20.09-24.09: A.L

On our last day in Koh Samui we walked to pier in the morning to hire a scooter from there. We went to a travel agency to get ferry and bus tickets, before we headed off to check out the most popular beach in Koh Samui; Hat Chaweng. We are really enjoying the scooter missions. Jono is an excellent driver, and Maja is a backseat cameraman. At Chaweng we had a drink on the beach, entertained by all the flash expensive resorts and the sunburned, overweight, speedo wearing jetsetters. We also made a mission to the mall to eat dinner and so Maja could satisfy her craving for Dunkin Donuts. The next morning we were going to the pier to catch the ferry to Koh Phangan. Jono made trip number one with his backpack and the surfboard and then drove back to fetch Maja. In the mean time Maja had gotten a phone call (a guy knocked on the door and without a word just handed me a phone) from the travel agency that inform us that she had written down the wrong departure time for the boat on our tickets, and that we basically had 10 minutes to make it to the pier and get on board. Running out of the bungalow with her big backpack, Jonos smaller backpack, the computer bag, and her own bag with a crazy poodle running after and trying to bite her feet (not wanting us to leave) she met Jono coming back from the pier. We almost forgot to pay for our last night in all the chaos. On our way to the boat there was a road block with some typically difficult looking policemen. We pulled ourselves together and did our best to look like decent people (overloaded and speeding), and were luckily not pulled over. Not so lucky were the two westerners on the scooter in front of us who were not wearing helmets. Fun fact: In Thailand, if two people are travelling on a scooter only the driver needs to wear a helmet. We find this (and a whole lot of other things in Thailand) difficult to understand, and instead of getting upset and frustrated we blame it all on what we call A.L (=Asian Logic). Examples of this can be thinking that they are not bad people for screwing a customer over as long as the customer didn’t realize that he was being screwed, adding meat to your food as a bonus even though you specifically asked for the vegetarian dish, putting a fried egg and a handful of chips on every single meal you order (this includes pizza), decorating your sundae ice cream with cornflakes and raisins and laughing at people who are angry (this one is especially frustrating) .

Anyway, we made it to the pier and luckily for us the boat was delayed. We even had time to sit down for breakfast before jumping on board. In Koh Phangan we found a really cool resort on a private beach (yes, again). The bungalows here are dirt cheap, and come with a beautiful swimming pool! We are especially grateful for this since the ocean here has bathwater temperature. We have spent some very relaxing days here, not even having to leave the resort! Today however we got a bit of a cabin fever, so we decided to hire a scooter to check out the island. We had been driving for about five minutes when (going steep downhill) the back tire blew out. Maja screamed thinking someone was shooting at us (we think this only proves that the innocent and naive Norwegian has spent too much time in South Africa), while Jono was struggling to keep the scooter on the road and we just avoided crashing the whole thing. We then had to drag the scooter back up the hill to the nearest ‘motor bike service-restaurant-accommodation-massage-place’. Jono lent another bike there, took Maja back to the resort and took the owner of the scooter back to sort out the situation. These kinds of situations are always uncomfortable since the owner of the scooter is holding your passport as a deposit and thinks it’s perfectly reasonable that you pay for the damages since you were the one on the scooter when the worn out tire blew out (ah, another good example of A.L). We are sure we make it quite clear that we aren’t paying a single cent, but of course you never know. Suppose it will just have to be a surprise when we later go to settle our bill. Anyway, we hired another scooter and had a beautiful drive around on the island.   

15.09-19.09: Skål to Iceland!

When we got off the ferry at Koh Samui our plan was to get a taxi and head off to Lonely Planet’s favorite beach Hat Mae Nam, since we were looking for some peace and quiet. On our way from Krabi we had met two guys from Iceland who were also heading to Koh Samui. Walking from the pier, we saw the two of them at the tourist information desk. We walked over to see where they were heading, hoping we could share a taxi. The thai lady at tourist information recommended this beach, ‘Lipa Noi beach’, that was not even mentioned in our beloved Lonely Planet. She told us that the place we had picked out had waaaaay to many people, and that we would be better off choosing her beach. Usually this is when you know you’ll be better off choosing any place but that, but since the Icelandic guys were going there and we didn’t have any plans we decided to give it a chance.

