Round The World With A Fridge

After a night with the fridge in Rock Bar, I had one hours sleep before Vinnie picked me up to go to Ko Lao Liang - a deserted island south not too far from Ko Lanta and Trang where I'd be staying for the next 5 days.

On arriving, I realised all the hype and speil Vinnie had come out with over the past few days wasn't bullshit - this was the real McCoy. Thailand, untouched by tourism, not full of backpackers or drunken tourists. Walk into any tourist information in Thailand and you'll see hundred of pamphlets full of photos of amazing beaches and resorts, but they're rarely as good as the photos. Ko Lao Liang was everything promised and more - the tents were great (they had power, fans, lights), the toilets and showers were really decent and all the climbing, kayacking and snorkelling gear was top notch.



The 19 strong crew consisted of Matt (the lone Aussie traveller), Sandra (the attorney) and Lou (the blind elephant balloonist), the Spanish couple, Tom and Amy ("the hairdressers"), Nikki ("the ant eater") and Nadia, Billy and Zak (the best Aussie guys), Noah ("the bullrider") and Donna ("the fearless"), Michael (and Zach - his son), Vinnie (say no more), Doug (our barkeep), Pawn (the funky Thai) and of course myself.



On the first day we went snorkelling and although I've been snorkelling and diving quite a bit before, this was the best snorkelling I've ever done. Not only was the water crystal clear so you could see for about 25 meters, but the coral was untouched and full of huge fish, urchins, star fish, lobsters, crabs and a whole lot more. Unfortutely I couldn't film any of it because unlike Helen, I didn't have a waterproof case for my camera - but the guys who run the trip have a few photos here.

I started a few challenges - like building my shelter - and did some new ones like eating ants, having my head shaved (a number 2 - a lucky escape from Tom, who was hell-bent on using his Mach 3 razor on my head!) to start my cult (I did get 2 members - Matt and little Zach), raid a nearby island for booze in our Kayacks dressed as ninjas. All coming up in the next video. Unfortunately though, I had a little accident...

I saved the last day entirely for filming. Waking up early, I go for a kayack around the island with Matt (in my kayack) and Noah and Donna in the other kayack. It wasn't long before me and Matt are showing off going through caves and getting ourselves through really tight squeezes. Arriving at the last cave before heading back, it's blowing water out like a whale blow hole - of course we had to rush in to get soaked before paddling back... only we get in there and a huge wave crashes into us from behind and tips us over! As the boat tips over, me and Matt are laughing and we're still laughing when we come up from air - only to be hit again by another huge wave and pulled about 5 meters into the cave by the undercurrent. Then I feel this sharp stabbing in my foot - I look at Matt and he's looking worried, the current is too strong pulling us away from the enterance - we're stuck in this fucking cave!!

I yell at the other kayack, "what the fuck are you waiting for?! Get us out!!!!", and Donna, who's in front and seen everything unfold, doesn't want to venture in. Noah on the other hand starts paddling, thank God, and before I know it he's right next to us. Donna and Noah offer us their paddles to grab on to so we can turn our kayack the right way up and eventually we get back in the kayack. Donna is the first to see my foot and starts screaming - I look down and see blood everywhere. When the current was pulling us back and forward, it was dragging me against a rock covered in barnacles and it took a chunk of the top/side of my foot out. So, we get back to the tents as quick as possible and Noah and Matt syringe it (despite the rumours, I didn't scream - lol), get it covered in Betadine, and bandaged up.



Guess I'll have a gnarly scar :) And the worst thing, the camera was in my dry bag the whole time! DAMN.

(more photos in my flickr account)

As you might have noticed, I've made a few changes around here. The two most important additions are the ability to post a challenge (when you're logged in) and the future destinations panel on the front page.

Let me know what you think.

update: yeah, it's all broken in Internet Explorer v6 - I've no intention of making it work for IE6, and I'll make no apologies for it. Either upgrade to Internet Explorer v7 or use Firefox! meh. according to my web stats most of you are still using IE6 (damn you) so I've fixed the compatibility issues.

