Tiger Temple

Wednesday 22^nd December 2010

MP3 track of the day: Wherever you find love it feels like Christmas -The Muppets

Weather: Cloudy with blue patches of sky in the middle of the day

Again, due to traffic, I was up early. This was a good thing as I was able to get ready and have breakfast with Rachael and Matt before they headed on their way. Again it was a little sad to my friends go, however we might be meeting up again in about two weeks time. I waved them off and then got ready for my final day in Krabi.

Not sure what to do with my day Rachael and Matt recommended a 'Tiger temple', with great views of the city, about a ten minute drive away. After they had gone I inquired, at my hostel reception, how to get there … all seemed simple enough. However, as the skies were a beautiful light blue, my first task was to visit three specific sites within Krabi (the waterfront, temple and the crab) to get some quality photos with a blue sky background. As I now know my way around Krabi rather well this didn't take long and I was soon back at the hostel, dropping off my bag, and heading back out to my favorite restaurant for lunch.

I have eat at this restaurant (called 'Good Dream' … it doubles up as a hostel) five times now and I must have sampled 20% of the menu, all of which has been great. This time I opted for a meal (that I can't remember the name of) that Rachael liked a lot … so much so that I think she had it three times out of five visits. It was a noodle dish and I have to say it was rather yummy.

Lunch had passed and it was time to find a red pick-up truck, converted to carry people 'army style'. One turned up and wanted to charge me 100 baht (£2) to get to the temple. It didn't take me long to barter him down to thirty baht, a more reasonable price, however I think local people paid twenty. Just like every other driver within South East Asia he didn't say much; this led to me getting dropped off on a main road and the driver telling me that I now had to pay for a scooter to take me the rest of the way. A little annoyed about this I looked around first and I found out that the temple was only 1.5km (about a mile in a proper measurement) away and that the road was mainly flat … I decided to walk it.

The sun was beating down and I was worried about getting sun burnt; I dodged between the minimal shade that was present, however I did have to get my umbrella out to guarantee not frying. It didn't take long to get to the temple; most of the buildings on the ground weren't that impressive however you don't come for this, you come to climb the 1,219 steps to the top of a mountain where the view, apparently, is excellent.

Matt and Rachael had warned me about the steps, however that didn't stop me wanting to kill them the next time I saw them. Humidity was high, the steps where very tall, with little ledges to put your feet on, and I got extremely sweaty; there were only three things that kept me going, drink, ice cream and shower, all of which would be after the climbing mount Everest.

Fortunately the stairs were sheltered from the sun, however the humidity was still very high and so I still had to rest half way up. All the way up I saw donation boards so that the Buddhist monks could erect another statue; I though that before anymore tiger carvings were erected on this mountain maybe they might want to invest in a cable car.

At the top the views were stunning, however I didn't spend to long up there as the sun was beating down. I took my photos and departed back down the stairs, which took just as long to descend as it did to ascend due to the dodgy nature of the steps.

Once at the bottom I found the nearest shop and enjoyed an ice cream, and a bottle of Pepsi, for twenty baht (40p). I then left the temple, back along the road – which thankfully the sun was now hidden behind clouds – and onto the first converted pick-up truck that went to Krabi town center. It was around 3:45pm, or to put in another way 'schools out' time. We stopped at a school to fill the truck with school children; it was so full that some boys hung on the back end of the vehicle like it was normal. Imagine in the UK if some parents child was hanging onto the back of a school bus … tabloid heaven.

Once back at the hostel I had a shower (which was lovely) before chilling at the roof top bar. After this I headed for tea at the night market. As I was eating I reflected on my time here in Krabi; another group of travelers in Melaka had warned me not to stay in Krabi as it wasn't that good and here I am on my sixth night. I have really enjoyed Krabi; yes it's annoying that people try to sell me everything from boat cruises to peanuts ALL THE TIME (and there does seem to be a lot of mosquito's around here) however the place does have a certain charm. There is more to do than you think, the hostel is excellent and cheap, there is also a restaurant here that serves the best food that I've eaten within South East Asia (and it's cheap) … what more could you want?

