Mcleod Ganj

Ok so where to begin?

India is amazing and i want to stay here for a long long time. i will need a long long time to see even a smidgen of it in the first place!

but I am off to Nepal in November with Jo to go trekking so it will have to wait. Jo is still in Cambodia with his girl and we plan on meeting in Delhi 30th Oct to head to nepal together.

But back to india cause that is way cooler!

Aaaaarrrghhh, where to start? How about the bus trip...

So after meeting the Israelis (sp?) and sorting a bus to Mcleod Ganj i headed off.

Obviously.

Man i am hopeless at starting (o;

On the bus i met two more israelis who occupied the sleeper across from me. We spent the time talking and we are now hanging out a bit together here in Mcleod. The actual trip would have been awesome - the sleeper beds are comf as after always taking locals - but it was cold and i really needed to pee. Like i won't be having kids as i think both damaged me! I was even wrapping myself in the curtains at one stage for the cold, foetal position and tempted to go climb in between the two israelis for warmth. i had on t-shirt and shorts and had stupidly left my warm stuff etc in my big bag locked in the back of the bus. needing to pee was funny thoug h cause a japanese guy (guess) needed to go even more. when the bus stopped for second i ran down to the font to jump out but was still beaten by him and he was thuimping the door to get out. haha, it was funny to watch. maybe one of those "had to be there" moments.

Mcleod ganj region (view from my room)...

when we arrived (passing beautiful scenery on the way too) we met another traveller Sarah who recommended a place to stay. The owner is tops, absolutely hilarious! Teaching me Hindi too. I ended up staying next door cause he was full but it's his mate and the rooms are nicer and the same price (o:

So we spent the first day (arrived at 8am) exploring. Visited a nearby village i call israel cause it's full of them and their food and also did a bit of food sampling and shopping (for me, looking). We tried to get a pass to see the Deli Lama too but they were sold out 3 days earlier - seating full up. Suck!

Street in Mcleod Ganj....

then today israel went for a guided trek with two other israelis (i declined) while i got up early to go see the Lama anyways. without a pass u can still see him walk in and leave again 3 hrs later.

so i cruise to the arena, find i can't go in with my camera and so have to go ditch it at a local hotel (NICE GUY 1) and then headed back. walking in i hit the stairs up to where the Lama would be giving his talk but i get stopped (along with a heap of other people over time) as we have no pass to proceed. one of the guards tells me i can see his excellence (or whatever they call him, i forget) walk past if i sit nearby. So i settle in next to a pillar to wait it out till 8 when he arrives.

I sit for about 10 minutes on my own and then the guard comes over to talk for a bit. he asks where i'm from etc and what i am doing and then tells me to follow him. i wonder why but hey, not doing much else. might as well.

so he takes me to the stairs and tells me to just walk straight ahead. says i'm not allowed up there without a pass but seeing as I'm on my own...

so i walk up and head straight to the end of the way cause i don't know where to go. I end up next to some guards and a wall and just stand there. then one of them starts asking where i usually sit. Usually? Huh? I explain it's my first time, praying like crazy that he isn't going to ask to see my pass and then he tells me i can't stand with him and to go find a seat.

so i try and walk through the crowd but this old man won't let me in! I can't figure out why and am making a fool of myself i figure and wondering where the heck i am supposed to be and feeling like a turkey at a chicken feast. I eventually make it to the back, pretty much force my way through, and then see a spot over by some old tibetan ladies is free.

i wander over and sit down and then one of the ladies starts bird womaning me; flapping her arms around and then when she realises i don't have a clue what she's on about she gives a resigned sigh and ignores me.

i'm left wondering, again, what the hell is going on!?

i then notice no one has shoes on (oh bugger, i should have known this!) and so i quickly remove my own. instantly the old lady is my best friend because i was obviously just slow to doing things and being so sexy and all, she couldn't stay mad for long.

she gives me a mat to sit on (i was sitting on the concrete floor) - NICE LADY 1 and so i settle in to see what happens next.

