Sawadika! (hello in thai - yeah get me eh!)
So me, Chris, Amy, Nancy and Hannah roll up in Koh Phi Phi so glad to get out of Koh Lanta and hoping this will be a much better place, heard good things about it! Again we hadnt booked anywhere as it is the start of Chinese New Year so everywhere was full! we thought we would just try and find somewhere to stay. We got off the ferry and all the accomodation huts were too expensive, we decided to get a long tail boat to a nearer beach called long beach!....bad idea! me and chris trekked around in the boiling heat and couldnt find anywhere in our price range and if it was it was horrible, so...back to the beginning! me and chris wondered around and found somewhere eventually so all worked out ok but bit more expensive than had hoped.
We decided we all needed a bit of pampering so headed to the fish foot massage place! This is my 2nd time id had this but everyone else was new to this game. But honestly these fish were on a mission, it hurt much more than before but you just cant help but laugh it tickles so much, Mum, as you and Nic would know im not very good at people touching my feet ha ha! Tell nic her pedicure was much better! We wondered around the main part of Koh Phi Phi, so many little stalls, much more shoppping than any of the other islands i had been too, so many cute little vintage shops but also they are not so cheap. The food market though is so amazing! so many fresh veg which most i have no idea what they are, and so busy, full of thai doing their shopping. It;s much hotter on this side of thailand, the heat is just a lot more humid than anywhere else we had been too.
As its Chinese new year there are so many chinese everywhere, and they love wearing the matching hawian shorts and t-shirts, they all link arms, block the streets and take pictures of everything - quite amusing to watch!
So the next day - Valentines day!....Me and Hannah got up earlyish and went for a well deserved body scrub, alhtough this was only supposed to remove the dead skin, the thai lady just couldnt resist to click my back and neck and all my toes, im sure they love inflicting pain whenever they can! We took a gentle stroll back and stopped off at the Bakery for breakfast...omg the best banana cake i have ever eaten!
We had booked ourselves on a half day trip so it was the 5 of us and 2 other blokes travelling on their own. Now, if youve seen my pictures, esp chris's pics you must of noticed the unbelieveably hot guy (Diago from Brazil may i add) that was on our trip, we basically spent the day staring at him, even Chris took more pictures of him than any of us! We stopped off at Monkey beach to do some snorkelling where i didnt stay in the water very long, there were so many jelly fish and we all got stung so many times!the next snorkelling stops however were unreal! the best snorkelling i have ever seen! Me and nancy were literally surrounded by fish so much so you couldnt see where you where trying to swim, saw 2 baby clown fish (nemo), some angel fish and then a sea snake so i quickly got out of the water! We then went to maya bay which is the beach where 'The Beach' was filmed. This is where we took loads of pics of jumping in the air by the way! But to get to the beach was so rocky, we definately didnt look as good as leo running into the sea! Our long tail boat driver stopped the boat in the middle of the sea so we could watch the sunset! ideal! Definately my favourite valentines day!
That night we headed to a bar called Reggae bar (you seem to find at least one bar on every island called this) but this one is a little bit different! there is a boxing ring in the middle and people get up to fight for drink! Im not kidding you, the funniest place ever! We then went to the beach party and stayed out, had a good time and met lots of people. This night the musics was allowed to go on til 4, every other night since xmas the police come at 1am and shut all the music off, as a thai bouy got shot on xmas day by a rival family so the police have decided to shut music off at 1am for 100 days!
Had a bit of a lazy day and Amy and Chris left :( so now down to the 3 of us! Me and the girls went out again this evening, and when we were in reggae bar there was a big fat american man sat on his own trying to attempt the burger challenge! Its like nothing youve seen before the biggest burger ever with so many chips, onion rings and coldslaw, if you eat it all in 30 mins you get the meal for free if not you pay 500 bht (about 10 quid). Needless to say he didnt do it! and half way through went to the toilet and when he came back he had sick on his shorts! i know! bloody digusting!
Need to just add, someone stole my shoes off our balcony! my fav black jelly ones as well!
