our final destination was an island off the east coast called Koh Tao. Having arrived at Chumphon at around 4am you can imagine that our sprits were quite high - and even more so after we were told that we had to wait another 1 hour 45 minutes for the 15 minute bus ride to the ferry. Conveniently, however, we noticed that the platform cafe seemed to be open for business. The world is full of odd coincidences huh?
Anyway, a few hours later and we arrived on the island and checked into our luxury accommodation which consisted of a hut with a fan and a bathroom that looked like someone had exploded a shit bomb. (we now know that this is quite normal for Thai bathrooms!) They had also skillfully designed the hut so that it was actually hotter inside than out, which was bloody amazing since it was already around 35 Centigrade outside. I guess I mustn't grumble for 200 Bahts a night (just over 3 GB pounds).
We did our PADI Advanced Diving Course there which was pretty exciting as the diving sites are fantastic (well recommended to all you divers) and dirt cheap! After we finished the diving we thought we'd try a bit of hill walking to get the view from the top of the island. It turned into a spot of mountaineering and guaging dashes between shady spots but the ice cold beer and the view at the top was well worth it!
After that we went south to Koh Samui and treated ourselves to some more expensive accommodation and 5 days of R&R after the previous experience. On one of the days we rented a "jeep" (again, in the loosest sense of the word "car") for which the renter seemed not to require me to show any form of ID or driving licence. In fact, I'm bloody sure we weren't even insured! I guess you get what you pay for. We went to see some various famous spots around the island and one in particular which was rather amusing - some rocks shaped like genitals.
I know you're thinking that's really childish but you gotta see these things man, they were just damn hilarious. One was a man's bits and one was a woman's. Highlight of the trip so far. Really.
Once we had stopped laughing, we managed to secure transport south west to the west coast and on to a place called Krabi. Much more mirth ensued of course. We ended up getting a boat to somewhere called Railay beach which was unbelieveably picture perfect (I emailed some of you a picture of that already). Crystal clear water, white sandy beaches and the classic Thai cliffs.
But our main mission when we got there though was to find a bar that was showing the Formula 1 and it turned out harder than expected but we eventuallu stumbled on this lovely little coffee bar with a TV with Star Sports on. Excellent! we thought. Ah, hang on a minute, they don't serve beer. PANIC! The guy sat next to us suggested that we visit a bar about 20 metres away and bring the beer back to the coffee bar and drink it surrupticiously. Unable to resist the temptation of beer, I duly came back with two of the biggest bottles of beer I've seen in ages and we proceeded to drink away. Of course, more people turned up to watch, found the same problem, were told the solution and before you know it there's about 15 people all sat there with beers under their chairs! As the alcohol took effect we got braver (read - dumber) and started leaving the bottles on the bar top, along with the empties. The bar girl then shocked me by clearing away the empties! I nearly lost control of my bladder I was laughing so much...
We heard that there was a lagoon up in the cliffs somewhere so we set out to find it the next day. After some *serious* climbing (ropes and all) I got to this lagoon and I'm telling you it looked like something out of Tracy Island. I was just expecting the top to open and Thunderbird 1 to fly out. Fantastic :)
After Railay Beach, we went to Koh Phi Phi which again had the most amazing beaches and no cars. Bliss. We did a couple of dives there and I managed to pick up an ear infection. Anyone who's had one of those will be cringing with pain right about now. I also just found out that I perforated my weakened ear drum by blowing my nose. I see there's no pleasure without pain...
We stopped at a couple more places in Thailand and eventually made it over the border into Malaysia. I was kind of expecting a border crossing like in the German war moves ("Papers please!") but in the end it was pretty boring.
I won't say much about Malaysia because so far it's been a nasty, horrible, disgusting and thoroughly boring experience. We got into the Cameron Highlands a couple of days ago which is much nicer and a lot cooler. I never thought I'd be wearing a sweater in 25C but there ya go!
The highlands are mostly farming area but there are lots of jungle walks, which we're planning on doing tomorrow. We did a quick tour yesterday and went round a tea plantation, which was really interesting. There are no seasons here. It's predictably around 20-26C all year round. This enables them to produce enough tea for five million cups a day!
Well that's enough ramble from me for now. I hope you are all still enjoying your jobs.
Bye,
J.
(BTW please pass on the mail if there is anyone I've missed)
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Julian Edwards
On tour, somewhere in the world
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