Because I've been totally rubbish and have been sat on a beach every day, sipping Chang beer, and not doing any work on my YouDecide website, a whole bunch of us had a voting session on Messenger yesterday. I'm staying on a deserted island for 5 days shortly so everyone voted on what I should do there. The results are (votes in descending order)...

helen - build a shelter out of natural materials and stay in that instead of a tent (5 votes)
angus - don't use the fridge as a pulling tool (4 votes)
fee - you're only allowed to have sex with animals (4 votes)
angus - shave your head and get a buddhist gown - see if I can get away with it for a day and/or start a cult (3 votes)
shane - find wilson (2 votes)
angus - blow up the bridge over the river kwai (1 vote)
steve - lord of the flies (1 vote)
shane - limbo content on beach with the fridge (1 vote)
fee - don't tell a like the while time I'm on the island (1 vote)
steve - eat yellow snow (1 vote)
leo - eat brown sand (1 vote)
angus - wrestle a komodo dragon (1 vote)
angus - blow up a cow with a bazooka (1 vote), and fill fridge with dead cow
caleb - snorkel with the fridge (1 vote)
leo - grow breasts (1 vote)
fee - milk anything I can get my hands on (1 vote)
magnus - start a band, using instruments made from found objects (1 vote)

...challenges with zero votes...

steve - swim naked with sharks covered in chump
steve - blow up a cow with a coconut
wechel - only food I can eat is what I catch
shane - plate spinning with the fridge on my head
leo - bury myself in the sand standing up
shane - base jumping with the fridge
helen - don't sleep with anyone while you're on the island
steve - shrink some islanders heads
shane - find a polar bear
leo - I can only eat or drink what I take in the fridge
leo - kill a chicken
steve - go down the hatch and press the button
steve - locate X on the map
shane - milk a cat
caleb - fill the fridge with bikini tops, but they have to come off the wearer and they need to be female

On a totally different note - this fell on me last night...

I've just registered roundtheworldwithafridge.com and aroundtheworldwithafridge.com for those of you who can't spell my surname :P

Char challenged me to make a human pyramid consisting of "hotties" (her words, not mine) with the fridge on top. Thanks to Therese, Elizabeth, Linn, Lise, and Hanne - the 5 nurses from Norway - it's another challenge in the bag!

Weeks have passed like days and it's already time for Char to head back to England - she's on the 9pm flight tomorrow night - leaving me here in Railey in Thailand. I've made some excellent new friends though, including Laurence (the man who challenged me to climb 1,237 steps to the top of a mountain to a Buddhist monastery with my fridge ... which I did :) and Vinnie (who runs an amazing trip out to Paradise Island for 5 days with diving, climbing, fishing and drinking) so I'm quite happy hanging around for a while. I keep hearing about how cold, dark and horrible England is right now, sorry chaps, I'll try and tone down how great it is here.

    
(as usual, more pics here)

I hoped I'd be able to upload videos in our new resort, but unfortunately not. I guess I'll have to wait til I'm in Bangkok again. And who knows when that'll be. Until then I'll keep the photos coming...

P.S. Simone and Glory, the two ladies I met on the 1,237 steps today, sorry I couldn't meet you for a beer - completely forgot I'd already agreed to do things with Char (it's her last night). But if you're still up for Christmas/New Year in Oz, or sometime next year in Oregan, drop me an email :)

Helen unfortunately had to go home and flew back to England after Ko Lanta (sorry Helen!) so Char and I decided to head over to Ko Pha-Ngan (home of the full moon parties) for something a bit more lively than Ko Lanta - which was nice, but just a bit too coupley and quiet. 16 hours and umpteen buses and boats later, we arrived in Haad Rin Nok (Sunrise Beach) on Ko Pha-Ngan.

The town was deserted as the night before was a Half Moon party and everyone was still in bed, hungover. It wasn't long before we found somewhere nice to stay (Sabai Hill) and had some breakfast. As the day wore on, only a few brave souls ventured out to watch a movie in one of the many empty bars. Still tired from our journey, we had an early night.

The next day the town was still empty. We only saw a few people wandering between shops and the beaches were practically our own. After dinner we decided to get on the Sambucas and found a wicked bar called Outback Bar, and it wasn't long before Char had given my fridge cards to everyone and we had a new posse of Irish friends. The drinking descended into chaos when I was challenged to go swimming in the fish pond in the bar, apparently containing pirhanas, and we met up Michael Hutchences brother (yeah, my arse!) and his mate who took a shine to Char. Joined by Briony, the blonde aussie with no voice, and her sidekick Megan, we moved down to the beach where the party was in full swing. It was then that we realised everyone goes out at 1am, parties til 7am and sleeps the rest of the day away!

