The Last Leg
Trip Start
Jul 21, 2008
1
23
Trip End
Ongoing
Bangkok, Thailand
Thursday, October 16, 2008
When we arrived at Phi Phi island we were swamped by touts offering cheap accommodation or boats to leave to other islands it was really hectic! After a lot of NO's and no thank yous we soon came out the other side in one piece and got chatting to a dutch couple Rudolph and Anna who we ended up walking around with looking for somewhere to stay. We found this great little guest house with air con for 500 baht "bargain". we grabbed some lunch then headed off on a 4 hour walk around the island looking at all of the other bays and coves on the other side of the island. It was so nice to walk through the shaded area where all the trees where at the top of the hill. At various view points you can see the whole bay, and thats when we recognised the bay from the tv when they showed the tsunami hitting. There are pictures on the trees showing what the place looked like after the wave hit.......they have worked really hard to get it back to look like it does. when we returned back to our guest house we had noticed that next door was a quite little cafe/restaurant so we decided to treat our selfs to a couple of drinks called "lassi shakes" these consist of fresh fruit, ice and yogurt all put through the blender in a huge glass, they are the most delicious drink you will ever have, Merlin had banana Helen had Mango. Once inside this little cafe we noticed that they were also a very small bakery bakery,it wasn't long before Merlin spotted something that resembled a Chelsea bun and Helen a muffin,these were also delicious.
Later that evening we decided to head off to the beach to see what was going on as there are a few bars dotted along the front, after a 2min walk we were on the lush sandy beach where there were many people juggling with fire " COOL" we watched the show for a bit then headed off further down the beach where the same sort of thing was going on. As we were watching in amazement at these locals playing with fire we noticed that the three girls from Cardiff sitting right in front of us "what are the chances?" we grab a couple of seats and get chatting. The fire show kept on getting better and better apart from one guy who was a bit of a loose cannon and kept swinging his fire into the crowd by accident. after all the fire swinging,they moved on to fire eating " oh goodie lets see how the loose cannon gets on with this one" but unfortunately this bit was left to the professionals. After the fire eating came jumping through a ring of fire, Merlin couldn't wait to see someone get this wrong but unfortunately it was all plain sailing here too, even one of the Cardiff girls had a go at this she did it no problem, then one of the locals jumped through it naked! it was so funny to watch him disappear down the beach into the darkness. We thought that was the grand finale until they set alight to a 5 meter length of rope and started to swing it around like a giant flaming skipping rope "COOOOOL" even better they had decided that the loose canon was allowed to play as he stepped up and timed it perfectly he began to jump perfectly "boring",but he soon got ahead of himself and got his feet tangled up in the burning rope whilst still trying to jump over, this was very funny. Then the same pyromaniac Cardiff girl decided that it would be a good idea to give this one a go...... well she did a great job of showing up the locals and successfully managed at least 6 jumps. we all headed back and it turned out that the three girls were staying practically next door to us "again what are the chances".
Next morning we decided to find a sports bar as we were going to miss the grand prix,we found a nice place with a few brits cheering for Hamilton, we both had homely breakfasts Helen had hardboiled eggs with solders,while Merlin was guaranteed a proper cheese toastie with real cheddar cheese,yum yum. After the GP we had a little walk in the immense heat down to the pier where we looked for some prices to get to our next destination. Afterwards we decided that it was time to go swimming in the sea, so we grabbed our kit and headed off to the beach. When we got there it was low tide which meant we had to go quite a way out before we could swim. In the distance we could see black clouds but this was fine as the wind was blowing them away from us. so off we swam , the water was so hot and it was lovely just swimming about,until we noticed that the black clouds had grown considerably and were now heading straight for us. ( typical Helen and Merlin luck ) We decided that it would be best to turn back and move our bag which had our camera inside,by the time we got to our bag it started to spit, we both had the same attitude "so what if we get wet we have just been swimming" but when it rains boy does it rain,we would probably have been dryer if we had stayed in the sea! not only that but it was raining so hard it hurt, so yet again we found our selfs running away.
On the 13th not much happened really, went swimming very early then lazed on a sun lounger for half of the day, next thing we know it was dinner time,which came and went very quickly as we were desperate to book a fight home, after a lot of searching we had decided ( well Merlin had decided ) that we should just turn up at the airport and see what they had to offer, well it wouldn't be a Helen and Merlin holiday if we just booked something "said Merlin" then we both had a fit of the giggles . So the big question is will it pay off ? or will we end up in Antarctica !