And now there was one! Hannah and Nancy left so this is my first official travelling on my own! I have got so unorganised whilst out here, I have totally lost any concept for days/times so i hadnt arranged any where to stay. Luckily walked around for a bit and found somewhere not too expensive, a bit grimey but it was only for 2 nights. The matress had cardboard in it and if you lent on the walls they moved! A couple of cockroahes and mossies everywhere, got attacked by 3 in the shower! So this was the real travelling malarky eh! Also had to face going for my first meals on my own! a very strange feeling! Dont think i would choose to do it in England as i think people would look at you like you had no friends but at least out in thailand people figure your travelling alone (or at least i hope so!) Had an early night so nothing exciting. Next day spent a full day on the beach as needed to top up my tan, Malaysia wouldnt be full of much sunbathing! Tried to get a flight to Kuala Lumpar but as its still Chinese New Year everywhere was full! so i had to settle for a 21 hr coach trip instead! You would think knowing that i had that the next day i would have an early night but...no thats no fun! so ended up going out with people id met when the girls were hear and got 1 hrs sleep before packing up and heading to KL!
So there it is, my first month of travelling Thailand over!
Cant belive it, its gone so quick! i had loved being in thailand and Im really going to miss so many things!The food, the people, the beaches all have been fab! But need to move onto Malaysia, not sure where im heading after KL as I have a week with no plans but im hoping to meet some people and maybe just follow them :)
Love to everyone back at home! miss you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
About Me
Sunday, 21 February 2010
Tuesday, 16 February 2010
Krabi (Ao Nang and Railay) and the weirdest island Koh Lanta
So from Koh Tao to get to Krabi we had to venture on an overnight ferry to Surt Thani and then a coach to Krabi. Hmmmm Overnight ferry.....now that was an experience and a half!! 120 people, a baby, a cat, a bird and a motorbike all piled in to a very small boat! there was single beds on the floor which had number above them so you followed your number to find your bed! 2 people to a single bed! and who knows who you would be next too! have a look at my pics ive uploaded to facebook and you will see what i mean! Weirdly me amy and Chris had the only 3 beds which were like in the middle on the boat so we didnt have to share. However, we did have to hang on for dear life whilst trying to get some needed sleep! oh and if someone went to the toilet in the night they would try and pass my bed, the boat would rock and then they would fall on me! lol all part of the adventure ey!
Got to Krabi and Chris had already booked a hotel room for the 3 of us but when we got there is was massive so Hannah and Nancy shared it too! We were staying on Ao Nang beach which first impressions was very commercial, there was a macdonalds and starbucks opposite us! Also very family orientated not many backapckers too be seen!Me amy and chris keep opting for little thia kitchens, the food is always so good and so cheap we went and ate, the bill came to like 8 quid for the 3 of us which we had starter and main meal! got to love it! Only stayed 1 night here and then moved on to Railay! But before that we hit the beach, there was some monkeys so went to have a nosy and they ended up jumping on nancy and stealing amy's drink! so funny :)
Railay....well my lonely planet book said the east coast beach was muddy but i have never seen a beach like it in thailand! luckily the west coast beach was much better! me and chris went on the hunt for accomodation, after walking in the boiling heat and sweating our arses off we ended up staying in the place where we had left the girls and our bags! wasted trip lol. Again we found Railay full off holiday makers and sooooo expensive so only stayed one night before heading to Koh Lanta.
