The Nicest Place In The World (so far...)

Nicest place in the world (so far) award goes to... Ko Bulone!

After Ko Lanta, we headed off to the smaller and more 'remote' island of Ko Bulone. It took us about 2 hours or so on a speedboat to get there and it was totally worth it.

Daytrip to Ko Rok

Whilst we've been in Ko Lanta we went on a daytrip to Ko Rok which is a very island that no one lives on. We got a proper speed boat this time, and I leant over the side and felt like James Bond. Nic said he did not feel like James Bond.

Busy Having Fun in Ko Lanta

It is Christmas day in Ko Lanta! Happy Christmas.

There are some trees with tinsel on and some bars are doing 'parties'. A party here seems to be just like any other day, except there are more balloons on a party day.

Our First Proper Adventure!

We were abandoned on this road

We've been lost and abandoned in Thailand!

We Arrive at Ko Lanta

Tomato soup

Sadly we have to leave Railay and we get on a 'speed boat' to Ko Lanta. It is not a particularly fast speed boat, but it was very fun to sit out on the deck and dangle my feet over the side as we went along.

Saying Goodbye to Railay

Tomorrow we leave Railay for Ko Lanta. It was ridiculously easy to book the travel. We thought it would be a nightmare and we'd have to arrange each different boat separately, but it turns out to be a piece of piss.

We Took Our Pineapple To Our Private Beach

Barry the pineapple

We bought a pineapple a couple of days ago and we were going to juice it, but this never happened.

Long Tail to Ko Hong

I was planning to blog everything that we did while we're on our travels so we'd remember it all, but it has become obvious that that is not going to happen. I'll probably only be able to record about 10% of the awesome things we're going to do!!

Thai Massage

I admit that I was quite suspicious about Thai massage at first. I didn't really want to get one, partly because I'm not too keen about people I don't know touching me, partly because I am ticklish and partly because I was a bit worried that I would be offered sex at the end.

But it was all ok!

We Made It!!!

Yes, we made it all the way to Krabi, near the south of Thailand. It took bloody ages. There was a taxi, a plane, then another plane, then a taxi then a boat.

This is where we are right now!!

It was quite fun generally. The plane was nice, it was practically empty and there was Despicable Me 2. It did take a long time though and they kept turning the lights off to pretend that it was night time even though it clearly wasn't night time.

Some amusing things we're taking with us...

We're leaving tomorrow!!!

The excitement is palpable

Oh yeah!

We've Actually Booked Our Tickets!!!

Yes, we have! It's actually happened and last night in a fit of madness, we bought our plane tickets to Krabi and booked a rather nice hotel for our first week.

Practise blogging while i'm travelling...

We are going to take one laptop with us while we're travelling and I have a feeling that Nic is going to be using that one.

We Have A New Sink!

Yes, we have now got a new kitchen sink.

It is lovely.

Decorating... it is fun!

Nic doing some decorating

So, we are still in London but we are ok, don't worry. We have been very busy decorating our flat. We have gotten a bit distracted with this decorating as we have found out that it is actually super fun to decorate.

It's All Getting A Bit Real Now

For the first time I am now beginning to feel like we're actually going to go travelling.

"What Trek Are You Doing?"

After Thailand we're going to visit Nepal. I really like the idea of going to Nepal, but it has recently come to light that I know absolutely nothing about Nepal.

"Have you seen a mountain around here?"

Why do I want to go to Nepal? I just do. It looks really pretty and is an interesting place and there are loads of mountains and people who live is a totally different way to me.

The Problem with Vans

We've hit a small snag with our packing. We've got a lot of stuff packed up now and we're hoping to throw a load in a van and run it down to my mums for storing. We would then have loads more space to sort out the remaining stuff and then we might even be ready to do some painting! (I'm very excited about the painting).

A Van - useful for moving stuff

Planning The First Day

Today I'm getting excited about our very first day of our travels. I'm going to get prepared. I am the sort of person who gets overwhelmed very easily so it seems like a good idea to make it all as easy as possible for me.