On the14th at 8.00am we still didnt have a clue on what we were doing so we decided to go down to the pier, where there are lots or travel people, this was to give us an idea on times and costs . There was a boat leaving for krabi at 9.00am then the next would be at 4.30pm, but the 4,30 was not an option as it meant we would have to wait in krabi for the whole of the next day for a bus, but if we booked the 9.00am it meant that the ball would finally be in our court for a change as we would get to krabi at a perfect time for the buses, so we both decided there and then that we should do it, so quick as a flash we both charge off back to our guest house to grab our bags ( luckily Merlin packed the night before as he saw this coming ) then headed back off to the pier,we got there with ample time to spare, a record breaking 30mins.
When we arrived in krabi we still didn't really know how we would get to bangkok fly or bus. we were guaranteed a luxury bus, and we would need it for a 14hour trip! or just one hour by plane at 3 times the price, we were both doing our math trying to work out if it was worth us catching the bus, it would cost us approx 1000 baht to get to bangkok then we would have to get to the airport,maybe 200baht + a 14hour journey in a bus = grumpy people on our last few days.
Then it finally clicked in Merlins head that if we did take the bus which was a 14 hour journey plus the time to the airport, maybe 15 hours in total, then after that we have a 14 hour flight straight away or maybe the next day ( i say maybe because we still hadn't booked our tickets to Heathrow yet ! ) so we again decided at the last minute to go to the airport and book tickets to bangkok, just to reduce the travelling time.
We arranged a taxi to take us to the airport, and before we knew it were in krabi airport, and boy was it small ! we found two airline ticket desks one for air china "merlins favorite" and the other was Thai airways, Thai were four times the price as air china so obviously we booked our seat as they only had 3 seats left" finally towards the end of our holiday we were getting some good luck.
We boarded our plane in Krabi and set off for Bangkok.
As soon as we landed it was very important that we found the ticket booths ASAP as the flight we wanted left at 1.15am which meant we had four hours to find a flight and book the tickets ( easy ) .......it was going great our bags were first out of the luggage shoot,then we were off, around the corner there was a information desk, so quick as a flash we asked where the ticket booths were then headed up to the 4th floor. Ok the top floor was massive but we had to crack on and find the ticket booths,we found our first port of call Thai airways "ouch" the flight for both of us leaving at 1.15am would cost us both £1500,so we did the normal thing of walking around looking for either Quantas,BA,Emirates or Egyptian airways most were around the same price £500 for both both us "much better" and one of them flew at 1am, only problem was we had to pay the airline company, as our credit cards had expired "note to self cancel very thing to do with HSBC" we had to use our debit cards, oh dear why do i have a maestro card? the poxy thing doesnt work any where! and the worst thing is that airlines dont take payment via debit cads !!!! WHY? this was so confusing and annoying, but no problem we will just take the money out of the cash machine, Nope that didnt work either.
so we were stuck in the airport with money but no way of using it. we phoned good old mum up tried to use her card details but this was no good either as they didnt except american express either,by this time, we were running out of time and had only 1hour left to book something that could take us home. After another panic phone call home desperate to try another card, but by the time we had sorted our paying method we had missed the flight home! but not to worry as there is another flight home the next day at 6pm, so we booked the fight then tried to get a hotel.
On the15th, We had a late check out from our lovely hotel then headed off to the dreaded airport to be harassed by all the touts asking us if we want air tickets, a bus, taxi, train, hotel. this wears thin after a while and Merlin started to ask them before they could ask us. This was so funny as they were not expecting Merlin to ask the Tout if they wanted any tickets. We checked in and found out that we had an over night stay in " Columbo Sri Lanka" but it would be ok as the price included hotel , We touched down in Columbo and went looking for our hotel only to be told by our airline "no we only give out hotel rooms when you have at least an 8 hour wait " our stay was 7 hours...... how gutted were we. We headed down to the check in desk then found some cozy chairs and got some sleep. Typical.
On the16th, We had to wake up early from our cramped sleep as our flight left at 4am. Boy were we tired i think we both fell asleep as soon as we sat down on the plane ....neither of us remember taking off, the flight flew by and before we knew it we had landed in Heathrow, the sun was also shinning which was a huge bonus, we grabbed our bags then haded off to the bus terminal where we already had tickets waiting for us to take us to Cranligh where we were due to stay with Merlins brother. Helen dared Merlin to go out side to see how cold it was, so of course he did, it didnt take long before he came running back in. we both went through our ruck sacks to find warm clothes and jackets.........roll on the summer!
