Ko Lanta

Our fourth and final Thai island for this trip and we decided to head to the sandy island of Ko Lanta. We spent a week here just visiting the beaches etc, really nice way to say goodbye to Thailand. Unfortunately I was quite ill the majority of the time while we were on Lanta so we didn’t do half as much as we would have liked to, so that was a bit of a shame. But at least the beaches were a good spot for some R&R!

On the final day we decided to do this little jungle walk to a waterfall down at the south of the island – what a waste! It was a mammoth walk for the most pathetic waterfall I’ve ever seen, at least Ben and I had a good laugh about it! So after that ridiculously hot trek we needed a cool off in the sea pronto, we found this great little hidden beach – so all wasn’t lost on our little day trip!

Ko Phi Phi

So excited about the prospect of Phi Phi and even the boat ride in, didn’t disappoint, it was absolutely beautiful! Such a picturesque island, limestone casts rising out of the turquoise blue sea and white sand, it was easy to see why it was chosen to be the setting for “The Beach”.

We spent the majority of our time on the island exploring the amazing beaches, the sea was so warm there the swimming was out of this world! There were some excellent restaurants on the island too so we were more than happy to feed our growing love of Thai food.

One of the days we went on a boat trip around the island and to Ko Phi Phi Lei (the smaller Phi Phi island). That was a really great day but so long, we were out all day until sunset with only a fried rice to keep us ticking over – fair to say we needed a bit more fuel than that! It was lovely though, the snorkeling was amazing and all the little islands were beautiful. The highlight of the day was stopping in Maya Bay (where “The Beach” was actually filmed), Ben and I kayaked to the beach and then went snorkeling in the bay – although I did see a really scary fish, it may have been an eel actually – really freaked me out! As a whole I would strongly recommend Phi Phi, it really is the most beautiful of them all!

Ko Samui

Finally time to head down to the sunny Thai islands! Really looking forward to the next few weeks just chilling on the beautiful beaches and our first stop was Ko Samui. We unfortunately missed the infamous “full moon party” so decided to head to the larger island on the east coast. It was absolutely lovely, white sand and loads of things to do – including mini golf, which was great fun!

But after a couple of beautiful days on the beach etc, the rain came, and did not give up!!! There was so much rain in the 3 more days we were on the island so we were shipwrecked in our own hotel room watching 24 and occasionally popping out braving the weather to challenge Ben to a game of pool! We couldn’t complain too much though, it was the first bit of bad weather that we really had and it’s fair to say we did quite enjoy our 3 days of relaxation. So after that we decided to head to the opposite coast to escape the storm, our next stop to be Ko Phi Phi.

Bangkok - Part 2

Glad to be back in Thailand and Bangkok to be honest, the food and the shopping here is just so exceptional, we really enjoyed our time here. During this second visit most of our time was spent looking around all the markets and shops in the city, we brought so so so much stuff including loads of things for our house and loads of bags and clothes for me! Fun times, can’t wait to get it all home!

We did do a little of cultural Bangkok though, it wasn’t all shopping! We spent a day looking around some beautiful temples, some of the best we’ve seen, and they are just so grand and intricate.  We also tried to go to the grand palace, but they wouldn’t let Ben in because his shorts were ‘too short’, what a joke. It was ok though, we had a nice enough time wondering around.

 

We also visited the floating markets while we were in Bangkok, was a really nice morning, the floating market is so colourful and bustling and has a great atmosphere there. I think it was about the only market in Bangkok where we didn’t actually buy anything, but it was great all the same.

Vientiane

Next we moved on to the Capital of Laos and our last stop in the country, Vientiane. For a capital it is so small, nowhere is more than 10 mins away in a car and there is not a lot to do in the city either. We only spent a couple of days there and most of that time was used getting things sorted for Thailand. We had to go to the Thai embassy only to find out we couldn’t get same day visas so then we decided to book flights to Bangkok so we would have 30 days permitted entry instead of 15 – problem solved!

 

We did have a little look around Vientiane, walking down the river etc, but we mostly just spent the time saying bye to ‘Beer Lao’, ready to welcome the ‘Changs’ again in Thailand.

Vang Vieng

So we make it to the party capital of Laos! Literally all there is in VV is bars/clubs/hangover restaurants and hotels, so quite cool but only for a couple of days! We had a strike of bad luck with the weather in VV, a couple of days all it did was rain so we spent our time watching 24 and in the numerous restaurants that play Friends and Family Guy all day – I was pretty happy to be doing that for a day or so.

 

The main attraction in VV is ‘TUBING’! Basically a pub crawl down the river on inflatable lorry inner-tubes, a crazy stupid idea but that’s just part of the fun. We had a really fun time doing it, loads of free Lao Whiskey shots everywhere and cheap drinks, really didn’t take long to get in to the swing of tubing!

 

At one of the bars down the river there was a mud volleyball pitch, and after a few whiskeys I thought it would be a great idea to play – it was! We all got covered in mud but it was so fun, although my nice bikini has definitely now lived to see better days! We carried on down the river stopping in various bars along the way for a few hours then Ben and I decided to get out and grab a tuktuk back (because if you didn’t have the tube back by 6pm you lost your deposit, and we were cutting it close!) but not before having a nice little dance with the locals at our last bar!

 

We left the day after tubing – can’t party that hard anymore! Really glad we went but will probably not be visiting again. But it is the place to go if you want to meet large groups of 18yr old boys!

Luang Prabang

Arrived in Luang Prabang after yet another lengthy bus ride, (with another puncture) then had to find some accommodation in the town – as it was a really expensive town we ended up in this pretty basic room, but still it wasn’t the worst by far. The town itself is really pretty, has a very distinct French vibe to it including numerous cafes and bakeries, so that was really nice.