Now, four days later, we are still sitting here at Lipa Noi beach. What a place! We are staying in a huge bungalow with aircon, fridge, tv, hot shower and free internet, right on a stunningly beautiful beach which we have all to ourselves for R 100 a night! There is no traffic here and there is barely anyone around, except for the Icelandic guys, a few locals and a little white puppy Maja has adopted. The first day we were here we hired a scooter and drove around the whole island. Koh Samui is so chilled and beautiful, and the local Thais are the friendliest we have met so far. The third day here was one of the Icelandic guys’ birthday, so we had a little celebration with big beers over at their bungalow. The two of them had been travelling for almost two weeks and they were showing brutal scars from the tropical climate. They explained that in Iceland the warmest day they’ve experienced was 24 degrees. On the ferry trip to the island they fell asleep shirtless on deck, and now they’re fair skin was peeling off in big pieces. To add to the discomfort the mosquitoes had savaged their feet properly and it all looking quite uncomfortable, although you would never be able to tell from their constant grinning faces. They knocked on our door this morning to say goodbye and exchange email addresses as they were leaving for Phuket. They have invited us to Iceland, and we can’t wait to visit! Perhaps next year? Anyway, apart from this we have just been relaxing 100 %. Sun tanning, swimming and taking long walks is all that’s been on the itinerary. We are going to stay here two more nights (we’re not quite done with the chilling just yet), before we check out some of the other islands on the east coast.  

12.09-15.09: Railay beach

Sunday morning we got up early and rented a kayak. Destination being Maya Bay, where ‘The Beach’ was filmed. Two minutes into the paddle Tyron started whining, convinced that we were not going to make it.  It was a beautiful paddle along the towering cliff face in the deep blue water. Once we had come out of the bay we were paddling hard against the current straight into the wind over the chop, all whilst dodging speedboats, longtails and cruiseboats whose Asian captains drive worse than they do scooters. Tyron was now certain we were all going to die, but still claims he held it together as not to scare Maja. Despite all the chaos we eventually made it to the island, and paddled into the calm and beautiful Maya Bay. Having spent the two last hours paddling, our plan to get there before all the other tourists had failed. To the left of the main beach was a smaller, deserted beach which we claimed for ourselves. Crystal clear water, coconut trees and white sand, just like something out of a postcard. We pulled our boat to shore and Tyron headed straight for the water with his fishing rod, and within seconds he pulled out a magnificent species which we couldn’t identify. Then the boys got out their masks and dived straight from the shore. The dive was amazing; beautiful coral, reef fish and even two baby black tip reef sharks. They dived up against one of the cliff faces and found a deep cave under the surface of the water and being able to see light on the other side they decided to swim through it. They were amazed to find that on the other side of the cave was the open sea, and that they had swam right through the cliff with only one breath of air. Later when the main beach looked quieter we paddled across the bay to check it out, but didn’t spend long as we had a long paddle back. Coming out the bay we found that the wind had died down and most of the tourist boats had passed so the return trip was very chilled and enjoyable. Jono decided to fish off the back, while Tyron and Maja paddled. Almost home we decided to check out some of the beaches in the bay of Koh Phi Phi. Once again Jono and Tyron dived on the shallower coral where Jono got attacked by what he claims to be a savage, man eating packet. As he surfaced, eyes fixed on the coral below, the plastic packet covered his snorkel and wrapped itself around his back. Still not knowing it was just packet and unable to get it off, he thrashed around in the water, half choking and freaking out, much to Maja and Tyrons amusement. The beach next to this one is called Monkey Beach, and we decided that we wanted to film some swimming monkeys. We paddled close to the monkeys sitting on the rocks and Jono coaxed one into the water with a slice of bread. Not so confident when he saw how fast the monkey came swimming towards us he started shouting to Tyron who was standing in the water next to the kayak; “Tyron! Pull us out! Pull us out!” Tyron pulled (as fast as he could backwards with flippers on his feet) but the monkey was still faster than us. He caught up sooner than expected, so Jono tossed one slice in the water thinking it would keep him occupied while we made our getaway. The slice was gone in two seconds flat and with his eyes glued on the loaf of bread sitting on Jonos lap he decided to board the kayak. Jono was having none of this and decided to give the monkey a beat down with the end of his fishing rod. When the monkey then grabbed onto the rod  Maja started shouting “For god sake Jono! Just give him the bread!” to which Jono replied “but I still want to make myself a cheese sandwich!” One more hiss from the monkey who was now showing his teeth, he ended up throwing the entire packet of bread into the water. The monkey swam away victoriously. Tyron managed to capture the whole thing on cam.

