Round The World With A Fridge

If you haven't noticed already, I've added a "videos" tab to the top of the page - it's a collection of all the videos I've done, including a couple of new ones.

Paris Hilton arrived in Bondi yesterday to judge a bikini content on New Years Day to find the new "face" for a local beer, "Bondi Blonde". Reports claim that she'll be paid a cool $5 million for the privilege. I managed - literally - to bump into her in a shop on Hall Street in Bondi. I snapped a few photos, and a friend - Patrick Lyall - got a few good ones too. The day before she'd been swimming at Bondi and caused quite a comotion when she stripped off down to her bikini and showered in front of the crowd. More photos after the jump...

Ow. Ow ow ow. My head. It hurts. Christmas Day at Gatecrasher down on Bondi Beach. The legendary Norman Jay and John "00" Flemming. Reminded me a lot of the Across The Tracks festival in Leeds, fond memories...



A totally surreal experience. No family around, no Turkey, none of my mums "special" bucks fizz for breakfast, and no presents. So much Smirnoff Ice Black consumed, many people met, much dancing was had, and almost married a wee Scottish (but Aussie) lass for a laugh (ha, if you still want to, I'd quite like an aussie passport - drop me an email). Then, to finish the night off - a mad dash with hundreds of other party people from the pavillion to the beach, strip off and dive into the surf. Wow!

Australia, being the otherside of the world, is my half-way point and I'm so pleased to be here. After almost 2 months in Thailand being back in civilization is great! Don't get me wrong, I love Thailand and I know I'll keep going back, but Australia is home away from home, especially for us pommes. The apartment I'm staying in, a stones-throw away from Bondi Beach, belongs to Georgia (CCE) and Nik (friends from back home) but they're away for Christmas and back in the New Year. When they get back we're going camping and mountain biking in Hunters Valley and the Blue Mountains.



But there's a lot to do before that. Today I'm celebrating my return to good health after about a week of feeling rough from some kind of stomach bug. To kick start things I'm going on a mini-pub crawl with Daryl, another friend of Nik and Georgias who's staying in the apartment. As Angus suggested, we'll start in the Paddington Inn, heading up to Paddington Green and then over to Coogee for some fish and chips before getting amongst the Bondi hotties.



Christmas day is starting to look quite special - a day on Bondi beach with an awesome Fatboy-Slim-At-Brighton-Pier type setup - and of course the typical aussie BBQ. I'll be on Skype and MSN Messenger about 9pm, 10am GMT, for a chat with Ma and Pa and anyone else that's online.

The challenges have been coming thick and fast over the past 2 weeks. Although I'm keeping some a secret (Nicola - genius!!), I'll be wrestling crocs, swimming with sharks, dicing with death when I wind-up a Brown Snake, and poking deadly spiders. Keep the challenges coming - especially the New Zealand ones, not many of those yet...

Have a GRRRRREAT Christmas and a wicked New Year!!

The one thing I did manage to do in Chiang Mai before collapsing on my death bed (you how over-dramatic guys can be when they get sick) was visit a fortune teller. I've never been someone who particarly believes in the occult but I've certainly become a believer of fate and I like the idea that buddhist monks who study hard can see the passage of time like a river flowing from mountains, down the stream into the ocean, then evaporating only to rain again on the mountains.

Basically things look pretty peachy. He also said that the journey I'm on is a massive quest and that it'll bring me fame and fortune. I asked him if he meant the physical journey or spiritual journey and he just smiled and said I would understand by this time next year. He also said that I'd get married in 2 years and that I'd have twins (a boy and a girl). Happy days.

Right, well, I'm sat here in Bangkok airport waiting for my flight to Sydney. Sadly I missed seeing Debs (Donut) and co by a matter of hours, but I did catch up with Josh (thanks so much for the latest episodes of Lost season 3 - very handy for the trip) and Chompu who it was wonderful to see again. And without further ado, here comes the Oz adventure...

