i'm off again 2009

We decided to get away from the hustle of Ao Nang and head to koh lanta..i had heard a lot about it from other travellers a few years back but never got round to it..Found Lanta New beach Resort and we got a deal at 700baht per night in a spacious bungalow.plus 3 pools to choose from..so the next 4 days were just lazing with my arm outta the pool and me in it...again no diving and this cast needs to be removed soon so i can at least have one week in thailand in the sea

Well dropped of at krabi bus station about 7am,well i guess it kinda looked liked one,and some kind thai had taken my luggage of the bus and put it safely in his tour company shop.here we go again,do you have accomodation,where you stay,i get you hotel.. usual shit... after obliging looking at his 1000baht minimum per night i declined,some sucker will.i wont.Grabbed my bags and went outside where songshaw driver quoted 450 baht to Ao Nang,i just laughed..hey 7 in the morning i got all day to see if local bus arrives.It did and for 60 baht later i;m in Ao Nang...
Looks a nice place,main road next to beach with usual souvienier shops and resturants..wheres all the bars?I spent the next hour walking round looking for accom and found yellow sun at 450baht for fan...that'll do me,and it;s still 8am in the morning..
So thats me settled,walked about a bit,had brekkie and lay on beach.Lots of long tailed boats ferrying passengers to Railey beach and other beaches,but for today i find my bearings...
yeah so second day here and decided to head a speedboat trip to some islands and koh phi phi..this was good,well kinda not as i could not go snorklling or swimming in one of the clearest seas ive seen.Koh phi phi and Maya Beach(scene of The Beach movie was nice,BUT FAR TOO MANY OF US TOURISTS...

Decided to head to thailand to recover at a beach or island,the travelling with my fractured hand is tiring and painful at times.bangkok is not one of my fav destinations,i have passed through 3 times before staying for a couple of days each time,however only reason this time is to visit the famous Lumpinee Stadium for the thai boxing.
This detour cut into my savings,for transport and accom and at 2000 baht for a ringside ticket i'm not sure it was well spent.More expense buying gear at the Twins shop and basically half the price for equipment compared to back home...could be a money making scheme if i had more space to carry gear,but!
Not what i expected when i arrived at Lumpinee stadium.i was kinda expecting to see this spectacular stadium on its own ,but it was cramped between and behind shops and only a small entrance.. Inside was ok,large ring,circled by seats and standing on the 3rd teir which is where all the betting happens,very complicated from what i was told.The music accompaninmg the fights is played by a 4 man orchestra,something i never knew,but the tempo changes with each round and action of fight..
10 fights on the card and this being my first watching since i started training in muai thai i appreciated it more..only one knock out though...but the atmosphere was good.

Now next day it was time to take a overnight vip bus to Krabi province.The southern bus terminal is way outta the city and it was 25km and bout 45 mins to get there..the bus i booked was not the super luxury one but still the seats totally reclined and i still had leg room in front of me,pillow and blanket supplied as its chilly at night and a free water and donut..not bad for 700 baht and 11 hours later arriving in krabi town

Had already prebooked flights before my fall so decided to carry on and see how one of my fav towns is progressing.Again deciding to be daring and took a moto into town,not much changed on main road from airport apart from some unfinshed luxury hotels on the main highway.From the traffic lights at the crossroads to the bend in the river past the market they have finally tarmac'd the road and its now a pleasure to walk or drive down without the sandstorm in your face.A roundabout at the bend of the river is there but still the cambodians have no road sense and rules,so kinda defeats the purpuse,more so it just confuses everyone.A strange sight a saw twice was a car learner instructor! hmm,strange as anything go's here on the road..
Around pub street seems to have eexpanded with a couple of new alleys,lots more choice to eat but seems to be aimed towards the luxury end and tour groups,also a few more bars...seems to be a craze for the fish massage pools which i decided to try,tickles at first,kinda strange sensation having a hundered or so fish eating your dead skin...

So that was my short visit again,probably my last for many years..

So where shall i start,or just cut to the end when i fell at summit!!

anyway,around kk i was being quoted around 850rm for the package through tour groups,so decided to try myself to make it cheaper..What ever way you try for accom at laban rata you have to book through Sutera resorts at the park headquarters or at their office at one of the malls(cant remember what one).This cost was 492rm which included park entry,insurance accomodation on the first night and 5 meal vouchers..My cost to get there and back from kk was 30rm by long distance mini bus to Ranau,which stops of at the bottom of the hill to the park.Accomodation 5 mins from park was 30 rm,compared to inside at 140rm.On top of this the park guide i shared the cost of 85 rm and bus to Timpohon gate was 16.50 rm.. In total this came to around 620 rm so quite a good saving and the fuss was minimum..

So we started the climb at timpohon gate at 9.30am and reached laban rata at 2.30 pm,this included a small rest each 1/2 km at the rest stops.So climbing from 1866m to 3273 m in height and 6km in distance...

The accom at laban rata was comfy,2 pillows and good warm blankets,since the heating is not on full time at the moment to installing new power lines.The buffet dinner around 6pm was plentiful and again the supper at 2-3am was nourishing,plenty rice,noodles and egg.

It was a distance of just over 2km to top,reaching 4095m high.This can be reached in around 2 hrs in the darkness of the morning,which is kinda good because if you saw what was at the side of you some might freak.Today and the previous few days the weather was real bad,and some guides declined to take the climbers any further the previous day.This was confirmed when i climbed and just short of the summit other climbers were descending due to the conditions,wet,cold windy and cloudy..absolutely no chance of seeing sunrise or the views..My body was absolutely freezing,i was not impressed with the weather and decided to climb down only 5/10 mins from the summit.My climbing buddy and guide carried on,and confirmed later it was uneventful at the top when any ray of sunlight came through..

So onto my descent and fall on the slippery granite.Whilst changing rope i slipped,head over heels and downwards for about 30/40 feet only crashing into some rocks which stopeed me from heading to a early exit from life.Dislocated and fractured my wrist,bruised and battered my knees and ankles and cuts on my legs..Then a agonising 6 hrs back down,no help of guides and back to kk asap..

bloody sucks!!!