I was impulse buying, alot

So it's my last day in Thailand and I have been shopping. Impulse buying is so not good for me. But a lot of the purchases are presents.

Yesterday I managed to get a few hours in the sun at the hotel before heading out in to Kanchanaburi to go to the World War II cemetary and a the Thai-Burma railway museum. It was all quite sobering to learn about the building of the railway and to see all the graves. I can't imagine having to do hard labour in the heat here. I have a hard enough time just walking around in it.

Once I was done looking around I headed to the bus station to get a bus back to Bangkok. The bus only took 2 hours, but I ended up at a tiny bus station in Bangkok. I managed to get a taxi but the taxi driver was probably the most incompetent taxi driver I have ever come across. It took me 2 hours to get to my hotel and he moaned so much about the traffic that in the end I just made him take me to the sky train station. It took a while as he tried to take me to the subway first. I was close to murdering him by the time I got out. Once on the skytrain, it was easy to get to my hotel.

The hotel I'm at is odd. Very nice, but odd. It swees to be decorated in arabic/maybe morrocan style, which terracotta tiling and dark wood. But the room was nice, air conditioned and the bed was huge and very comfy, especially in comparison to the rocks I've been sleeping on.

This morning I was up and out early to go to the weekend market to finish up my shopping. It is boiling today, I swear it's hotter than the last time I was here. I'm back at Khao san road at the moment, going to go for a last massage and then head back to the hotel to get a taxi to the airport. Home time.

xx

I went to the bridge over the river Kwai

I'm getting very irritated with slow internet and shit keyboards. I do find the signs that say 'fast internet! 2Mbs!' quite amusing though. Apparently they have gaming at the place I am now, but as it takes a minute just to load facebook I very much doubt you would get far in any game.

Anyway, I left Koh Tao yesterday. On the back of a moped again, much to my dismay. No catastrophies though and I arrived at the pier still on the bike. Always a bonus. I took a 2 hour boat to a town called Chumpon, where I had to wait an hour for the bus to take me to Bangkok. Quite bizarrely for Thai transport the bus arrived into Bangkok 2 hours early. This was annoying as it was 3am. Two guys I had been talking to on the bus also had time to kill so we hit up a bar on Khoa San.

At 5am I decided there would probably be buses to Kanchanaburi by the time I got to the bus station so got myself a taxi. Getting buses is so easy here, and so cheap. No problems getting a ticket when I got to the station and it only cost 77 baht, about 1.50 or something. Ace.

I got to Kanchanaburi for about 8.30 to the first real blue sky and sunshine I've seen in a few weeks. Therefore, after checking into a nice little hostel on the river I had a nap firstly in the deck chairs and then in one of the hammocks. It was quite relaxing.

This afternoon I took a walk to one of the main tourist attractions in the town. The bridge over the river Kwai. It was originally built in world war II by British, Australian other various POWs under awful conditions. I'm going to go to a museum tomorrow and get more details. The bridge was slightly further than I thought it would be from my hostel. Maybe 2 miles. I'm fairly certain that most of the locals thought I was crazy, Thai people don't walk anywhere. But I am slightly adjusted to the heat and I don't melt quite as much as I used to when I walk around. This evening seems quite pleasant actually.

I'm hoping the weather will be nice tomorrow morning so I can sunbathe a little before doing a last bit of sight seeing. Plans for tonight are to go and find somewhere that doesn't look like a brothel for a massage and then a trip to the night markets.
xx

I really didn't want to leave

It's my last few hours on Koh Tao. I have a boat to catch at 4pm and then 13 hours of wonderful boat and bus travel. Oh yay. I've had such a great time here. Last night I met up with some girls I met on Koh Phangan and had dinner with them. Then of course there was drinking and dancing and general fun all round. I am going to miss this place!

The plan for the next couple of days. Back to Bangkok for 5am tomorrow and then another bus out to Kanchanaburi where I can do history things and see the bridge over the river Quai. There's a film or something about it. Then back to Bangkok for Friday night for some last minute shopping and maybe spa sessions. Then home on Saturday. Can't believe it's been 6 weeks already!
xx

I was really good at connect 4

Yesterday evening I watched some live music at the bar in town and then ended up going out with three girls from where I'm staying and dancing on the beach until the bar shut. I saw a load of the divers I had met last time and we ended up in a very seedy bar playing connect 4 with girls who were definitely prostitutes. Apparently I rock at connect 4.

So last night was a late one and today I have not been productive. The weather is not very good and I'm reluctant to go for a massage because I somehow stubbed my toe on something last night and now it is very bruised and hurts quite a lot. I have brought a new book and plan to watch a movie and have a quiet night. It might happen...
xx

I came back to Koh Tao

I actually love it here. My friend Chad who works in a couple of bars here thinks I should stay and work here. Sorely tempted!