Bangkok
This is where my journey in Thailand began, at the huge International Airport which sits on the outskirts of the city. For first time travellers it can be a little intimidating coming out of the airport into a feeding frenzy of taxi drivers. Having booked my accommodation online I'd selected the option to have a car come and pick me up, although normally you'll be looking at around 800 baht for a taxi into town.

I chose to stay in the Asia Hotel (www.asiahotel.co.th) situated in the heart of Bangkok and has it's own entrance to the skytrain. It's a clean, modern setup, if not a little too busy like the rest of Bangkok, but I'd recommend it for a stopover. TVs in the rooms, aircon, Internet cafe (and unofficial free wifi), 3 restaurants, shops and 2 swimming pools. Nearby is a huge mall with everything from camera lenses to flip flops. There's an excellent tour guide in the lobby who managed to arrange some great deals on flights and stays at resorts.

The LP guide does a great job of listing most of the sights, sounds and smells so I don't need to.

Krabi
I flew to Krabi on Thai Airways for around £33 which is pretty good. Krabi airport is just outside Krabi Town and a taxi to either Ao Nang or Krabi Town isn't very expensive - you should book a taxi from inside the airport at the taxi desk to avoid being ripped off.

Krabi Town is a busy little place. It only really has one high street, but there's plenty of activity going on around the place. To eat, I highly recommend Mary and Mark (075612562 - Th Ruen Rudee) - great Thai food but also some Mexican and German influences. For hardcore Thai cuisine you must try the Bangkok Welcome Cafe (corner Th Maharat) - dishes from around 25 baht! There's plenty of places to drink but the tourists all know O'Malleys (7pm - 10pm happy hour) because it's in the Lonely Planet guide and next to a bunch of hotels.

Just outside Krabi Town, on top of a mountain (it's really a hill but Thais call hills mountins) there's a Buddhist temple called Tiger Cave Temple. Tourists are welcome to the climb the 1,237 steps to the top (there's no charge) where you get the best view around for miles and can see the giant Buddha up close. Be warned, those of you who aren't comfortable with heights should probably give this one a miss. A friendly taxi driver will take you from Krabi Town and wait for you while you climb up and down to take you back for a couple of hundred baht.

Krabi Town pier is where you can catch ferries and long tail boats (a taxi boat). Some of the locations on the coast are only accessible by boat, but going from Krabi Town always seemed like a chore to me. There's another pier at Ao Nam Mao which is accessible by car, or tuktuk, and a long tail only takes around 15 minutes to get Railay. Alternatively go to Ao Nang and a long tail will have you at Ton Sai in 10 minutes.

A note on long tail boat taxi drivers. Initially these guys were the single most annoying thing about this part of Thailand. Because you're not Thai, you'll be treated like a second class citizen. Whenever you go near the little huddle of taxi guys you'll hear, "Ao Nang, Ao Nang" or "Krabi, Krabi" - they're usually not trying to hassle you, it's because they've got some passengers waiting to go but they need more people for a boat to bring the price-per-person down. Haggling is a must. The more people in the boat, the cheaper it is. If you're travelling after 4/5pm expect to pay a premium.

Ao Nang
Ao Nang for me was just somewhere to get a long tail boat from. There's all the usual shops, restaurants and bars along the front, but it seemed quite family orientated. I only ate once here, at the Italian Pizzeria - which isn't in the Lonely Planet guide - but I highly recommend it because they did great pizza.

If you're going to do elephant trekking, and you don't have the option of doing it in Chiang Mai, I'd say to do it here. On the tour you can expect to see exotic birds, monkeys and you'll visit Tham Srakaew - the cave that was used in the movie, The Beach.

Ton Sai
Ton Sai is famous in these parts for rock climbing and you can see why when you arrive - it's surrounded by beautiful fauna covered cliffs. Accessible only by long tail boat (15 mins from Ao Nang), it's a lazy beach popular with rock climbers and travellers alike.

