What travelers do all day

This is the title for the second part of are you experienced which I'm re-reading at the moment. Its a great satirical account of the type of catatonic, glazed over, too cool hippie travelers that are extremely prevalent in India, but can also be found in large numbers throughout south east asia, and unfortunately there are a fair number hanging out here in Lonely beach. Not that I'm against lounging languidly on a hammock listening to the likes of Morecheba and Frente, but at least I feel I'm doing it in a relatively unaffected manner. Tossers.



Anyway, I also came across another book by the same author which started well (had me in stitches for bits) but tailed off towards the end. After all that heavy reading I'm now looking for some light relief with Noam Chomsky's latest.
After that I might read something from this fairly appropriate list. Should make for a better read anyway than Thai girl, definitely one of the worst written books I've ever come across.


So a week on Ko Chang has turned into three. Dunno where the time has gone. Rainy season has also turned up with a bang, turning the front of our Bungalows/restaurant into a tributary of the local river. I feel like we know everyone in the village here now, if not in person then by an assigned nickname, or by the gossip circulating among the locals. We've eaten pretty much everywhere, and now have identified the optimum spots for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Speaking of food, we also went back to the Chili garden to supplement our knowledge with Pad Thai, Penang Curry and some stir fries - all delicious.
We also hit Paddy's Palms, the new (and thankfully only) Irish pub, located in White Sands area, for some top notch Sunday roast.

Nights out here in Lonely Beach are also getting quieter as the rain gets heavier. I've moved onto drinking Leo beer rather than Singha when possibly, hopefully this radical change will coax my brain into firing some new neurons to counteract the braincells I'm killing.
Right now were planning to leave tomorrow - me for Cambodia, Clare for North Thailand and Laos. Mind you, thats been the plan for quite a few days now, and were still here...something about Ko Chang just seems to hold you.

Birthday parties, Gods and Lady Boys

Ok, so I'm supposed to be in Cambodia now cooing over some really old buildings in a jungle, but instead I'm still in Ko Chang over indulging in all manner of vices. Still, it passes the days.

For a change of pace we rented a Moped for a bit and traveled around the island - the roads can be a bit of a challenge at times, but we managed to remain largely unscathed.



You have to love the randomness of Thailand sometimes - its not often you try to eat at what looks like a restaurant but is actually a kids birthday party, to which you are subsequently invited and fed for free (great food too), while later playing Jenga with lady boys, and then discussing matter of factly with another restaurant owner how she travels at will to Bangkok without her body actually leaving the room, all quite strange to say the least....maybe Hanno knows her??



And considering its the rainy season, the weather has been superb - the odd heavy shower for a few minutes apart, we've only had 1 day of persistent rain, when we decided against driving back to our huts, instead staying in the partyish area of White Sands.



We also completed a few hours at the Chilli Garden, a Thai cookery course ran by a lovely woman, and even if I say so myself, the Green curry I cooked was one of the best I've eaten and the Tom Yum, Chicken with cashew nuts and Glass noodle salads were equally delicious.




In fact all four dishes we cooked were so tasty we couldn't leave anything uneaten, so I'm starting to burst out of my Sarong. Best get back for some swimming to tone up.

Did also spend an awesome day at a waterfall (in the national park) with a gorgeous swimming hole below - sensuous ice cool clear water amidst beautiful verdant rain forest - what more could you ask for?

Daily grind

Many people think that travel is easy, kind of like a long holiday - but its actually quite hard work at times. To prove my point, here is a typical day on Ko Chang.



Wake up to the sounds of waves lapping at the base of the bungalow, and the cries of monkeys from the rain forest behind.
Get in some aerobic stretching exercises before breakfast.
Amble down the lush garden path to the treehouse restaurant for an omelet or maybe fresh muesli with homemade yogurt.



Recover from the exertion of eating by lounging in the hammock with a mango shake.
Cool off slightly with a dip in the warm turquoise water before snoozing on the fine sand under the shade of the palm trees.



Back for lunch of intensely tasty Pad Thai before stretching out on the deck with a good book, or back to the hut for a siesta. Stroll down to the picturesque village for a spot of Ting Tong spotting while sipping on an ice cold Singha,
or watch the sun set behind the islands from the deck of the Hut.




Time for dinner, probably a green or massaman curry, along with a chicken chilli and basil stir fry, and more Singha. Follow with deliciously sweet banana pancake, if still not stuffed.
Chill out to some excellent music at the bar before falling in to a languid deep relaxing sleep under the mosquito net cooled by the fan and soothed by those lapping waves.


Repeat as often as required.

Pad Thais and Singapore Slings

Ahh Thailand! It's good to be back.
With all the really delicious curries, noodles and banana pancakes for silly prices from the street vendors, you almost forget the stifling heat, humidity and hustle and bustle of Bangkok. Its all part of the experience but I must admit I'm quite pleased to now be on the island of Ko Chang, watching the waves roll on the white sand outside of this little internet cafe. Its still pretty hot, I'm only wearing shorts but I'm dripping sweat onto the seat, but there is a cool breeze outside and its got to be one of the most chilled out spots I've been to.