Research Bunny is back with a vengeance!

Music for Travelling

We've been doing very well recently and are now at a stage where we really just need to start putting things into boxes. Everything is sorted out and our beautiful paint even arrived yesterday!

So instead of putting things into boxes we've decided to spend the day sorting out our music collections. While we are away it is vital that we have the right sort of music for our travels!

Getting Ready

It finally feels like we're really doing things now. We've chucked out loads of stuff for charity. We even emptied out the cupboard of doom that lives in the kitchen. You can now see the floor of the cupboard! It is wonderful!

Cupboard of Doom

Zanzibar

Who's better than Freddy Mercury? No one.

And where's more beautiful than Zanzibar? I can't think that anywhere could be.

Tanzania

After Mozambique we'll take on Tanzania. Slightly unsure exactly how to get in to Tanzania at the moment, but I'm sure we'll figure it out when we're at the border.

Zambia

Some Zambinians

"People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege."

David Livingstone

Mozambique

My private island in Mozambique

So Mozambique is the only country that we really want to go to that needs me to have a pre-arranged visa to get into. This seemed like a pain in the arse, but it's actually not that difficult and we can get it from Cape Town.

Camping in Africa

It seems to be quite normal to camp as you tour Africa.  I guess this makes sense as it is pretty rural out there and there just aren't that many buildings to stay in.  So you camp... in the wild.

Phutawan Raft House

Raft Houses

I've been thinking about Thailand again, and I've been getting excited about Koh Sok National Park and particularly the lovely raft houses that are there.

How to stay alive in Africa

This is an important bit, so concentrate...

Firstly... Don't get Malaria!

Malaria Bear

Saul's back... to explain Tanzania

Yes, you can all calm down and listen up. Saul Goodman is back to help answer some of the Big Africa questions.

Don't worry, I'm back!

Safari

A colonialist being carried about

To be honest, I was not too sure what a safari actually was, but I think I've got it now.

It's what posh white people do in Africa!  They wear white linen and get carried about by the locals.
Then they shoot a bunch of animals and put their heads on the walls when they get home.

4x4 Driving

I am not the worlds best driver (as I've mentioned before) but we're not going to worry about this now.  We're just going to focus on how cool it will be for us to buy a 4x4 and drive it around Southern Africa!

Woo.. go Africa!

We've changed our minds... We're going to tour Africa!

Africa... we're coming for you!

We've been having a bit of a problem recently.  We wanted to be in 2 places at once (India and South Africa) in order to hit the best weather.

How great is retirement? My opinion so far...

I've now been retired for 6 whole days and so far I'm loving it.

I've mastered the art of making amazing porridge, and am on my way to figuring out roast potatoes.  I have been on several walks on the common near my flat and have done some preparatory cleaning.

Cleaning!

So now I've retired I'm getting busy with getting the flat ready to be rented out to some lovely people (hopefully) for as much money as possible.

Thai Food

"In Thailand, there is no such thing as a starter; 

neither is there any dish that belongs only to one person."

"Throwing food away enrages the Thai god of rice"

Pokhara, Nepal

I think I have found one of the places in Nepal that I want to go to.  It's called Pokhara!

Pokhara

It's been recommended by Nic's brother and it's listed on this shockingly bad looking website.  The site looks like shit, but it's just a load of 'top ten' lists.  I love top ten lists.  Actually, I quite like most lists.
 Yay lists!

Thai Island Wishlist

These are the Thai islands we DO want to visit...

Ko Phra Thong

Here's some info on Ko Phra Thong, the 'Golden Buddha'

Here's some stuff about where to stay.

While we're still in England

Although we're very excited about going away and seeing all these different places in the world, there's still a lot of awesome left in England.

We're going to see some of this before we go.

As it's not too far away and Nic's not been, I thought we'd go to Windsor and check out the castle.  It's a pretty place and very English.

