Thailand

After my 8 hour over night bus to Colombo leaving at 9pm arriving at 5am

1 hour bus to Colombo beach hostel at 6am wait until 6pm sleeping on the hostel sofa

1 hour bus to the airport transfer

2 hour bus to the airport for 9pm (as it was the last bus to the airport)

I finally arrive for my flight to Thailand!

It was a long wait for my flight at 2am. Once I got on the plane I was seated next to a monk whom I chatted to for hours as he was very excited to practice his English with me. He told me he was from Sri Lanka and was flying over to Thailand to visit the temple 2 hours from Bangkok. We talked about his family and my family, he had 2 brothers and 1 sister, all his family were Muslim but he was the only one who decided to become a monk at the age of 9! He told me that he loved to teach and learn from people and that was a main reason he was a part of the religion and culture, so he can gain a true understanding of himself and to grow from the differences of others. So he was very excited to sit next to someone who was from the western world. I asked him lots of questions one being about why the robes were all different colours of orange and he said it was because of the different types of monks. However, he liked to look at it as if the colour was a symbol of autumn with the changing of the leaves relating to the changes of the world and how as a monk you learn and grow from the adaptation of change. Even though he spoke very little English I was fascinated with the stories.  

Bangkok

The flight took 5 hours arriving at 7am, I dragged my tired self through passport control, panicking a little to find the transport to the hostel after that but managed to somehow communicate with 2 old French men who spoke no English that we should share a taxi to Koh San road to cheapen the cost, the journey took 2 hours due to the traffic! 

FINALLY ARRIVE AT HOSTEL AT 10am where they then told me I wasn't allowed to check in until 2pm, I was absolutely shattered!

Thankfully I met a Scottish guy and a Danish guy and they took me to the 7/11 to have one of the famous cheese and ham toastie with a strawberry fruit shake. The perfectly toasted processed crap warmed me up after my long crazy journey.

Since I couldn't check in until 2pm I managed to tag along with some British people and we decided to venture out and walked around the crazy Koh San road. It was a lot smaller than I had imagined, full of clothes, jewelry, pad Thai, salons, even a Boots, McDonald's and Burger King. When I first arrived the tourists were nowhere to be seen but as we were walking through they slowly began to wake from their hungover states after their busy nights perhaps watching ping pong shows, ladyboys, eating insects and drinking alcohol out of buckets.

Later that evening I still hadn't slept but I didn't want to miss out so I forced myself out for dinner, there was about 10 of us from the hostel, we went to eat at a magic show street food restaurant we sat on the plastic chairs outside eating off the plastic tables. I shared a Thai red curry and a chicken and pineapple dish with the Scottish guy because we both wanted a mixture of foods. The Thai red curry was milder than I expected perhaps because it being in a touristy area, but still tasted great not as thick as I hoped but still full of flavour. The sweetness of the pineapple complimented the chicken very well making the dish mouthwateringly sweet and sour. The magician was actually pretty impressive stumping us all with his card trick, that included all 10 of us! 

This was also the night that I tried scorpion, I was actually pretty nervous about this, but to my surprise it actually tastes pretty good!. It had a chicken flavour but doused in a tub of oil and fried for what must've been hours because it was solid as a rock to bite into, I started with the pincer  then worked my way to the head and belly which got a lot softer. Obviously not the best food Iv’e tasted in the world but not the worst.

I left to go to bed not long after this, I was shattered after only sleeping 6 hours in 48 hours. The next day the group of us from the hostel ventured 20 minutes in a taxi to another part of Bangkok to go to their weekend market called Chatuchak and it was HUGE! Easily a full day of exploring there from a mix of food, Thai to paella, antiques, clothes everywhere, this place was packed full of variety! We had the most incredible yum yum I have ever tasted. For anyone who doesn't know what yum yum is it is like a donut but so much better. Instead of being coated with caster sugar it is lathered in gorgeous icing sugar!! Check out the size of these guys!

I also tried a Dragon fruit shake, which is a luminous pink colour unfortunately the colour didn't quite match the flavour and it was quite bland. However always interesting trying new fruits that you don't get back home!

We stayed for a good few hours, then I needed to head back for my overnight bus to my first island Koh Tao.

If I am honest I struggled with Bangkok, probably because being in a busy city and a road like Koh San road when you've hardly slept is crazy! 

