Happy New Year & Monk-ey Business

Well I hope we've all enjoyed a nice Xmas, I spent it on an island off the SE of Thailand called Koh Tao, a beautiful place with really chilled out places, beach bars and some fabulous diving spots. I met up with some really cool people down there and have been well and truly chilling out.

It was here funny thing happened. As some of you may know I have a strong interest in Buddhism and was wanting to look more into this as part of my trip round Asia. After a couple of heavy nights over Xmas this started to seem a more attractive option than heading off to the New Year's and full moon parties on Koh Pha-gnan and I started to look into some meditation retreats in the Thai monasteries. Well as coincidence would have it I was sitting not 3 PCs away from someone I had met that week and after our spell on the web we chatted about our next plans for the trip. Would you believe it he was due to head off to the very same place I was looking into. This repeated itself later in the week when I met a Yoga instructor in a different email place who was also going to the same place!

This sealed it for me! I am not in a place called Chai Ya and am due to register tomorrow on a 10 day silent meditation retreat! Silent! That will be interesting! It starts at 4am each day and involves a whole bunch of meditation styles and relaxation talks. This will prove to be exceptionally hard for me but also something which is on my list of things to do considering the majority of the countries I am visiting are almost exclusively Buddhist in religion.

So anyway, I'm going to be out of contact for 10 days but will no doubt be back on here to let you know how it went.

If you fancy learning a little more about what I'll be up to then have a look here:

http://www.suanmokkh.org/

or here for the scary timetable!!! http://www.suanmokkh.org/ret/ret-sm3.htm

Goodbye old friend!

Sad times today, I've had to say a tearful goodbye to an old friend of mine. Not old Saddham but my travelling hat which has been lost after 3 years of keeping my head from frying!

Bought in Austin 2003 - Lost in Koh Tao 2006, goodbye old boy, I'm burning up without you!

I caught crabs...

Sunrise - Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

.. dancing around my beach at sunrise. Wanna hear more?

Anyway I think it's about time I told you some more about where I've been and what I've been doing this last couple of weeks.

So as you know from some of these recent posts I began in Bangkok and headed down to a place called Phuket in the west of Thailand. That all got a little too much for us and we (some people I met in Phuket) headed off to Koh Phi Phi which is a much quieter island further south with less glitzy bars and loads of beaches lined with wooden beach hut type bungalows. It was hear I took most of my pictures to date.... mainly because I ended up staying there for about 5 nights. Why not? This was a secluded beach with beautiful white sands, glowing sunshine, excellent food and a beach with only about 30 people inhabiting it - all of them really friendly. There were no roads on this island and the electricity on our beach was only turned on between 6pm and 6am - a bit of a nightmare as the sun goes down about 5pm! So here there was time for catching sun, lots of snorkeling and diving and a trip or two into town (via taxi boat of course).

Now one of the nights we were on PP a group of fellow beach residents came back in from the 'town' at about 3am via taxi boat and a wave caught the side of it on shore causing it to promptly fill up with water - this caused some laughs in the morning when we all woke up to see the driver asleep in a hammock watching some other people trying to bail it out. It took them 1.5 days to get the boat out completely. Anyway, the reason I'm telling you this is that after a few Chang beers (6% Thai Cheapo lager) the majority of the beach decided to get a boat into town and have a few more! We had a cracking night and with some cool people. At 2am(ish) when our mozzie nets were calling we couldn't find a taxi driver willing to take us all back, probably as penance for what happened to the other guy's boat. Anyway not to worry, the 13 of us all lined up on the beach and waited for sun up.. snoring as we went. I caused some amusement as I was sleeping on my front... not wise in the sand! We got home safe and sound for breakfast!

Anyway, sadly in my usual style of not being able to get up in the mornings I missed my ferry and had to stay another day... this was doubly annoying as half the people I had met on the island were shooting off too which meant that they had gone without me getting their emails. Not to worry, it's a small world!

