Back to Bangkok

4^th Feb the day I left Koh Phangan and went back to Bangkok for few days. More long travelling again, how the earth do I have a lot of patience. But you will realize why if you ever travel in Thailand. Arrived at the ferry port and bumped into 2 friends. We all realized we were taking same flight so we travelled together to the airport and to Bangkok. Boat, car, ferry, coach, plane, taxi all in order – a lot of trips to get to Bangkok!! J

We stayed at same place where we spent our first few days in Bangkok few weeks ago. My foot were hurting so much so we went to a chemist to get painkillers then went to our rooms to get ready for going out again. I was so knackered but didn’t want to have an early night I wanted to go out and have fun knowing I was going home to Northern Ireland few days later. We all met up downstairs and went to a restaurant nearby for our dinner and few cocktails. I am not an alcoholic, promise! J Got in touch with someone else who invited us out for partying. So after our dinner, we went out to find some bar to meet friends and new travellers. Many laughs and had a great time as usual!

The next day, 5^th Feb, I slept in for a bit and took more painkillers. Then in the afternoon, it was so hot, I went to get food and markets to get presents. Then back to my room to pack L It was so hard packing and got my clothes ready for the flight the next morning. Got my hoody and coat out of my rucksack knowing Northern Ireland was so cold.

6^th Feb, up before 4am for my flight at 9am as the journey takes an hour to get to the airport but ended up at the airport way too early because the taxi driver was speeding! Cheers!

Will never forget my trip to Thailand, even though I was in a lot of pain and was so tired many times but it was amazing!! Many unique experiences, brilliant new friends and overcame some fears!

Of course I wasn't happy being in Northern Ireland again as it was so cold when I finally landed!

Koh Phangan

27^th Jan

All day we were travelling to Koh Phangan from Koh Phi Phi. 3 boat trips, and a bus trip! Once again, I enjoyed the views along the way J Eventually we arrived at the resort in Koh Phangan in the evening. The resort was gorgeous! Stayed at Bottle Beach Resort. We hit our rooms and got ready for dinner. Chatted for a bit then I crashed in my room, as I was too tired from the travelling.

28^th Jan

Spent the morning walking around the resort checking out the beach and views. It was paradise! I then chilled by the pool writing about Thailand. I was running out of clean clothes so I sent my washing to the staff – cheap! J I didn’t want to over pack as I knew I could wash my clothes or send them to someone. After a long day of travelling to Koh Phangan I decided it was wise to sunbath and chill for a bit knowing we had plans later on.

We went in long tail boat to somewhere where there was a Wind Up activity (Like the TV programme Wind Up) Of course I didn’t take up seeing it was in the lake! I watched some friends taking part and took photos. It was a good craic.

Then afterwards we went for dinner and a bar crawl then ended up on the beach for more partying! I got tipsy and mentioned to some girlies that I wanted more piercings so they encouraged me to get one that night. I ended up with a belly piercing – no regrets haha! I was worried about boat trip to our island because I didn’t want to fall in the sea seeing it was dark and all of us were drinking. I was so relived to learn that we would take a car journey back to the island but it meant the trip would be longer than a boat trip. We eventually got back to our rooms around 2am but the journey wasn’t simple! To me, I felt it was so rough and I sat in the back of the car (In the air!) Think it was about 11 of us squashed in the back of the car whilst the other about 4 were inside the car – lucky buggers! I had to hold the car so I couldn’t fall off – interesting experience! 

29^th Jan the day we all did our own thing, relaxing and playing footy on the beach etc. I sunbathed – sound like I am a sun worshipper!! Most of the time I sunbath under the shade so I can stay safe but the sun is good for my skin in some way even though it carry a risk of getting skin cancer – so be careful! I always use sun cream of 15+ or 30+ depending where I am on my travels.

That night we all had a final dinner as everyone were leaving Koh Phangan the next day to go somewhere else or home. I decided to spend another week here so relax as I hurt my foot and found it impossible to walk! We chatted, ate and took photos. Said our goodbyes etc. Sad moment!

30^th Jan More goodbyes to more friends then spent the rest of the day surfing the internet, sunbathing and reading a book. Then suddenly it rained on me in the late afternoon!! I was on the sun bed on the beach minding my own business, in my bikini!! Haha then suddenly everyone and I got up and ran to our rooms. I of course took my time to walk to my room. I got soaked but the rain only lasted for few minutes, thankfully!

