Yuck

I was woken many times last night. First by the thumping music coming from several different bars on the street below, second by the heaviest rain and loudest thunder I've ever heard in my life, third by the air con crackling away in a rather bizarre manner, and fourth by a very scary gurgling sound coming from the toilet.

I could handle the first three but the fourth, I must say was a bit of a worry. I got up to check it out and sure enough the toilet water was bubbling up the bowl instead of going down. And the smell... oh... it was horrendous (reminiscent of the little boys toilets at school, where yes, I did have to poke my head in the door on the odd occasion to tell off the scallywags hiding inside).

There wasn't much I could do about it so I put the lid down, climbed back into bed and hoped for the best.I had visions of the bathroom filling up with sewage and seeping out into the bedroom onto my lovely new suitcase. And then I fell asleep.

In the morning it all looked clean and clear, although the smell was still fairly whiffy. As I stepped on the bathmat to hop in the shower I suddenly realised where most of the smell was coming from. The towel was soaked. Not as clean and clear as I'd first hoped then. Ewwww...

By the sound of that rain last night, I wasn't surprised to learn that this is in fact a fairly common occurrence here in Cambodia.

I'm now lying happily on the bed in a lovely clean room a few stories up. Hopefully tonight's sleep will be better!

From the Balcony

Hit the town last night (a little too hard). Had a great time but have been paying for it all day today.

Went out for a delish Cambodian meal at a restaurant right on the river. Chowed down on several scummy dishes including a fish amok (national dish) which is made with melt in your mouth fish fillet pieces baked with coconut cream in a banana leaf.

Plans are to shoot up to Siem Reap maybe Monday/Tuesday. Looking forward to seeing some more of the country and I hear it's a cool little town.

Holy shit what a dusty bastard!

Cambodian customs was exciting! A hodge podge of baffling procedures, which thankfully we came out of with visa in hand and money in pocket (most of). We were greeted outside by a familiar face (MJ) holding a 'Bighead and Samesame' sign. Love your work.

It truly is a luxury to arrive in a strange country and be greeted by someone you know, who's in the know (if ya know what I mean). I don't think we've had the pleasure before, so leaving the airport was a 'haggle free' breeze this time round.

Phnom Penh has a real edge to it. It's energetic, dirty, dusty, smelly, loud and sure has a shit load of scooters. I'm diggin it. We're both quite excited about the range of different food available and the architecture is really cool too, a mish mash of different styles.
MJ took us in for the night and after a delicious home cooked meal (akun), we popped out for a walk, stopping at a local bar for a beer. Wow, a bit of a culture shock for old Samesame I'm tellin ya. They sure have a lot of staff working in the bars and they're really friendly.

We zipped all over town this morning looking for a room, eventually finding one just around the corner from MJ's. Our room overlooks the point where the three rivers merge (Sap, Mekong, and Bassac). They're massive and flow really quickly. I like standing on the balcony and taking in the view below.

Seeing the locals hanging out by the river and children playing in the water.Wondering if the load on this boat is regulation??

So far so good!

It was so beautiful flying in to Phuket, which made me realise I'd never arrived this way before. The sun was just beginning to set and a scattering of limestone cliffs and lush green mountains could be seen protruding from the ocean with great gusto. Stunning. Hopefully we can visit this area sometime to see it up close.

We stayed in Phuket Town for the first night, waking early the next morning to explore the island and work out what's what and who's where. Our eyes were wide and sparkling with excitement as we headed south on the scoot around the coastal road. We wanted to stop every time we saw a 'house for rent' advertisement (which would mean every 5 minutes so we had to restrain ourselves somewhat!). We cruised through Chalong, Rawai, Kata, Karon, and finally Patong before heading back into town.

It was clear we'd been on the bike far too long when we began to snip at each other in our attempts to navigate the poorly signposted streets of Phuket Town. Trying to find our way back to the hotel under the screaming sun, with our tummies rumbling, was not the way to do it! (Phuket is so much bigger than Koh Phangan!). We made it with just enough time to pack up and check out.

The last time we came to Phuket we literally went straight to Patong Beach and stayed one night before jumping on a live aboard dive boat for three days to the Similian Islands (best diving experience either of us have had by the way!). We really hadn't seen Phuket at all so it's been really cool to see more of the island.

I'm pleased to announce that this is the one.

Kata had captured my soul from the moment I saw it. With its gorgeous white sand beach surrounded by hill top vistas, coconut groves, banana trees, and a funky wee town (how could it not have?). In the pic below the first two bays you see are Kata, then Karon, and Patong is over the next hill.

We've found a cool place to stay in Kata for the mean time and with low season prices it's a great deal. The Sugar Palm (I keep calling it sugar plum by accident, I just can't help it) has double rooms for 800 baht a night (approx. NZ$35) and there's high speed wireless internet (like actual high speed not same same high speed). So we're both chuffed and here I am merrily blogging into the wee hours of the evening.

Oh and the Phuket Vegetarian Festival has started so we have our white clothes ready to roll!

A Cut Above

So I guess you may have been thinking that I'd disappeared off the face of the earth. No blogging for 3 days! Heaven forbid, I think I've even experienced a teeny bit of withdrawal.

There is no doubt that Koh Phangan is a cut above Koh Samui in its beauty. The island is littered with coconut groves, granite boulders, breathtaking crystal clear bays, fine white sandy beaches, stunning mountain vistas, laid back people, and local reefs that offer some outstanding snorkeling. Koh Ma (pictured below) is teaming with different species of fish that can often been seen in large schools. We're getting into a bit of a routine with the old early morning snorkel. It's got to be one of the best ways to stay fit!