then the Lama does a sneaky on me and shuffles past when i blink and so miss seeing him!

monks then came round with little loaves of warm bread which another little lady grabbed for me (NICE LADY 2) and then afterwards butter tea. I didn't have a cup for the tea ( i must have been the most unprepared person there!) but yet another litttle old lady gave me a little bowl to use (NICE LADY 3).

the bread was good and fresh and the tea nice but the buttery after taste takes a little to get used to.

i then sat listening to the lama speak about something (all in Tibetan) and watching the people around me. most whities had a small radio with them which a translator spoke through. I wandered over to some guards to find out about getting one but it seems you buy them at the market (yet another thing i didn''t have!) and obviously if i left to get one i wouldn't probably get back in; having no pass and all.

So i sat and listened for a bit more, ate my bread and drank my tea and then decided to ask some whities to share their ear plugs with me cause i couldn't tell what the hell was being said and it was pretty dumb just sitting there (o:

I wandered over to a young guy and asked if i could listen with him and he was cool with that (NICE GUY 2). So I listened and pretended to take stuff in. In truth it was way over my head and i took in like 2% of what was said. all about living better of course and being cool.

but it was cool to listen to him speak. He really sounds at peace if you hear him. It's weird.

then when he finished a cool thing happened.

when he's done he wanders out along a certain path i just happened to be near. So i snuck over to the staircase he walks down and sat right in front of it. Then when he came out, shuffling along, looking like a man who's just won lotto, fell in love with the most perfect girl ever and dined on a godly meal while reaching enlightenment after having woken from a great deep sleep, he looked up and smiled straight at me!

Not the person next to me. Not the person behind me. Not even the shadow in front of me. But right at me!

And then he was away down the stairs and gone again from sight. And i don't believe in all that stuff but i broke into the biggest grin ever and it lasted an age! I was chuffed. Giggling away with people smiling at me and yeah, tops aye. He just exudes happiness. Such a peaceful, happy, loving person. It was the most sincere grin i have ever seen.

and he smiled at other people and touched some even, but for me that smile alone was worth the trip up here.

afterwards there was free lunch (rice and dell - i think that's what it's called. Lentils in sauce anyway) and then it was back to waste the day. I was still with the guy i'd met, a 19yr old aussie it turned out teaching at a local monastary through some GAP programme and his mate and so we planned to meet for lunch and maybe organise to go for a trek together 2moro.

i then wandered around this pilgrimage (why can i no longer spell?) trail which was real cool. thousands of prayer flags blowing in the wind and prayer stones and stupas and the prayer wheels you spin as u pass (i still have heaps to learn about indian culture as u can tell. i don't know what half the things are yet that i see. but i'm asking and will get there eventually. You'd know Jint).

then cruised up for lunch with Aussie (forgotten his name already) and met another kiwi, a dutch guy and three more aussies. spent lunch with them (ALL NICE PEOPLE!) and then went to find out about meditation courses.

phew. I am skipping heaps too. i could talk about the beggars (sad but friendly and smiling when i say hello and bow to them), the monkeys (cool but shy), the momos (nyum!), the monks (unique), chai tea (more nyum), the clothes (where to start?), the cows (everywhere and everywhere) and so much more! but meditation...

there is a free one where u don't talk to, look at or touch anyone for 10 days. intense. but sadly it doesn't start for another month here. they're all over the world though. called Vapassana or something. look it up. u can do it in NZ even and it is something not to be missed. you'll be reborn (Jo, this is what i will do as we travel and i reckon u should try too. if you'd like that is. it's extremely intense and not to be done half-heartedly)

so cause that's so far away time wise i might do this other learn to meditate and learn the basics of buddhist teachings course that costs like $150 NZ. Sound like a lot? Kind of to me, i can't decide. But it's a 10 day course. again no speaking but not as intense meditation wise as the other. so it's only like $15 a day and u live there with food provided etc too - you can;t leave (so if i do it i won't be in contact for like 12 days).

