Pool Pool Pool Pool Pool Pool Party Party Party!!!

Or so say the signs all over Koh Pha Ngan. We've been here about 4 days, 3 nights, one of our longer stays thus far. On the night we arrived there was a pool party at the resort we are staying at, Coral Bungalows. It was so much fun!!! It's pretty crazy here. During the day it's like a ghost town... there is hardly anyone out walking around.. But at night the place comes to life. The parties don't really get going until around 11 and they go all night! Our first two nights we were out till around 5 am I think.. The second night we were here there was a black moon party which we had planned to attend but we ended up hanging out with some people we had met at the pool party. We played some poker down at their bungalows and then went out to some of the bars along the beach in Haad Rin. Last night was a bit more of a chilled out night, we went back to our new friends bungalows down on the beach. Everyone was pretty exhausted from the previous party nights so we didn't go out anywhere but we were still out until 2am!!! Played some more poker and jenga too!! :p Arainn got some pretty awesome hands and won one of the poker games, Megan also won one the previous night. We've had a lot of fun here on Koh Pha Ngan but we're thinking it's time to head out and move on to out next destination. We're still not really sure where that is going to be though.. most likely Ko Tao and the back to Bangkok.. Toodles

Attack of the killer jelly fish!!!!

So we have survived the death hike. Wasn't actually that bad...but it was really good that we did it the day before to find out how long it was. We stayed on Rantee Beach for two nights in a sweet little bungalow with a very hard matress. Our daily activities consisted of lounging in the shade, playing volleyball on the sandy beach and star gazing in the evenings. The people that ran the place where we stayed were so nice and it is definitly somewhere to return to someday.

On our last morning, Megan and Arainn went snorkling and saw some amazing fish and other underwater creatures. Many of the fish seem to be as interested in you as you are in them and they circle you so it is easy to take great pics with Arainn's SUPER AWESOME camera:) Until they attack you of course....swimming along minding our own business (and chasing little fishes) Megan was viciously wacked by a passing, and seemingly invisible jelly fish. We imediately booked it to shore to check the damage. Although she had a good sized welt on her forearm, a red streak on her calf and some general numbness we determined she is going to live....

Back on the busy side of Koh Phi Phi we are just awaiting our ferry back to Krabi, from which we are catching a bus and boat to Koh Phan Nagn. Black moon party on Sunday!!!

BAM

Where do we begin... it feels like we have been here a lot longer that just a few days. It's hard to belive we landed in Singapore only a week ago. We've been on the go and we are having a blast. So lets try to re-cap...

Our time in Bangkok consisted of sauntering up and down koh san road looking at what seemed to be pure chaos, but is just the daily lives ofthe busy street vendors. We took a water taxi to the incredible Grand Palace and Wat Po, both amazing!! And very blinging with their golden decor. We frequented a lovely little street ktichen just down the way from our hotel. The food was delicious, the price was right at 30 baht a plate (just over a dollar..), and it was run by the prettiest little lady boys. lol. We spent some of our time at our roof top pool, but it was a little chilly in the evenings for swimming.

We parted ways with Kait and hopped on an overnight bus down south to Krabi. Breanna kept a death grip on her bags all night as she slept... perhaps she was a bit paranoid about all the stories we'd heard about people getting stuff stolen. While we had nothing stolen we were deposited at a bus stop at 5am with no idea where we were and we were told it would be about 3 hours for the next bus. We played some cards with a nice Finnish boy which seamed to pass the time. To add to the adventure, Megan not knowing that we weren't getting back on the same bus accidently left our ticket on the bus which lead to some problems when trying to get on the next bus. However a small fee seemed to remedy the problem and we were on our way..

