Ko Samui and Beyond

Hello again. As I said I am already in Ko Samui and have been for the last 5 or 6 days, not really sure but that sounds about right. The first 2 days here were the last 2 days that myself, Bren, Laura and Otta were all together. Otta had to do a visa run and so legged it off to Cambodia and Bren and Laura left for Ireland and by now should be putting on a slide show for Laura's ballies in Jo'burg.

On our last full day together we went and saw a Monkey show. Like I said earlier, I'm not sure that supporting this kind of show is the "right" thing to do, but nevertheless we went and did it anyway. It didn't seem overly cruel to train these monkeys to do human-like impersonations and other than the fact that the monkeys kept staring out to the palm trees which their rope around their neck wouldn't allow them to reach, everything seemed A-Ok!!


I think the most entertaining part though was after the show when we stumbled upon the cage where they keep the Boa Constrictors. Next thing you know one of these things are being dragged out and slung over anyone's shoulder who cared to have a go.
Something I've wanted to do since I arrived here was hire something bigger than a 100cc scooter, so I splashed out and for the last 4 days I've been cruising the island on this baby.

My 200cc Honda Phantom. Sorry ballie, but I couldn't find a Yamaha equivalent, so had to settle on the Honda. Anyway I was quite sad when I handed it back this morning, but seeing as how one day's rental of this guy costs the same as 3 meals I thought it wise to concentrate on my needs and not my wants especially seeing as finances are running lower than I would like at this point in the trip. On that note I'm on a mission to cut corners so I can save cash for my next leg of the trip (more about that later). So at the moment I'm on a one main meal a day budget with Thai Pot Noodles filling the gaps in between.

Bren, Laura and Otta you'll be proud to know that I walked all the way into Chaweng Central this morning in the blazing heat cos I'm not hiring myself a bike for the next couple of days. Although you'll also be disapointed to know that I burnt the back of my legs quite severly yesterday. I swear I just pulled my baggies up a couple of centimeters and I was only lying on my stomach for about half an hour. Needless to say the Aloe Vera made an appearance last night.

Speaking of last night - after the Sharks previous victory in the Super 14 I thought I'd better give them some support. I found an English pub that was showing the game and arrived there last night at about 11:30. Kick off was at 1 in the morning but they were showing the Western Force vs Stormers game so I grabbed a beer and settled into the second half of that. The last time I checked wasn't Schalk Burger never going to play rugby again??? And yet there he was, crazy!!! And the last time I also checked, weren't the Western Force the crappest team in the competition? - so a Stormers loss at Newlands was not what I was expecting. Anyway more importantly the Sharks claimed their second consecutive victory over the Waratahs and even if it was a pretty average game a win is a win.

So that's about all that has been happening lately. Not a whole lot really and by travelling on my own I'm finding that I'm actually doing far less than before but it's good relax time and I'm enjoying it. However I don't reckon that I could do this on my ace for another 5 weeks. So with some gentle persuasion from Greg in China I've been convinced to join him and some friends in the Philippines for 11 days. This definitely wasn't in the grand master plan nor the budget, but as Greg so rightly put it, When am I going to be in this neck of the woods again, plus to have a jol with Greg at the same time is going to be epic. I'm flying into Manila on the 14th where we'll spend one night before catching another plane the next day to Kalibo. From Kalibo I think we're catching a bus and a boat to Boracay Island. And from there we'll just take one day at a time. I then fly back into Bangkok on the 25th, not quite sure what happens next after that but I'm sure I'll think of something. With a bit of luck Otta might join us but he's still deciding.

As usual here's a few snaps to sign off. The next update will be coming from the Philippines. Cheers guys. Ballie 1 and Candice, shot for the comments keep them coming. Looking forward to seeing all you guys in SA next month.

Later

I've got a resident rat in my room at the moment so I'm having to plug every hole in the bungalow to keep him out. Last night while I was reading, the little bugger hopped onto the bed next to me no less than 3 times. He just stares at me, as if he's testing my resiliance. A couple swats with my fishing rod and he seemed to back off.