I now move onto Khao Lak and I am a little worried. I hope that my hostel is clean and has a common room full of travelers. There seems to be a lot to do around the area but probably not for nine days. The problem is if I don't like Khoa Lak, I don't mind leaving a few days early and losing £20/£30, the bigger problem is an alternate location. The islands around the south of Thailand are for people who want to get drunk each and every night, Bangkok is stupidly busy and I suspect not a great place for the festive season. Chang-mi is right in the north of the country and all transport there is pretty much booked. Therefore it looks like Khao Lak is really my only option ... unless I fly to Japan!

Toodle Pip!

Bars, Boats and Mangroves

Tuesday 21st December 2010

MP3 track of the day: I'm yours – Jason Mraz

Weather: Cloudy but dry

Yesterday evening Matt, Rachael (The English couple) and I went out to the most bizarre pub in Krabi. The pub itself wasn't that different but the two members of staff were odd; one, I think, was a lesbian (which, I think, fancied Rachael) and the other was clearly a man. 'Lady GaGa' was also played continually throughout the evening. The two were friendly enough and so we stayed there for the evening playing cards, eventually returning to our hostel around 1:30am.

Due to the window being open in my dorm – and the fact that continual traffic was traveling right outside – I woke around 8:30am. As I went to get ready for the day it was a little odd to see Matt and Rachael as they had planned to set off early today to use their hired scooter one last time. We all went for breakfast before I returned to the hostel to do some jobs; Matt and Rachael went out on said scooter.

Realising that they hadn't got much 'scooter rental' time left Rachael and Matt abandoned the idea of using it today and met me back at the hostel. I had just finished my jobs when Matt asked if I wanted to join them on a boat trip. We walked out to the harbor where Rachael managed to barter the one hour boat ride trip down to 400 baht (£8.00).

It was quite a mission boarding the long boat from the harbor front, having to step half a meter down onto a rocking vessel. The long boat traveled down the river at a lovely slow pace and it went extremely close to a mangrove swamps. In front of us were two giant, impressive rock formations that looked like two teeth piercing out of the sea. We stopped at one of these rocks to walk around the island.

We made it to the face of the rock and I was greeted by an eroded wooden staircase that we walked up to see a huge cave with stalagmites and stalactites. No barriers, no ropes, nothing; we could walk right up to these impressive pillars of nature and photograph away. Also within the caves were information boards about what they were used for. It appears that the Japanese used these caves as a natural hideout towards the end of World War 2.

Once back on the boat we headed back to port thinking our trip was over, however the best was still to come. Just after we had seen a huge lizard in the mangroves we took a left turn and went past a load of docked fishing boats, and a floating village, and back into the mangroves. The boat then took a sharp right and we actually entered the mangroves along this narrow watery path; this was amazing. The boat slowed down to a crawl and we were enveloped in mangrove trees, leaves and vines. We went left and right through narrow enclosed passage ways until we appeared at this floating village.

We moored up at this restaurant; at this point I was slightly skeptical of our boat drivers intentions … you hear of story's from South East Asia where taxi drivers give cheap tours of a city and then drop you off at shop where you have to buy something, I did not like the predicament that I had been put in.

Getting out of the boat cautiously Matt, Rachael and I were met by a waiter who showed us around the restaurants fresh fish. Being a floating restaurant large wooden containers, with nets, were laid out on the floor with different fish in each container. The guy through food into some of the containers so that we could see the fish on offer; he also picked out a 'puffer fish' from the water to show us … which was kind of cool, but pretty cruel at the same time.

