back by popular demand... its the luke, jon, ollie show!!

so last we posted we had just arrived in Bangkok. well since then we've been lugging our bags around seemingly constantly but lets not get ahead of ourselves...

Our brief stay in Bangkok was a good one! the famous khaosan road lived upto the talk of freaks, haggling and hustle bustle! we stayed in a pretty swanky hotel set back from the strip, marble floors, bus boys and a swimmimg pool was a far cry from our HongKong shanty block of crapness! everything was soo much cheaper there! 'padd thai' noodles for 15 baht (20p), big bottles of 7% lager for less than a quid, needless to say we go pretty hammered whilst we were there! pitching up at a bar on the main street watching the people go by was something to behold! guess the ladyboy was a favourite game! can also lead to conflict if such people overhear you, as i (luke) well know!! met some fellow backpackers in the bar, a guy named philip from holland, a girl called miah from sweden and scouser called andy. sadly i (ollie) missed this part, as ever im the renowned heavy drinker! staggered back home after we filled our table with empty bottles of beer! the empties themselves attracted much attention from the camera weilding folk, we're flying the flag for british boozers! we (jon and luke) stayed out with miah and andy and continued to get drunk, this was when i (luke) offended a ladyboy by calling her/him ugly and then realising she/he spoke very good english! i did apologise tho and had to shake IT'S hand!! gross! we then staggered along the road and i (jon) decided to stop in the road and take lots of pictures with randoms! after wasting time we headed back to the hotel.

the inevitable hangovers ensue. i (jon) was especailly worse for ware, plenty of vomit indeed! (sorry nan) thank god for airconditioning!

we decided to check the prices for travel to Koh Phangan the next day as we feel pressed for time to make it for the legendary beach party in Hat Rin. Turns out all the trains are booking up quick so we cut our stay in BK a day short. Here begginith the mighty trek across Thailand.. gosh was this fun! We left our hotel at 4.30pm hour before our train was due to leave the platform. Traffic in Bangkok is seriously crazy!! our micheal schumacher of a driver slaloms his way through the streets, running red lights all the way! so many near collisions it was beyond funny! (dont worry mums, we all wrapped up in cotton wool and bubble wrap beforehand, just in case). Our driver did the business and we made it just in time to run through the station and jump on the train! just like the movies!! we bought the only available seats (2nd class sleepers) which weren't directly next to each other. this wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't for the family that boarded to take the seats between us! i (luke) was sat next to an ancient, infirm, wrinkly old thai man and i (ollie) sat next to his daughter and full time carer. this seating arrangement didnt stay long as i (luke) noticed that this old geezer had a pee bag hanging from his loose shorts. cleary visable and already half full. i felt sick. a quick shuffle and i managed to escape and sit next to ollie. after about half an hour the thai family requested our beds to be put down so the old dude can sleep, this is about 6.50 pm! i (ollie) was the lucky one to have the bed diagonally opposite and above the decrepid fellow! lets just say the sights and sounds throught the 13hour ride weren't exactly pleasant! (car crash viewing! i couldn't look away! ahhhh!). so we arrive in Surat Tanie at this shambles of a bus depot, noone knows where we're going, which bus or at what time, we're dragged all over the place and surrender to a seat on anything! 2.5 more hours and we're at the port. another 3 hours of ferry ride and we finally make it to Phangan. Another taxi to where we wanna stay takes the total journey time upto a tasty 21hours!! Ollie and jon had no sleep throughout whereas luke kipped in every mode of transportation and got about 10 hours! But we weren't happy with that, oh no. we then embarked on an hour of hiking around the area, fully loaded with all our gear in the baking sun! typical tourists! we finally settled on a very flash bungalow about 100m meters from the main beach. after scoping out the local area we were quick to realise its Kavos, Magaluf, Malia all over again! english bars playing only fools and horses, pirate movies at full blast and heavy drum and bass all added to the commercial atmosphere. full of super tanned posers, it definitly wasn't what we expected or wanted. unless you're desperate to go to a full moon party we serioulsy dont reccomend this place! we were all in agreement and only stayed 2 of the predicted 10 nights and will miss the party all together. not that were bothered anyway. before we left we did spend a good few hours chilling on the beach where jon and luke got a nice dose of sunburn! (nothing serious mums, we know you worry).

Quick boat and we're in Ko Samui, the nearest island to Phangan. Our first impressions of this place are that its alot more chilled out with less focus on taking drugs and passing out on the beach! its actually bigger with alot more to do, everything seems cheaper too. We got another nice little pad near the beach and are planning on 3 nights to see if we like it or wanna hit the road again. looking forward to massages on the beach (all above board, sorry fellas!) and chilled nights sipping beers on the beach watching the sunset! nice.

photos that link with this journal will folllow shortly we promise (for some reason photos delete from cameras when we upload them so we're waiting till we have loads to spare. OK)

thanks again for all your messages, be sure they dont stop coming!

speak again soon.

bye for now

the guys xx