Before leaving Australia I got to do a great wreck dive in Albany - we got to really go right inside the ship even checking out the old computers and toilets:)
Though I most admit the 17 degree water left me shivering by the end of the dives.
For m,y last night in Perth I headed to Cottesloe beach as I didn't fancy another night out in the city - it was a lovely place, though I did end up bitten by bed bugs, which is never pleasant.



Singapore only got a stopover cause there was no direct flights to Bangkok, but I must admit I really liked the place this time - there is some great street food and lively bars where you can have fun trying to tell the working girls from the legitamate targets, listen to some truly awful Karaoke or sink a Singapore Sling while de-shelling peanuts in the long bar of Raffles hotel. Fantastic.



Even if the beer is pricier than a poncy Dublin nightclub. I had met Fran and Declan, a couple of Irish blokes on the train from the airport and Gemma and Alison, a couple of English girls at the hostel so it was fun hanging out with them. Also let the students at Toni and Guy practice on my hair for a bit.



In Bangkok I met up with Clare again and we spent a couple of days catching up before heading for Ko Chang.
Later,
Sean.

Almost in Asia

I'm actually in Denmark, a wee village in the south west of western australia.
Its a cute little spot, and I've come here mostly for a days surfing, and it was an awesome experience. Not for the waves - though they wernt bad at all, but instead for the sight of a large humpback whale slapping his flippers and partial breaching the water about 50 meters from where I sat on my surfboard. I've seen a lot of spectacular animal scenery on this trip, but I think this has to top it. Especially as it wasnt part of the agenda (surfing) and there was no one about apart from a couple of surfer girls and me. Later I spotted a couple of baby whales just to top it off. Awesome.
The south west has been really cool - though mostly the weather has left a bit to be desired - cloudy and raining, but the last couple of days its been beautiful again.
After leaving Coral bay I headed north again on the wonderfully times 3:00 am greyhound to Exmouth, to dive on the muirion islands which was really good - including several pretty large white tipped reef sharks, huge schools of fish and the largest moray eel I've ever seen.

After all those buses it was a relief to fly down to perth, and I picked up a hire car and headed south to Bunbury, a teaming metropolis compared to what went before. It was weird getting used to traffic, towns and people again. After a couple of days hanging around with the locals, including UK standup Ross Nobel whos traveling round on the same BMW bike more famously used by Ewan McGregor on his big trip,


it was off to the cheese, chocolate and, most importantly, wine of Margaret River, where as well as quaffing the local excellent produce in copious amounts, I got to sample the delightful taste of a witchetty grub (made famous by class shows like survivour and I'm a Celebrity) - albeit in this case an already dead one.


I also passed glorious coastal scenery with lighthouses aplenty - though mostly shrouded in mist and rain, and some beautiful forrests, where I completed 3 fairly high adrenelin tree climbs - trust me, there a lot scarier than they look, as well as the pretty but fairly tame tree top walk.


Next stop is Albany to complete a dive on the HMAS Perth and then its back briefly to Perth to catch my flight to Singapore.
See you in not such a long time...

Coral bay revisited

Much to my surprise I'm back in Coral Bay. By now I was expecting to be heading back from Darwin, but as often happens plans go awry and you need to execute plan b.
Basicially the tour company fucked up the booking so we were left without a seat on the trip to Darwin. It was almost a blessing in disguise for me, as my back was pretty fcuked from the bus to Broome anyway. So we decided to chill in Broome for a couple of days. For not the first time, I bumped into Gerri and Steph (from my tango days) and almost went with them on a 4wd trip but decided against it after advise from my Chiropractor! Instead we spent much of the time lazing on the beach watching sunsets with the odd bit of drinking, planet spotting and wet T-shirt contest watching.


Clare headed off to Darwin and I hooked up with Priska and some mates on the bus for a couple of more lazy days.
After all this r&r and with no real plan I decided to have another shot at seing the worlds largest fish and headed back down to Coral bay.


The trip started well as we encountered a turtle and a white tipped reef shark on our warm up snorkel, then after an hour or so the spotter plane located one of the beasts and we chased off only for the fcuker to dive down before we got in. Another hour and they found another one, this time group 1 (not my group) got in to swim but again the b@stard dove down and we missed him. I was starting to think maybe someone didnt want me to see one when the boat took off to another spot, nearly losing us from our precarious position standing at the back decked out with fins and snorkels. This time I wasnt going to miss it and although were suppose to wait in a group I followed the dive master straight over to the shark and nearly into his mouth - I definitely couldnt have gotten much closer without touching it, but it didnt seem to mind and swam along happy as larry. It was a really stunning thing to see, really rally beautiful and worth all the long bus journeys and money - the fact that it took so much time and effort to see it made it all the more rewarding in the end.
So now its back to some chill time in Coral bay - I spent about 30 mins snorkeling beside with a turtle yesterday which was pretty cool just watching him go about his daily business.

Broome

Finally arrived in Broome last night after several thousand bumpy dusty kilometers. Theres no mistaking your in the tropics up here, at a latitude of 18 degrees its pretty dam hot.