We then sat down at the restaurant and were given a menu; we had decided just to have a drink and I was surprised to find that the prices were actually really cheap, the food wasn't too bad either. I had a coke, Rachael had a coconut milk and Matt had an apple juice (which he said was the best he had ever tasted). We then all boarded the boat and headed back to mainland Krabi, feeling happy that the 'forced restaurant' situation went rather well.

We had lunch at our favorite restaurant (two doors down from our hostel; I've eaten there four times and the food is excellent and cheap) before chilling in the afternoon. At around 7:30pm we went off some some tea at the night market; I had a chicken and rice dish before finishing it off with a chocolate pancake. We were going to play cards in the evening however we were all pretty tired and so we had an early night instead.

Toodle Pip!

I am Leonardo Dicaprio!

Monday 20th December 2010

MP3 track of the day: Pure Shores - All Saints

Weather: Dry but cloudy

Last night I did indeed play a card game; in fact it was a great card game, which originated in Israel, called yaniv. It's well worth giving it ago, so much so that if you click here you can find the rules. After the game I went to my dorm to set my alarm for tomorrow. It was then that I spoke to one of my room mates – a Dutch girl – who inquired into my trip. I told her all about the tour, which she seemed very interested in part-taking. She decided to sleep on it and see in the morning.

I didn't have a very good nights sleep last night; for some reason I awoke every quarter to half an hour checking the time. The only reason I can think of was the fact that it was quite hot. I got up early for my tour, which was a blessing as it gave me additional time to gab a quick breakfast before the shuttle bus arrived to the ferry. The Dutch girl and I were the first to be picked up on the shuttle bus; we stopped at other locations until the bus was full. At one location four French guys got on including one that looked terrible. He sat down near to us and started blowing into a plastic bad. All I could think of was that I hope he wasn't on my tour.

Once at the ferry jetty we were put into groups; the Dutch girl and I had a red sticker and I was pleased to see that the French all had blue. We then boarded our vessel (a speed boat) and headed to our first of eight locations, Bamboo Island.

Now I couldn't see any bamboo, however the beach was quite nice. We had thirty-five minutes here in which time I managed to walk the length of the beach taking photos, it was okay but it wasn't what I had come to see. Next up were some caves that were flooded so we couldn't enter; we took a few shots, from the boat, and left. The caves weren't that great however the sheer cliff faces of the rock were; it was like having huge pebbles sticking out of a puddle of water.

Five minutes around the corner we stopped again for the opportunity to snorkel. Free snorkeling gear was provided but I wasn't that bothered ... not yet anyway. I decided to take some photos of the cliffs, and boats, that surrounded us and I got first dips on the cake that was about to be circulated around the tour group.

Finally we made it to Maya Beach, the location of where 'The Beach' was filmed. The entrance area was the only bit that didn't seem right. The beach, water, plants everything was just how I remembered in the film, it was just the entrance to the beach that seemed wider. As I stepped off the boat I was Leonardo Dicaprio (okay I may not have the looks or money, however I am taller and not American) looking for that beautiful French girl from the film. It's a shame that this beach wasn't as secretive as in the film as there were hundreds of tourists around. Again I walked up and down the beach taking photos before sitting on the perfect white sand that, once picked up and let run through your fingers, the sand felt like silk.

I was now getting hungry, however there was one more quick stop before lunch … Monkey Beach. It was called Monkey Beach because it was a beach with monkeys on it (clever that). We weren't allowed off the boat as a monkey, two days ago, attacked a tourist who was pregnant at the time. I was glad as I had seen a lot of monkeys so far and I was hungry.

Finally we made it to 'Phi Phi Don', the resort area of the islands. We had an hour to locate the free buffet upstairs, stuff ourselves and have a look around. I'm a little bit weary of buffet food as you never know how long the food has been out; however with no other choice I delved in … and went back for seconds as it was good and I was hungry. The Dutch girl and I then ventured into the narrow streets of 'Phi Phi Don' where there were shops, stalls and bars as far as the eye could see on each side of the street. The strange thing was that white people outnumbered the locals and I didn't like it at all. We soon got bored of the 'tourist trap' areas and decided to wonder off the main street before getting back on our boat. As we sailed away I was glad that I hadn't stayed on the island as it's a place where you sunbathe and shop in the day and get drunk at night, not my cup of tea.

