Hanoi - Nha Trang

Hey,

Been a few days since my last update, quite eventful ones too.

After recovering from the most horrific bus journey in the world, we decided to take the 3 day trip to Ha Long bay which was recommended by a few people. The trip consisted of a bus journey to a pier to get on a big boat called a "junk"...but dont let the name fool you, these junks are top notch. There were only 12 guests on each boat, each with an ensuite room with air con and all the works...

Luckily there were only 12 guests on each Junk, with a range of ages and nationalities - this is perfect as it means the chances of it turning into a cheap booze cruise are slim-to-none.

The food on the boat was delicious, all Vietnamese with second helpings etc... So we reached Ha Long bay (no idea if thats the correct spellign by the way) and its beautiful...loads of tiny islands with floating villages and huge caves. We were given Kayaks and soem free time to explore and see the caves in our own time...then we were guided through the main cave, which is absolutely massive...there were loads of rocks that the guide pointed out saying thins like "Can you see what that rock looks like?" ... well, a rock. Apparently, they looked like anything from chickens to sitting ladies, fat Buddhas, and an erect penis. The latter was the only one that actually looked like its description (It was also deliberately well lit) The usual jokes came out, as you'd expect.

Back on the boat for free time during the sunset...A few of us jumped off the top of the boat into the freezing water - then hot shower and chill time on top of the boat. We had a few beers with the rest of the guests up on the top deck while the sun set....Another amazing meal followed...

Then it was "Killer" time...I introduced the card game we played on almost every evening in S.A where everyone has a certain card, one person is the killer and the rest have to work out who the killer is...I dont have the time or energy to write all the rules of the game on here...its hard enough to exlpain to a group of adults face to face....all you need to know is that its awesome.

We had a great laugh and all got a little drunk...a couple of Czech guys decided to dive into the water again (It was pitch black and quite cold....crazy Europeans.)....

Bed...on the boat.

Woke up to another decent breakfast, followed by a short journey to another island. We had a choice of either climbing to the top for a good view, or taking bicycles around for a bit. Seeing as we had already done some trekking we opted for the bikes. Didnt go very far, but stopped at a cave that had been converted into a hospital during the war. Was pretty impressive, if a little eerie.

Then, after lunch (guess what...it was really nice)... we were taken to monkey island - a tiny private beach with bamboo bungalows...we met up with people from another boat (as half of the people on ours were only doing the two-day trip) and it turned out we were the only people on the island.

Spent the afternoon playing beach football, pool, snoozing, eating, drinking and playing killer. The guys from the other boat were in their sixties and hilarious...An Aussie couple who swore at eachother constantly (in a playful way) and could drink people under the table. We introduced the noobies to killer and we played for over 3 hours. We've been invited by the Aussie couple (Jan and Dee) To visit them in Aus.

The next day it pissed it down and was freezing, luckily this was when we were travelling back to Hanoi so we were kind of glad.

Night out - After watching the Manchester derby (Soz Rooney), we went to a few bars with two of the girls from the trip - then onto a mingin night club (more grungy than Kam-bar)...I was a fan.

Met a lovely young lady called Hetty-Kate, who happens to be a jazz singer in a five-star hotel in Hanoi - She invited me to go see her set the following day....so I did. Never before have I stood out so much as I did in there. The place was huge, and oozed class...everybody dressed in suits, dresses, gowns etc...the waiters pouring aged wine...the smooth sound of jazz. I bowled in late with my only pair of jeans, white converse and a t-shirt...what a rock-star.

Swiftly ordered a drink (only 5 times more expensive than the previous night) and sat and watched Hetty sing. It was great, and I started feeling more relaxed after my third Jack Daniels. During the set-break she came over and got me a drink and we were then invited to sit with her friends....Minutes later, conversation began to flow... as did the red wine. I felt so classy.

At the end of the night, one of Hetty's friends, Mimi (think ive spelt that right) invited us to carry on drinking at her hotel (We being the three of us, plus a well travelled guy who Im sure is in the mafia...His name escapes me as it was difficult to pronounce, top guy though) ..So back to this other 5 star hotel over-looking a lake - the swankiest apartment ive ever been in. Room service at 2am, prawn spring rolls and other such appetisers with sweet chilli sauce - and of course, 2 more bottles of red.

Hetty and I left at some time past 3am, dropped her off back at the other hotel then I headed home...