Koh Tao 

I love Koh Tao! Yes, it may still be full of tourists and less cultural but I am a water baby and this island was full of activities associated with the water, especially diving!! This island has been named the cheapest in the world to learn to dive, so as a traveller on a budget this was the perfect place to start. I wasn't actually going to do it to begin with as I have always suffered from ear infections having once perforated my ear drum, but after speaking to the doctor there and the staff they assured me that I would be absolutely fine, explaining that they never take on people who aren't fit enough. So if you are in fear to dive because of your ears don't let it stop you because it won't affect you, you'd have to be pretty unlucky if it does. 

So I was told by some fellow travellers on my way here to not get a taxi to the main area but to hitch a free ride with one of the diving schools, you may have to sit and listen to them talk about what they will offer but if you aren't interested just say no and hop off where the small town is right there. I was however informed by my friend Emma (the girl whom I travelled with at the beginning of my trip) to dive with Big Blue which wasn't a disappointment. I was convinced and comforted by a dive instructor called Lily, a beautiful french lady whom later became my instructor for the next 4 days. 

So diving course began, first day was mainly in the pool and classroom learning the basics, then after the 2nd day of the exam we were qualified and on our way to diving the big blue ocean! We did 4 dives and saw parrot fish, Christmas tree worms, butterfly fish, red tip grouper, batfish, clownfish, jellyfish, triggerfish a squid inking and so many other fish, was absolutely incredible to view life under the sea like that in the tropical heat.

I was going to do my advance which was another 2 days but I decided I wanted to enjoy the last couple of days relaxing and exploring the island. If I wasn’t planning to meet my friend Holly in Phuket I could’ve easily stayed there for weeks, it is such a cosy little chilled island! My last couple of days mainly consisted of chilling out on the beach, kayaking and of course eating. 

Kayaking at sunset

There are numerous food places on the island which can be quite pricey and I did spoil myself on some days for example twice at a amazing restaurant called Barracuda where I ate a Thai Salmon dish with homemade peanut satay. The salmon was placed neatly on a bed of noodles which were doused in the beautiful sweet chilli type sauce with the satay on the side. The combination of all those flavours were incredible, the salmon was perfectly cooked and the noodles soft enough packed with sweet and sour flavour and the peanut satay was a thick, well prepared sauce, you could tell they grounded the peanuts and combined it well with the spicy chilli. My friend there bought the barracuda, basically the delicacy on the island, she let me try a bit and once again perfectly cooked white fish, nice and meaty and was actually more flavoursome than a lot of other white fish. 

Dish at Barracuda

I washed this down with a variety of beers, one being the classic Chang beer. I have heard that the making of this beer is not consistent, whereby the alcohol levels to each bottle varies. One minute you could be drinking a 2 percent beer, the next an 8 percent one, but this could all be rumours as I said before in my first blog, never truly listen to a traveller! The other was Leo beer, both beers were refreshing and easy to drink.

I also fell in love, in Koh Tao, with a very beautiful cute Thai girl. She was the child of of a restaurant owner that we ate at and she took a shining to my big blue dry bag and would constantly empty all of it on the floor! She then constantly wanted to be sat on my lap and we all played games with her. One thing I love most about Asian people is that they are extremely family orientated, especially Thailand they bring all their family to work with them, in most jobs in the UK it wouldn't be considered normal to bring your child to work with you every day so it is really interesting seeing the different cultures in that way.

I was very sad to leave Koh Tao, but extremely excited to go see Holly!

Sunset in Koh Tao 

Phuket

17 hours, 10 hour ferry and 7 hour drive and a very nice shuttle bus driver who dropped me slap bang outside the hotel in which I was to meet my fellow best friend HOLLY who had flown over from Scotland! I was sooooo exhausted but soooo excited to see her!! I also had my first hotel and hmm I was so excited, tv, air con and a proper duvet! I burst the door open to holly and her friends and as standard I jumped on the wee one! We dumped our bags and headed for the rooftop pool. For the 2 of us to stay it was £10!! Crazy!! 

Afterwards we wandered around looking for a good deal to go visit Koh Phi Phi and the islands surrounding it (just a warning don't book it in Phuket, it is way more expensive than in Krabi!). Anyway, managed to get a tour and well it did not disappoint! We had the perfect day, clear blue skies, crystal waters that were perfect temperature and great company! We managed to get at the front of the speed boat and stayed there the entire journey! We were on our way bumping through the waves for an hour until we reach the first destination monkey beach which at that time of the morning had the tide in. At first I was a little confused as to why we stopped and then I looked up and there were monkeys everywhere hanging off the trees the crew on the boat threw food for the monkey which they miraculously caught without falling in the water.