It's much less touristy than its neighbour Railay, and has more "authentic" style bamboo huts. Of all the places I stayed in Thailand, Countryside Resort (booked through http://www.yourkrabi.com/booking/) was my favourite - absolutely stunning bamboo huts and probably the best food for miles around. The staple diet here is home made muslie (with fruit, yoghurt and a little bit of honey) for breakfast, green curry with boiled rice (or Tom Yam with boiled rice for the brave) for lunch or dinner. The cook in the resort also does international cuisine if you get bored with Thai food (but who would?).

The bars along Ton Sai beach cater for most. It's not as lively as places like Ko Samui and Ko Pha-Ngan, but it has its own charm. Everyone is very friendly, and bars range from places with hammocks and chairs on the beach to the larger DJ-toting, pool table in the corner type venues. The beach here can be quite rocky when the tide is out, but that doesn't bother most as the stretch of white sand is big enough.

Railay (Rai Leh)
Railay is based around two beaches, Railay East and Railay West, and both have very different personalities. Railay West is a lush beach but as soon as you arrive you'll notice a big difference from Ton Sai - local Thais hawking massages, selling drinks and trinkets, and the beach front is more developed with a handful of resorts right on the beach. Railay East doesn't really have much to offer in terms of beach because it's a rocky mud flat with trees growing right on the beach. However, the better resorts and bars are at Railay East. The walk from Railay East to West takes about 5 minutes. Choosing somewhere to drink largely depends on what's happening that evening as there are too many bars for the relatively small number of people staying here. Among my favourites were Cliff Man (who also do climbing), Fusion (which has unfortunately closed now) and Rock Bar (up the hill).

Eating on Railay can be a hit and miss experience. Most places do some dishes well, whilst others - particularly on Railay West - don't even manage that. Viewpoint Resort, Railay Bay Resort, BoBo's, CoCo and Sand Sea Resort are worthy of a recommendation.

I stayed at the Viewpoint Resort mainly because it has good quality, cheap, rooms with fan, TV, hot shower, swimming pool, internet cafe and minimart. During high season it's still good value, even if you do have to lean over the reception counter to see the list of available rooms to haggle over prices!

Ko Lanta
Ko Lanta was my first experience of a Thai island (read: very laid back). A ferry from Railay (can be booked at any tour operator or internet cafe) gets you there at a leisurely pace of 3 hours. The ferry takes you straight to Ban Sala Dan where there's plenty of shops, tour companies, taxis, restaurants and everything else you might need. There was a tour guide on the ferry who arranged our accommodation - a resort called The Last Resort at the very southern tip of Ko Lanta.

The Last Resort is perfect in many ways (the friendly people, best bar, amazing deserted beach, great food) but it fails the most important test for me - the bedroom test. Ok, so I might be a bit of hotel snob, but these huts are super basic with only a cold shower and manual flushing toilet for company. Oh, and did I mention the uncomfortable mattress on the floor and mosquito net with holes in? Having said all that, we rarely left the resort because it had everything else. When we did leave, I tried the Same Same But Different Restaurant which I suspect does the best food and drink on the island. It's a very romantic little place and listed in the Lonely Planet.

Ko Pha-Ngan
Having decided that we'd have enough of the quiet life on Lanta, we decided to head to the home of the full moon party - Ko Pha-Ngan. The easiest option was by bus which takes you up through Krabi and then over to the port at Surat Thani where we caught a sleeper boat (a long ferry with a giant open room and beds on either side) to Thong Sala on Ko Pha-Ngan. All that sounds fairly simple, and in reality it is, but there are a number of stops where you're dropped off at a restaurant for 1 hour and then picked up by another bus only to travel 5 minutes down to the port. But, if you take buses, you'll learn pretty quickly not to question how it works - just respect that it does.

We headed straight for the party town on Hat Rin Nok at the south end of the island. While it was nice to be in the thick of things again, it does have a slightly sleazy '18-30s destination' feel to it. There are plenty of movie bars, fast food joints, clubs and beach bars. The only bar I'd go out of my way to recommend is Outback Bar (listed in the Lonely Planet guide), purely because it's a laid back, spacious venue with good food, drink and entertainment.

