We survived the night boat without any sea sickness. Although we did feel like we were going to fall out of bed numerous times as the boat swayed in the rough sea.
Today we got off lightly. Somewhere along our journey from Koh Tao our bags have been rifled through.
- Yesterday we left the bags at the hostel all day as we had to check out at 11am and we're getting the boat last night at 9.30pm.
- On the night boat last night we left bags in a pile with everyone else's bags (at least 50 other travelers and ours were at the bottom of the pile), outside the dorm all night.
- This morning when we arrived in Surat Thani we loaded our bags on to a coach. Underneath the bus the luggage compartment was huge and there was a guy in there organizing the bags but we never saw him get out. Our bags were last on and at the top. We have heard stories of bags getting rummaged through while under buses. They were under the bus for 3 hours.
When we arrived in Krabi we had a 3 hour wait to catch the bus to Koh Lanta. The minivan was supposed to pick us up as soon as we arrived but the receptionist just kept telling us that's it's "Thai Time". A concept we are really familiar with. We decided to freshen up, have a wash and change our clothes. As soon as Matt (Mr OCD when packing his bag) opened his backpack he knew immediately that something wasn't right. Things were in the wrong place and on further inspection everything had been taken out and just stuffed back in. Every single pocket, even the secret little ones. Luckily nothing had gone and they didn't find the only valuable in the bag. Our spare iPhone 5. Char opened her bag (generally the order of her bag can change) which was harder to detect an intrusion. The only way to tell was the money wallet we have stashed at the bottom of her bag as a "just in case". It has left over currencies from all the countries that we were saving to make a picture with and a spare credit card. All the money had being taken out and stuffed back in with only the valuable 15 NZ Dollars missing (£6.50), plus the credit card. Generally we have quite a lot of US Dollars stashed in every bag along with a bank card, so that we have a "just in case" in every place. Only due to our security becoming loose had this not happened.This was one of the only trips of the year where we hadn't tie wrapped our bags locked too. Typical. Luckily with the wonders of online banking the cards were cancelled in minutes and the NZ Dollars were but a small price to pay for our ignorance of security.
Once the minivan arrived it took ages to get to Koh Lanta. A journey which consists of a 1.5 hour minivan and two boats. This was because the driver seemed to be running a lot of errands at the same time.
- Stopping to deliver food at a Buddhist pagoda. - Buying cigarettes. - Stopping to chat to friends and exchanging money. - Dropping a package here and there.
We arrived at Chill Out House, a hostel with 5 star reviews that we could have hated or loved. Chill out House is a tree house made from drift wood in the jungle and the "bedrooms are open to the elements with nothing to protect you but a mosquito net. The hostel was littered with quirkiness, friendly people and lots of places to relax and hangout. On arrival we liked it but the first night would be an indication of if we were to stay or not as this was the most rustic, open place we had stayed yet and we didn't know what to expect once the lights went out.
We found Lucy and James and met another awesome couple (who live in Leeds) Johnno and Alex. Within an hour we were surrounded by new people and having sunset beers on the beach. The best sunset yet, seeking directly over the water in front of us. As one of the staff at Chill Out House was leaving in the morning they organised a BBQ and everyone sat down to eat together before returning to the beach at night. When the music stopped we headed to Funky Monkey. It was where the "party" was at tonight. It soon became clear that because it is still low season there are not enough people hear to fill a bar. So we turned to karaoke. A good team effort with classics such as "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Mustang Matty" and "Suvrivor" Destiny's Child.
The night ended with a 5am 7/11 toasty run. Quality.
M & C xxxx