Last of Railay

 Nu entertaining us with Hanna's krama

 Nu (with a shirt, how odd!) doing what he does best: entertaining the crowds. Oh my Buddha!

 Helps to know the party throwers as well as the fighter and the judge... you get vip seats for the game ;)

 Phuket with the red gloves, Krabi (that's Yaya, our trainer) in blue.

 Yaya won. Of course.

 Santi (alias DJ Johnny) doing what he does best... also with a shirt on for once.

 The rest of the Yaya guys, also wearing shirts, working as bartenders...

 This is the reception where we left our bags (and that we used as our changing room and.. everything) during the days and nights when we had nowhere to stay..

 Where we slept the last night... picture two more people in that bed and you can probably understand that neither Matt (the kind owner of the bed who did not know what he agreed to when offering us a place to sleep) nor Hanna got a lot of sleep... since they could barely fit on the bed.

 Leaving Yaya

 Leaving Railay

Waiting for our minivan to take us from Ao Nang to Hat Yai.

Can you tell we need sleep and a shower? And clothes we haven't slept in. 

And the fact that Hanna is eating her noodle soup from a bag and Ruut her salad, does not make us look too representable.

We never really felt like we did fit in with the other beach tourists(we did fit in with the Yaya rasta guys very well, too well, though), but when entering the minivan, with all the other passengers being veil clad Muslim women, we didn't quite fit in with them either in our shabby state...

Kuala Lumpur, fast update - Day 94

We arrived in Malaysia this morning after one night in Hat Yai in Thailand. The border was crossed smoothly and all Malaysians have been really nice and helpful so far.
Since we couldn't decide if we should go to the west coast or the inland we settled on Kuala Lumpur. And on the way Ruut found this wonderful sounding island on the east coast where you can learn how to surf and scuba dive. So maybe there next?

//S

Leaving Krabi - Day 93

Our mooching levels have reached a new high:
Because of bad weather and poor planning we ended up staying one more night in Rai Leh, this time sharing a bed with a super helpful and kind Aussie who took pity on us and decided to lend us a helping hand. We're ever so grateful and happy we avoided sleeping in a tent during the torrential downpour that prevailed all through the night.
People did apparently not want us to leave. Our muay thai instructor looked very sad this morning (despite winning the fight last night) and when asking what was wrong, he replied: "I am sad you leave today. Please stay.". Another guy at the bar made up an elaborate story about the bus and train stations being flooded demonstrating vividly with a map explaining the meteorogical phenomenon which laid behind, so we would have to stay in Krabi a few more days....
Though our stay has been fun and exciting, we really want to get a move on and see new places before the inevitable and dreaded return to Finland... Also we are a bit tired of taking showers in public bathrooms and explaining to people that we do not know where we are heading next.
Time to ditch Thailand in favor of neighboring Malaysia. Scuba diving will be our top priority there.

//R

Our day in pictures - Day 92

                                          Leaving our expensive bungalow where we spent one night.

                                                     We (finally) took a Muay Thai lesson.

 

We were soaked with sweat almost immediately but actually most of the shine is due to the burning oil we rubbed all over us before starting. It was supposed to make us 'less lazy'. It worked. We came there with practically no energy and even before we began we were all pumped up and eager to learn.

 The lesson was only supposed to be an hour long but we ended up spending more then three hours learning how to hit, kick and protect. It was so much fun and we only regret not doing it sooner. Would love to do it again!

 But the fact that it took longer than expected made Hanna and I late for our next appointment...

                                                                   ...rock climbing with Santi!
                                        The reason we came to Krabi ('the mecca of rock-climbing').

 It was pretty fun, but we got interrupted within an hour by our first tropical storm. So we had to quit early. Otherwise we would have kept on going for the full four hours. Honestly, it was really up to the storm!

 This is Nu (the hysterical laughter guy). He entertained us at the bar with all kinds of tricks you can do with straws. But mostly we just laughed at his laugh. And he laughes a lot!

 Hanna and I just before the storm hit us hard. You can still see our tent standing in the background. Five minutes later it was just a big pile on the ground...

                  The tide is crazy here! We can't grasp how this much water can just disappear and return. (Of course it doesn't 'just disappear' but that's what it feels like...)  