Worthy of special mention is the Chakra Massage (listed in the Lonely Planet guide) where I did my past life regression and Charlotte did a Thai Massage course. The proprietor trained as a monk and is highly regarded by locals.

Ko Lao Liang
Lots of people have asked me about Lao Liang after seeing my photos. Lao Liang is on the tip of a nature reserve and until recently hasn't been accessible to tourists (there's no tours or info in the LP guide). The result is a small beautifully unspoilt island with basic facilities. However, the facilities are to a very high standard - showers, spacious tents with fans, bar and dining area. Although it's possible to arrange a trip with a tour agency (you'll be very lucky to find one that does this trip), you won't get the extra benefit of booking with the XSite operators (Vinnie or Michael) who provide snorkelling gear, climbing gear and kayaks free of charge.

A day trip off Lao Liang to go snorkelling or diving is an absolute must - I've never seen water so clear and such a huge range of sea life. You can fish straight off the side of a kayak and pull out 10lb Giant Travellys and stand a good chance of seeing a Monitor Lizard or two. Oh, and the red ants are edible.

I don't climb, but the climbers that came on the trip loved the climbs and the XSite guys have just finished putting up a whole bunch of new, challenging routes.

Phuket
Probably the most visited part of Thailand after Bangkok, Phuket is a favourite tourist destination with all its lady bars, nightclubs and buzzing shopping areas. It's a different a crowd to those in Ton Sai and Railay (keep your fishermen pants in your backpack) but not as sleazy as Ko Pha-Ngan. Well, unless you stray into the neon-lit road of Th Bangla which is full of bars, lady bars, ping pong joints and everything else you've probably heard about. Hot Thai girls dancing in bars will queue up to be your best friend in the hope that you'll take them home for a night. It's not seen as prostitution, more a sort of arranged date where the guy pays for the privilege. To put the record straight, no, I didn't try it! A local Thai explained to me that these girls often come from farming communities up north and can earn a whole months pay in a single night. Their parents usually don't know what they do preferring to believe that they have several jobs.

Tuk Tuks here are quite impressive - all blinged up with neon lights, spoiler, alloys. Drivers are a bit hit and miss and I'm not sure I feel any safer in a tuk tuk than on the back of a taxi bike.

I stayed at the Patong Green Mountain Hotel (not listed in the LP guide) which is just on the edge of Patong - a good distance away from the hubbub, but still accessible, and a great view of the beach (if you're on the 4th floor). The bar staff were exceptionally kind, often going out of their way to find out things for us and there's a free taxi service to drop you off in town - handy when you've had a few beers. Aircon, TV, hot water, breakfast, large pool, internet cafe, tour guide. 2 min walk from three 7-11's, and the Esso garage.

There's plenty to see and do on Phuket, not just the beaches. I rented a motorbike for a week (rent over 3 days and haggle for a discount) and I'd say it's the best way to get around. You can easily explore - either via the beautiful coastal roads, or hit the motorway and explore the northern end. A word of warning though - the police and tuk tuk drivers have a pretty good racket going. This only really applies to Patong village at the time of writing. If the police see a non-Thai riding a bike, they'll blow their whistle and tell you to stop. The first time this happened, it was because my friend wasn't wearing his helmet - it's against the law for a driver not to be wearing their helmet. The second time, I was stopped, and thinking I was ok with my helmet on asked what the problem was. The policeman asked for my international license, and of course I only had my UK license. NO ONE has an international license, and the police know it, so it's off to the police station to pay the fine - and there will be a queue of tuk tuks nearby waiting for you. How to avoid it? Three ways; 1) get an international license (yeah right), 2) when you hear a policeman whistling - look the other way and keep driving. If you see a police stop ahead (lots of police and tuk tuks), turn around. 3) stop, get the paper work - make up any old name and age (they can't read your license), but hold on to your bike key. Go and have a couple of beers, come back an hour or two later, drive away.

If you get tired of the tourist beaches, try driving up to Hat Nai Thon in the North West corner near the airport. It's yet to be bastardised by tourism and it's where the local Thais go for a day out. I camped in a tent here (bought from a local supermarket) and there's a great little bar just set back from the beach behind the trees where you can purchase boozage. Swimming at night is quite magical as there's a great deal of phosphoresce in the water.

