Hello,

Well if this blog allowed me to give titles for each blog i write, the title to this one would be: bed bugs, mosquitos, monkey brains and leeches.

So we stayed in Ao Nang, Krabi for one night as a stop over to get to the main beach of Rai Le. Ao Nang can only be described as spain, in Thailand. it really was like being on one of the spanish islands, all very westernised to the point where it was just strange, i felt quite disorientated and felt like i was in europe. So the next day wegot the boat to another beach, Rai Le. I think it is fair to say that we didnt like it very much. The beach was nice, it is split into two halves, one which just has mangrove trees, so you cant swim and the other the nice beach. of course we stayed in the cheapo end with the mangrove swamp, but it was just a short walk to the other beach. The place didnt ahve very much atmosphere, and the room we had was pretty gross. without doubt the smelliest bathroom i have had so far, and the bathroom had no sink, so i wouldnt wash my hands and had to spit my toothpaste out the door! Lee also got bitten by bed bugs (which is a really really unpleasant expereince, i got bitten all over my neck on the caoch down to Ko Tao). So we stayed one night, and then left the next morning for Ko Lanta. We were told our jounrey would take 2.5 hours, but 6 hours later we arrived! we were dropped off at several travel agents along the way and made to wait, while they tried to persuade us to rent one of the hotels they hade on their books. But we met some really nice other people who we ended up all staying in the same hotel. Ko Lanta is very quiet, as we are really out of season now and most places are closed. It is also a muslim population which is quite different to the rest of thailand. the weather has also taken a turn for the worse and is cloudy most of the time and sometiems rainy. The day we arrived we all went to the bar next door which sells nothing but 'baglassis' and shroom shakes (most places do here, all very weird) and had a meal with the people we met, and the bar owner (stoned out of his face) braought us over some sea snake wine, and monkey brain whisky. you could actually see the monkey brains settled at the bottom of the glass. looked as disgusting as it sounds. So Lee and some of the others dranks some of each. i point blank refused, and was glad because everyone said you could feel the brains in their mouth. The next day we rented a motorbike again, as it is pretty much the only way to get around. We had fun exploring and then last night went for a meal again with the people we met. Today we hired a bike again and went exploring, and went for a track through the jungle to find a waterfall which was fun. It was about an 50 minute walk up the river to get to it (most of the time just walking in the middle of the river) but was well worth it. however on the way back down i looked dwon at my foot to see i had a leech attached to it! Without a lighter to get it off we resigned to the fact that we would have to wait until the bottom to find someone with a lighter, however it eventually came off on its own in the river.
We are going to leave here tomorrow morning to go to Ko Phi Phi (where The Beach was filmed). everyone pray for good weather....
Ps i forgot to say before when i am going to Oz, my flight is booked on the 12th to Oz, and i have booked myself on a flight from Phuket to Singapore two days before. Lee is trying to align his flights with mine so we can go together, although it doesnt look like we are going to be able to, so may end up on my own for a bit again.
Bye for now!!!!