I'm currently getting by on around $10 a day but it sounds like fun and the lady in charge loves me after my discussion with her today. she reckons I'll be a challenge and a half and that she hasn't had a good one in a while whatever that means. i was joking with her heaps and asking bout what food i get, whether there's a spa, saying that being able to talk to the teachers (u can) is cheating etc. lots of laughs and she seems real cool.

mmm. so i might do that. i'd do it for sure but it's a week away when it starts (15th Oct). Probably do it though anyways. maybe chill here for another few days, check out Kashmir maybe or Punjabi and then cruise back for the course. then head to Delhi, grab Jo, do Nepal, push back my flight to Germany, do Rajustan (I REALLY want to do this region and a camel ride) and then go to Europe.

mmmm. so life is all good. had dinner with a canadian and a kiwi girl i met yesterday too. I just walked in to her room to say hi when i saw she was cooking and ended up eating with them and then going out for another meal afterwards with the Israelis too. everyone is so nice when you travel!

It's weird how SE Asia was cool and an experience and so on but this is different somehow. Like it's more real. more real life somehow. Even living with a Thai family in Thailand and right now being in a fairly touristy area here in India staying in a guesthouse. The country is just more authentic somehow. Mmm. Try and explain later. Nepal should be even more so.

Do not try to become anything.

Do not make yourself into anything.

Do not be a meditator.

Do not become enlightened.

When you sit, let it be.

What you walk, let it be.

Grasp at nothing.

Resist nothing.

I like that one (o:

New Delhi

I just met an amazing Israeli couple who have made my life perfect. I have gone from being a confused and mildly daunted wee lad in the middle of a giant crazy, dusty, dirty, smelly country full of cows to an old school pro who takes such trivial problems without even needing a grain of salt or a spoonful of sugar (maybe a slight exageration there - i do like sugar).

They have told me of a place up North where i will now spend the next two weeks. I met them at a bookstore where they were off loading of their lonely planet. I asked if i could buy it and, longish story shorter, they then took me out for lunch where we planned the next part of my stay in India (they have been here 2 months are now of to Laos).

The city where i will spend the next while is called Dharamsala. It is the home of the Dalai Lama and if i leave today (which I am - on a bus, sleeper styles, single, top row, at the front - oh yeah, I'm a pro now when it comes to travel thanks to the israelis again) then I can actually go to his teachings! It lasts two more days and i hope to catch at least one of them. Should be amazing. Not a common event obviously.

Next door is also McLeod Ganj which is the headquarters of the Tibetan Government in exile and where the old man lives. Up here I will be taking a 10 day introductory buddhist and meditation course. I have really been wanting to do this for a while so it is all falling in to place - as usual! Everything in life always works out if u give it a bit of time!!

I then plan to head South to Rajasthan where there are a million and two things to do including a good old camel trek across the desert. - i hope to get a real moody, salivating camel that spends its time farting and burping and biting everything in sight. I figure this will double the experience and funny stories on offer and give me a real appreciation for the next time i ride some oither crazy animal

So life is now well and truly back on the smiley and easy travelling track. I have a guidebook that does nothing but show me what an impossible task it is do India in a month or even four and has created an urge to come back to this country already - before i have even left! I also have a desire now to see Tibet and Israel, oh and a stomach full of my first indian dish in India.

Will the dreaded Delhi belly make an appearance? If it does it's an experience so no problem! oTHERWISE IT WAS THE FIRST OF MANY BEASUTIFL DISHES I PLAN ON making my way through in this country (sorry, caps was on and this comp is too slow to show what i have typed for like ages) .Anyways, I will do Nepal with Jo and then maybe Europe or perhaps come and stay here again. Or i will do Europe and then come back here afterwards over land through China and Tibet. Oh so many options out there! The world is just so big.

But i have time and my travel bug, fat and satisfied on all South East Asia had to offer, has suddenly developed a new hunger. I feel that Asia was merely an entree and now is time for the main course. India is going to be a blast!

Wooooooooh! Oh I love when it all turns out right!

