Hello again, last time I left you I was getting into a van to head south. Now this was no ordinary van, no way. It was the most pimpin' van in the world, the only way it could have been more pimpin' was if we had some hoes. It was big with leather seats, the roof had a mix mr air-con vents and lights. So many lights in fact you could have held a dance party, literally, if there wasn't a vent it was a little light. There was also a very large sound system which I suppose was needed for the DVD player and T.V, or just to pump Westlife as loud as you can. I am told that you can also do Karaoke, if you want. There was a full range of DVDs to watch and enough remote controls to run the starship enterprise. The funny part is that whenever a Thai person was in the car for more than 20 min, they went to sleep. What use is it all if you are just going to sleep? I was a bit gutted.

I was a little worried that with the amount of water I had drunk that I would need to use the toilet too often. This was not a problem because Thai people seem to take more toilet stops then a set of OAPs. I wasn't complaining though. Now a word for the wise, if you are going on a long drive when you are here, make sure you have something warm to put on. I know that sounds stupid, warm clothes in Thailand, but when you're stuck in a car with the air-con going full bore for 10 hours, it gets a bit chilly.

At around 6am we reached our destination, Ranong. 2 of us got out of the van and went into this hut. Went upstairs and went to sleep. The rest of the van (a film crew) went another 40 km to another place. When I woke up in the morning I realized what sort of a situation I had put myself in, there were 3 others with me but none of them spoke english. I found out later that I was the first english speaking person that Boi had ever spoken to. Conversation was a little tricky for the first half day.

After everyone was up and showered we had some breakfast that consisted of Bread and crackers with some coffee to wash it down. The coffee was from a little sachet that also had milk and sugar inside, a 3-in-1 coffee concoction. 

After showers we were off, the first stop was a festival next door which was to celebrate people that have died (I think) and for them to give you luck. Spot the white guy was a very easy game. My favorite part was the money scramble, even the adults were getting into it. 

We spent the next few days traveling round the area visiting the people that were helping them with their projects. There was a cool man who was the leader for conservation in the area. He was also a Barber. He also made rubber mats. Now that was the worst smell I have smelt in a very long time, big lumps of rubber sitting in the sun, I thought they were dead chickens or pigs. 

We went all around the area, to the beach and to one of the places wiped out by the Tsunami. The houses were completely destroyed but the trees were fine, I didn't expect that. The part I didn't understand was the evacuation route signs were all in english, what's the point in that? the people only speak 3 words and they are not "Tsunami Evacuation Route"......

One day we stopped in a village that had been re-located from their island that had been destroyed by the wave and everything had been washed out to sea. They were now living on a big block of concrete well away from the sea. The houses were all the same and laid out in a grid pattern like you would see in a suburban area of a large western city. I wonder if they had a car pool going.

There was a little girl there, only just starting to walk. She was plodding along like babies do with her head trying to go too fast for her body. She stopped and then looked at me, the look on her face was priceless. Then she fell over, with the look of shock and intrigue still on her face, it was very cute.

Transport for us was all rather fun down there, when we couldn't borrow motorcycles we just wandered down the highway and flagged down a passing car and jumped on the back. I was surprised how easy it all was and how normal it was for them. 

After a few days Tui came and picked me up, I was a bit hung over due to the drinking session the locals insisted upon. Our first stop was to get a Thai Massage. It was great, and the lady has invited me to go and have lessons from her in exchange for english lessons with her daughter in law. We drove to the Krabbi provence to pick up Opart. The scenery was so spectacular I don't quite know how to explain it. That night we had a place booked to stay in but didn't have enough petrol to get there (outside of the main centers petrol stations are not 24 hours) so we had to stay in a hotel along the highway. Now I have stayed in some dodgy places during my travels but this one was up with the best. I got to my room and on the bed side table there was a bottle of water, a block of soap and a condom. I half expected the bed to vibrate. I won't even go into the description of the toilet. 

We did 6 provinces in total, I don't even want to think about how much distance we traveled but I saw and amazing amount of stuff. Once back in Bangkok I was very pleased to sit down and have a nice cold beer.