Several Sambucas, a lost room key and a dissappearing Char later, I found myself in a room with a killer hangover from hell and one hot aussie in the bed next to me. Both of us were fully clothed, unfortunately.



Because the Internet connections are pretty rubbish where I am at the moment, I've not been able to upload the challenges Char set me, or the videos of me completing them. But it won't be much longer, I'm sure. If I can, I'll upload something tonight.

I've been in a quandry for days about whether to publish some of my personal (and sometimes shared) experiences on the Internet for all to read. When Char challenged me to have a past life regression, I thought it would be a simple challenge - lie back, relax, find out you were Napoleon in a past life - that kind of thing. After a chat with Yonna, I understood that my preconception was totally wrong. I needed a couple of days to readjust and prepare myself for this experience. Those of you who know me well, know I've got more than a few mummy and daddy issues, so for that reason I didn't film the regression and I'm not going to write about the specifics here. I will however detail the experience as best as I can.

After several minutes of guided meditation, visions started to appear like reflections in a puddle. Drops of rain caused ripples across the surface and I struggled to focus on the image. Eventually, like turning the focus ring of a camera, the images became clear and with Jonas help, I tried to understand their deeper meaning. This was when I felt the first rush of energy - so strong, and so encompassing, I was overwhelmed and felt like I was going to black out. As quickly as the rush had begun, it subsided leaving me with a multitude of emotions and thoughts. Yonna expertly guided me through the visions I saw and experienced a very deep sensation which apparently caused all the hairs on Jonas arms to stand to attention. All in all, it was an incredible experience, and I urge anyone to try it. I'll probably write about the experience again when I've had some more time to think about it.

No time for an update - got a storm coming in which is interrupting the satellite link :(

enjoy the photos...
 
 
(lots more photos in my flickr account)

After an incredible night with Chompu I was looking forward to an hour long flight from Bangkok down to Krabi in the south where I was to meet up with Helen and Char for one of the legendary full-moon parties on Ton Sai beach. The taxi ride from the airport to the pier where you catch a long-tail boat taxi was through some beautiful scenery - waterfalls, fauna covered rock faces and fleeting glimpses of beautiful sandy beaches.


(click the image to see the Thailand photos)

I met Helen and Char on Ton Sai beach, and greeted both of them with a huge hug - something I've really missed over the past few weeks (although I've been known to spontaneously hug people). Making the most of lugging the fridge around, I'd stocked it with Thai Whiskey (thanks to the Bangkok crew) and Singha beer (the local brew) - perfect for getting the party atmosphere started. It took Char about 30 seconds to put a cold beer in my hands, and all the Russian stress I'd built up over the past two weeks disappeared in seconds.

The girls kindly booked my accommodation for me, and I was surprised to find not a simple little hut that I'd come to expect having read my guide book, but a beautiful wood hut, surrounded by greenery, fully equipped with aircon, mosquito nets and its own bathroom and shower. Now this, is the life.

The next three days just merge into a chilled-out blur where days of the week have no relevance. I know we partied hard (combinations of Singha, Thai Whiskey, Black Sambucca, Vodka, Tequila and Rum - sometimes in a single night - not uncommon), made heaps of new friends (of superhero stature; Ling the DJ, Orlando - Chars squeeze - aka Richard, Laurence, The "Fuck You" brothers, the crazy woman in the Viking bar, Vic and of course Nicola...who I've been thinking about a bit too much over the past few days), went snorkelling and chilled out on the beach. Everywhere we went, I spread the word of the fridge until practically everyone on both Ton Sai and Railey West knew who I was.

I'm always a bit sad when I leave a place, and new friends - yes, even Murmansk - but this time we're heading for Ko Lanta, home to some of the most beautiful beaches and scenery in the world, and a wonderful new adventure there...

I'm down at Ton Sai beach now, staying in a beautiful little hut - taking it easy and having a break from the fridge adventures. I've uploaded some photos, go take a look...

Another fridge update in a couple of days.

I've been in Bangkok for the last 2 days, and what an amazing 2 days it's been! I met with Chompu through couchsurfing.com (they should sponsor me or something) and her friends, and Brittany (a fellow couchsurfer from New York) and we had a pretty wild time. I've eaten insects, including a scorpion (tastes like beaf), visited a buddhist temple and had a prayer said for me by a Buddhist monk (I probably needed it), drunk so much Thai Whiskey that I think my blood has finally turned to alcohol, been to a carnival and seen crazy little monkeys being mischievous, got the fridge signed by 10,000 people (well, it seems like it) and picked up some new challenges. When I finally sober up, I'll watch our videos again and work out what the hell everyone is saying in them (we're quite inebriated). Hehe.