Koh Lanta....has to be the weirdest island and night ive had since being in thailand. We hadnt organised anywhere to stay but Amy and Chris had, but as soon as we got off the boat we were bombarded with people offering rooms so didnt take us long to find a cheap and nice room, even had a swimming pool! We chilled out and arranged to meet Amy and Chris later. We ended up that we couldnt find them! and so 3 hours late we eventually bumped into them! Koh Lanta is just really spread out and takes ages to get anywhere. Even had to get a tuk tuk to get to an ATM. We sat in a bar and watched the funniest dancers ever! kept us entertained for a long time, we decided to walk to another bar which ended up taking us over an hr! we had so much fun playing with the plankton on the beach! at night if there are no lights you can see the plankton light up in bright green little speckles everywhere! we must of looked like the weirdest bunch of people lol but kept us entertained. We finally got to the bar which was shit, about 3 people in it who were off their heads trying to fire dance but could so we quickly left! to realise that we couldnt find a tuk tuk so had to walk home, 1 hr later and we were still no where near and random thai men kept staring at us and slowly down in their cars, its the first time in thailand ive actually felt unsafe! luckily a tuk tuk drove past and he took us home! All safe and sound. unfortunately we booked 2 nights here so were stuck here for another night. Didnt do much but think we witnessed the room next to us get robbed, so me and the girls were having a nosy but the thai people saw us we ran back in our room and locked the door and then they were standing on our balcony! obviously we didnt leave our room that night and was so glad to be leaving the next morning, got up at like 7 so we could get on the first ferry, the quicker out of this place the better!
And then we were off to Koh Phi Phi i couldnt wait :) xxxx
Got to Krabi and Chris had already booked a hotel room for the 3 of us but when we got there is was massive so Hannah and Nancy shared it too! We were staying on Ao Nang beach which first impressions was very commercial, there was a macdonalds and starbucks opposite us! Also very family orientated not many backapckers too be seen!Me amy and chris keep opting for little thia kitchens, the food is always so good and so cheap we went and ate, the bill came to like 8 quid for the 3 of us which we had starter and main meal! got to love it! Only stayed 1 night here and then moved on to Railay! But before that we hit the beach, there was some monkeys so went to have a nosy and they ended up jumping on nancy and stealing amy's drink! so funny :)
Railay....well my lonely planet book said the east coast beach was muddy but i have never seen a beach like it in thailand! luckily the west coast beach was much better! me and chris went on the hunt for accomodation, after walking in the boiling heat and sweating our arses off we ended up staying in the place where we had left the girls and our bags! wasted trip lol. Again we found Railay full off holiday makers and sooooo expensive so only stayed one night before heading to Koh Lanta.
Koh Lanta....has to be the weirdest island and night ive had since being in thailand. We hadnt organised anywhere to stay but Amy and Chris had, but as soon as we got off the boat we were bombarded with people offering rooms so didnt take us long to find a cheap and nice room, even had a swimming pool! We chilled out and arranged to meet Amy and Chris later. We ended up that we couldnt find them! and so 3 hours late we eventually bumped into them! Koh Lanta is just really spread out and takes ages to get anywhere. Even had to get a tuk tuk to get to an ATM. We sat in a bar and watched the funniest dancers ever! kept us entertained for a long time, we decided to walk to another bar which ended up taking us over an hr! we had so much fun playing with the plankton on the beach! at night if there are no lights you can see the plankton light up in bright green little speckles everywhere! we must of looked like the weirdest bunch of people lol but kept us entertained. We finally got to the bar which was shit, about 3 people in it who were off their heads trying to fire dance but could so we quickly left! to realise that we couldnt find a tuk tuk so had to walk home, 1 hr later and we were still no where near and random thai men kept staring at us and slowly down in their cars, its the first time in thailand ive actually felt unsafe! luckily a tuk tuk drove past and he took us home! All safe and sound. unfortunately we booked 2 nights here so were stuck here for another night. Didnt do much but think we witnessed the room next to us get robbed, so me and the girls were having a nosy but the thai people saw us we ran back in our room and locked the door and then they were standing on our balcony! obviously we didnt leave our room that night and was so glad to be leaving the next morning, got up at like 7 so we could get on the first ferry, the quicker out of this place the better!
And then we were off to Koh Phi Phi i couldnt wait :) xxxx
Koh Tao......by far my most favourite place in the world!
Hiya!
Sorry about the delay in my blog, ive been moving around so much i just havent had the time, but got lots to tell so here goes......