I got in at around 4, got up onto my bed (top bunk in a dorm...theres your contrast) ... and Craig woke up - I asked "what time is the alarm set for?" (As we had a flight to Nha Trang that morning)...he replies "one minute"....I waited for him to look at his phone to check how long tilt he alarm sounded...but he literally meant one minute til it went off.

We got up and packed, checked out, taxi to airport, check in, fly for two hours, land, taxi, check in, bed. I felt absolutely disgusting....and according to Craig, smelt pretty bad too.

Nha Trang, by the way, is a beach town. The weather here is much better than the England-like Hanoi and the beach is lovely - And if you happen to take drugs, there are hundreds of men on mopeds offering them willy nilly.

After sleeping all of yesterday, we decided to go out for a few drinks and see what was going on. We left the last bar at around 3am and began to walk home...down the dark streets...and this is when something happened...

As we walked away from the well lit bar, we were approached by two ladies asking if we wanted them to "sucky sucky" us. I laughed and said no thanks. She was persistant and was all over me saying it only costs 100,000 VND (vietnamese dong...ha...dong.) which is about 30 quid. I still said no, despite the value...But now she was being more handsy and started squeezing the old fella. I was like "whooooa now, none of that please" but she wasnt takign no for an answer...at that point I realised that Craig was in a similar position just ahead of me, not only that, but several moped drug dealers were hovering very near-by. The whole thing was beginning to escalate and I said to Craig that we needed to get inside somewhere asap. The girl who was trying it with him gave up and decided to team up with my .... "sucky-sucky girl". This new one just grabbed me from in front and started grinding and what not while the other held my hands as to stop me pushing her away. I worked out what was happening...I was being mugged. Free'd my hands and went straight for my back pocket which was hanging half out ...The "grinder girl" quickly pulled her hand away seeing as shed been rumbled and they ran onto the back of a druggy-ped and sped off.

I opened my wallet...money had gone.

Luckily, Id stopped her taking my whole wallet, which had my cash-card in. Plus the money she took was only the equivalent of around 15/20 quid so no harm done. I was still pretty pissed off, but at the same time you've got to appreciate her skill of removing cash from a wallet inside a back pocket.

Ive had more romantic valentines days.

Just spend the day on the beach soaking up the rays and attempting to cross roads (remember that game 'Frogger'...yeh just like that)....Tomorrow its a 10 hour bus journey to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon).

Well, another epic blog, thanks for reading...Hope everyone is golden.

Jay

p.s Vietnam dont like people having fun, so they've banned facebook...there was a way of getting onto it, but it seems they found that out and banned that one as well. Will try get on there soon.

x

Tubing vs Jamie - Round 2

Right, as you know we decided to leave Vientiane and head back to Vang vieng for the weekend. This was a good move. I was not sick, nor did i break or lose anything...amazing.

Booked our trip to Hanoi (Vietnam) while we were there and got picked up at 1.30pm yesterday. Arrived in Hanoi today at 5pm...yeh, over 27 hour bus journey. Ive never experienced anything like it - Imagine a coach, but instead of having horizontal rows of seats - they have three rows bunk-beds going along the inside of the bus... Each bed could not fit me in, neither length or breadth. Luckily, my bed wasn't one of the ones down the aisle...it was a much smaller one at the back, lucky me. They had converted the usual 5 back seats into a toilet and three beds alongside one-another with no gap (both under and over) Craig was in "the cave" underneath where I was sleeping alongside two girls Id never met, giggidy.\\There were things written in the cave such as "Toilet leaks - Get out while you still can - enjoy pissy feet - I want to shoot the driver - Fucking bus, 24 hours in hell" Which...is....encouraging.

Oh by the way, we had already had a sweaty 3.5 hour journey from Vang Vieng down to Vientiane for the connecting bus, which makes things even better.

So I make my introductions to the girls im sleeping next to, took two valium, read some of the Lost Symbol by Dan Brown and fell into a deep sweaty cramped sleep. Woke up at the border where we had to get off the bus and fight with everyone else to get our passports stamped...after this, we then went to find the bus to discover it had gone somewhere. By the way, this is at 6am and it was freezing. Luckily there was absolutely no one willing to help us find the bus or tell us what to do next so we had to guess our way through the border....Finally we found our bus and went to get on to be told "no" by the driver....Cheers.

Turned out they had nicely thrown our bags off the bus and we needed to go put them through security, after getting our passport checked again. Headed back to the bus with our checked bags and guess what, someone wanted to check our passport...Got back on the bus feeling cold and very hungry. Obviously, it wouldn't be long until we stopped for breakfast, toilet and something to drink...nope....we drove for ten straight hours before reaching Hanoi. As you can imagine, a very hungry, tired, thirsty, hot Jamie left the bus.

