Tim writes his first thing

Hello

As some people might possibly be interested in what I'm up to, and as the molskin notebook I paid 15.99 for at Heathrow has yet to be filled with any of the groundbreaking novels, plays and religious texts I had planned for it, I figured I'd create a little online outlet to write some stuff in. This goes in direct contradiction to what I said to all those who asked me if I'd write a blog. Apologies to you all.

Between Ben writing about being in Oz and Connie writing about the exact same trip I'm on, there's a fair few blogs. I'll try to keep mine nice and asinine so it doesn't demand too much of your time (nb. the blog will not generally rhyme).

This will likely be the longest post, and one of the most boring, as I'll try to speedily catch up on what's happened so far. Much of this stuff will have probably been covered by Connie.

Left London on the 18th. Took off with Kuwaiti Airlines around an hour and half late (standard fare from them according to online reviews) for a not-too-horrendous 6 hours. Stopped off in Kuwaiti airport, which consists of an Italian restaurant, a burger place (both these two were actually the same restaurant with different colour schemes) and a Debenhams which we couldn't get to as it was in the departure lounge. We opted for pasta and enjoyed what we thought was a very tasty meal for the price. Of course, we didn't have a clue what a Kuwaiti dinar was worth, so we actually paid 27 quid for two plates of pasta and two waters. Blissfully unaware of this, we went to our gate, where you go through security once again as you board. Efficient. Then on to Bangkok.

Bangkok - if you've nothing nice to say, say nothing. Except that it wasn't too flooded when we were there. Unless wading through the streets counts as too flooded to you.

Ko Phi Phi - the legendary paradise island. Mixed feelings about it really, it would be petty to pretend it isn't beautiful, but at the same time it's so built up and busy that you can't really enjoy it as much as you'd like. Idyllic beauty and 'Irish' bars that play trance remixes of chart hits aren't really perfect matches. We did enjoy it though and it required a certain amount of willpower to actually leave.

Ko Lanta - the complete opposite. Our hotel had only reopened for high season the day before we arrived and the whole place was dead. In a nice way though. We found a restaurant that served me two of the best meals I've had here so far, and both times we were the only ones in there. Almost wanted to go to the road and try to drum up some business for them. Beautiful beach on Ko Lanta but weather was temperemental and the wind in particular could be pretty fierce.

Railay - Mmm...that's more like it. Railay West beach is as beautiful as anywhere we saw on Phi Phi, but quieter and with a more chilled out bar scene and better music. Although we did get angry at one place that lured us in with Sweet and Dandy by Toots & The Maytals, only to gradually worsen the music policy over the following half hour. We left at the point that 'I'm Horny' song came on. Stayed in a cool little bungalow that was up in the jungle, and their onsite restaurant seemed fond of giving us free food (popcorn, samosas, donuts, mints...)

We are now in Hat Yai, which is a pretty sleepy southern city. Not very backpackery, more older white guys who may or may not be their for the 'ancient massage' advertised in a lot of windows. If the display is anything to go by, the ancient method involves picking your masseur before you enter from a gallery of photographs. Probably heading up to Ko Samui this evening, will work our way round the Gulf Islands before heading back to Bangkok to fly to Cambodia on the 17th. Feels like we're rushing through a lot of Thailand but not sure we're missing anything we desparately want to do, plus we do the north when we come back in February. As the south is so heavily geared towards beaches I'm looking forward to getting onto a more cultural vibe.

That's enough for now. Despite the fact that the flight paragraph is one of the longest I am actually having a great time. Will hopefully keep this up. Byeee.