After a twenty minute boat ride we arrived in the middle of the ocean where there were other boats treading water. We had an hour to do some snorkeling; I looked over the side of the boat to see hundreds of tropical fish swimming around. With an hour here I decided to get my swimming trunks on and do a bit of snorkeling myself (the sun had been hidden behind the clouds all day and so getting burnt wasn't going to be a problem). It was amazing; if you stayed still hundreds of tropical fish would swim past you, almost touching your face mask … I've never been so close to tropical fish before, in the wild, in my life and all the different colours … it was very beautiful indeed. It was also brilliant when the boat crew through in food for the fish as you saw hundreds of fish change direction instantly to the direction of where the food is ... sometimes swimming right at you. Only once, when I had my back to the boat and a crew member had thrown a whole slice of bread in the water next to me, did I feel a little uncomfortable as thousands of fish headed straight for me … I swam away.

After thirty minutes I got out, totally loving the experience. Once out a plate of watermelon and pineapple greeted me which I ate thankfully. The Dutch girl came out soon after and we chatted about the excellent experience we just had. As we returned to the jetty I, like every journey on this boat, almost feel asleep (I'm not sure if it's my seasick tablets or the bad nights sleep, but I have been really tired today). The difference this time was that most of the other passengers did the same. A violent boat-slam into the water woke us up and informed us that we were back at the jetty. We climbed off the boat and into a bus which took us back to the hostel. A shower was the first port of call before chilling and then tea.

I have two days left here and I have no idea what to do … seriously no idea at all. I think a late start tomorrow is in order as I am pretty tired.

Toodle Pip!

Crabs in Krabi

Sunday 19th December 2010

MP3 track of the day: House of fun - Madness

Weather: Heavy rain in the morning / cloudy and a little sun in the afternoon

Today I left my old hostel and moved to the 'Pac-up' hostel, a five minute walk away, still in the town of Krabi. Changing hostels would save me 100 baht per night (£2 to you and me) and the place was much nicer. Firstly I was in a dorm with others, secondly the showers had shower gel, shampoo and conditioner dispensers free of charge (my hair has never felt so silky smooth) and thirdly the hostel had only just opened and so everything was shinny new. I was staying in the 'English' room … it's not because it's decorated in an English style or anything like that, its because this building used to be a school. The are other rooms called 'Maths', 'IT' etc to keep with the theme … a nice touch I think.

Once checked in I went down stairs to meet a couple from England who I first met in the Cameron Highlands. We decided to have breakfast together and just chat for a while, due to the rain pouring down outside. Also within this time I checked the 'BBC weather' website for Krabi and found out that tomorrow is the only day this week when it's not supposed to rain. I took a deep breathe, went to the hostel reception and decided to book a day trip, for tomorrow, to see the island where they filmed 'The Beach' … that's 1,200 baht down (£24). As I was spending money I went to the bus station and purchased my bus ticket to Khao Lak in three days time. I then headed back to my hostel, as it was still raining, and formed a plan. Matt, the French guy (who has gone to Ko Phi Phi today) went to a beach yesterday where he saw hundreds of crabs; I haven't seen crabs in the wild and so I thought it was worth a look; Johnny (the Aussie I met yesterday) decided to join me.

However before going to the beach lunch was needed; Johnny had gone into town and so me and the English guy from the couple (also called Matt) went next door where I had a fantastic rice dish (can't remember the name of it though).

