And then there was Thailand

When we started this travel blogging thing, we said it would depend on how much time/energy/internet access we would have, and lately the first two of those have been lacking (the third is no problem). So this post is just a place-holder for the moment, to bring things roughly up to date. Hopefully later we'll have a chance to add to it.

To sum it all up, we've been having a great time in Thailand. Thanks again to Am for her fabulous guidebooks! Here's a rough summary-

• Started in Bangkok, only for a day, saw some of the touristy sights like the royal palace & emerald buddha, and a massive sleeping buddha. Stayed on Khao San road, unfortunately next to a thumping nightclub. Planned the rest of our trip.
  
• Day trip to Kanchanaburi. Saw WWII memorial, bridge over the river Kwai, a very nice water fall, and Tiger Temple (highlight!)

• Overnight bus to Krabi. We got screwed by the tour company, but I don't have the energy to talk about it now.


• 4 days based in Krabi, a coastal town known as being similar to Phuket but cheaper and with less tourists. We hired motorbikes again and cruised around for a bit, did some horse riding, a "4 islands" day trip (excellent snorkelling), and an "elephant ride" half day trip. We expected that one to be average but it turned out to be a real highlight (like learning how rubber is made from the rubber tree and the swimming in the crystal clear spring-fed lake. Not so much when the mahout hit the elephant)



• We are now coming to the end of our second full day on Ko Phi Phi (pronounced "Pee Pee" island). This is a very beachy/reefy/resorty/party island. Yesterday we had an excellent half day island hopping and sunset tour, with some more top class snorkelling. We forgot that we would be entering territory that was affected by the tsunami. The place where we are staying (Charlie's Resort) was completely destroyed and is slowly being rebuilt. It really hits home just how severe the tsunami was when you see that rebuilding (and debris) still continues to this day.

• Tomorrow, it's on to Phuket, probably for more of the same for us. We're really enjoying this relaxing stage of our trip - it's quite good to just kick back and take it easy for a few days.

Note from Bek: Check out Brett's massive tan line from days out in the sun. teehee!