We managed to find the backpackers, after nearly being run over by the millions of motorbikes flying around (by the way there are over 16 million motorbikes in Vietnam...fact). The backpackers is awesome though, free breakfast and wifi...free beer between 8 and 9pm and its cheap as you like...Bumped into Tom, the Aussie lad we met on the first tubing...he's staying here as well.

Planning to go on a 2 or 3 day trip to Halong Bay which looks pretty amazing, so will blog again then.

Cheers,

Jay

Tubing in Laos

So as you know, I am in Loas. The last time I blogged I talked about the slow boat etc to Luangprabeng.

We headed to Vang vieng which is where the tubing is...and not a lot else. Checked into a little guesthouse that cost a ridiculous 3 pounds per night, might as well put a mask on and robbed us.

Vand Vieng is the best place in the world if you happen to love tubing, drinking, friends and family guy...every cafe/guesthouse has several screens with either friends or family guy on all day every day. We had planned to do the tubing on the second day but Craig was violently sick all night so couldnt do it - he spent most of the day in bed so I went and watched a couple of seasons of Friends and a season of family guy. Watched some football in the evening then hit the hay, hoping Craig would keep his intestines in the right place for a night...he did...so the next day we got our tubing vests on, packed our little waterproof tubing bags with camera and money, headed to the tubes and got a tuk-tuk to the river. You have to return the tubes by 6pm so we started at 12...I was the 7th person of the day to get a tube, and Craig the 8th...when we got to the river is was dead, couldnt believe it. Decided to just sit and have a beer to wait and see if it filled up a bit - another guy was doing the same, Tom from Aus, who happens to be one of the few Aussies who arent dickheads! (going on what we've experienced on this trip that is) Gradually we walked up to the first bar which had a few people in, including 3 mancs that we met on the slow boat. Eventually the place filled up and before you knew it, everyone was jumping in the river from the massive rope swing and the drinks started flowing...heavily. Every bar gives you unlimited free shots of local whiskey...its no Glenmorangie, but its not the worst. After a while at that bar, we got on our tubes and splashed our way down to the next one, that happens to have an even bigger rope swing, this was awesome, except we both touched the floor when we landed in the water - didnt hurt though...cos we're hard init - lost my vest in this bar also. Had a few more drinks there then went on down to the next place to play beer pong (I won)...Time was going against us at this point so we rushed down to the next place for a quick beer and some ping-pong, needless to say we were both terrible and managed to lose 2 ping-pong balls in the river (was hardly the same quality as the ping pong show we saw in bangkok) It was at this bar that i realised that my "waterproof bag" had leaked and my camera was soaked, brilliant. A quick look at the watch told us that we had ro run accross the bridge and get back to a Tuk-Tuk ASAP before we lost our deposits and got in trouble with the locals.

Made it back just in time and headed to a family guy bar for some food....we ordered...i looked at the screen and the whole place was spinning violently. I then went to the toilet and was sick. I came back...still spinning...went toilet...was sick...came back....spinning....went toilet...was sick. Half hour later decided to go back to the hotel...where i was sick, several times.

So, to sumarise: I lost my vest, broke my camera, was violently sick many times and was in bed by 7.30pm. Still though, between 12 and 6 is was absolutely ledge.

Spent the next day, as you would imagine, feeling somewhat rough...was cheered up by, believe it or not, Friends and family guy.

The following day, we headed down to the capital, Vientiane...which is where we are right now. Its pretty much France abroad, as they protected the city or something at some point...I realise that wasnt the most informative sentence in the world but its all I know about it! Its OK here but pretty boring, some nice places to eat and drink but in general its more of a big capital city than a tourist trap. Due to boredom, we decided to rent some mopeds for a day. The place we rented them from gave us a special price...it was the least he could do seeing as their insurance had expired, and both the mopeds had no tax. We got helmets though, so...every cloud. Had a really fun day on the mopeds, mine was awful and slower than Craigs which was annoying, neither ped had a working speedo, nor did the mileage counter count miles. But they moved. We headed out in prety much random directions to see what we could see, ended up at the national football stadium. The road was blocked off, but we managed to squeeze our peds through the gap and drive on up to the stadium. There wasnt anyone about (apart from a couple blokes who looked like they really wouldnt care if we decided to take a ball on the pitch and have a kick about) We didnt do that, but we went inside and had a mooch around...not bad...no wembley though.