Can we live here? Possibly. Thongsala is the main town and seems to have everything we might need. If we'd like to go to a cinema, then we could skip across to Samui, no problem (12 mins via speedboat! Hey, I could even commute to work this way! How cool would that be?!).

We spent a couple of nights in Haad Rin (home of full moon party). The party was a few days prior to our arrival so we practically had the whole place to ourselves as the party is what most people come for. The vibe there is pretty cool and there are lots of cheap eateries with a range of food on offer (which is good for us!). There's even a place called 'Same Same Burger Bar'. Most of my dear friends in Welli will know that I was a wee bit crazy about Brooklyn Fish Supplies cheeseburgers, so seeing this spot had me somewhat excited. I miss my cheeseburgers (but not my thighs!).

There's quite a few more shops and roads in Haad Rin than there were last time and the beach is as stunning as its always been (bar the 2 zillion cigarette butts and bucket of joy straws strewn all over the sand).

It's amazing how quick and easy it is to get about on the island. They have a new highway that shoots straight up the middle, taking only 15 mins on the scoot from Chaloklum in the north to Thongsala in the south. That means we can pretty much live anywhere on the west coast and still be nice and close to town. The beaches on the west coast are sublime, Haad Yao being our favourite (which is where we are now).The accommodation here is the best value we've found. Bay View Resort has low season rooms for 900 Baht (NZ$40) a night with sliding glass doors onto a large patio overlooking one of the most stunning bays on the island, a gorgeous swimming pool (also overlooking the bay), and it's only a hop, skip and a jump to the beach.

Here are some other spots we've had the privilege of staying as we've fluttered from bay to bay (some not all that cheap!).

The internet here is not as fast as Samui but Bighead has managed to forgive the slow connections when working from his mobile office.
Stayed tuned for night market and sticky rice with mango (O.M.G!)

Koh Samui - We have arrived.

Bighead had to drag me from May Kaidee's kicking and screaming but eventually convinced me that it was time to head to the islands. Enough of those super mall shenanigans, it sure does feel great to be at the beach (and a tropical one at that!). Something about the ocean warms my cockles.We've been in Samui for a few days now, having done everything we needed to do in BK (besides devouring May's entire menu). Samui truly is a beautiful island. We're feelin it. We've already scored this humble abode in a quaint little spot called Bo Phut and stocked up on local fruits. The view from our studio is pretty damn special and it's really nice to have the extra space to spread our wings for a bit. The owner of the apartment is really lovely and full of useful info with regards to setting up and living on Samui.
All 'photos' will now be referred to as 'gloato's'. You know that if you want it, you just have to grab it. I'm lucky that I have Bighead as he truly is the motivational force behind this mission :)

We thought we'd have a bit of a night out on Saturday. So we threw on a clean shirt, chugged down a few Chang's (still acquiring a taste for this as not the smoothest of brews) and took off into Chaweng Centre to get the party started. As it turns out, there was a liquor ban on due to elections on Sunday and everything was closed! Maybe we'll meet some new friends next time :(

I've contacted a few schools in the area to see if I can spend some time with them, maybe I'll even try to get a job! We're still undecided as to how long we'll stay here. Do we give it a month or do we scout out other islands first in the hopes of narrowing it down a little? So many decisions!

There's one thing I know for sure and that is that Bighead is going to have an awful lot of trouble convincing me to leave this view.

Assult of the Nostril

After a bit of a shit flight with Air Asia, including a late departure and very quick dash across terminals in Jakarta to meet our connecting flight, we arrived safely in the BIG MANGO! Yeh!

It feels great to be back! Although, after the pleasant aromas of Bali, Bangkok has been a bit of an assault on the old nostrils - the dominant smell being dog poo combined with an undertone of human waste. Nice.

You have to be able to look, and smell, past all the shit to get to the heart of BK and enjoy it.

In true Bighead and Samesame fashion, we've already made friends with all the local alley cats. Very pleased to see the Thai's like cats just in case we decide to bring ours over.

Much to our delight, Khaosan Rd is still the same, a bit more expensive, but still as same same as ever. We've already been busy seeking out old haunts (last seen in 2003).

We also thought we'd better check out the D&D Inn on Khaosan Rd (an old fav, bar the grumpy staff). I'm pleased to announce that not only have we been pleasantly surprised by friendlier staff, the whole place, including the rooms have had a make over. I recommend this place to anyone wanting to stay in the heart of Khaosan Rd.

The other thing I love about the D&D, is that they have a roof top garden/pool/bar/salon/internet/lookout area where you can spy on the action below.

We've wondered around quite a bit already, it's stinking hot compared to Bali. I haven't been feeling to good that last couple of days (stiff neck, headache something or other) so I've had to take it slower than usual and stop for breaks regularly, which is a bummer because I really wanna get into it. However, a wander round computer geek heaven, Pantip Plaza, in search for a lappy for Samesame and one look at Bighead's lunch perked me up heaps!

When we walked past this delightful array, I couldn't help but take a pic. Whenever I take pics like this, I always ask first. Sometimes I secretly shoot from the hip to catch the real action. In this case, I had asked first and it was fine. However, I don't think all of the cooks agreed, as while I was taking the second pic, I was pushed out of the way by someone on their way to the wok! Perhaps we won't eat here after all. Looks delish though don't ya think?