 

The next morning we packed our backpacks and jumped on the ferry to Krabi. At the pier in Krabi we didn’t waste much time. Within half an hour we were on a longtail boat on our way to Railay beach. The longtails have a minimum price, so the more people travelling together, the cheaper it is. At the travel agency there were three other girls who were going to Railay beach as well. They were bargaining like mad with the thai lady to get a discount on the longtail trip, but weren’t too interested in sharing it with us. When the thai lady explained to them (for the third time) that it would be cheaper for them to go with us, they, very reluctantly, agreed and payed, still not even turning around to greet us. These girls weren’t just rude, they were also ‘huge’ (I’m now quoting Jono… I was going for something more like ‘rather chubby’, but Tyron would back Jono up on this one since he asked politely if we were going to Railay beach or on a hippo safari). Anyway, when we got to the boat the girls battled to board because when they stepped on the side the boat threatened to take on water. After some rearranging of the position of the boat they managed to get on board and claimed one bench each. There are only four benches in a longtail boat. Jono and Maja hurried to claim the last bench, leaving Tyron to choose between the first chicks lap or the nose of the boat. He sat down in front and this turned out to be a wise decision when one of the girls started blowing her nose, and Jono and Maja, who were sitting down wind, were no longer sure if it was only saltwater spraying in their faces.   

Half an hour later, and irritated with the fatties, we reached Railay beach. We found ourselves some cheap bungalows high up, close to the tsunami evacuation point. These cute little cabins were a steal for R 57 a night, and the resorts restaurant had a fantastic view accompanied by amazing thai food. After dinner we walked down to the beach. Railay east has a beautiful beach, and since it is now the low season there are very few people here. We’re not complaining! Railay is famous for rock climbing, and nearly everyone there were walking around with climbing gear. We didn’t do any rock climbing, but we enjoyed the beach, and the guys went for a walk through the forest and explored a cave. They also managed to find a beach with what seemed to be a hippie colony, where they were invited to come and see live music at a bar. The invitation was written on a leaf, and handed out by a guy wearing only a sarong and dread locks.

We only stayed at Railay for two nights, since Tyrons stay in Thailand is coming to an end. We caught a longtail to another bay where we were supposed to find our bus to Surat Thani. This all of a sudden seemed a bit difficult since no one could really tell us where to find the bus station, as it turns out they really don’t have a bus station. We bumped into a guy from the Netherlands who was running a travel agency in the middle of nowhere (Jono was convinced that he was actually a serial killer hiding from the police). He informed us that the bus companies have a pickup service but it was a bit difficult to say where they picked people up. Jono and Maja went on a mission to get food, but had to return defeated with only a packet of chips and a bottle of water. Then, out of nowhere, one of these truck-made-in-to-a-bus vehicles pulled up and insisted that they were the pickup service. The serial killer was persistent that this was not the right shuttle and that we should not get on it. Still, we jumped in and hoped for the best, all except Tyron who pointed at a Thai sign at the back of the car and made a guess that it actually said ‘Fuck you guys, we are taking you to the bush’. After about 45 minutes (and Jono guessing that they we’re actually going to drive us all the way to Surat Thani) the car finally stopped at the bus station. We had just enough time to buy some breakfast (Tyron, that lucky bugger, ended up with congealed pork blood), before we jumped on the bus to Surat Thani.