Left the stadium and followed signs to the friendship bridge (oooooh friends) ... Went on for quite a while until we realised we were both verging on empty tanks...and with no gas station in sight we decided to take a turn off the main road. Which led us to a dirt track. We didnt have much choice but to carry on bumping down this road, luckily it led to a little village where a local sold whiskey bottles filled with gasoline for a quid a pop. We filled up there and headed back to the city centre, it took an hour - and several inquiries as to where the hell we were...the locals didnt like us, one even just said "no" and got back to her chores...soz.

Anyway made it back and had a couple beers at a nice little place by the river where we met some cool french people the night before...played a couple games of shithead and a couple of english girls joined us for a few games.

Today we took the peds back to the shop and headed to a swimming pool...its absolutely roasting here and theres no beach...it turned out it was a massive gym with spa and all the works...the lady at the desk was lovely and gave us a day each for only 3 quid (was meant to be over a fiver) Had a little work out (was depressing to realise how weak I am after 6 months of no gym action) and hit the pool.

Now back by the river on the worst computer ever...remember those Acorn computers, with the black screen and green letters? yeh its a little bit better than that...but just a little.

Heading back to Sticky Fingers for some more games with the English girls, then the French are meeting us there and we might go onto a club with them as its a Friday night.

We attempted to get tickets on the sleeper bus to Hanoi, Vietnam, for tomorrow but they dont facny it this weekend...so with nothing to do...we are heading back to Vangvieng to do the tubing again...hopefully this time Ill have a more successful day!

So thats it, much love,

Jay

Slow Boat to Laos

Hey everyone,

I am now in Luang Prabang, Laos.

So, left the Panda house inn, Chiang Mai at a much later time of 8.30...we were meant to leave at 12 but then got told that we were leaving at 8.30...the bus turned up at 9.30.

Drove for a while in a cramped minibus to a little house-type-thing where we stayed for a few hours til breakfast. We were in a room with a Canadian couple who are legends, but I slept on the worst mattress ever, I swear it was made of straw. Hardly slept, then had our breakfast and prepared to cross the border to Laos....When we all got onto a pick-up-truck to take us to the pier, a Black dog (kind of a lab) got on...few seconds later, another one got on and they started to fight...and by fight, I mean a Tyson v Kimbo Slice street fight...It was insane, most people made like Gareth and Bailed off the side of the truck but one guy was caught up in the fight and had to hit the dogs til they gave up...he got bitten on the leg in the middle of it all and was bleeding...everybody said the same word at the same time, Rabies.

Anyway crossed the border then had the lovely task of queuing with loads of other backpackers at immigration to sort out all the bits and pieces with VISA etc. Finally got through all that and made it to the next pier for our slow boat through Laos. It was slow. Slow to load, slow to get going, and slow. This was made worse by the fact that every (close your eyes Josh) wanker ended up on our boat. They were all carrying no crates of beer and whiskey and shouting about it. urgh. Then a guitar came out, which is cool...but they murdered a lot of songs that I like. All shouting and screaming and showing off, getting up on the roof etc. It can seem cool and funny but there are loads of booze cruises in Magaluf and Tenerife, so theres no need to spoil Laos as well. Anyway, got through it and stopped in Pakbeng village for the night. We were the last boat to land so finding accommodation was tough, really tough. Every place was full. After a while of walking up and down hills, and asking people where to go we were led to a hotel by a young girl who worked for the place. Her English was really good and I asked where she learned the language. She said school so I asked how old she was...14. Child labour. Then she asked if we smoked weed and if we wanted some drugs, including opium. I sad theres no way I would buy any type of drugs from a 14 year old girl and she laughed and said "please" unbelievable. We got to her hotel and they were full...shock. The one next door was turning groups of people away, but as we walked past, the lady said she had two beds so we went with her...to the roof. Yes the roof, a lovely shed on the roof. With two beds and mozzy nets. Thats all. The toilet was on the other side of the roof and there was no shower. With no other options we paid the equivalent of 2 pounds each and settled in. There was no lock on the outside of the door so we couldnt even go and get a few beers. We decided that I would go down to the stalls while Craig guarded the room, I mean shed. Got some snacks and Laobeer, the new Chang. Went to bed as there was nothing else to do. Woke up and got on the boat again. This time the wankers werent all on our boat, but the guitar came out again, luckily it was more of a chilled out "gig" so it was bearable...The guy who got bitten by the dog was on board and he had with him a case that had to be stored under a certain temperature, guessing its some sort of treatment for his bite. Arrived in Luang Prabeng this evening and had another search for a room. Managed to find an actual room this time in a family run guest-house. 2 beds, fan, toilet/shower just down the hall...and believe it or not, it costs under 2 pounds each. Unbelievable. Just had a lovely meal of a big burger, with egg, bacon, pineapple and fries, the works...with a big bottle of laobeer...all for around 4 pounds. ( oh and the toilet is a western toilet which is a result, the one on the boat was a "hover and hold" style, the tchoukers will know what that means)

Oh, also been taking Doxycycline for the old Malaria. Its meant to make you poo funny...ill keep you all informed.