The weather had cleared by now, Johnny and I headed to the beach by flagging down this sort of mini-van. The actual vehicle was a pick-up truck with two benches in the back and a material cover over the top (a bit like an army transporter truck, just not as posh). It took forty-five minutes to get to the beach; once there the sun had come out and the skies had a hint of blue, there were big giant 'rock mountains' surrounding the beach and it looked lovely. I decided to put some suncream on however, to my horror, I had left it at the hostel. I'm such an idiot, I better not forget it tomorrow on the boat trip. Not caring what I looked like – but caring if I got burnt or not – I opened up my umbrella and we both walked down the beach looking for crabs.

We arrived at one end of the beach where there was a huge crowd gathered around a few trees and some boulders. Venturing further forward we found that monkeys operated with these trees and rocks and it was fun to watch, however I had already seen monkeys at the Batu Cave in Kuala Lumpur so I wasn't that bothered. Johnny, on the other hand, was loving it and even more so when he saw people venturing nearer to the monkeys and having them crawl all over them. Johnny ventured forth so that monkeys could pounce onto him whereas I stayed well back, taking photos.

We spent ages here which I wasn't massively happy about considering I had come to see crabs and not monkeys, however Johnny was really enjoying himself and eventually I prized him away to search the other end of the beach for these crabs. It dawned on us that it was a pretty busy beach with tourists left, right and center; we thought that crabs wouldn't want to be around this area (and looking at some of the huge women in tight bikinis, I didn't want to be here either). We reached the other side of the beach and no crabs; we then decided to ask a few locals which was a little weird asking them if they know of crabs. Most of the shop owners weren't interested as we weren't buying anything; it was at this stage that we met the English couple again as they had hired a scooter and had come to this beach to have a look around. We chatted for a while and, whilst chatting, I eventually found someone who knew what I was talking about and she said that we were at the wrong beach, the beach we wanted was 1km away so it was walkable. The English couple decided to keep shopping for a while but, as they had a scooter, they would catch us up … Johnny and I started walking.

We all arrived at this new beach at the same time and I immediately saw a crab, which was tiny. Apparently there were meant to be hundreds of them and so we trod carefully as we walked further out onto the beach. Eventually we saw hundreds of little wholes in the sand which, unknown to us at the time, each had a crab in them. Once we stood still we could see the crabs emerge from their homes and bring with them a small pile of sand which they would dump around the edge of hole. This process was repeated hundreds of times in which we were able to get some shorts. Johnny was expecting much larger crabs and so he went off to look around this 'new beach' where as I and the English couple just watched the little crabs work … it was pretty amazing.

It was around 5pm when Johnny and I decided to head back to Krabi. Being a Sunday we weren't sure how late public transport ran, so we played it safe and got the first mini-van thing we found. Once back at the hostel I had a lovely shower (using all three different types of free soap … never conditioned my hair before, looks good) before packing my bag for tomorrows boat trip (must remember suncream).

I eventually headed out to the night market to get a quick tea before meeting the English couple for a drink and a game of cards. It's been a very good day, but I'm looking forward to tomorrow, even with the early start.

Toodle Pip!

Elvis is alive and well and is living in Krabi

Saturday 18^th December 2010

MP3 track of the day: Teddy Bear – Elvis Presley

Weather: Raining in the morning and clearing up early afternoon, though still very cloudy

I slept really well and woke up pretty early, I was ready and down for breakfast by 7:45am. Breakfast was rubbish; I took the largest, and less stale, bread roll I could find and plastered it with strawberry jam. I decided to eat it as I had a walked around Krabi as to not offend anyone when I threw it in the bin (which was bound to happen). It was spitting in Krabi so I walked around looking for potential photo opportunities for when the weather cleared up. I walked along the river front seeing two beautiful rocks reaching out of the water to form a kind of gate way to the port. A huge crab, fending off three smaller crabs, was also sculpted along the river front, probably because this place is called Krabi.