So last time i updated this blog i was on my way to Koh Tao with 7 of us! well that was interestung! Koh Tao is a diving island and so hostels like to save room for divers only! so we really struggled to find somewhere to stay. In the end we ended up squeezing 7 of us in one room, oh yes it was cosy, luckily it had 2 double beds so wasnt too bad but still nice and cosy! We went out for dinner in a fish restaurant on the beach and instantly i fell in love with Koh Tao. It is honestly my favourite place by far! all the restaurants and bars are all lined on the beach with cushions out side and fire dancers everywhere, everyone is so chilled out and friendly. We thought coming to Koh Tao would be a break from Koh Phangan, but after dinner we went to one of the bars and sat on the beach listening to live music watching the fire dancers (jealous yet!) but still the bar turned into a club and still ended up being a late one! im sure the party follows us everywhere we go!
Anyway, next 2 days i really wasnt very well :( think i caught a stomach bug off India so didnt really even leave the room! Then it came for Keith, India and the twins to leave :( really got on well with them so was sad to say bye! But the twins will be in oz at the same time so will see them soon!
Amy and Chris were also on the island now. and after feeling better we booked ourselves in the diving centre called bans! And this is where i had a lovely shack to stay in! It was weird the first night as this had been the first time since I had been out here that i had a room to myself, although it did only lock with a padlock but it was free with the diving course so i wasnt complaining!
Me amy and chris went to a thai boxing match. It was so good, was quite a lot of thai's there which is better so wasnt as staged as some can be. It started off with about 6 year olds and then went up in ages. Honestly was so amazing to watch! the control and strength of them is amazing! we saw one knock out, but the girls fight was by far the most brutal! and they are so tiny!
And then it was time to start our diving.......Amy was my buddy which was good because at least we already know and trust each other! very important as you rely on each other a lot! there wasnt really any British people in our group, mainly dutch but was one Scottish girl who we got to know! the group size was abuot 25ish for the theory but when actually diving we were only in groups on 5 which was good. The first day we spent starting to learn the theory, honestly was like being back at uni again! and did about 5hrs worth of skills in the pool, it was so knackering because your breathing alters so much. we had to learn all the basics and emergency skills, such as what to do if your mask come off, what to do if your regulator (the thing you breath from) comes out, how to set your tank up etc! I was exhausted by the end of the day and so much to take in! The instructors also asked that we dont drink a lot on an evening (no drink and dive)! I was glad to have a rest as so far its all been quite manic. So me amy and Chris just chilled out in the evenings. The next day I did my first 2 sea dives, both went down to 12m. I struggled the first time with equalising my ears but got down eventually, the 2nd dive i took a thai equivalent of sudofed which really helped! so enjoyed my 2nd dive so much more and could actually relax and look at the fish. Its a very surreal feeling being sat at the bottom of the sea floor looking up to the top! amazing though! Dive 3 and 4 i went to 18m and saw sting ray, clown fish, trigger fish and angel fish was absolutely breath taking! and obviously passed my padi diving course! definately so glad i did it! Although on dive 3 i did have a small panic attack as my regulator filled with water and i panicked and took it our of my mouth and obviously couldnt breath! for a second i just looked up and thought shit im actually going to drown! but instinct and trainging kicked in and soon put my regulator back in and cleared it! panic over :) Me and amy bought a copy of a video of our last dive! its a bit cringy and the guy kept asking me and amy stupid questions but funny anyway.
I was absolutely loving Koh Tao and really didnt want to leave but as time is fast running out we had to move on, next stop Krabi.......
Sorry about the delay in my blog, ive been moving around so much i just havent had the time, but got lots to tell so here goes......
So last time i updated this blog i was on my way to Koh Tao with 7 of us! well that was interestung! Koh Tao is a diving island and so hostels like to save room for divers only! so we really struggled to find somewhere to stay. In the end we ended up squeezing 7 of us in one room, oh yes it was cosy, luckily it had 2 double beds so wasnt too bad but still nice and cosy! We went out for dinner in a fish restaurant on the beach and instantly i fell in love with Koh Tao. It is honestly my favourite place by far! all the restaurants and bars are all lined on the beach with cushions out side and fire dancers everywhere, everyone is so chilled out and friendly. We thought coming to Koh Tao would be a break from Koh Phangan, but after dinner we went to one of the bars and sat on the beach listening to live music watching the fire dancers (jealous yet!) but still the bar turned into a club and still ended up being a late one! im sure the party follows us everywhere we go!
