I was last in Phi Phi three years ago as Tsunami volunteer. I spent most of my days working at a wrecked guesthouse, painting signs. The caretaker was an old Burmese guy called Dan, who was the loveliest man. He would fill our days of work with mad comments such as telling us Cliff Richard is big in Burma and hum Smoke Over Water a lot, and on the last day he told us is name was actually Than not Dan (he had been meaning to tell us for over a fortnight!) I liked him a lot. So I set off to find him but the guesthouse was gone, replaced by fancy bungalows. I never found him. Also gone was the Apache bar where I spent my last night at Mr. Lee’s birthday bash, cavorting round the dance floor in a drunken state. I remember me and Bekkah, catching the ferry the next morning, with big old hangovers. In fact the island has changed so much it was hard to navigate myself around. There are things that are still the same though, one of which was my old guesthouse though the prices were not. Actually Phi Phi is a lot more expensive than I remember it. After a lot of searching, we managed to find a cheap room, which was okay apart from the couple above who came in every night drunk, and had really noisy, rough sex. I also went to find the Sunflower bar, which was our old hangout. It had just been a little wooden shack on the beach, but now it was a whole village complete with multi-level bar and tattoo parlor. I also tried out Deco and Rob’s completed toilet (Nice foundations boys, if not a little uneven!) I spent the whole of the first night there getting totally smashed with Jan. I did not go again after that. It was not the same for me. The gang was not there, not even Mel and Ben. There was no one to reminisce about old times with, apart from poor Jan who must have got fed up with all my stories. I felt sad!
Another thing that made me sad was all those bloody people! When I had been there, there were so few people, the beach was deserted. I had a bit of a shock when I went to the beach on the first day. It was crammed! All I could think was “Piss off! All of you!” At night it turned into the young posers playground (People on the prowl for a pull). I guest I’m past that stage now, but I looked at the young girls and thought, “Yes, that was me three years ago!” (God! I’m making myself sound ancient!) All that said, Phi Phi is still my favorite island in Thailand. It has a laid-back charm and beauty unlike any other. I was just there at a special time, under tragic circumstances and for that reason (even though I loved it so much) I hope that time never happens again.
After Phi Phi we were traveling for 24 hours and found ourselves in Kuala Lumpur. We arrived in the early hours of the morning, not knowing where the hell we were. We checked out a few scruffy but cheap guest houses complete with rats, in Little India, then after seeing a few more rats in the street decided to head to China Town. Only bloody problem is its bastard Chinese New Year and everywhere is full. After a good hour of searching with backpacks and sweating our arses off we find a room, which does not come with Rats included in the price!
We have now arrived in Singapore. I took Jan to Raffles last night to have a Singapore sling, which has to be done if you are in Singapore. I love Raffles; it’s just so grand with its old colonial style. Its just so Lady Warrington! Tomorrow we get the ferry over to Indonesia after deciding to skip our flight to Bali so we can start at the top of the country in Sumatra and work our way down. I do believe now, it’s going to get hardcore, so don’t expect to hear from me in a while!
OBSERVATIONS
• There are three people in my and Jan’s relationship. Actually two people and a thing. Me, Jan, and Nikon the camera. Nikon comes everywhere with us. In fact Nikon and Jan go out for hours together, for their “special time.” He even goes shopping with Nikon to buy her things! I’m not even allowed any where near her. Bitch!
• My hair is the color and now also the texture of straw!
• Jan seems to be eating our entire budget!
• I have the most scarred feet ever, which include Mozzie bites; blisters, cuts and car exhaust burns!
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