We finally arrived in Krabi town not really knowing where to go but we were immediatley ushered towards the docks where we got on a long tailed boat destined for Rai leh beach (Kudos to Kait who suggested we should pay it a visit). We stayed on Rai leh East which is the cheaper side, but it was only a short walk away from Rai leh west which is very much a resort beach and Tham Phra Nang which is a magnificent beach with cliffs that overhang the water. Rock climbing was huge at these beaches, we didn't partake but we did do our own sort of rock climbing when we ventured up a path in search for a lagoon. But in the end after scaling from rocks we found a mud hole... Apparently it's only a lagoon at high tide :p But it was still absolutly amazing as we found ourselves at the bottom of a lush cavern. Then we booked a half day kayaking trip which brings us up to today. We very much enjoyed our few das at Rai leh, it's hard to describe how truely lovely it was there. We were definitley a little sad to leave and I'm sure we will compare everywhere else to go to Rai leh.

Kayaking today was wicked!!! We had the coolest guides ever, named Sao and Joe :p They were so much fun. We went to two caves, the first we tied up the kayaks and got to wander through the caves on foot. There were some original and not so original cave drawings that we saw as well as some cool rock formations in the shape of a dragon and an old man. It was really neat in the caves knowing that many many years ago people really lived in them. The second cave we just paddled through and stopped on the other side to watch to walking fish. It was cool, they looked like half fish half lizards as they hopped along the mud. After kayaking we were dropped off at the ferry in Krabi and we took a ferry boat to Koh Phi Phi. Koh Phi Phi is a very busy, touristy, expesive location. We got a bungalow up on the hill a ways away from the beach and to commotion. Luckily on the ferry over Megan was reading her lonely planet guide and she read that there was a little secluded beach on the other side of the island which had more reasonable prices. The only set back is that it is only accesible by hiking a grueling path up over a steap hill!! We hiked over earlier today with only our little day packs and when we made it back we were dripping in sweat. Tomorrow we will attempt the hike with our big packs... There will be many rest stops... wish us luck!!!

BAM

Baaaaaaaaaaangkok

Got into Bangkok yesterday morning. Met a nice German girl at the airport and we all split a taxi into town. We are staying at the Rambuttri Village Inn, close by Khaosan Road and it has a pool on the roof :) too bad its not scorching here tho...probably just the high 20's. Met up with Kaitlin (from back home) and are trying to figure out what we are going to do next...we are thinking the southern peninsula of Thailand.

Walked around the local area yesterday. There are tons of little stands and shops, so much nice clothing to buy...we have restrained ourselves thus far...need to ditch some stuff so there is room in the packs. Took our first tuk tuk yesterday and are ready for our next ride...although the water taxi is very tempting too. Today we are going to explore the city more and go visit some of the many temples.

Cheers for now.

BAM

Kickin back and sippin Singapore Slings

mmm mmm mmm. After how many hours on our flight we have finally made it to Singapore! Oh oh and we stopped in Korea... I guess Meg went there afterall. But she didn't stay. Singapore Airlines is so amazing, we were given hot steaming towels when we got on the plane (and not because we smell), delicious food, and FREE BOOZE. Definitely got our moneys worth. We slept in the airport for a while since we got in so late and the trains stop at midnight. So now we're just heading to the train now to check into our hostel and then check out the festival that is happening in Little India today. Last night was a balmy 26 degrees so we're looking forward to the heat of the day.. and the humidity :P Thats all for now

BAM

The night before the night before...

THANK YOU to everyone who came to our going away party. It was a blast and we were so happy to see you all. We are so excited for our adventure to begin. ONE MORE DAY to pack and make sure we have everything we need. Say goodbye to comfy beds and hello to cots and cockroaches:)

BAM

One week today...

...we'll be flying far away!! Welcome to our travel blog. The four month adventure of BAM will be taking us through SE Asia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia, and then on to the next stop, the East Coast of Australia. We will hopefully be keeping this blog up to date with lots of photos and fun info about our adventures for all of our avid blog reading enthusiasts.

But before we take off there is lots to be done.. so we should probably go do that.. instead of writing on here.. toodles.

PS. Farwell party on Friday, Jan 9th at Ceili's Irish Pub, it's on Smithe and Granville. Be there.

BAM