Nice though, with lovely cool breezes to temper the ever present sun.
And some pretty nice beaches, complete with camel trains at sunset.

The last couple of days on the bus were pretty long, the highlight being camping in Karijini national park with its beautiful gorges and swimming holes - croc free as well, which may not be the case further on.



Our last night was in Pardoo catle station - a pretty enough place but with ferocious mossies that ignored repeleant and smoke.
The days on the bus were long - often with fairly repetitive scenerary, but it was quite pleasant watching the red dust and eucalyptus pass, snoozing, listening to music and chatting with the passengers - which were a good laugh. Due to the nature of the hop- on-off trip, we lost a few people along the way, but also added a few - with Gina and Michael from Melbourne the bus is actually becoming quiet Aussie.


All the bumping around seems to have done something to my back, and its a bit fcuked at the minute, so might search out the services of a local Chiropractor, expecially if I continue as planned with Clare onto Darwin - another bit of a marathon journey.
Hasta,
Sean.

Elusive sharks

Well the whale sharks failed to show - theve only been spotted once this week aparently, but its still been good fun in the Ningaloo reef. We did manage to snorkel with Manta rays, Carpet sharks and reef sharks so it wasnt all bad, and we spotted some dolphins, Minke whales and turtles from the boat. I also managed to get in a couple of dives which were nice enough, but not overly colourful.
The trip up here has been a bit of a laugh too, even if at times I'm the only bloke in a bus of ten. This traveling business is tough.




On the way we checked out the Pinnacles and later stoped in a lovely town called Denham, which acts as a jump off point for the Dolphins at Monkey Mia - a fun enough experience, even if its a bit of a circus at times.



Not sure what it was about Denham - its just a wee village really, and the beach isnt all that, it was just a really chilled out place where you can stroll along the beach in the evening and chat with the super friendly and genuine locals. There was also some awesome canyons to see on the way, and shell beach was totally beautiful. Coral bay is a bit more of a scene but still really lovely, and there is coral 100 meters from shore to snokel in so its a great place to spend a bit of time in the water. Also met some really nice people here - Warren an Aussie, Lenonard a scot and Emma (English) and Priska from Switzerland, one of the few on my bus over 20.



Off now to the BBQ party and then an early night I reckon, too many nights of excess in recent times, I must be getting old.
Ciao,
Sean.

Knackers

I'm not an especially tidy person (perhaps thats an understatement) and I certainly am not adverse to roughing it, but I can't believe the state of the hostels in Perth (ive tried a few) and the state of the people in them. Most of this trip I've found places to be fine, and people to be generally reasonably considerate, but after one too many nights in a bed bug infected damp dark smelly noisy dorm room with snorers, piss heads and bed weters, I've splashed out and gone for a nice b&b complete with all maner of pamper-phenalia like dressing gowns and run by a twee old english couple. Its wonderful.

Perth itself is a nice enough place - though certainly more than a bit edgy in places, but the weather is lovely and the Indian ocean warm and refreshing.
I did manage to meet a few decent folk, including an Isralei guy who showed me how to cook pretty tasty Isralei scoff, and a few good Irish and English people who knew the best pubs, naturally. I also met an Italian guy and an Irish girl at the beach that recomended a hostel so am giving that a shot tomorrow.

I've just managed to sort out my travel plans so am heading up north in a couple of days for my rendevous with the whale sharks, and eventually Broome and Darwin.

Leaving Tasmania

This morning I bade farewell to Tassie and the Tasweigans.
I almost didnt make my 7am flight. Met up with a German girl Jule who is doing her thesis on forrestry in Tassie and we ended up at some student party in Hobart explaining to a 16 year old self proclaimed neo nazi why hitler wasnt really that cool. Made for an interesting night, and had to go straight from there to the airport for my Sydney flight, and then the 5 hour flight to Perth, so all in all a pretty long Anzac day. At least I caught a few Zss on the plane.


The days rock climbing in Launceston was superb, I managed to get up a couple of the easier climbs without falling and it was a real buzz, definitley something I'll do again. The guide Gerry was really good - hes written the main guide book to the climbs here.
I decided to rent a car for the last few days as the Tassie bus system is pretty basic and slow. I paid a quick visit to the Tamar valley wine region which was lovely, and then headed on via the bay of fires area to Bicheno. Stayed in a nice place there, and met a few interesting folk including Ross, a canadian guy who had lived in Dublin in the 60s and was backpacking around aged 77, Miriam a contact improvisation dancer and Murielle, a swiss girl that works in a coffee shop but manages to free climb and base jump in her spare time.
Made mw feel like a bit of a wuss using ropes and reserve parachutes.
Both nights we watched the little fairy penguins struggle ashore and march right past us which was very cute.
The last morning we visited the wildlife park to see the Tasmian Devils (and pet the Kangaroos!) which was pretty naff but fun.
I also visited the lovely Frecinet national park beaches, and then headed on to Hobart and port arthur, the preserved penal colony which was pretty interesting.
Shame the weather had turned pretty cold and wet, but I guess thats the norm for this time of the year, but back now on the (fairly) sunny west coast.