Anyway, that's about it for now...hope you are all well.

Jay,

P.S I have been informed that my little cousin Josh scored a hatty at the weekend, and his sister Mollie got moved up a group in Gym....Very talented those two....no idea where they get it from mind. x

Chiang Mai

Good morning everyone...

So we are currently in Chiang Mai, north Thailand. Its lovely up here, lots to do and see. Back in Bangkok we booked a trek for two days up to the mountain, so we left for that a couple days ago.


So, 9.30 got picked up at the hotel, by a "Red truck" These things are like Tuk Tuks but bigger, basically a red pick up truck with all passengers squeezed in the back. There were ten of us on the trek; 2 Danish women who were both over 60, 5 Koreans, an american-Korean and us. Looking round the truck, i thought; "Oh dear..." Seeing as we were the youngest there, and noone was speaking a word of English. But after a while, the american-Korean girl, Sun turned out to be a laugh and translated between Korean and English. The old Danes spoke a little English as well. The tour guy was a legend as well so it turned out to be an awesome trip. We were dropped off at the Elephant ranch and were given lunch (rice and veg) then rode the elphants around the jungle, down to the river and back again. Was uncomfortable but awesome. The Elephants looked really grumpy but I reckon our one had a dry sense of humour and was splashing us at the river. Just subtly as well...she knew what she was doing.

Then we started our 3 hour trek to the top of the mountain (it took us 90 mins to climb Table mountain in SA last year, so that gives you an idea of the height) It was nice and easy to start with, but it got harder, especially in the 30+ degree heat. We had a break at a big log, which is where we filmed the video which is going on facebook. From then we went up again to the little tribal village. Had the coldest shower ive ever had, but it was nice after the sweaty climb. Luckily they had some Chang to sell us so got on that pretty quick. They made us dinner, soup stir-fry and rice (again). Was delicious. After dinner they lit a fire and we all sat round looking up at the stars (by the way, ive never seen so many stars, it was mental) One of the tribe people got a guitar out and sang some Thai songs. (Guitar + fire + chang + stars + mountain = ledge). Eventually went to bed after a few more Changs...by bed I mean floor with a cushion and a pillow made of lead. I didnt sleep well. Woke up feeling awful ... Chang-over along with muscle aches from the clmb and the sleeping arrangements made for a grumpy Jamie. As soon as I saw the view though, that changed. It was incredible. ... Then I wondered if it was rice for breakfast, luckly it wasnt - scrambled eggs and toast, with tea...yum. Started walking again for an hour and a half to a waterfall. rested there, so me and craig got in and under the waterfall , was absolutely freezing. Then down to the river (another hour) for rafting. (By the way, each time i give you for how long we walked, add another hour for the old danes. They were soooo slow) It was white water rafting so we got helmets, which is a surprise considering ive not seen a single seat belt since being here, and entered the boat. Was great fun, the oldies bottled it (thank god as they were going to be on our boat) Rafted down til we got to some bamboo rafts, got on them and carried on. Lunch (Pad Thai, get in) And then drove from there back to the hotel at about 5. Slept straight through til this morning. Woke up and decided to go to the Tiger Kingdom. Craig didnt fancy it so I got in a little red truck and headed out. Went in with the big bad boys and then the little baby ones. Each time you can touch and lay on them and everything.. Really are awesome creatures. And they werent in chains or anything, which was good. The little ones were quite playful but the older ones were just like "alright, dont touch the head. we both know I can eat you so lets just get this done"

And now im back in the hotel writing this. We leave tonight for Laos, will take til the ealry hours to reach the border where we stay for a night, then cross in the morning...go to the river and board the slow boat (aptly named as it takes about 15 hours to travel what a speed boat can do in 6) We stop overnight in Pakbeng Village, then the following day, after an 8 hour journey back on the boat - we will arrive in luang prabang. Stay there for a night then head down to VangVieng for the tubing.

