Ending Thailand and off to Australia

Blogging is fun and all but mannnn can it be a big task looking at a blank screen and trying to remember all the highlights.. I'll try to remember but to be honest, the latter half of thailand was a lot of swimming in gorgeous beaches, which was absolutely amazing however it may not be the most interesting to read about... Just a heads up. Anyways, I believe I left off talking about the half moon party. Probably the best party I've ever been to in my life! We started pregaming at the "Coral Bungalows" which was literally right on the sand in Koh Phangan. Oh also I should mention that the word "Koh" means island in thailand, so keep that in mind. Anyways, the drink of choice in koh phangan are "buckets", which is a sand bucket filled up with about half a 5th of vodka, add coca cola and lime and poof you have a 'bucket'. They are meant to be shared between 5 people or so, but it was just me and Nick to start off so we handled two buckets and were ready to rumble in the jungle. Everyone was in the bar at our bungalow/hostel/resort place and painted each other up with glow in the dark body paint. Then you hop in the back of pick up trucks and follow the caravan of other trucks with drunken 16-30 yr old glowing bodies in the back. We rode for a good 30 minutes along the coast then took a side road leading towards the middle of the island. We got out and instantly we're so stoked.. Everywhere you look was lit up either by DJ lighting or glowing bodies. There was a stage set up, guys twirling fire, tons of smoke and lights, and a FAT bumping bass. We started at around 1130 at night and ended up leaving around 5am... It was SO SO SO rad, I am going to upload photos and a video to facebook right after this.

Anyways, after Koh Phangan & the half moon party, we headed north to the next island, Koh Tao - which is very popular for scuba diving. Although it was a bit pricey, I bit the bullet and went scuba diving on Koh Tao while Nick floated at the top and snorkelled. It was an afternoon dive, and unfortunately the really good dive spots were inaccessible as the wind and waves made it unsafe. However, we went to a different spot and saw pretty coral, a massive school of yellowtail that were swimming all around my body (I actually got a bit disoriented and scared.. shhh) and tons of other fish (needle fish, parrot fish, etc etc.). The next morning the dive company was going to do a shark dive, and I was really amped but then realized we had a flight later that day, and you cant dive & fly on the same day.. bummer. We took another boat back to Koh Samui, and thankfully made our flight. The airport on Koh Samui is hilarious as well, there are no terminals or McDonalds and all that.. its just a landing strip and you wait under a hut for your plane. Our plane was a propeller plane as well...which was a little nerve racking but we made it from the East Coast islands to the other side of Thailand: Phuket (on the west side).

From Phuket we took a ferry to Koh Phi Phi, which is quote "the most beautiful beach in the world"... I would agree. The small village on the island has shops and hotels and such, but the alleys are really small and only for walking. No cars on the whole island, that was a nice change as all the rest of asia is so noisy. Anyways, the beach was absolutely amazing. The water is 80 degrees, only about 3 feet deep for a solid half a mile out, the sand is white, and these huge limestone rocks covered in jungle plants (vines and stuff) cover the rocks. ALSO, its a huge destination for scandinavians, and the beach was filled with beautiful, tan, blonde, topless swedish women, mainly my age as well. Nick and I were in heaven. I never wanted to leave, but after two solid days of being unable to talk due to the beauty of the nature and swedish women, nick and I ferried back to Phuket. I'm really not joking either, we barely said a word to each other during the day except for words like "wow", "look at that chick", and "man this is paradise".

Anyways, we heard that Phuket was really dirty and just another typical sex tourist destination, but we were surprised at the amount of normal tourists and the beaches were actually very pretty. Not even sure if I have talked about the whole sex tourism in Thailand yet, but basically any bar in any city has loads of prostitutes soliciting themselves. You can do anything in thailand. Oh and theres a ton of older white guys who come to thailand for 3 weeks vacation/work and have a thai "wife". Basically the guy will pay for the thai woman to travel with him and food and stuff, and the wife just needs to put out at his request. Its pretty disgusting, and nick and I witnessed a guy tell his thai "wife" to get off the train a minute before it left. She looked really sad and we were pretty shocked. It's definitely a shock to see, but we got used to it and I gaurantee the industry will stay as permanant in thailand.

Ah so Phuket. The beach was fun and at night the nightlife was probably the craziest we have witnessed yet. The district called Patong has a long street where there are likely 110 + bars. They have these big centers too that would be like the size of a Clothing Store in a Mall and its just packed with tons of different bars. It was our last night in Thailand so we stayed up late and had a really fun time. Next day Nick left for Melbourne, Australia where he is studying abroad until June. I also flew out to Brisbane, Australia which is where I currently am. Although Australia is going to be fun, its going to be a totally different experience from Southeast Asia. I basically feel like Im back in America, and its really really nice to be able to drink water from the shower and sink again! Also, its probably 80-85 degrees, but it is such a relief as thailand was easily 100 - 115 during the day and night.

Looking forward to exploring the East Coast of Australia! Also pictures will be posted very very soon.

Pictures from Thailand:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2151916&id=10808601&l=f043f54b85

Cheers!