14.12.10 - 09.02.11

Asia's final port of destination was to be Thailand, which proved to be a great emotional rollercoaster of reunions, goodbyes and making new friends. To begin we got there without James as he left Laos a few days before to meet his girlfriend, Poppy, and they went north to Chaing Mai together. The rest of us spent a day in Bangkok (more than enough time) before the long journey south to Phuket to reunite with our good pal Irish Neal, who we last saw in Vietnam. Seedy Phuket was good fun but was only made special by the fact Nealo was there. Having said our goodbyes we ventured to the travellers' haven that is Phi Phi, where we drank, beach bummed, and even went on a boat tour around the smaller islands (first activity for a while!). We left there on Christmas Eve to sleepy Koh Lanta, where we met up again with James accompanied by Poppy and new friends they met. We had a sunny Christmas on the beach and a beach-side rasta bar provided the Christmas dinner, barbecue barracuda and turkey. Most the following days and nights were spent there. Next was Koh Samui, where not only did we meet Jay's brother and his girlfriend, but we met up again with the "Predator" lads who we first met in Vang Vieng. Samui was okay but a bit "same same", as the Asians like to say, as many other built up areas you'll find in Thailand. New Year we got dressed up in silly clothes and got a scary little speed boat over to Koh Phangan for the infamous Full Moon beach party, where we spent most the night around the proximity of Mushroom Mountain pratting around in the sand. Enough said. It took another night or two in Samui before Pete and i decided we had had enough of the place and we made our way to the smaller and friendlier Koh Tao, again we met up with the Predators. It was here we got our Predator initiation and tattoos (there only tiny, Mum and Dad). The others soon got here at different times, but it wasn't long before we made our very sad goodbye to Jay and Butler who we have barely separated from since our meet in China. Hopefully it will not be long before we see them again. So we were back to the original foursome. As we were all pretty skint we chose to return to Phi Phi in search of work.

It didn't take us long to get jobs outside bars flyering/getting pissed and messing about. Here we met once again with the Predators; Tino got initiated, James got out of it as he has three moles resembling the tattoo. I don't think his "Godly" status helped his ego. Here we made some great new friends and ended up staying over three weeks, our new record amount of time spent in one place. Just as the place was starting to feel like home, it witnessed the saddest farewell so far this trip: the separation of the Baldies. Tino and James decided to go Australia to work for the following year, whilst myself and Pete chose to stick to the original plan of New Zealand. It was an emotional last night together, luckily though we will not forget one another in a hurry, because James had the bright idea of branding a number four into each other's legs. Nice one, Madge!

So this is it for the Baldies! For now anyway. We didn't last the full twelve months in Asia as originally planned, but we lasted a damn sight longer than most anticipated. Asia is a fantastic place and we had the best of times. Despite missing out on some places and probably spending far too long in others, I wouldn't have done it any other way. I can't thank my friends, new and old, who have shared the experience with me for making it what it was, and i cannot wait for what is to come!

11.11.10 - 13.12.10

For those who have been following our escapade, you may have gotten the impression that i have got a tad lazy in terms of updating this blog... and you are quite right, but you must appreciate i live a very busy lifestyle. However, i apologise if these next three posts are brief on some details.

The majority of our group made it safely to Laos, making our way up to Pakse in search of a cash machine where we spent a couple of nights trying to contact the sixth member of our clan before going south again to the Four-thousand Islands of the Mekong River. For those who don't remember i left you with the cliffhanger of leaving Tino in Cambodia, who had sobered up and decided to meet us, but we fretted because we told him to meet us on one island but we changed our mind on arrival. We headed to Dom Det only to find the lucky little bugger roaming the streets. Only Tin would end up on the one right island out of four-thousand. Happy to be reunited we spent a hazy few days there chilling in the Sun and eating "happy food" all day, as that is all there was to do.

We then ventured up through Laos, spending many nights in random places in search of the Konglor Cave. After finally finding it we got there too late to take the boat tour through, but did not remain to do it the next day as the North London derby was on, so we went to the capital city of Vientiane instead where we would instead find satellite television. Well worthwhile: 3-2 Spurs!

The next stop was the much anticipated Vang Vieng. For those who have not heard of it, it is a place to drink buckets of alcohol and float down a river in a tractor inner tube. Along the way there are rope swings and mud volleyball and music and dancing and games and everything else you might think of which is fun... then there is night time. James and I got jobs there where we were paid in food and buckets to basically go around and talk to people. Our plans to go northern Laos for jungle treks and home-stays were unfortunately abandoned because tubing was far too much fun and we spent two weeks there. Loas certainly lived up to the hype.