Back to Westernised Reality; Ao Nang

This blog is just going to be a little update as I have been kind of silent for the last few days but really want to keep track of my travels here.

So what have I been doing for the past three days? Well the day after my birthday was spent sitting on the beach for the whole day, and I can safely say that I am no longer sporting the bottle white 'oh look there is an Irish person' look. Instead I have acquired a lovely healthy tan .... on one half of my body .... Yes, I got tanned on the front but not the back. Fun!

Yesterday we travelled from the paradise island Koh Mook to Ao Nang, approx 3 hours travel on the mainland. I must admit, leaving Koh Mook I was a little sad. It really felt like I had discovered a paradise untouched by civilisation. It has no roads, no main shops, and you are woken every morning to the sound of the sea and monkeys on your roof. It is a haven of tranquillity. Ao Nang on the other hand, is quite the opposite. i feel like what I think someone who has come of a coma would feel like. Living in Rattanaburi for so long, and travelling to the places I have been to over the last two weeks, I am used to the Thai language and culture and easy slow way of doing things. Ao Nang is a loud bustling holiday town full of westerners. It is the typical tourist seaside town, complete with souvenir shops every 5 metres and overprices restaurants in between with over enthusiastic men standing outside who think if they get in you face and call you darling you will eat their food. Just to show the difference in prices here and where I was living in the very non touristy Rattanaburi, it costs 30 baht (80 cent) for Pad Thai (thai noodles and meat, so nice!) whereas it costs about 120 baht (3 euro) for the same here. No wonder the Thai people dont go on holidays! Travelling Thailand on a Thai wage, I am stressing a little over how expensive things are. Hopefully Cambodia will prove a little more economical.

As for activities, we are heading into Krabi town tomorrow to do a bit of the touristy culture thing, and then we plan to spend two days doing trips to waterfalls and hot springs, and then see a few islands. We are hoping to get to see the island that 'The Beach' was filmed on, as it isnt far from here. I have to say, I am loving travelling. The beach days are nice, but my heart lies in the activities and seeing things and taking pictures and having stuff to write about.

It is shocking how time flies though. Already I am nearly two weeks into my travels, with another 10 to go. 10 weeks doesnt really feel like a lot when I could do this eating/travelling/seeing the world thing forever. But I suppose I have to go back to reality at some point, right? ....

Sawatdiikha.