Monkey's climbing on the rock

We went and visited a lot of incredible beaches around the Phi Phi Islands but I think the highlight has to Maya beach, where the movie The Beach was filmed! It was INCREDIBLE! White sand, crystal clear waters enclosed in a huge rock cove and if you walk through the little bit of woodland and over a slightly rickety bridge you come to a gap in the rocks which revealed the sea again and a giant beautiful rock. I just couldn't believe how clear and blue the waters were, it was just incredible and I'm not going to lie I had the songs from the movie in my head the entire time! 

Maya Beach

Unfortunately the day after this trip I came down with a really rotten cold that made my body ache for days and I couldn't taste food which is HELL for a food lover!! I spent a good few days feeling sorry for myself! I still tried to eat food even my favourite, mango sticky rice but no such luck! It sucked knowing that I was with my friend but couldn't spend a lot of time with her! I still tried to eat, one was sharing a meal with Holly which included pad thai, chicken and cashew and spring rolls! I wish I could tell you how they tasted but unfortunately I can't here however is a picture to show how amazing it looked...

...I KNOW delicious right?! Imagine looking at that in the flesh whilst very hungry! The other was a chinese super spicy soup to try to clear my sinuses but it didn't seem to work much apart from lose the feeling in my tongue but it did warm me up a treat, can't beat soup when you're ill!

Seriously spicy chicken soup to warm my ill body up

After 4 days in the hotel Holly headed back to Bangkok and I decided to treat myself to an extra couple of nights in the hotel to recover. I was glad I did because then I was able to leave to travel to Aonang feeling more energized.

Aonang

Once arriving in Aonang I checked in and slept as much as I could, however I still wasn’t able to taste the food but that did not stop me from eating. I was finally able to try my favourite mango sticky rice, made up of fresh mango, sticky rice covered in condensed milk, sweetness heaven!!! It is kind of like rice pudding with mango but not really, it's a tough one to explain as I think it is a love it or hate it kind of dish! If you have a sweet tooth you will love this dish!! Check out the link below to make it yourself!

Mango Sticky Rice Recipe 

Take away Mango sticky rice

I met an Irish guy at the hostel and we both decided to visit Railey Beach together. We traveled over from Aonang to the very secluded Railey beach on a wooden curved shaped taxi boat. Once we arrived we hired a kayak and paddled around the island to another beach where we bought chicken satay from one of tiny wooden boats. We then decided to head back to the main beach as we could see a storm brewing, and WOW did it hit us! Thankfully we were on land when it really struck, we ended up sitting in a wood shack café, drinking mango lassies and playing with the adorable new born kittens.

Railey Beach

Unfortunately I didn’t explore much more of Aonang as I still wasn’t feeling so great, and a couple of days later I headed to Koh Lanta.

Koh Lanta

Koh Lanta or 'The Beach', as our little family group there called it in relation to the film (I will explain the reason for this a little later). 

I randomly bumped into a girl I had met back in Koh Tao called Megan and we basically stayed together for the duration of the time I was there meeting many more people as it went on. 

I stayed in a place called Jackie's which was a small restaurant/hostel run by a mad Thai guy, he was brilliant if not a little ruthless as well. He also had a dutch guy working for him who showed me around the place that they had just built and showed me to my room, which was a 7 bed dorm. The owner made sure to put me in the bed around the corner and told me that this was enclosed bedroom area and to treat it as my home. He was so welcoming and would hug me whenever I was telling him I was staying an extra night. For the first couple of nights I had the 7 bed dorm to myself as it was low season, but slowly it built up, but to a nice comfortable amount. I mean I couldn't complain it was £2.50 a night!

Our nutty very friendly hostel owner

One of the days I decided to hire a scooter and explore the island. I had heard that the national park was a good place to visit. I made friends with three Canadian girls and we all decided to venture out together. We drove along through what started out as local shops which then lead up a huge mountain jungle area, the temperature dropped quite dramatically and we did get hit by rain, but with the tropical weather it changes very quickly.

Continuing down the road we stumbled across an elephant in the trees. At first I was extremely shocked to see an elephant in the wild, but then as we drew closer we noticed it had been chained to the tree by its ankle. You could tell the elephant was distressed as it kept stepping back and forward and swinging its trunk. We stopped for a little while to try to get a better understanding of what was going on and we discovered that it was used as an attraction for an elephant ride through the jungle. The people running the company spotted us and came over to try to sell it to us, but we told them we were definitely not interested and that they should let the elephant go and take it off the island and back to where it belonged. Unfortunately this fell on deaf ears as this is the peoples way of living and they are uneducated in the treating of animals, however I do find it barbaric. These animals are not a show for money and I really urge people not do elephant rides, especially in the south of Thailand. Even if they claim to be sanctuaries please just do your research before going ahead. Usually the ones that are more pricey tend to be ones that nurture these animals and they tend to be based in the north. Anyway I don't want to pry on any one I am just expressing my feelings towards the events I encountered, and how I want people to be aware.