I took my time getting a shower, sorting my hair out and got dressed for dinner in the evening. Staff there were so nice, making me smile and laugh giving me attention as they knew my friends had just left Koh Phangan.

31^st Jan – 3^rd Feb I spent these days chilling by the pool or on the beach, eating much yummy food and reading books. I am a nerd! ;) Should invest in a Kindle really, to save space in my rucksack.

Koh Phi Phi

25^th Jan 

The day when we went to Koh Phi Phi! It was a long journey, a lot of travelling when in Thailand! Beautiful views though! We got on a ferry to Koh Phi Phi, man the heat when on the ferry was unbearable! We sat on the ground and the sun was blazing, I was dying of the heat due to my rare condition. I had to move around and sat somewhere where there were winds from the sea. That was a bliss, but there were a load of people on the ground, it was hard to walk about and not to fall over! Yes, Koh Phi Phi is popular! I can see why though. I love it there and would be happy to go back there again.

Eventually we arrived on the island; I was struggling with my rucksack, as I wanted to sit down and to cool down. There were a lot of steps up to our bungalows and the heat didn’t help. I had help from my friends, thank you to who helped me! J Once I arrived in my room with my roommate, I decided that the room was too hot for me and I upgraded to a room with air con. I eventually cooled down in my new upgraded room. Everyone went to the bar pool but I stayed in my room to rest so I had enough energy for the beach party later on.

When the evening came, we all went out for a meal and a bar crawl then ended up on the beach for partying! It was awesome watching fireworks going off, and fire shows, which was brilliant and funny for some reason. You just had to be there J It was a brilliant night!

26^th Jan

We all did our own thing in the morning. I sunbathed and chilled by the bar pool and wrote about Thailand. Some others were nursing their hangovers, I am sure! As usual, I didn’t get a hangover, rarely thankfully!

In the afternoon, we all went on a boat tour and saw many islands & beaches. The sea was lovely and it wasn’t cold unlike the sea in my hometown! I even went in the sea, but had a life jacket on, as I dislike the sea. I soon wanted to get back in the boat, I wasn’t that confident being in the sea haha. We went to Maya Bay, where ‘The Beach’ was filmed J When we got back to the boat after looking around Maya Bay I fell in the sea and ended up shivering all the way back to Koh Phi Phi as I had my towel around me when I fell in the sea haha. The boat went fastish so I wasn’t surprised I ended up shivering J Saw the sunset going down then back to the island to get ready for the evening. The boat tour was beauty!

We all went back to our rooms, but saw a lot of beautiful kittens on the way back, to get showers. Then we all met up for dinner and had Mexican meal. Of course there were booze! Afterwards some of us went on a bar crawl but some of us and I were tired so we went back to our rooms. Started packing and had an early night – after 12am! J

Khao Sok

23^rd Jan

We arrived at somewhere for breakfast and to refresh up, it was about 7am but there were plenty of people around which has surprised me because it’s different from my home town. It was also warm at that time, a bliss!!

Then we had a long bus journey to Khao Sok National Park, then a trip via a long tail boat. We stopped by at some caves but I didn’t go far in the caves I ended up going in for a bit then came out with some friends whilst others carried on. Once we were finished, we started our journey again to the park and the views were absolutely beautiful. Saw gorgeous floating raft houses, I soon realized we were getting there and was going to stay in these raft houses. It was scary getting to getting to my room at one of the raft houses as it was on the lake and I don’t like being so close to water. It was a cool experience though. 

Later on that night, we went on a night safari and played card games. The electric didn’t come on till 6.30pm and stayed on till 11pm and there were limited sockets to charge our mobiles! But it was peaceful and perfect for a bit. We had to use torches and our mobiles to get to our rooms! To my surprise, I ended up sleeping for few hours straight so I was a happy bunny even though I could do with few more hours.

24^th Jan

We went on a day safari via a long tail boat and saw some monkeys in the national park. Then we went back to the raft houses and spent the morning doing whatever we wanted. Some went swimming, some sunbathed and the rest of them went kayaking. I sunbathed, of course! J

Then we got our stuff and went to a hotel at lovely resort nearby. We left about 11am and didn’t get there till many hours later. But we had fun on the way to the hotel as we stopped by Monkey Temple – funny time!! Saw monkeys chasing other monkeys, chilling in the sun and having sex!! Took many photos and had some taken with them too. There were a cute puppy there too, too tiny!! J

When we arrived at the lovely resort, we unpacked our stuff. Some of us went to see elephants. Fed them bananas and stroked them. Amazing experience!