Three and a half hours later the bus stopped at ‘the final stop’, and we were the only people on the bus not knowing it was the final stop. We got off when the old bus driver shouted rudely at us, but only after Maja had told him “Shh! Relax!!”

Tyron had to stay one night in Surat Thani since his flight to Bangkok leaves from here, but the city is actually a bit of a dump, so Jono and Maja said goodbye to Tyron and jumped on the first ferry to Koh Samui.   

09.09-11.09: Koh Phi Phi

On our last morning in Patong with got up early to take the scooters and the backpacks AND Jonos surfboard (we’re already getting a bit tired of dragging that thing around, although it does come in handy when we need to put our smelly wet stuff somewhere) back to Karon beach. There we got picked up by a minibus which took us to the pier. We had just enough time to grab a cup of noodles before we jumped on the boat and were on our way to one of Thailand’s most beautiful islands; Koh Phi Phi. Getting closer to the island we could see just how beautiful it is. The limestone cliffs raises straight from the turquoise ocean towering meters and meters above our boat. In the centre of the bay lies the beach with fine, white sand and swaying palm trees. As we jumped off the boat we were herded like cattle along the pier to the frenzy of locals trying to sell accommodation, taxis (taxi-boats that is) or a trolley to put backpacks in. We dodged every single one, fighting our way through the crowd, before we went on a serious mission to find the cheapest accommodation on the
island. Cheapest accommodation turned out to be 150 B per person… in a 16 bed dorm room (thanks, but no thanks). We ended up in a room with a moldy bathroom, and with neighbors who shared the same floor planks as us which made our beds jump up and down every time they missioned around. Later we walked down to the beach. Maja enjoyed sitting on the rocks and the guys jumped in the water to snorkel. Tyron had forgotten his mask and Jono got bitten in the face by a clownfish (served him right after sticking his face into the anemone) so they came back quite quickly. Koh Phi Phi has quite a backpacker vibe, especially now in the low season. That obviously results in pretty crazy beach parties with fire dances and free buckets of strong alcohol given out hourly. We chilled it this night though. We ate dinner and jumped into our jumping beds.

Next morning we checked out of the moldy room and missioned down to a place called HC Andersen (hehey to all the Scandinavians). We are only paying R 50 more here, but we have a big room with air con, fridge, tv and a dvd player. Today we decided to walk to another beach called ‘Longbeach’. It was quite a walk through the jungle and it took even longer because Jono insisted on photographing of all the creepy crawlies and Maja tried to avoid them. ‘Longbeach’ was worth it though. I was a beautiful, chilled beach with very few people. The boys snorkeled with sharks and Jono got bitten again, on the finger this time (my question is why the vegetarian keep tormenting the fish?). That night after dinner we decided to make use of our dvd player and the choice of movie was simple; ‘The Beach’ with Leonardo Dicaprio, which was filmed on the neighboring island.