Arriving at the national park we had a wander around the beaches and up into the forest area before we then decided to head back.

On our way back on the scooter we had to be careful of dodging the dozens of monkeys that piled up on the road, which was pretty hairy as its not your usual traffic.

Before we were to head back to the hostel I had been told to stop by for a visit at Lanta Animal Welfare. It was a foundation set up by a dutch lady who went to Thailand for a holiday, she saw how the animals were treated and how malnourished they were and wanted to take action. She quit her job and put all her savings with some help into setting up the welfare. The lady herself gave us a guided tour of the building from the operating room where a little pup was being operated on as we were there all the way to the different enclosures for the different breeds of dogs and cats. Their main intake of animals are cats and dogs but they have had a variety of other animals rock up which they also take in.

When she was showing us around she told us of all the stories of the animals. She said that they tend not to keep them all in the welfare, releasing them after they have been spayed. However a lot of them get adopted by people from around the world, mainly Europeans, Americans and Canadians in which they get volunteers to courier them over to their new owners. Now, one of the stories which has stuck with me the most was one which had only happened a couple of days before we arrived there. There were three German shepherd puppies, six weeks old, who were rescued by a man who saw someone put the three pups into a black sack to throw them off the cliff into the sea. 

One of the puppies that was about to be thrown in a black sack alive and in to the sea

The other two puppies

It was horrible to take in that story when I was looking at these three gorgeous clumsy puppies playing around in their pen. She told us that most of the time the locals don't know what to do with these animals and the only way out they seem is to dispose of them. She did however conclude that the locals are now gaining a better understanding for the animals and how to treat them, which is a positive light.

The company I learnt is donations only, they have tons of volunteers from vets all the way through to just caring and cleaning out the animals enclosures. All these volunteers come from around the globe to help out. Check out the website below if anyone is ever interested in going to visit, donate, volunteer or even just to see what it's all about:

Lanta Animal Welfare Info

Back at the hostel for the last few days I was in Koh Lanta I mainly relaxed and soaked up the sun, sea and beautiful sky line. Every evening at 5pm we would go to the small shop, pick up a cold beer or two, either Chang or Singh, and group down on the beach to watch the sun set show, its ever changing colours and glow which looked like it melted into the water. 

Afterwards we would all get our 50 baht (90p) street pad Thai from a cute little Thai man outside the small shop. He would always keep asking us if it was up to a good standard as he was just starting up for the high season. We told him it was absolutely delicious, which it really was, you could really tell that he had worked pretty darn hard to perfect the dish. The couple of times we went it felt like we had our own personal chef! Served on a blotting sheet and with chopsticks this was probably the best pad Thai I have eaten yet! The crunch of the bean sprouts, the softness of the noodles, and the combination of the sweet and crunchy peanut flavour just explodes in your mouth. This dish is by far my favourite savoury dish in Thailand, as well as chicken and cashew, and well maybe Thai green curry as well! Ah who am I kidding, I love it all! Although I must admit after 3 weeks of it I was ready to part with it slightly.

Another thing I was pretty glad to part with was Hong Thong. A cheap whisky which tasted more like a spiced rum, which I love. However no, never ever drink Hong Thong, it has the 'I don't taste like Whisky even though I am Whisky' look but it is deceiving, the next morning was horrific! So just be warned its sweet taste in the night will not be so delicious in the morning! It does create fun nights though!

Now relating back to why we called it 'The Beach' (back to the first sentence to Koh Lanta). The reason for this was because it was low season, there were only a small group of travellers on the island whom were of all nationalities, and they hadn't been interrupted by a flock of tourists! We all had an amazing time partying and chilling out together. Thankfully unlike the movie the locals were extremely friendly and would bend over backwards for us. I distinctly remember one night where we went to a bar to listen to some live music, our hostel owner's friend had a pick up truck and said he would drive us there for free. So about 15 of us all clambered on to head to this bar, only to discover when we got there that the live band weren't playing! But the guy was really nice and drove us all back with no charge. I am surprised we are all still alive having 15 on a tiny pick up truck!

It is really hard to explain the connection of the group, some people we only met for a couple of days but the vibe with everyone made it seem like we had known each other for much longer! I was only supposed to stay for a couple of days but ended up staying a few days more. To meet amazing people from all walks of life on a tiny Island in Asia definitely made this experience special for me making it incredibly hard to leave but was a perfect way to finish my trip in Thailand.