I was still eating this bread roll as I walked nearly all the way around the town; I eventually dumped it in a bin before I went in search of money. Mike had told me that all Thai ATM's charge 150 baht (£3) for the privilege of withdrawing funds. Add the possible £3 fees from my own bank at home and it soon becomes very expensive to withdraw cash here; I think I need to re-think my budget strategy.

Apart from withdrawing cash I was already starting to like Thailand; you could actually walk down the pavements without having to walk into the road due to scooters, stalls or any other rubbish blocking your path … unlike Malaysia. Also there seems to be a lot less rubbish around making the place seem nicer; The only problems are the amount of stray dogs and cats plus there isn't anything to do in Krabi … oh and my large group of mates from Georgetown were missing.

I walked around until about 10am; by this time I had basically seen all of Krabi, including a fabulous Buddhist temple on top of a hill. I came back to my dorm and went on the internet where I saw that Matt was on Facebook at his hostel. We chatted for a bit and then decided to meet up.

Matt wanted to purchase some snorkeling gear and so we went around town looking for the best price. I also was looking for the best price, not for snorkeling gear but for a bus to Khao Lak (where I shall be spending Christmas) and for a day tour to Ko Phi Phi. After a while Matt got his snorkeling gear for 400 baht (£8) and I had found a place that did a mini-van to Khoa Lak for 350 baht (£7 … first price quoted was 400 baht) and a tour for 1,200 baht (£24, first price quoted was 1,500 baht).

The tour seemed pretty good; it's from 8am until 4pm where I get to visit Ko Phi Phi, the location where 'The Beach' was filmed and six other destinations plus lunch and free hire of some snorkeling equipment. If I was to do this on my own it would cost 800 baht for transport, another 400 baht on two nights accommodation, and 100 baht on lunch so really the tour is only 200 baht more expensive then me going it alone. I haven't booked anything yet but I think I'm going to opt for this tour; maybe I'll book it tomorrow for Monday when I go and check into the cheaper hostel.

After this Matt and I headed for some lunch where we also managed to catch a couple of episodes of Friends. Matt then decided to head to a beach where as I, due to the rain receding, went around town again taking photos of the places I had seen earlier in the day before retiring to my hostel to upload the images. It was around 3:30pm when I returned back to my hostel; not sure what to do I decided to read my book and periodically look out of the window to see if the clouds had disappeared.

Four hours just vanished and so it was time to meet Matt for some tea. Again we headed to the night market but this time I had a Kebab (I love cooked pineapple) which was lovely. We sat down with our food and listened to the live local entertainment; one guy singing Elvis songs ... he wasn't very good. After this we headed back to his hostel for a drink where we met an Australian guy and a Swiss girl. We chatted until midnight when I decided to leave.

Tomorrow I will check into Matt's hostel and book myself on the tour for Monday (as weather wise it looks to be good). Whilst I'm at it I might book my mini-van to Khao Lak for Thursday. With four nights to play with there doesn't seem to be a lot to do in Krabi; with high hostel prices on Ko Phi Phi, and not really anywhere to go between here and my Christmas stop, I'm kind of stuck here … I think I'll try to do some day trips, go to the local beach and hope that the new hostel has a good DvD collection. Winding down for Christmas!

Toodle Pip!

Hello Thailand

Friday 17th September 2010

MP3 track of the day: Silent Night - Olivia Newton-John

Weather: hot with light rain showers

My mini-van to Krabi was going to pick me up at 8:30am and so I got up pretty early. Having experiences of mini-van and coach journeys within Malaysia I know that rest stops are few and far between (usually with no prior warning and the length of stop is a little unpredictable to say the least) and so I stuffed myself with the free breakfast provided at the hostel and boarded my van. On there was a French traveler called Matt and so we chatted for most of the trip; I found out he had paid ten ringgit less than me for the trip (done like a kipper again!) and this wouldn't be the last time that he got a better deal today.

