Jun 2007

Hey everyone

So onto Hong Kong...

Completley exhausted after another sleepless night in Bangkok airport i luckily got on an earlier flight to HK, arriving in at 11am. My good luck ran out then as i had a fight with BA and Quantas as I tried to cahnge my flight to come home a few days earlier but it was not going to happen thanks to their stupidity.

After arriving at my hostel, checking in etc, i set off to see a bit of the city. By this time it was 3pm so i jsut wandered around my local area, taking in the amazing shopping centres and feeling a bit overwhelmed at the fact that i was back in a bustling city and no longer sunning myself on a thai beach! Also..it was freezing!! Well, it was 27 degrees but coming for 40 degrees i was cold.

I had an early night after going out for dinner with a couple of people from my hostel and then slept for a blissful 12 hours.

The next day I got up early and went to The Peak to have a look at teh view of HK, but it was overcast so the pics didnt turn out all that well. Oh well...due to teh bad weather i sat myself down in Pacific Coffee and took full advantage of teh free internet on offer there. The rest of the day as spent walking around Central and Causeway Bay shopping areas where i only window shopped due to how expensive everything is and my lack of money so near the end of my trip. Alll in all, it was a lovely day but reminded me of being home which wasn't so great (sorry!).

My final day in HK was spent in Kowloon having a wander around and then walking the Avenue of the Stars (a cheap copy of LA, but still nice as the view of the skyline is lovely). On my final night in HK, i went to see Oceans 13 at the cinems (a treat as i havent been to the movies in about 5 months!) which was excellent and then got to bed early as I was still catching up from all those late nights in Thailand!

All in all, HK was a great city..one i'm sure that i will be back to, but far too expensive and the shopping too tempting for a poor backpacker

Hey everyone

So this is my final update from SE Asia as i am heading back to Bangkok tomorrow and then off to Hong Kong the following day.

The second day of diving was just as good as the first..and i took an underwater camera down with me so I have lots of pictures of all the aquatic life! However, i think i was poisoned by the falafal restaurant (serves me right for not eating thai food) and i spent teh day on the boat feeling sick and not eating (which are not the best conditions for diving).

I came back after the course was finished and just had a chilled out night and went to bed early cause I was feeling ill, while Jo went out with the group of lads that are in the room next door to us.

The next few days passed in a blur of lying on the beach, going out for meals, and partying it up until 5am every night. The the full moon party came. Now, this island is absolutely lovely, and really really quiet and that is why me and Jo love it here. Once the full moon party approached the population increased tenfold and teh island became almost unbearable. The day of teh full moon party, you could barely walk down the street without haveing to say 'excuse me' every 2 seconds to get people to move out of the way!

The party itself was overrated. Far too many people, too hectic and just not that much fun...but it was an experience and we are glad that we went. My biggest recommendation to anyone would be to go to the 1/2 moon party over the full moon..100%.

Anyway, we left the party at around 4am (we are lightweights) and went to bed. At 11am the boys next door started banging on our door, woke us up and dragged us to teh after party on the cliff top overlooking the beach....the boys hadnt been to bed yet. And neither had anyone at the after party. Except us. Who were sober as a judge and everyone else was still drinking beer. Craziness.

Remembering the mess of the night before, me and Jo decided to give the beach a miss as we feared it would be covered with passed out bodies, shards of glass and general dirt. Instead we found a lovfely 5* resort that would let us use their pool and facilities for 100 baht for teh day (about 1 pound 50..so pretty reasonable). And so the past 3 days have been spent lying by a stunnin gpool and pretending we are living the life of luxury..only to go back to our cheap (yet cheerful) room at the end of the day.

To maximise time in the sun (and to work on my tan) we decided that the best possible option to get back to bangkok would be to fly...so tomorrow night we fly from Samui to Bangkok at 10pm, meaning i have another night of sleeping in the airport before my flight to Hong Kong the following morning. Jo is leaving to go home at 1am...so its all going to be a little bit rushed for her at bangkok..c'est la vie.

Anyway, next time I update it will be from Hong Kong and onto the final leg of my trip.

Hope everyone is well at home and counting down the days till I return.

love danielle xxx