Friday morning we checked out again. HC Andersen was awesome, but a little out of our price range. We checked into a little place called October where we decided to stay for three nights. The guys took a walk up to the viewpoint where Jono (while playing with a baby monkey) got attacked in the face by a vicious praying mantis (again, why the vegetarian? Jono here is saying it’s because the animals no longer fear him, but to me and Tyron it still remains a mystery). Anyway, he gave the locals up there a good laugh, since he started hitting his own face, screaming and jumping around, behaving worse than the monkey. Jono and Maja managed to squeeze in a quick suntan before dinner, while Tyron walked miles to find water deep enough to swim in. It was low tide and the water was far from the beach. This particular beach, called twin beach, was hit badly by the tsunami and there are signs to the evacuation routes on all street corners. On the 13th there is going to be a evacuation drill here.
When we later walked out to find somewhere to eat a random Scottish girl managed to convince us to eat at a place called Paddys. This place had a Friday special on; half price cocktails and a free shot after the meal. We blame the Scottish girl for the fact that we made it to our beds late, and only after fire dances and free alcohol buckets.
We fixed the damages quite quickly the next day with coke and pasta for breakfast. Jono and Maja went to get thai massages, and Tyron missed out again. It really is one hour of heaven for R 40. After, the guys went snorkeling again, where they found a sea snake. And decided to harass it. I reckon it was a bit of a stupid move since this snake is supposed to be one of the most poisonous snakes in the world. Still, I am pleased to inform you that both of the boys are still alive.

06.09-08.09: Patong beach

On their way to fetch the backpacks the guys decided to make a quick visit to see the Big Buddha that sits on the highest point on Phuket. An amazing sight it was! A colossal statue of Buddha sitting on a lotus flower completely covered in small white marble tiles. On the way up and down you have to travel through thick tropical jungle on small roads with working elephants eating and resting.


Back at Patong beach we got settled into our room where Jono found what he describes as a butcher knife, hidden behind the TV. Tyron made the mistake of telling Jono it ‘creeped him out big time’ while showing us his goosebumbs. That obviously gave Jono ideas, and soon he was running around the room pretending to hack Tyron like a professional serial killer. The whole thing finally ended with Tyron shouting “I swear to god if you wake me up with that knife tonight I will hit you… And I won’t say sorry.” Haha:P

That night we had pizza for dinner at a place called Roma where they claimed to have a ‘100% Italian chef’. Maja pointed out that we couldn’t know that for sure until we had seen the guy, and surely it was just one of those ‘Asians claims’ but when the chef later walked out looking like Mario and Luigis third brother we knew we were in for a treat. The pizzas where amazing and the panna cotta to die for. We have all been amazed by the amount of westerners working full and part time here in Thailand. Yip, I can see how it can be hard to leave this place. After dinner we sat down at the beach talking. We had read about how seedy Patong is supposed to be, but hadn’t seen much of it yet. The thought had actually just crossed my mind when a young thai girl walked up to us. Since Jono was sitting with his arm around Maja, she went straight for Tyron “Where haave yoou beeen? I beeen looking for yoou!” None of us were quite sure where she was going with this, but just to be on the safe side Tyron just answered bluntly “No thank you.” Then she asked “Do yoou haave smoke for me?” Tyron just shook his head, to which she replied “I smoke your cock”. Then she pulled a tongue at us and walked off.

The next morning we woke up to the sound of rain. That didn’t really bother us too much. We ran down to the beachfront to get some banana pancakes from the food carts, before we went umbrella shopping. The salespeople here are quite intense but still amusing. They get quite creative sitting there all day by their shops, and they shout the most random things after us as we walk past. To Jono: “Hey my brother from another mother!” And then to Maja: “Hey my sister from another mister!” We all have nicknames too. Jono is ‘Shiva’, Maja is ‘Cinderella’ and Tyron goes under the name “Waahoo”(?!). They also like to ask where you are from and they are able to greet you in Norwegian, Afrikaans and Zulu, and even got a ‘Howzit bru’. When the rain stopped we got on the scooters since Jono was determined to take Maja to see the ‘amazing, incredible and fantastic’ big Buddha. We stopped for lunch in Karon before reaching the Buddha at sunset. Back at Patong we got pancakes and takeaway food to eat at the beach. Tyron made Maja sit in between him and Jono this time to confuse the hookers. While we were enjoying our meal we were entertained by glowing paper lanterns which the thai people light from the bottom and then release to fly up towards the sky.