Then back to the hotel, we had some dinner and hit some bar nearby. But then some of us decided to go back to the resort and stopped by some shop for booze. The rest of them stayed behind at some bar. Then some of us played card games whilst drinking booze. I soon felt tired and when we were finished with card games, I went back to my room and crashed for the night.

Bangkok

I flew to Thailand from Northern Ireland on 18th January 14 and came home on 6th February 14. I flew with Flybe and Jet Airways - it was a long journey with crap seats.

19^th Jan

Landed in the evening and went to look for a big sign with my name on it for my transport to the hotel. When I eventually found the sign, I got told that we had to wait for two more people – Scot & Amy J

Then we all went for our cab ride to the hotel, it was approx. an hour ride. Wild drivers everywhere, it made me laugh for some reason. 

Once we arrived and checked in, we went to our rooms. I shared a room with a girl from Canada, Lindsay. Went out with her for some Thai food and beer - yummy! I didn’t sleep well that night due to jet lag. It was warm so the air con was on all night.

20^th Jan

I stayed locally to explore markets, a lot of markets nearby, it was full of unique clothes and stuff. I entered one shop and suddenly a guy there asked me if I was deaf. I nodded ‘yeah’ so the guy told someone else to come over and it turned out that person was deaf. It was cool to have met a Thai deaf guy. I then went to more shops locally to get presents for my family.

In the evening, I went out with Lindsay to meet new friends, who were also on Ultimate Thailand tour for 10 days. We all had dinner and enjoyed getting to know each other. We also went on a bar crawl afterwards. The booze were so strong, I ended up getting drunk haha. The night was a bundle of laughs getting to know everyone whilst drinking. Watched Thai guys ‘twerking’ and dancing. It was so funny. We were all pleased when we got given free wifi in one of the bars, we all went on Facebook to upload photos and update statuses etc. It was a great day and night! 

21^st Jan

The day I felt so ill!! It was a bad combination of terrible hangover, heat and surviving on short sleep due to jet lag! Some of us went on a river cruise and enjoyed a temple tour. It was interesting but I struggled with the heat and the smells of fresh fishes on some markets, gross! It was so cool seeing floating markets but I kept looking on the ground to make sure I didn’t fall over as I was close to the river!! I hate lakes, rivers and seas haha. Soon it was the afternoon and I decided I couldn’t keep up so I went back to the hotel in a hot pink cab! It was so cheap, it only cost me 40 Baht, approx. under a quid.

I had a nap, it helped, thanks god for the air con. I threw up that morning, I still had no idea why, I think it was either Thai food or sweet cocktails haha.

In the evening, we all went out for dinner and a bar crawl again but I stayed sober drinking a lot of juices & water – bottles of water as it’s not safe to drink tap water in Thailand. Some friends and I decided we couldn’t stay any longer so we got back to the hotel about 1am but we stopped by somewhere to get food first. I then ended up falling asleep as soon as I hit the pillow!

22^nd

Woke up not happy as I didn’t have a good sleep again, I hate jetlag but travelling is worth it. Roommate and I packed then checked out at 11.30am. We waited for some friends then went out for lunch on the same street as our hotel. Afterwards, we hit markets to get some stuff. We were getting picked up at 4pm, to be taken to the train station for our overnight train. But we had plenty of time so we chilled outside our hotel and enjoyed few drinks. Chatted away and surfed the internet – free wifi! Soon it was time to go to the train station. We had plenty of times as our train was at 6.30pm so we went to get some food and chatted sitting on the grounds. There weren’t enough seats in the train station even though the train station was massive.

It was weird to be in the train with beds, it wasn’t comfy but good enough. It was a unique experience and different from overnight coach in Australia as I had to sleep on the seat. I was horrified to learn that there were squats toilets on the train! I ended up falling on the floor as the floor was wet, sure enough I didn’t want to try again. But I did, later on. It wasn’t cool as the train was rocking and it was so dark! I ended up having ten minutes of sleep that night. I was so tired the next day!!