Right Im offski,

Hope everyone is good

Jay.

P.s Having a few issues with my camer, will go to a shop today and try get it sorted so i can upload pics of the tigers and trekking x

Back in Bangkok

Hey,

So left Koh Phangan yesterday morning at 11am, and was on a boat for a few hours...then a bus from 630pm...was uncomfortable. Got to Bangkok at 4.30am....walked to the hotel hoping that our room would have nobody in...it did. we Had to wait til 12 before we could check in so slept on the concrete with bag as a pillow. was uncomfortable. Was woken up by the receptionist at around 10 who told us our room was ready so we legged it in and slept....was comfortable.

Woke up at 12 and had a walk and a bit of shopping on Khaosan Road and some cheap Pad-Thai, just like old times.

Managed to get a hold of the third book in the millennium trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest - some guy bought the girl with the dragon tattoo off me for 100B and the new one only cost 140B so I was golden...Also bagged Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist which has been recommended to be a few times...Thats the long journey to Chang Mai sorted.

Will have a few changs tonight as we dont leave for Chang Mai til 7.30pm tomorrow.

So Im off - by the way, I managed to get a few photos up on facebook, as did Craig and Kim (who we met on Koh Phi Phi) so there are a few floating around. I haven't got any more to upload as didnt risk taking my camera out for full moon. Im sure there will be loads to take while trekking in Chang Mai.

Hope everyone is good,

Jay

P.S I heard a vish-room (viscous rumour) that The Hangover 2 is being filmed in Bangkok right now.....wow. x

Full Moon Party

Hey everyone,

Been a while since my last post - Will do my best to sum up whats happened since.

So we were in Koh Tao - and did our diving course which was awesome - Did 4 dives, along with pool training, theory and an exam (easy peasy) So we are both now certified divers for up to 18m.

Saw loads of tropical fish at "Twins" a dive site in Koh Tao, was so much fun. Left Koh Tao on the 18th on the ferry for Koh Phangan. It was rammed full of people going to the full moon party. Luckily we had already booked our hostel and settled in to our 16 bed dorm with one toilet between all of us. In fact its a pretty cool place, this french guy David runs the place and does safety briefings with all the guests to make sure they are safe during full moon. Theres a wii with mariokart as well - had a championship today with Craig, I won. So Chris, watch out, im keeping fresh for when I return and I shall batter you again! Craig has told me to mention that we played FIFA 11 on a PS3 and he destroyed me. I was not happy.

So on the 18th we headed to the beach then up to Kangaroo bar where we bumped into a few people we met in Phi Phi, stayed with them til the early hours then headed back. Spent the next day relaxing and preparing for the big party, both went and got vests and shorts to ruin as you get covered in paint. Had a big meal to line the stomach then it was party time. Played a few drinking games with some people in out dorm, painted eachother a bit then hit the beach with a couple of buckets. Met up with the Phi Phi lot and went from there. The Full Moon Party is awesome, would recommend to anyone to come and experience it at some point, thousands of people on the beach all going mental for hours and hours. Fireshows, Fire high jump, fire skipping, tug of war - all goes on all night for people to compete and win buckets. I did a fire limbo where you do a limbo under a scorching rope.

The word that came to mind throughout the night was 'Primal' - everyone on the beach with the moon out, all wearing next to nothing with paint and art all over the body, playing with fire and dancing...all a bit primal.

We had two meeting points so that when we all inevitably got split up we could meet back up. We had the Blue Tree, this tree thats lit up in the middle of the beach. It became a bit of a joke throughout the night as everyone kept getting lost but finding everyone sat under the big blue tree. We also had a meeting place we found up on 'mushroom mountain', if you go to the toilet, and carry on walking round the mountain theres some awesome little places to sit right on the edge looking out towards the sea and the beach. Felt a bit like the film The Beach as wed found a little place away from everyone else to sit and rest beforer going back to the party.

Got in at around 10am, a few people were still raving like mentalists on the beach when I left.

Woke up at about 6pm today and sorted out our return journey to Bangkok. We leave at 11am tomorrow and get to Bangkok the following morning...staying one night back in the hotel we first stayed in, and then heading up to Chang Mai which is another overnight train journey. Really looking forward to ChangMai, we have a 2 day trek booked, with Elephant riding and bamboo rafting, should be great. Then its off to Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia for our second month.

Anyway thats about it for now, hope everyone is well.

Catch up soon,

Jay x

P.S attempting to put photos on Facebook now, including the wonderful Thai Terry Tibbs