The first leg of the trip was up and out of Malaysia and into Thailand. Once in Thailand we would have to change to another mini-van that would take us to Krabi. The mini-bus was packed, however it was reasonably spacious and so the first part of the journey was pretty pleasant. Just before the boarder, without warning, we had a rest stop which also involved me surrendering my passport to the driver. I did ask why butI never got an answer.

I wasn't particular hungry but again I had no idea when the next stop would be. I therefore purchased a bag of biscuits and a drink. Once back at the mini-van I got my passport back with a Thailand customs card with my details printed out on it (so that's why he wanted my passport).

Thailand Immigration was a joke; we had to get out of the van and proceed to an area with Thai immigration staff in cubicles checking our passports, stamping us in and taking our arrival card. The mini-van however never got checked and neither did our stuff; I could have smuggled in 16x 'AK47's', a nuclear warhead and 'Cannon and Ball' into the country and they would never have known.

The first thing I noticed about Thailand was that the photo of the king is everywhere ... and I mean everywhere. It's hanging from houses, shops and big placards in the middle of roads, you can't go fifty yards without seeing his Highness's face. The Thai's are very proud of their royal family and if you speak in a negative manor about them then you could end up in jail. I would just like to add (just encase Thai officials are reading this) that I think erecting photos of the king everywhere is a superb idea and that he, and his wife, look lovely ... they seem really great to.

passengers from the mini-van started departing left, right and center after we crossed the boarder. I was happy as I thought that Matt and I would pretty much have the mini-van to ourselves as we got nearer to Krabi ... until we had to switch vans.

The new van was packed; worst still the roof was very low and every time we went over a bump (which was very often) I hit my head on the roof. Due to some guy using this twelve seat mini-van to move house (i.e. he had loads and loads of bags) I had to have one of my bags on my knees for the remainder of the journey. It was all pretty rubbish really and I tried to fall asleep, however another bump would come along and I would be wide awake again.

Just before entering Krabi I witnessed the most strangest delivery of mail on earth. We were on a three-lane carriage way, in the left hand lane, when the driver stopped and signalled to the shop across the road that he had a parcel for them. He then proceeded to drop said parcel in the middle of the left-hand lane and continue on his way. I looked out of the rear view mirror to see the carnage behind as lorries, mopeds and cars swerved this way and that to avoid said box ... health and safety isn't big around here.

Once in Krabi I was given instructions by the driver where to find my hostel ... which were rubbish. Matt, the French guy, followed me and it wasn't until we found a local, but English born, bloke who actually gave me decent directions. Matt was looking for the cheapest hostel in town and so the guy told him; it turned out that it was brand new and that it was 100 bhat (£2) cheaper per-night than mine ... and only a further two minute walk away. As I checked into my hostel Matt went to his and we said that we would meet up in an hour or so for tea.

My hostel is okay; the staff seem friendly and there is only two beds in my dorm (and the other is empty, so effectively I have a room to myself) however there isn't any atmosphere, and the hallway looks like the hallway from the film 'The Beach' ... just a little cleaner and darker.

Matt came around and as we walked to the night market he chatted about how is hostel is pretty amazing. It did sound brilliant and so I was glad that I had only booked two nights at mine as I think I'll move up to his. Once at the night market we sat down and had something to eat which consisted of noodles and a spicy sausage before I headed back to his hostel to a) check it out and 2) use the bar there for a drink.

Okay I had been done like a kipper again, the hostel was perfect, so much better than mine and at only £3 a night it was a steal. We had one drink before I headed back to my hostel with a bit of thinking to do. I have two nights booked here in Krabi with four left to play with before heading to my Christmas retreat; I really fancy heading to Ko Phi Phi (the island where 'The Beach' was filmed) but should I only go for a day trip, or should I stay there two or three nights? I haven't herd from my German friends, and they should be on that island. Tomorrow I will have to sort it all out but one thing is for certain, I shall be going to Matt's hostel for at least my final night in Krabi before taking the coach to Khoa Lak.

Toodle Pip