Chiang Mai
I can't really say anything about Chiang Mai because I spent most of my 2 days in bed with a stomach bug! I stayed at the Novotel Hotel (in the LP guide) and booked with Ping Pong (an unfortunate name for a girl) of Universal Travel (booking with a tour guide is essential if you want the best prices for accommodation and free transfers) who was the most wonderful travel guide. I thought the Novotel was quite sucky (and I'm convinced their breakfast gave me food poisoning) so Ping Pong moved me to the Vila Villa Hotel - a brand new hotel, not fully opened at the time of writing. On arriving my jaw dropped - brand-new traditional style Lanna villas, surrounded by lush greenery, water wheels, fountains, koi karp filled ponds. Definitely very romantic. The hotel staff were exceptional - they took me to the train station and helped me book my ticket and let me stay in my room for an extra 3 hours because my train wasn't until the afternoon.

For reasons I don't quite know, I chose to take the train back to Bangkok - I think I needed to try trains in Thailand to complete my travelling experience here. The sleeper express takes 11 hours from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and compared to the Russian sleeper I took from Moscow to Murmansk, it's very well equipped. The best beds are the bottom ones which cost a little extra, but are bigger. You get some privacy with a curtain that can be drawn across and generally everyone is quiet. The only thing that irked me was it was such a good setup but the actual train ride was bumpy as hell and at times almost threw me out of my bed! But still, you have to laugh about it.

Oh, one final note - I booked all of my Chiang Mai travel and accommodation last minute and it wasn't as easy as everywhere else. I'm not sure if that was because it's high season now, or just because Chiang Mai is quite small and there's a lot of tourists. Either way, booking in advance is recommended.

The sun was setting as the fridge and I pulled into the port at Phuket Town, and even though it had been a relaxing trip up from Railay, there was that definite spark when you know it's all going to get very messy. I met up with Matt at the Patong Green Mountain Hotel, and it was only a matter of minutes before I had the first beer in my hand.

The days after that adhered to the simple formula; explore Phuket by motorbike in the day, drink as much as possible at night - interspersed with ladyboy tussles, ping pong shows, Hottie McFitties, getting "dude" and "sweet" tattoos, tactical Jenga, and lots of random kung-fu moves. Matt was definitely setting the bar for future fridge sessions.




The day when Matt had to leave for Koh Samui came around way too quickly. My liver needed some down-time to recover so I kept our room on for an extra day just so I could sleep and pretend to do some work.

If all that seems a little vague for the events of two weeks, well, I'd agree. Some really great things happened, but I can't write about them publicly. In the next couple of weeks, some of you will be receiving an email telling you that your superhero account has a new superpower - x-ray vision - you'll be able to read the private blog.

Just about to jump on a plane to Chiang Mai via Bangkok to meet Beth. Back to Bangkok on Saturday and I fly to Sydney on Monday 18th!

After the trip to Koh Lao Liang I needed to take things easy and give my foot a chance to heal. Noah and Donna, who I'd met on the trip, were heading back to Railay too so we decided to get a nice hotel room for the night with hot water and a TV - a luxury since the price of a room the next day would double as we enter peak season here. Everything is so relaxed and unhurried, days just cruise by - muslie for breakfast, some rock climbing (obviously not for me with my bad foot), a late lunch, lazing around the pool or beach, then a James Bond movie (there's three or four Bond movies on daily), a hot shower (followed by a few other friends using our hot shower), some dinner, some beers, some more beers, then back to the hotel room to wake up Donna and watch another James Bond movie while munching peanut M&M's. Man, life here is sweet.

   

But while I was enjoying Railay so much, Matt - another guy from the Lao Liang trip, was waiting to go see ping pong, ladyboys and generally wreak havoc in Patong not far from Phuket town. So, looking forward to another new adventure with the fridge, I said goodbye to the folks in Railay and left for Phuket...