Delhi

India. This place is dirty, ugly, beautiful, smelly, noisy, serene and I have only been here one day!

I flew in yesterday on one of the noisiest plane rides I've ever been on. I remember thinking, Shite! If this is what it is like on a plane then leaving the actual country deaf is a distinct possibility. They just shout everything, all the time, non stop!

When we arrived at the airport I walked in with two westerners who live in Delhi and who I hoped (after I told my tragic tale about now travelling alone having lost my travel mate and explaining that I had done nothing whatsoever in terms of planning this portion of the trip) for an offer to come live with them. Didn't happen but they did teach me some rudimentary Hindi.

So i cruised through customs looking for where and when to declare the food I had on me but before I knew it i was outside and so if there are customs or something in the airport, they're well hidden.

As i've said, I have made no plans at all for India. I have no guidebook and I haven't a clue about anything except that the Taj mahal is here somewhere, Delhi is the capital (right?) and that they eat curries in Punjabi. I figure I'm set.

Anyways, when I steppped out of the airport everybody instantly tries to get you into a cab. I had no money and no idea where I was going though so this wasn't my idea of a good time. One particularly insistant driver in the end forced me to make a run for the only other whities I could see, pretending they were my friends and so showing that I wasn't in need of a taxi; thank you very much!

They were an Aussie couple on holiday who had a pre-booked tour and offered to give me a lift to their hotel. Why not I figured? Didn't have a clue where else to go. So I jumped in with them and we drove about an hour to here (not sure where I am just yet). Their hotel was $60US a night so after saying thanks for the free lift I headed off to find something more my price range.

I was advised of somewhere cheap in a nearby building of some sort and so off I walked only to find a rather unpleasant man behind the guesthouse counter. Or he was nice - when he was offering me a room for $60US - but he quickly changed to resemble a pitbull with a bad case of gas when I explained i wasn't paying that much, and yes i understood that it wasn't wise to wander the streets at night, and no i wasn't just ignoring his advice, and no i didn't think i knew more than him about his city, and yes this is his country and very different to mine, and no i wasn't a "pro" traveller etc etc etc. I just wanted cheap is all.

He was discounting like crazy too and it got down to 500 rupees (ooooh) but this is still like $20 and so i said no thanks and cruised. He pretty much kicked me out in the end when i declined his final offer. And i have to say i was and am very pleased I didn't lose my cool and was always polite because this guy could use a fist in the face like... yeah, something witty (o:

But at his hotel i did meet a nice american couple who gave me a map, let me look at their lonely planet and told me another girl was paying 300 rupees for a room in the same place. Hmmm. So i walked next door, was offered a room for 300 before the other guy came over and the room got bounced to 500 again (cartels!) and so i waved down the only taxi for miles around, threw it on meter and started to drive to Paharganj where rooms are much cheaper (around 100-200 rupees). I was also feeling really unsafe in the other area too. That's a first for me travel wise.

Back in the taxi \ tuk tuk \ rickshaw thing we were driving along with me practising my 4 words of Hindi when i spotted an ATM machine. Realising i had no money i asked him to pull over and i went to grab some cash. You swipe your card but then keep it and get your money out. not like other machines wher it goes in and then comes out last once you're done. I did my transaction, it was invalid and then i waited for my card to come back out to try again (remember, it never actually went in to begin with). So i stood there for like 10 minutes freaking out that it had eaten my card when i suddenly realised it was in my pocket! Aaaraggh! This is after a flight remember (o:

So i grab some moneys out, realise there's a guesthouse next door, I'm over this and just want to sleep, it's 150 Rupees a night, i don't even haggle, just say yes and go to pay my driver. He asks for 100R even though the meter said 20R (he's since turned it off and is now claiming there was no meter!?!). I argue for like 10 minutes flatly refusing to pay more and his price keeps falling with a million sob stories about night charges and all this crap. I offer him a 10R tip if he'd just go away and eventually it works when some other drivers come over and tell him to take it (after they'd first tried to get in on the minimum night charge idea of course!).