So where next? Well I spent a night in Krabi town, a friendly little fishing port near PP with Justin and Erin (2 Ozzies who should by now be gracing the streets of Salisbury with their potty mouths). We went to a Wat (A wat?, It's an asian temple), climbed 13,00 steps, saw some monkeys and then headed off in our separate ways, them to the airport and me on my up north to the islands on the east coast - which is where I am now. As I write this I am on Ko Samui the largest island on the S. West coast of Thailand. I spent a night in Chaweng Beach which was far too sparkly for my liking and have now moved to Ao Bang Po a much quieter beach o the north. It was here a funny urge struck me. I was reading the Lonely Planet and happened my eyes upon some Hippie style health resort up the road....mmm i thought. Yoga, meditation, massage? Been there, done that.. I know, lets have a colonic for a laugh - all because someone dared me the other night! Sadly I would have had to have eaten a lot of herbal nonsense and fasted for a day, a bit too much for me... oh yeah and I would have had a tube up my ass! I came to my senses.. for now!

Anyway, that's it for now. I've just got my ticket for Koh Tao, a sleepy gem of an island north from here where I plan on spending Xmas. Early to bed - 8am departure!

Catch you soon,

In summary:
8/12/06 - Bangkok (accommodation:270b, bus to Ranong 428b)
9/12/06 - Ranong (250b shared twin room in Kiwi Lodge with Mad Tom - tosser!)
10-12/12/06 - Phuket town and Pattong (200b to Phuket, 4hrs. Stayed in On on guest house 180b, 750 in Pattong - Shared with Andy)
12/12/06 - Koh Phi Phi (S.W. Island) - 500b ferry, stayed on ToKo beach @ about 300b per night)
18/12/06 - Krabi Town (KL Mansion - 200b)
19/12/06 - Nakhon Si Thammarat (Thai Hotel - 220b)
20-21/12/06 - Ko Sumui (SE Island)

Home is where the heart is...

2006-07-02_ Cardiff Bay
Originally uploaded by Big_Ade.

Ok, before i get lost in a world of writing about the journey so far I just wanted to have a big softie moment! The weeks leading up to my trip made me really appreciate what wonderful friends and family I have gracing my life. Not only did you all turn up to watch me dance like a pregnant giraffe on my leaving do you all helped me so much in the last week when I realised how disorganised I had been! (I blame an unexpected and pleasurably distracting chain of events! - you know who you are!). Who would have thought that I would have so many people helping me pack and throw out my crap..... were you all so keen to see me go..I wonder! ;) Anyway, you are all in my thoughts as I stumble through Asia and I hope you all have a wonderful Xmas and New years... Keep sending those emails with goss

Ade

Paradise Lost...

"Paradise" - Koh Phi Phi Lay, Thailand.

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. Well actually I'm not that sorry! I've just spent the last 5 nights on Koh Phi Phi, an island paradise off the west coast of Thailand. I've been on a beach with no more than 20-30 people on it and the only way to reach it is via taxi boat if you can flag one down. Anyway, I'm going to write some more soon but after my Phuket post just now I'm going to have a lie down!

Currently in Nakhon Si Thammarat on my way up to Surat Thani before heading over to Ko Samui or Koh Tao for Xmas.

Have a look on Flickr as they're is plenty more to see on there

Phuket... I did!

This is the first post for ages I know. I've been sitting/laying on a deserted island beach for the last 5 days and have really struggled to find the will to spill pros onto a computer when the alternative is to spill Thai sand between my fingers!

So the last time you heard from me I was on my way to Phuket for some sun and relaxation. Well I found the sun but a group of fellow travellers and I had the misfortune to happen upon Pattong in Phuket, a beach town a bit like Clacton-on-sea crossed with Swansea's finest massage parlours. I've previously been exposed to the Thai sex tourists when I went to Ko Sumui in 2004 but I was never expecting this and never to this scale. What was funny though is that I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, let me explain. Firstly to set the picture imagine a beautiful long beach with white sand and crystal clear aquamarine water. Now line the street with dozens and dozens and dozens of bars, all with European names and all open fronted. Now in these bars put a sprinkling of Thai girls of varying age and beauty depending on the place and then warm the place up with some flashing lights and the lure of extended happy hours. Next get these girls to giggle, smile, wink and flirt with any guy that walks past. Got the idea?