I strongly advise you to have a look at the photos :)



I'm writing this from the airport on way down to Krabi to meet Helen and Charlotte for some much needed non-fridge related R&R (ha! and you thought I was on holiday!).

First impressions of Moscow were pretty scary. Following my Lonely Planet guide religiously I fended off over enthusiastic rip-off merchant taxi drivers at the airport and at one point had to resort to my Russia swear-word guide to get to them to leave me alone. Arriving at my "hotel" was a bit odd - it was a hotel in a hotel, run by two 17 year old lads. The room was pretty basic but the notes everywhere that "under no circumstances leave anything of value in your room" made me scrutinize the lock on the door...only do discover that a slight push would bump the lock open. Nice.



Doing what I always do when I don't like where I'm staying, I jumped on the net and found the nearest Holiday Inn and booked a few days there. Arriving at the Holiday Inn was like I'd been trekking for several months and just come home to slip into a nice warm bath. Although expensive because of the late booking, it was worth every penny. If was from here that I started to plan how I was going to complete the latest challenge by Angus, Leo, Mikey and Caleb.

Out of nowhere came an email from Mark (a friend who I met at the Across The Tracks festival in Leeds) saying that he would be over in Moscow for a stag do at the weekend and would I like to come and join them. In the end his plane was delayed by a day, and I couldn't stay in Moscow any longer - I had to get to Murmansk and back before my Visa ran out - but I did meet up with Simon and Andy for an excellent night necking vodkas (I think we tried every kind there is). I was rudely awakend the next morning by the hotel security who didn't take kindly to me ignoring the "wake up and check out" phone calls from reception. Pointing out that I have an Executive Card and a reservation at the same hotel next week was the only thing that stopped them booting me out of the front door, boot-up-arse cartoon style.



Excited at the prospect of visiting Murmansk and a fun train ride through the tundra (heh, I said tundra) I merily hopped on the 36 hour train from Moscow. Trains in Russia aren't like back home, they're more like a refugee camp full of stinky sweaty Russians. When I eventually did get to Murmansk, and washed my clothes, it took 3 washes to get the stench out! 36 hours seemed like weeks. No signal on my phone, no electricity to charge my iPod, no food on the train - only when you stop at larger towns. I tried to sleep as much as possible, but the afore mentioned stinky sweaty Russians also snore like bastards.

Eventually I was in Murmansk and I was excited. It was snowing, it was cold, and it looked like a scene from Narnia. More importantly, I was off that damn train. Checking in to my hotel, I was told I had to wait 20 minutes because my room wasn't quite ready so I thought I'd grab a quick beer at the bar next to reception. I was just waiting for the bay tender when a stunning (and I mean this in a fall-of-your-seat sense) blonde Russian lady sat down next to me and bought my beer. Thinking she was a Russian pro, I called the bar tender over to help translate and it turned out she was from St Petersburg and was here as a tourist with her friends. She'd just checked out and was waiting for her tour guide to take her to the train station. But she had 2 hours to kill and wanted some company. Modestly, I explained that I wouldn't be very much company - I stank and needed a shower, and I was exhausted after the train journey. Out of nowhere she says, "you beautiful, you vanna fuck in you shower?". "Uh, ok". And that's about the time I really started to enjoy Murmansk.



A few hours later I was refocused and ready to go again. I had the YouDecide challenge to do and I was genuinely looking forward to a sauna and then jumping in the icy lake. Several hours later, I found the lake (it was pretty hard to find - everything's white!) but the people at the sauna wouldn't let me jump in the lake because it was too dangerous. I begged, and pleaded and explained I'd come all the way from London for this (thought it couldn't hurt to bend the truth slightly), but there was no way they were letting me in there. So, I filmed the forfeit. The less said about that the better.

The train ride back wasn't so bad - I was better prepared with my own food and drink, fully charged iPod, laptop, etc. And now, I'm back in Moscow waiting for my flight to Bangkok to meet Helen and Charlotte. Really excited, I need some sun and warmth badly - over the weekend the temperature dropped in Moscow too and it snowed.

Hope you're all well
D.