So i go up to my room which is a mini rubbish heap with dirty sheets, monsters under the bed, ebola viruses floating everywhere, muggers in the cupboard, rapists under the pillow and Chucky making a return coming through the roof and so on but the mattress is cushy and there's a tap so i take it.

I don't dare shower cause i'd contract something for sure but i manage to rinse my face (while being watched by a very spooky looking Indian guy across the coridoor) and head off to bed. I lock up everything possible, shutter the windows, jam the door closed with a metal rod and put my bag against it too. I then try to sleep while feeling sure I am somehow going to die in this little room tonight.

Or it wasn't that bad but I am sure getting out of this place, this city in fact today. I don't care where I go but I'm going. India is going to be amazing but not here, not yet.

So I am off now for a quick something to eat and that's another reason to run from here. The infamous 'Delhi belly'. Everyone seems to get sick here so I figure the rest of the country sounds like a good option. I am off to buy a lonely planet - travel without one i have found is a challenge. I gave my Asian one to some girls at the Thai airport who had just arrived and I think I was like an angel come from heaven to them. They were looking lost but after a little advice I think they'll be fine.

But now I'd better go and figure out where I am going. First bus, first train, to wherever, I don't care, I'm on it!

Laters Thailand

PA022272

Substance abuse

If I was drug tested right now for the last few months of my travels, what would I come back positive with...

Marijuana

- weed

- charis
Mushrooms
Beedle nut
Alcohol

Not too bad really after 4 months of travel and having been offered next to everything under the sun! (o:

Full moon party

So we returned to Koh Phangan for the full moon party. We had enjoyed our 'detox' on Koh Tau (cause that worked! ha.) and we were now back and ready to party once more. I had a sprained ankle but that wasn't going to keep me from one of the biggest beach dance parties I know of - 15 000+ of all the party people from every nation joining together for one night of drunken dancing debauchery.

So Aussie and I headed to the beach around 8:30pm or so and met up with a group of maybe a dozen other aussies who we had seen chilling on the beach in deck chairs. Being sworn enemies in all environments, we were instantly embraced, offered some free buckets and so our night began.

Buckets, a couple of beers and a bottle of whiskey thrown in for good measure later, and we were well on our way to a night of questionable remembrance. After maybe an hour we decided glow paint was in order for true party atmosphere and so we headed off to grab our own to achieve some awesome personalized sty-leez.

Me the next morning (after a rinse in the sea)...



The design I chose and why my night was such a laugh...

Before it all began...

The bucket stalls all along the beach...

After slapping on the paint my night took a turn; that's for sure. With the paint making my back look like madonna's lips on shrooms, we sat down for a few more beers and settled in to wait for a more sensible dance hour like 1am or so.

In comfy deck chairs, sitting dumped out like boy racers in a bucket seat, our eyes mere slits, we watched the night pass by. Reaching a level of relaxation whereby mz body was beginning to resemble melted cheese, I was rudely broken free five minutes later by a tap on my shoulder. Curious as to what was wanted I turned around to find two grinning girls smiling down at me. Huh? Wasn't sure what was going on but I liked where it looked to be headed and I instantly, compassionately, forgave them.

"Free Kisses?" one of them asked, pointing mischeviously behind me.

Oh shite! Of course! My back! I'd completely forgotten about it already. But rising to the occassion (literally), I jumped up, landed a few wet ones on her and her friend (and then a few more) and then went back to the drinkin (I mean there were literally thousands of single girls at this place so why the rush to end the night so soon?).

Mmmm. So from there the night progressed to non-remembrance. Awesome times were had I'm sure though. Haha, no. I remember it. Dancing, walking the beach, chasing after Grant, grabbing snacks like a burger, more drinking, more dancing and in between, more kissing.

By the next morning I was actually declining kisses as it was just getting to be too much. And what am I doing still on the beach you ask? With the "literally thousands of single girls" on hand? Guess it was just a night to dance and a once in a life time (so far) occassion where that came in a close secod but a second all the same (I was also quite pissed and wasn't really caring about much at this stage anyway).