I was up at 6.30 this morning to get a boat out of Koh Phangan. I arrived back at Koh Tao and have got my own bungalow where Ali and I stayed last time. The mangey dog Thomas was very happy to see me :)

So the plan for the next few days is to chill out on the beach and catch a few last days of sun before heading back to Bangkok. I'm thinking I might risk a scooter and take a trip round the island. Perhaps. Even though everyone uses them I'm not sure I want to risk it!

Saturday is looking frighteningly close.

xx

There were a lot of buckets...

Last night. Umm. I don't think my brain is functioning quite enough yet. There were lots of buckets involved. As well as dancing, and fire limbo. It was a little bit of a crazy night. There were so many people there. So many people! Everyone was covered in paint, myself included. I keep finding paint on me now, despite showering.

It was a great night as I kept bumping into people I knew. I spent most of the night with the guys from Stourport that I met the other night. But also saw loads of people from Koh Tao, and also other friends I had made here. It was amazing that I actually saw them as there was so many people there I was sure I would never see anyone I knew.

I stayed out until it was light, the sunrise was not particuarly impressive as it was cloudy, and then crashed. Although if I'd had the energy I would have stayed up dancing. The music continued until the afternoon!

The weather today has been awful, the sky is dark and it's very windy. I've just chilled out at my bungalow and read my book. I haven't really slept that much due to the red bull! I've just booked a boat to go back to Koh Tao tomorrow morning so I'm going to get some food and then actually have an early night, I don't think I can face anymore Sangsom for at least 24 hours.
xx

I was a little over excited about my UV paint

Bucket of Joy = Bucket + Ice + Sangsom + M150 + Lemonade
Brilliant
They are setting up 'sleep areas' on the beach
I am very excited

Also, quiet night last night? No
I actually made it back to my bungalow and then the two Israeli guys next door invited me to go drinking. Cue vodka, redbull and dancing on the beach until 4am again.

xx

I thought I had somehow traveled back to Europe to Magaluf/Faliraki/Kavos/etc

Watching the kickboxing last night was pretty awesome. There were 8 fights and a kind of exhibition fight at the beginning between two 6 year olds who were pretty terrifying. Violent little things. One of the best fights was won by a tiny man. He can't have been more than 5ft 2 or something. But he totally kicked ass. There was also a fight with an English guy who looked strangely like Eminem. He was actually very good and knocked out his opponent in the first round.

After the fight, the tickets got us free entry and a free drink at a pool party at the hotel next door. I was invited along by the three girls I had been sitting next to and it would have just been plain rude if I had sad no. So another night of partying ensued. The pool party was mildly horrendous to be perfectly honest. The music wasn't bad, but it was full of completely slaughtered English. Guys dancing around with no tops on and girls throwing themselves at them in an embarrassing fashion. It reminded me very strongly the holiday rep shows you see on tv. After a few hours dancing and telling a very creepy guy exactly what I thought of him trying to to repeatedly grope me, not going to lie, it wasn't polite, the girls headed back to their hotel and I headed back to the beach to continue the party with some other people we had met.

Had Rin beach appears to get busier every night up to the full moon, there were definitely more people out last night than the night before, even at gone 3 o'clock. At the beach there was dancing and fire skipping and fire limbo. Well. I danced, but I have no desire to burn myself on a burning rope.

Today I am going to actually chill out and almost definitely not go out. Tomorrow is the full moon and I'm pretty excited!!
xx

I had an actual rave on the beach rather than an quiet night in...

So last night my quiet night didn't work out. I didn't drink anything but I bumped into a couple of girls I'd met on Koh Tao and went to meet them at a bar on the beach. I actually ended up watching a fire show and then dancing on the podium with a load of people from Stourport. Turns out it's quite a small world. The beach at night here is crazy. There are several bars and loads of stalls selling buckets of alcohol as well as a couple of sounds systems. One of the bars has one of the biggest sound systems I have ever seen. Probably only rivaled by ones I have seen at festivals and the Prodigy gigs I've been to. Last night it was pumping out the loudest techno/trance I have ever heard and I spent quite a while raving with a Israeli girl I had met. I'm not really sure who is in Israel at the moment because most of the population seems to be at Had Rin. (wide generalisation I know)

This morning I had a nice lie in. It was nice to not still be completely wired from the Thai red bull when I woke up! I brought some books from a cheap second hand book store and went to the beach. I have been totally spoilt by the calmness of Koh Tao and it felt weird to be on a beach surrounded by people. Lunch was at a little restaurant on the main street which is currently playing the entire back catalogue of Friends. I think I might head back to the beach this afternoon and chill out for a bit, then this evening there is a kick boxing match on which I think I'm going to go to.
xx