Anyway, next 2 days i really wasnt very well :( think i caught a stomach bug off India so didnt really even leave the room! Then it came for Keith, India and the twins to leave :( really got on well with them so was sad to say bye! But the twins will be in oz at the same time so will see them soon!
Amy and Chris were also on the island now. and after feeling better we booked ourselves in the diving centre called bans! And this is where i had a lovely shack to stay in! It was weird the first night as this had been the first time since I had been out here that i had a room to myself, although it did only lock with a padlock but it was free with the diving course so i wasnt complaining!
Me amy and chris went to a thai boxing match. It was so good, was quite a lot of thai's there which is better so wasnt as staged as some can be. It started off with about 6 year olds and then went up in ages. Honestly was so amazing to watch! the control and strength of them is amazing! we saw one knock out, but the girls fight was by far the most brutal! and they are so tiny!
And then it was time to start our diving.......Amy was my buddy which was good because at least we already know and trust each other! very important as you rely on each other a lot! there wasnt really any British people in our group, mainly dutch but was one Scottish girl who we got to know! the group size was abuot 25ish for the theory but when actually diving we were only in groups on 5 which was good. The first day we spent starting to learn the theory, honestly was like being back at uni again! and did about 5hrs worth of skills in the pool, it was so knackering because your breathing alters so much. we had to learn all the basics and emergency skills, such as what to do if your mask come off, what to do if your regulator (the thing you breath from) comes out, how to set your tank up etc! I was exhausted by the end of the day and so much to take in! The instructors also asked that we dont drink a lot on an evening (no drink and dive)! I was glad to have a rest as so far its all been quite manic. So me amy and Chris just chilled out in the evenings. The next day I did my first 2 sea dives, both went down to 12m. I struggled the first time with equalising my ears but got down eventually, the 2nd dive i took a thai equivalent of sudofed which really helped! so enjoyed my 2nd dive so much more and could actually relax and look at the fish. Its a very surreal feeling being sat at the bottom of the sea floor looking up to the top! amazing though! Dive 3 and 4 i went to 18m and saw sting ray, clown fish, trigger fish and angel fish was absolutely breath taking! and obviously passed my padi diving course! definately so glad i did it! Although on dive 3 i did have a small panic attack as my regulator filled with water and i panicked and took it our of my mouth and obviously couldnt breath! for a second i just looked up and thought shit im actually going to drown! but instinct and trainging kicked in and soon put my regulator back in and cleared it! panic over :) Me and amy bought a copy of a video of our last dive! its a bit cringy and the guy kept asking me and amy stupid questions but funny anyway.
I was absolutely loving Koh Tao and really didnt want to leave but as time is fast running out we had to move on, next stop Krabi.......
Friday, 5 February 2010
Full Moon Party!
Hey Hey!
Just reading my last blog and some letters are jumbled up! thats not my bad spelling by the way but actually some of the thai keyboards have the keys the wrong way!
Anyway......
Hope all is ok back home, starting to get really hot here now :) but even a bit too hot to sunbathe even by my standards!
Since the last blog, lets see what Ive been up to...
The night after the elephant trek we had a quite one and sat on the beach drinking! Was one of the funiest nights as ramdomly met two blokes called Tom and Hugh and this Irish guy who we think his name was murf?! maybe, not sure he couldnt string any form of sentence together but had us all in stitches anyway! the only words you could make out were the odd swear words!
Thai intro finshed and our first day on our own, me, Clare, Caroline, India, Keith and James decided to go to the national park to look at the view point, waterfalls and meet Amy and Chris! Well apart from seeing them too it was a bit of a wasted trip! It took so long to climb up the viewpoint in boiling heat by the time we got up there we all wanted to collapse and sit in the shade rather than actually look at the view! so we are obviously really excited about cooling off in a beautiful waterfall.....more like dribble!!! its dry season here so the water fall was more like lots of rocks with a trickle of water! We kept walking around trying to find these amazing falls but with no such luck!!