Boxing, climbing, Yaya bar hippies and tropical storms - Day 92

As you might have noticed from the tone in our recent blog posts, we're not thrilled about being on Railay beach (or island, as we think of it... no roads, no cars, you can only get here by boat = island) because of all the resorts, tourists and the prices...
But when kayaking yesterday we had to admit that the views are stunning and the weather is nice. After finding a cheap restaurant with tofu (cheap and cheap... but everything else here is ridic expensive, so it counts as cheap), and realizing how lucky we are to have all the Yaya bar rasta hippies looking after us (since we think everything is too expensive we don't live anywhere... we shower and change in bathrooms in restaurants like the bums we are, and keep all our bags at the reception/Yaya bar. Use Yaya bars electricity etc. Therefor the guys put up the tent for us, and since the tent is now broken due to weather circumstances, they promised we'd get Santi's room, while they could all sleep in the same room. Aww.) we are a bit more okay with staying here.

And suddenly 'a bit more okay' turned into 'we love this place!' thanks to Muay Thai.
Instead the one hour of 'one on one Muay Thai' that we paid for, the trainer (Yaya, a Muay Thai champion, fighting tonight! And of course part of the Yaya bar crew...) let us practice for almost three hours... and still left us wanting more!

After realizing how long we'd been boxing, Sophia and I ran (a couple meters.. to the other side of the Yaya bar. We feel like we live in Yaya bar. No wait, we do) to the spot where we where supposed to meet our climbing instructors (aka Santi, from Yaya bar) and still soaked with sweat from the boxing, we started conquering the hill....
...but it wasn't easy. The wind was really strong, and I had to concentrate super hard not to blow away. Suddenly screams from below pierce through my concentration: "Tsunami! Tornado! Everybody press yourself to the hill, watch out for falling trees!"
Somebody (Nu, from Yaya bar, of course) got out a megaphone: 'Take care of yourself, check your friend, check your girlfriend, check your bikini! (followed by hysterical laughter.. don't worry, we have his laughter on film) I look down and see Santi waving me to come down, while Sophia is shouting something about 'virvelvind' and to get down fast. Everybody else is already halfway down.

We all gather in Yaya bar, and Nu keeps us entertained by showing tricks. Sophia and I go running around in the rain that is pouring down, and look at the clouds rapidly covering all the hills that surround the beach. The waves are huge. We love this. No tsunami, no tornado, but a huge tropical storm.

....but then the strong wind broke our tent, and we realized we're not gonna be able to leave Rilay beach today (no boats). And it's cold and gray. And now we don't 'love this place' so much anymore. But we might just be hungry, so our tofu restaurant is our next destination. And our Yaya bar hippies promised to throw us a 'great party I make tonight for you' with muay thai fighting and didgeridoos.
Since the most important thing here is, of course, 'Don't worry, be happy!'

(...followed by 'No hurry, no worry!', 'No woman, no cry!' and 'I'm a buffalo soldier!'. And then some hysterical laughter provided by Nu)
//H

Last of Bangkok

 Many, many tuk-tuk rides...

 People confuse R and S for sisters because of their skin colour. The fact that they dress in the exact same clothes doesn't help.

 Find Sophia, part two.

 We wanted to see a movie and where looking for the "Entertainment Center". Instead we ended up on 'Entertainment Street'...  as foreign girls we where in minority.

 ETHOS! This place made Bangkok our favourite food-city after Beijing...

 ...and just looking at the pictures hurts.

 Our friends who almost made it here in time for New Years...

 Ruut and Sophia skype'ing.

 This shopping mall was a bit too expansive for our budget... but we got to use the toilets for free! Luxurious.

 This is what it felt like, when panic shopping for a dress for new years eve in Bangkok.

 The city of taxis and tuk-tuks.

 We posted some stuff.. should arrive in Finland in 2-3 months.

 Our second favourite restaurant... with a vegan buffet! Ruut on her third plate.

 ...and the cook even stands for the entertainment herself!

 ...because every other place in Bangkok checks ID. Oh, the irony.

 The guys working the night shift (10pm - 8am... for 7 years!) at our hostel. They had a lot of good stories to tell. Most of them containing a male farang and ladyboys...

 Khao San

 Bad idea.

The third floor balcony under the antenna - our doorm's. Charming place. Cough, cough.