Windsor Castle

Winter is coming

Yes, just as I have left work and am free to frolic around Tooting Bec common and pass my time cycling along the embankment and other lovely things that you need a bit of sunshine for, the weather has changed.

I have a bag now, so I'm ready to go

Yesterday was my last day at work (ever).  It doesn't quite feel like I've finished work yet as today is Saturday, but I expect it will start to sink in on Monday.

What will I miss while I'm off travelling?

I'm sure that I will miss things like my bed and a working shower and not being covered in biting insects.

I might even miss the weather and the fact that there are already Christmas things in the shops here.

To Burma or not to Burma?

We would like to go to Burma.  It looks fricking amazing.

Burma - fricking amazing

The Telegraph has some good advice about getting the Visa for Burma.  The problem is that you have to arrange it before you leave the UK and then it's only valid for 3 months from the date of issue.  So it's quite a restriction on our travel.

Pai, near Chang Mai

Nic's brother just recommended Pai to us.  He did the Asia thing a couple of years ago so he's a very useful person for us.

I found some info on Pai here, but this is the best bit:

Is it 'Ko' or 'Koh'? Saul Goodman explains

The question of how to spell Ko / Koh is one that has confused first time travellers for years now.

People have literally lost sleep over this question and up until this moment no one had a definitive answer.

Until now, that is.

Maps - Useful when you're lost, and fun when you're not!

I love maps, I think they're awesome.

An awesome map

Hair

I recently got my hair cut short.  This was partly so it would be a bit easier to deal with in the heat and stuff whilst we're travelling, but also because I wanted to have short hair again.

Useful Stuff To Know

Some more useful stuff from Phuket.com

Carry small change

Do the Bhat Man (laugh, I nearly did)

Ko Lipe

The Lonely Planet says that we shouldn't go straight to Phuket when we get to Thailand.  Instead, it suggests going to Ko Lipe.  This seems to be that Phuket is very touristy and 'a bit much' but Ko Lipe is the opposite.

วิธีการพูดเช่นเดียวกับชาวบ้าน (How to speak like the locals)

The Thai folk are going to instantly assume you're one of them when you start speaking their language!

Some cool Thai people!

If they think you are a local, they won't charge you tourist rates, so learn these words before you go...

What Research Bunny Really Thinks About Phuket...

"I am Research Bunny, how can I help you today?"

Research Bunny has lovingly borrowed all this information about Phuket from Phuket.com

The Important Matter of Transport

Nic has found a really useful map.  

This shows the buses, trains and ferries around Thailand.

"Well done, that's some good research"

Our plan so far goes like this...

Kerala

This is my latest good idea.  I want to stay in a house boat while we're in Kerala.

House boat in Kerala

Annoyingly these have also been mentioned in the Guardian, but I swear I found them before the Guardian did!

A Plan Has Been Formed!!!

Thanks to Google maps, we now have a bit of a plan.

Here is our proposed route.

So, we'll fly into Bangkok.  Maybe stay there for a few days.

First, we go to Bangkok baby, oh yeah!!

Koh Phayam

Koh Phayam

A map of Koh Phayam

Here is Koh Phayam.  It's on the left of Thailand.

Here is a tourist map of Koh Phayam, so you know where to go and what it does.

This is Koh Phayam in Google maps (sort of)



View Larger Map

Some awesome place in Koh Phayam

Koh Phayam was the first Thai island that we really loved, so it deserves a post of it's own right now.

Because we're still in London and it's a crappy day here I'm going to put up a load of pictures of Koh Phayam now...

We think this is a less touristy part of Thailand.

Accommodation looks good there. We found this place for around £13.70 per night.

The Guardian mentions the huts that we want to stay at.

I guess this is a beach on Koh Phayam 

Yay!  Another beach.  Well done Koh Phayam.

And here is more about the bungalows.

You can get somewhere awesome for around £8 - 10 a night.