03.09-06.09: Heading down south

We didn’t manage to convince Tyron to join us for a massage, and it is safe to say that he really missed out. Jono even fell asleep, but woke up a new man. Later we missioned to one of Bangkoks malls where we got over the high prices and the crazy thai people pretty quickly. We decided to go ’western’ for dinner, and ended up at pizzahut close to the OTHER redlight district; Silom. After dinner we went hunting for one of the ever famous ping pong shows. The search led us to patpong where Tyron got a banana shot in his eye, Maja almost died from a laughing fit and Jono had to stash away money in the toilet before we all got angry with the ‘big mama’ for overcharging us and she called the mafia. Yet we managed to end up in a taxi on our way back to the guest house instead of jail. We got up early the next morning to meet Jason for a little electronics shopping spree at Pantip Plaza. After a few hours with screaming Asians we jumped on the skytrain to go visit the weekend market, where you can buy anything from bed sheets to turtles. The guys went crazy over the creepy crawling creatures, while Maja melted over the little puppies and contemplated whether or not it would be worth smuggling one out of there in her bag. Back at Khao San Road we ate a cheap dinner (R 8 per person to be precise… we felt like we had to make up for the ping pong expenses Friday night) and watched Jono getting his hobbit feet ‘massaged’ (more like cleaned) by fish. We packed our backpacks and went early to bed. Tomorrow we have to get up at 04.30 to catch our flight to Phuket.

 

We landed in Phuket, dodged all 

the tuk-tuk and taxi drivers and caught the bus to Phuket Town where we had lunch/breakfast at the Onon hotel where parts of the movie ‘The beach’ was filmed. Then we jumped on another ‘bus’ (more like a converted truck) going to the beach. We got off at Kata beach and after a steep climb we checked into a cute little bungalow at ‘Kata on sea’. The guys had a swim in the pool (!) while Maja enjoyed the big bathroom. Later we missioned around to get to know the place. There are very few tourists here at the moment because of the rain season, and raining it is! Just long enough to wet everything before the sun comes out and dries everything just as quickly. Rather pleasant as it cools everything down. After dinner we hired scooters and drove around like mad people for a while, just enjoying not walking. Back at the bungalow we couldn’t get to bed fast enough and we all slept for about 13 hours straight, shaking off the last of the jetlag. Today we took the scooters north to Patong beach. Tyron spotted a baby elephant on the way and we all had to do a u-turn. This elephant was the cutest little thing ever, and we managed to get a hug, a kiss, a massage and a quick song on the harmonica out of him before we headed down the hill towards the beach. Here in Patong we tried to find a cheap place to stay, only to find out that there are none. The cheapest place we could find still had air con, fridge and coffee in the morning! We are paying R 40 per person here, so it’s not bad at all! Now that we have checked in, we are going to head back to Kata to fetch our backpacks. Hope they are still there…. ;)

31.08 - 03.09: Nearly the end of the beginning

For Jono and Maja the epic journey to south east asia began in Mozambique. Half past four in the morning to be precise. Wayne Woodley was banging on the door, and we realized that Jonos awesome Sony Ericson had failed to wake us up. Again. The reason behind this early start was to go on a seach and retrieve mission for Waynes abandoned ’ship’. The previous afternoon he had managed to sink his fishing ski about two kilometers from the shore, and had to swin back with a small piece of rope from which he tied his knife, in case of a shark attack of course (jokes aside, he nearly died).
Anyway, he predicted that the wind would blow the ski to Ponta Mamoli, and we should have a look there before returning to South Africa so the backpackers could catch their flight to Bangkok later on that evening. As predicted the ski had washed ashore, still holding both fishing rods and a kuta of impressing size. With the help of a tractor and some locals the ski was loaded on to the car, and we were on our way back to S.A. After rushing to Hilton (where Tyron met up with us), checking in online and packing three and half months supplies in under 30 minutes, we rushed back to Durban, stopped by Tyrons house, and were at the airport an hour before our flight.

