Bed Bugs, Unbearable heat and Buckets :)))

Well folks, sorry it's been a while since my last update...but you know how life is when you are busy, busy doing nothing lol. Made to Thailand after a short hop from Hanoi...seems like a lifetime ago now...but only 5 odd weeks ago!! Strange how that works...seems like everything was sooo long ago when you move and meet new people!! After the mad night out with Malle in Bangkok and buying a 18mm to 200mm zoom for the camera...it was time to head to Hua Hin for more Kite surfing. Malle and I got a bus to HH for the princely sum of 3 yoyos!!! Stayed at the Bird Guest house for 2 nights for 500Baht...but it was a dump to say the least. But Ben met a guy living in HH and he told about a bling apartment for only 350baht a night...so we moved there after the first 2 nights. As we were about 2 miles from the kite surf we rented a scooter with a home-made side car for the kite gear. First day went well...and as I didn't have a 12m kite but Malle lent me her Cabrinha and I had a go for a while. However, on the second day on the way to the beach I overshot a corner and, with the shite brakes on the bike, hit a poor girl sitting on her bike at the side of the road with the side car of my scooter!!! She wasn't too hurt...but I damaged my left foot and thought it was just a sprain....but as it's still not 100% 5 weeks on, I must have fractured a bone. Ah well, it's nearly better now and it was a good excuse to go travelling the rest of the Thailand with Malle and her ship captain friend - Thomas! So after a few days taking shots of Ben and Malle riding the waves in Hua Hin, Thomas, Malle and me took a long 15 hour bus trip to Koh Phi Phi.
Koh Phi Phi is amazingly beautiful and did the usual tourist trap trips to "James Bond" Island and Maya Bay (location of "The Beach" movie). However, Koh Phi Phi is one big, fat tourist rip off trap...we paid 900baht for an aircon room (no-one can stand fan rooms only...way to humid!!). We spent 2 nights on Phi Phi and on the first night, as usual, the bed bugs found me and took  around 120 nibbles out of me in one night....didn't get a wink of sleep as you can imagine. I changed rooms the following night and had a good sleep at last but looked like an extra from a Doctor Who for a few days!! So after the Phi Phi islands and room full of bedbugs and beautiful beaches, sunsets, lager louts and sex tourist, we three muskeeters headed to Railey beach.


Railey beach is truly an amazing spot...and very much the Thailand I remembered from my previous visits there. Railey is a mecca for rock climbers from around the world and Malle had a go at the rock climbing...and turned out she's not only good at climbing, but may well take up the sport (more fit blokes climbing than kite surfing apparently lol). After a couple of great nights drinking at the Small World Bar (great drinking spot :)), we headed out to Kho Phanghan to meet up with Erik, Ben, Yve and Ohad for some serious partying and buckets.

Koh Phanghan, like Koh Samui, is one party place after another now...so what else were to do except drink loads of vodka buckets by the bucketloads at the half moon, pool party and every othere named party we could find :)) We stayed at the Morning Star Resort, Ban Kai beach and had a great time there...especially the Acid pool party lol. Acid...not because of any substance abuse...but because the pool had so many chemicals it stung your eyes if you dared open them in the pool!!!!
Anyway, we went around the island on our little scooters...but was not impressed with KP at all...I guess you get so used to seeing amazing places that some beaches just don't look good anymore. Ah well, it was great to catch with the lads one last time before meeting up in January in Vietnam again :)

After KP it was time to say bye to the lads...I will definitely miss them...a great crew and they have all made my holiday brilliant so far...will be great to catch up with them again in January. After KP, I headed back to Hua Hin to collect my kite surf gear and then caught a taxi directly from there to the airportas  there was curfew-shit going in Bangkok. I decided to miss Cambodia and Laos for now as I wasn't comfortable leaving my kite stuff in Bangkok. So decided to go to Kuala Lumpur for a few nights and then head to Borneo for some diving :)) I love it when you can change plans last minute :))

So after a few nights in Kuala Lumpur and catching up with Roberto and Daniel (met them in Halong Bay, Vietnam), I headed to Borneo Malaysia. Stayed Kota Kinabalu for 2 nights and after visiting the pretty crap Monsopiad Headhunter village, I headed headed to the Nature Lodge in the middle of the Borneo jungle!

Met up with Chris and Wade there. Wade (half Malaysia and half Cypriot) lives in Dublin of all places!! So will catch up him next year some time!!! Borneo jungle/rainforest was pretty awesome and nice relaxing time there and enjoyed something different as opposed to beaches. Saw the infamous Proboscis monkeys and various very rare birds of the feathered kind :)

After the nature reserve it was time to go-a-diving.
Got to Semporna and stayed at the lovely Sigamata Dive resort for 2 nights and met up/dived with Dominique from Switzerland. She had been staying at Sigamata for 2 weeks and had I not already booked 2 days diving with Scuba Junkie...I would have prolonged my stay in Sigamata (pic below :)). Ah well, will be meeting with Dominque tomorrow for 3 dives at Sipadan Island...so will be nice to see her again there. Also met up with the coolest traveller EVER...Jung from Korea. The last time she went travelling she told here parents she was going on a 2 week holiday and then promptly went to France to live there for 7 years!!! Very Funny. And now she's doing the same thing...told here parents she's off on a holiday for 2 weeks and is intending to travel for the next 3 to 6 years!!! Including meditating with some monks in Myanmar...how random is that.

Anyway, I'm gonna try and extend my trip a few more days in Borneo, otherwise it'll be a 5 night stay in KL again...and would rather be in Borneo!!! But really depends on if there are any TV's around as the world cup is looming and no way am I gonna miss any of the matches :))

Anyhoo ladies and gentlemen...till the next rant...so long suckers :))