After 5 wonderful months in Thailand we’ve decided to move on and see a bit more of south east Asia before we head to Australia in July.
We’d been thinking about this for a while but our minds were finally made up when we heard about a dj playing in Phenom Phen, Cambodia called Stanton Warriours. Craving good music (not house) the decision was made and we booked our bus to leave.
On our final day we rented a 150 Kawasaki motocross bike so we could say a final goodbye to the island – also because they’re pretty fun. After a slow start (the sky was black and it looked like it was about to pour down) we put our boots on and went up to the east if the island. The roads here are still being built so without a decent bike it’s hard work.
We went to both Thong Nia Pan Noi (north) and Thong Nai Pan Yai (south). It seems like that corner of the island is for those with a lot of money, not your regular backpackers. We saw tours advertised for double the price in Thongsala, massages for 600B (usually 250B) and a Massaman curry with rice for nearly 500B. This goes for around 60B in the night market. Unbelievable.
By the time we were on our way back to town the workmen and women had arrived and were working on the road… all by hand. They were constructing the frames for the concrete barricade, preparing the road surface and levelling the cement all by hand with no machines or tools more advanced than a spade and cement mixer.
We spent that afternoon doing a few loops of the west coast roads, snapping pictures of our favourite places and things before ending the evening in Freeway Bar for sunset and a thunderstorm.
The weather has been all over the place the past week or so, with thunder storms most evenings. Today was no exception. To the west the sun was setting into the sea while to the south the sky was layers of thick black cloud, flashing forks of lightening every few seconds. It was difficult to know what to watch!
Because of the night time curfew being enforced in Thailand at the moment (10pm to 5am) we couldn’t have a big night out before leaving. Instead we ended up having a few drinks on our friend Ali’s balcony with some of our best friends. It was a really great way to end the day.
Despite chatting until 3am we were up early to do some final laps of the island on the Kawasaki before we had to return it. Managed to do the 25km lap in exactly 30mins, not bad!
Quick stop at Tesco for some (reduced) snacks and we had to hand the bike back.
Our boat was leaving at 12.30 so we had a final goodbye drink with all our friends. Think it’s the first time everyone has been out together…
Then, chauffeured to the pier in the taxi by our friends Keng and Vit we were off.
Just as we jumped out of the taxi, bikes pull up alongside us and and we find that some other friends (of friends) are leaving for Bangkok too and heading home to Ireland. This meant we had some company for the trip.
The journey up to Bangkok wasn’t fun at all. It was long cramped and uncomfortable. First we had a boat to the mainland – via Samui. Then an hours bus journey to Surat Thani which began in the sweltering heat with no fan (broken) and ended with us getting wet when it began to pour down with a leaky roof. At Surat Thani we had a 3hour wait for the Bangkok bus to arrive. It was then I think we were glad to have people to chat to.
Just before 7.30pm the bus pulls up and we fought for the front seats thinking they’d give us the most leg room but no, unlike those amazing Malaysia busses, we are cramped into seats with so little room we wern’t able to recline the seat if we wanted space for our feet.
With little chance of sleeping it was going to be a long 12 hours. At midnight we stopped at a road side restaurant and had a chance to stretch our legs but that was all. I think we both managed a doze during the second half of the trip but not much. We arrived into Bangkok just after 6am, exhausted.
Jake and Louise in Asia 