So we went home very disspointed, hot and knackered! first day without thai intro, not going so well ha ha! Then we went up to a bar called Amsterdam bar to watch the sunset! Amy and Chris came too and it was absolutely beautiful! A definate highlight of the day! Got lots of nice pictures! Internet is slow and expensive on the island so still nto updated any but really hope to do it soon, promise!!! Chris has taken quite a few so have a nosy at his! (Mum, go on Amy's facebook profile and you should be able to see them - ask em if you need any help!)
Also, forgot to say when in Bangkok i ate a grasshopper!!! have photo evidence to prove lol! tased like a fishy pork scratching lol.
Anyway, FULL MOON PARTY is here!!! We have all been looking forward to this night for so long! and the build up to it has already been immense so knew it would be a messy one. Spent the day relaxing! trying to save energy for the evening! We all got ready with our matching tops and neon paints out :) and hit the beach!! Was so much fun, i dont think i have ever seen so many people in one place! Although was a lot more wary as there was so many people and did not want to lose anyone, have been really lucky and found a really good group of us so we all stuck together and looked out for each other! I made it to 8am in the morning, i was determined to see sunrise, although in all of our drunken states hadnt quite worked out we were the wrong side of the island ha ha, so infact all i saw was it get lighter!! but i still made it anyway and will be definately a night to remember!
The next day was filled with nothing!! Perfect hangover cure!! Next stop Koh Tao, there is 7 of us heading over on the ferry with no where to stay, will be interesting!
xxx
Just reading my last blog and some letters are jumbled up! thats not my bad spelling by the way but actually some of the thai keyboards have the keys the wrong way!
Anyway......
Hope all is ok back home, starting to get really hot here now :) but even a bit too hot to sunbathe even by my standards!
Since the last blog, lets see what Ive been up to...
The night after the elephant trek we had a quite one and sat on the beach drinking! Was one of the funiest nights as ramdomly met two blokes called Tom and Hugh and this Irish guy who we think his name was murf?! maybe, not sure he couldnt string any form of sentence together but had us all in stitches anyway! the only words you could make out were the odd swear words!
Thai intro finshed and our first day on our own, me, Clare, Caroline, India, Keith and James decided to go to the national park to look at the view point, waterfalls and meet Amy and Chris! Well apart from seeing them too it was a bit of a wasted trip! It took so long to climb up the viewpoint in boiling heat by the time we got up there we all wanted to collapse and sit in the shade rather than actually look at the view! so we are obviously really excited about cooling off in a beautiful waterfall.....more like dribble!!! its dry season here so the water fall was more like lots of rocks with a trickle of water! We kept walking around trying to find these amazing falls but with no such luck!!
So we went home very disspointed, hot and knackered! first day without thai intro, not going so well ha ha! Then we went up to a bar called Amsterdam bar to watch the sunset! Amy and Chris came too and it was absolutely beautiful! A definate highlight of the day! Got lots of nice pictures! Internet is slow and expensive on the island so still nto updated any but really hope to do it soon, promise!!! Chris has taken quite a few so have a nosy at his! (Mum, go on Amy's facebook profile and you should be able to see them - ask em if you need any help!)
Also, forgot to say when in Bangkok i ate a grasshopper!!! have photo evidence to prove lol! tased like a fishy pork scratching lol.
Anyway, FULL MOON PARTY is here!!! We have all been looking forward to this night for so long! and the build up to it has already been immense so knew it would be a messy one. Spent the day relaxing! trying to save energy for the evening! We all got ready with our matching tops and neon paints out :) and hit the beach!! Was so much fun, i dont think i have ever seen so many people in one place! Although was a lot more wary as there was so many people and did not want to lose anyone, have been really lucky and found a really good group of us so we all stuck together and looked out for each other! I made it to 8am in the morning, i was determined to see sunrise, although in all of our drunken states hadnt quite worked out we were the wrong side of the island ha ha, so infact all i saw was it get lighter!! but i still made it anyway and will be definately a night to remember!
The next day was filled with nothing!! Perfect hangover cure!! Next stop Koh Tao, there is 7 of us heading over on the ferry with no where to stay, will be interesting!
xxx
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