What happens next is quite amusing. Many people walk past these places in search of the nice beaches and the seafront restaurants. However the other people, and they tend to be about 40-50 yrs of age and sporting speedos under an overhanging belly, get drawn into these bars thinking that the girls in them are actually punters and that they're genuinely interested in their company. What ensues is an interesting and mutually beneficial relationship. The guys who walk into the bars are made to feel good about themselves and the bars, including the girls, make a lot of money out of these hapless fat punters.

Basically what happens from that point in the night doesn't need much explaining but basically you will see a bunch of fat speedo wearing westerners cavorting around with Thai girls half, or even a quarter or their own age for the rest of their holiday. The men will spoil the girls rotten and in return they will feel better about them selves. It can even go further than that and often people will return year after year to see the same girls and as you know many of the guys will marry the girls. Many of the girls working in the bars tend to come from less affluent areas and often make a lot of money from the punters who tend to spoil them rotten over the duration their holiday. The bars, restaurants and tour operators don't care either as they're raking it in from the visitors pouring money into the town.

So is this wrong? If so who is at fault? Is it the western men who want to finally feel attractive to women? Surely they're just missing something and feeling desperately lonely, in need of someone who wont run away the first time they see them in a thong! How about the girls? Are they not just wanting a better life? They see the tourist dollars being thrown around and they just want a piece of it. They may never be able to afford the luxuries which Mr Speedo can lavish upon them which includes cruises, island hopping and 5 star hotels.

Now please don't get me wrong, this does not go on everywhere, quite the opposite. Thailand is filled to the brim with friendly and hospitable people who would never dream of stepping foot in a place like Pattong and would no doubt be disgusted with the image it is portraying around the globe. Equally there are many many visitors who visit the country and find its people to be so fun loving and friendly that they can genuinely fall head over heels in love with someone from Thailand. I have already met several of these couples including my dive master in Ko Phi Phi who found herself falling in love with a Thai guy on the island and that was enough for her to be with him for over 2 years on the island. And there is of course an old friend of mine who is now happily married to a lovely Thai lady in New Zealand.

Anyway think about it for a minute.

It's happened!.... thanks for stopping by!

Well here it is, the brand new web page for my trip!
In typical Ade style I was far too busy over engineering this page that I left little time for the important things such as getting currency, packing and all those other important things to do on the couple of days before leaving on a 9 month epic journey! Anyway, safe to say that the lead up to this day has been very very hectic!!

Anyway, after 4 months of planning, a fantastic leaving bash, and the last few days of realising that planning needs to be followed by 'doing', I have one rucksack and an empty house! I have said my goodbyes to some very special people and sit here in an internet cafe in Bangkok with paradise in site.

It's strange, I stood their at Cardiff bus station yesterday and it all started to hit me! I've given up the job and I''m on my own for 9 months , what was I doing!? I was feeling this rush of emotions and it wasn't pretty! Anyway, they say a way to a man's heart is through his stomach... I found a place to stay and have had my first authentic Thai curry for 3 years, now I know I have an adventure ahead of me! I love my curry!

Bangkok as ever is the the meeting place of travellers in SE Asia. The place is swarming with people all rushing for their first Thai beer or saying their goodbyes before returning home. I'm finding it all a bit overwhelming already and tomorrow morning I am packing up my bag and hitting the road to Phuket for a spot of diving and some downtime. This will involve about 10 hours on a train tomorrow so I had best get an early one!

Where then? Well the Thai Islands for Xmas & New Year then Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam before heading to Malaysia and then Australia in April. Then Brisbane, Sydney and New Zealand before heading over to South America at the end of June where I will be working my way from Chile to Rio in Brazil before flying home in August! Have a look here if you want to see the map, or here for the dates

Sounds great, huh? I'm strangely laid back about the whole affair but nervous at the same time! It's going to be great!

Anyway, after all this travelling I'm not in a literary mood so will leave this for now! Expect a new post in a weeks time.

Signing out for now,

Ade

PS, you can leave comments on here so please drop me a few words to let me know you're popping by! Laters!