It turned out pretty sweet really. Awesome night. Perfect next morning too.

Watched the sun rise lying on a picturisque white sand beach (ignoring the spilt beer, urine stains, vomit and rubbish littering it), lying next to two of the most beautiful Swiss girls I have ever laid eyes on (ignoring the fact they were high on mushrooms and conversation was stilted to say the least), sipping the last of my beer (ignoring the fact it was warm, picked up off the beach and full of sand), and listening to the music in the background, the dancers and the party in general slowly wind to a close (ignoring the fact the music was trance, the dancers all high on something and that the party was going to continue for another 6 hours easy). Like I said; perfect morning.

Then I went to grab Grant from mellow mountain and it was back to the guesthouse with plenty of laughs along the way before crashing onto a bed and sleeping the rest of the day away.

Ko Tau

Turtle island it's called. Either because there used to be lots of turtles here or because it's shaped kinda like a turtle some say. Like most things in Asia, no one really knows or cares anymore.

This is where to go to dive and snorkel and beach it up in Thailand. I agree. After the half moon party and while we waited on the full moon party, we headed here to detox and recover.

We arrived feeling a little seedy still from the half moon night. But after a quick dip in the water and seeing the snorkeling on offer right off the beach from us we were quick to recover.

First day we just relaxed and checked out the scenery. Or the scenery near us anyways. We'd met up with an English girl in the taxi too who we shared a room with.

We pretty much spent most days chilling on the beach and snorkelling. Awesome clear waters and if you go to some of the neighbouring bays, there are awesome coral reefs, fish swarms, sharks and all sorts.

I never really saw much though as we got a little too drunk one night and things went bad...

hurt ankle...

Half moon party

It had arrived and we were prepared - a bottle of Mehkong whiskey and a heap of 25c, 640ml beers. The cheapest option in town you see. Walking out I also spotted two Austrian guys drinking the same brews and so seeing they were of similar minds, we invited them to join.

There are lots of 'moon parties'....





We headed to the beach to see if we could find a few more fellow drinkers to hang out with until it was time to dance (the actual party really gets going at 2am with the last D.J starting at 9:30am!). We first met some German girls, two English guys and two others drinking at a table beachside and so we joined them.

It was a perfect half moon though...

We drank together, headed down to a bar we'd scouted out the previous day, met up with some more drinkers and proceeded to 'prepare' ourselves for dancing over a couple of games of pool.

It's a massive psy-trance dance off with glow paint everywhere...



Now things start to get interesting.



After a bit of pool and a few more drinks, me and aussie realise we're in with the two german girls. Though we're both as sharp as a thimble when it comes to picking up signals, this time it wasn't too hard as they were both saying they wanted to sleep with us out loud - only it was in German. Thankfully the Dutch guy translated but was quickly shushed by the girls and we played like we hadn't heard him. He tells us to go with a bit of a wink and the four of us head off to the half moon party together.

We walk the whole way and when we arrive we last like 10 minutes on the dance floor before my german girl starts to act funny. I was getting real paranoid and was asking her friend if she thought i was a bad kisser or something (she'd started to pull back and i was figuring maybe i was too wasted?) but she assured me it was nothing like that. then the girl tells me she has a boyfriend and takes off! What the hell?! So i go after her (no idea why) and so too do Aussie and his girl. the other german girl wants to find her and we figure she's started for home and are about to ditch the germans all together and go back to the party when she suddenly reappears.


Next thing I'm walking her home and Aussie and the other german are back to the party. We get back to her place and decide a swim is definitely in order. She'd been on about swims all night and so we head out into the ocean. 150m later and we're still only ankle deep and stumblin along through sharp as hell coral. We realise a swim just ain't gonna happen and decide to head in.