Sitting on the plane, Jono got a sudden urge for the Johannesburg airports falafels, and this quite predictable urge almost lead to the colapse of the entire trip. We got off the plane, missioned down to ’Anat’ where we got quite comfortable. A little too comfortable. Not until Jono was completely satisfied, Tyron had phoned quite an impressive amount of people, and Maja had put on her ’pretty face’ we casually strolled towards the check in. 45 minutes before our flight was about to take off, which is exactly 15 minutes after the check in closes. Still unaware of this, Jono suggested a quick mug and bean coffee and Tyron concluded that it would probably be better if we dropped off our bags first. At the check in however we were rudely informed that the flight was already boarding, and that we would have to book new tickets for the following day. Maja started hyperventilating (knowing that we can’t afford new tickets), Jono (still in falafel-land) couldn’t really see the seriousness of the situating while Tyron started shouting at the rude lady walking away. ”Excuse me! We have already checked in online!” After some sweet talking she switched on the system, informed us that our bags would arrive a day later and that we should ”RUN!”. And so we did. In the wrong direction. The gate had been changed and after a quick sprint we found ourselves at gate A18 – when we were supposed to be at A4. Sprinting towards the gate Tyron pointed at a moving qatar plane and shouted ”look its leaving!” which seemed to snap Jono out of falafel-land because he took of like a mad man through the duty free. Maja however was gasping for air and was about to give up on the entire episode when one of the big fat securityguards (sitting quite comfortbly on a bench) shouted ”Eish! Rrrun sister, rrrun!” Giggeling through gasps she eventually reached the gate after the two others.

Qatar airways impressed us with awesome service, comfortable seats and not too bad food. We changed flights in Doha without any problems (yes, we do learn from our mistakes). In Bangkok we were all excited to see that our three bags plus Jonos surfboard had travelled with us the whole time, and we were quickly on our way in a taxi to Bangkoks backpacker street Khao San Road. We checked in to a cheap guest house, put down our bags had a shower and went out for a little walk in our new neighboorhood. We drank amazing fruit shakes, concidered eating crickets (we didn't, but the guys are still looking for disent quality) and spotted Captain Jack Sparrow who seemed to be a bit lost from the Carribean. Rum maybe?

The next day we decided to go sightseeing with one of the Tuk-tuks. One of the drivers offered us a really good price on one condition. He had to take us to one tailor shop and he would get a petrol coupon. We thought fair enough, but after he had taken us to two tailor shops and one jewellery shop in addition to all the temples and buddahs we wanted to see we were tired and over the whole thing. We asked him to take us to Siam Square so we could indulge in the airconditioned malls. The driver however was not yet satisfied with his amount of coupons and repetetively started saying "I help youuu. Youuu nooo help meee". He then pulled over and said it would be better if we took a taxi 'from here'. But where was here? We walked around for a little bit and after talking to four different drivers we found a guy claiming to be Michael Schumacher, who defenently would have given the real Michael a race for his money, even in a tuk-tuk. A few split seconds and a flash later we were at Siam Sqaure. Here, we met up with Tyrons cousin Jason. Who, over a starbucks coffee, could tell us all about travelling in Asia, having spent the last 15 years there. After coffee we caught the skytrain to the red light district in Nana. Like moths we couldn't resist the neon lights, and were quickly comfortably seated in a bar with a drink each. We got back to the guest house in a reasonable time (2 am) but only after the two boys had been harassed by the lady boys (the worst off being Jono with someones finger up his bum as he walked past), Tyron checking out the most beautiful "girls" who happend to have male genitals, and Maja got a quick spanking by a naked local. Today we have changed rooms (we felt like a something with aircon and a plug point...), and now we are off to get our first thai massages (I am sure there are many more to come).