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!