So we head back to her hut and head in for the night. She goes into the bathroom to do whatever girls do and i stripped down and went to get into bed. Then i hear voices outside and realise it is Grant and the other German girl! I run to the door and using all of my german vocab, start to yell "Nein, nein!" but next thing i know they're there at the door. I was about to open my mouth and tell Grant to head for the beach when I notice that his german girl is covered in blood. Huh?

Turns out they'd got a taxi back from the party real soon after us and had run instead of paying (Germany's idea). Running through a dirt car park some dogs had barked at them and Aussie had jumped away from them in fright andsmacked straight into the german, sending her flying. Nice moves, haha.

So I go grab my antiseptic dry powder, play doctor for a bit and when me and aussie realise that the night with these two is truly over we decide to head back to the party. All we end up doing when we arrive is pass out as it's about 7am and we're dead beat! Met this awesome hot chick though and decided to start kissing every girl i meet on the cheeks and lips and say it is a traditional kiwi greeting. She goes for it all good, hahah.

The next morning... it was still going when we left at around 10am!


So packing it in, we headed back to the beach and our guesthouse around 10am as we had a boat to catch i didn't want to miss. Walking Aussie home was tops too. he was a goner. kept falling asleep on the side of the road and wobbling all over the place. cars were swerving out of the way (all two of them) and having a right old laught at us.

when we got home, we slept in till 2 on the beach. Aussie in a hammock and me on the sand. Got wicked sun burnt and then started drinking again at the afterparty further down the beach. and now i'm sitting here waiting to head to a new island and start again (our tickets were transferable luckily as we missed the boat by a heap)

In the sober(ish) light of day I also find I'm covered in mustard and sauce. Front, back, all over. No idea why or how. We also have to admit that we ended up spending more time walking to and from the place than we actually managed inside of it. And it cost us like 25 kiwi to get in which is heaps over here! We've made a pact that there'll be no girls at the full moon...

Ko Phangan

"Swaying coconut trees, brooding mountains, ribbons of indigo and turquoise water" - this place is everything a tropical paradise should be.

But we were here to party! It was time for the half moon party to begin!

We booked in the cheapest spot we could find at the beach closest to where the half moon party was to be held (we could walk there that way, save ourselves 50c, and buy another two 640ml beers) and then settled in to wait it out for the next night.

We spent the day collecting coconuts in preparation for the following morning as they're said to be a brilliant hangover cure. We also scouted out a bit of the beach and went for a snorkel and swim. It was a nice spot I have to say. Had some cool yellow stingray with blue spots too.

Another bonus was the local primary school located next door. This allowed us to eat our meals at the school tuk shop and save a load. The meals were tiny (designed for 5 year olds after all) but they were tasty and even if you bought five of them, it still worked out cheaper than a meal at the guesthouse.

Ko Samui

Our first island goal in the gulf was Samui. Described as being like 'a beautiful woman who wears too much make-up", I wasn't expecting too greater things. Grant had already done all three islands before and so had a general idea of what we were heading into.

When we arrived it was raining. Yay! So instead of sticking in and hoping for the bext we decided to try and outrun it. We booked a ferry straight to Ko Phangan, the middle island, and went to explore the town port a bit while we waited for the ferry to depart.

We used the net and ate some food before returning to grab our ticket to go. Only when we returned the lady who'd organised it tells us 5 minutes before the boat is due to leave that the weather is too bad and the ferry isn't coming. What? Bugger!

She then offers us a more expensive alternative boat and a night at her guesthouse for a discounted price. And the water looks calm at our end... Arrrggghhh! We instantly assume we're being scammed! So we go to the other travel agents but quickly learn the boat really is stuck. Seems the weather is a lot worse on the other side of the island.

She then try's for her guesthouse again but I tell her we'll happily sleep for free at the port instead in the plastic chairs. She laughs this off, realises we're cheaper than a Thai whore and offers us her guesthouse for free! A/C, t.v. etc all over again! Awesome. And she made us dinner and drove us there and back (o:

So we spent one night in Samui and then caught the first available ferry across to Pangyan the next morning. Not too bad a place from what I saw.