 

The first day we rented these cool bright bikes to explore the town and some of the temples etc, that was really fun but it didn’t really take long to see the whole town – it was only tiny and not too much to do. We didn’t investigate the temples too much, yet again too many ruddy temples! We did have a little spa afternoon while we were there though, I had a foot massage, body massage and a pedicure for 10 pound, spas would have a fit if you even suggested that in the UK!

 

It was Ben’s birthday while we were in Luang Prabang so that day we decided to visit some waterfalls that were in the area. They were absolutely beautiful, the water was so clear and gave the pools this bright blue/green look, there were loads of little pools leading up to the big falls, really lovely setting. Although the water did look very nice, my god it was so cold! We swam in a couple of the pools, tried to acclimatize to the water, but it was still freezing! We did this little impromptu hike to the top of the big falls with a couple of other brits we met, it was a pretty steep climb up there, not ideal when in flip flops!

For Benny’s birthday meal we went out with the two British lads we met at the waterfall to this cool garden restaurant where they had Lao-style DIY BBQ’s on your table and you cooked all your own food etc, it was really fun and the food was good too! Had a few drinks etc but had to be in bed by 12 as Laos has this weird curfew thing and our little guest house used to shut it’s doors at 11.30!

 

LP was a really nice few days, definitely the prettiest town in Laos, next stop for us is the party capital of Laos – Vang Vieng!

Luang NamTha and the start of Laos

After a bit of a mix up during our journey to Laos we missed our bus going to Luang Prabang so to break up the 14hr journey we decided to have a little 2 day stop over in the little town of Luang NamTha. Now when I say little town, I’m not kidding, it was literally one road with a few shops and guest houses along the way – absolutely nothing there! The main thing to do in the region was to go hiking or kayaking in the nearby national park. Ben and I decided to have a day kayaking, which was really good.

 

We ended up kayaking about 21km along the river with some fun little rapids along the way. We stopped at a couple of little hill tribe villages along the way, they were really cool – so many animals wondering around everywhere, pigs, dogs, cats, chickens, goats etc. The villagers were lovely too, it was really great to see how they live, interesting day.

 

Our “lunch” was pretty funny – basically rice wrapped up in banana leaves, a random bit of fish and bananas, it was really funny, good experience! We only stayed in LN for a couple of days then we were finally off to Luang Prabang.

Chiang Mai

Decided to get the train to Chiang Mai, considering our lack of luck with busses this trip, but even that ended up taking forever! It was well worth the journey though, our 5 days in N. Thailand were brilliant, we did so much and had such a great time. The city itself was really lovely, lots to do and lots of things to see, there were loads of temples there but as we have been in Asia for 3 months now, we were a bit templed out! The markets were pretty fun in Chiang Mai, so busy though, the Sunday walking street market was insane no one could move!

One of the days here I really wanted to do a Thai cookery course, it was absolutely amazing! I had no idea I could cook that well, all the food was so tasty, and I made spring rolls from scratch! So everyone is invited for a Thai extravaganza round mine when we get home! Ben on the other hand didn’t want to join me in my uber-fun cooking class so he had a “Boy Day” – he rented a big motorbike and went for this 100 mile ride through the nearby mountains and played golf, he had a really good day but I personally think he missed out. It’s probably so I have to do all our cooking when we get home!

On New Years Eve we had one of the best days ever – elephant mahout training! It was so amazing, we had an elephant each, a big girl called Toka and her gorgeous 4 year old son called Dodo. They were so beautiful, at the beginning we were a tad scared just because they were so big and powerful, but it didn’t take long at all to get used to them – especially with little Dodo giving you kisses all the time!

We spent the whole day with them, learning how to ride and command them, they were so well trained and really well treated – no hooks or anything were used just voice and leg controls, it was really lovely. We took them for a ride through the jungle (stopping to eat every 2 mins because those things can eat like you wouldn’t believe), then at the end of our little ride we took them to the river for bath time, it was unbelievable, my favorite part of the day. They were so beautiful in the water, and little Dodo was playing with Toka squirting water out his trunk at us, he was such a character, just like a naughty little 4 year old!

It was horrible at the end of the day; I didn’t want to leave them at all. I could have happily stayed there for weeks with them, they were just so beautiful, really was one of the best days of the whole trip.

The rest of our time in Chiang Mai we did a few half day trips, we went to this place called Tiger Kingdom where you could go in with the tigers and hold them etc. Ben and I chose to go in with the baby tigers, they were so cute and fluffy and had these big paws to grow in to. We only had about 15 mins with them but it was really fun none the less.

One day Ben convinced me to this stupid motorbike ride he did the other day, it was ok but the actual riding I could have done without! We did stop at these cool waterfalls though which were really nice, loads of different levels and cascades you could walk up to (all the Thai’s were picnicking there, it was a really beautiful setting).

Bangkok - Part 1

No big surprise that our 5 hour journey to Bangkok took 10 hours, but we did have a bus crash so I can’t complain too much! Bangkok is absolutely massive; we haven’t been in a city like this since Beijing so I was really excited. We found a pretty decent hotel and as it was late we grabbed a quick bite to eat and called it a night, lots more exploring to do in the next couple of days – we’re only having a 2 day stopover this time though before heading to Chiang Mai, when we come back from Laos we will stay much longer!

We spent the two days basically getting to know the city, wandering down Kohsan Rd and exploring the different markets (sussing out what to buy our next visit!). We went out with a couple of friends we made on Koh Chang in the evenings, which was really nice, there are so many good places to eat in Bangkok, it is definitely not the holiday destination if you are on a diet or are a recovering shopaholic!

Christmas on Koh Chang!

After a nice 14 hour ride we finally arrive in Koh Chang (Northern island in the Gulf of Thailand). It was quite late at night so we just made our way to our bungalow in the area of Bang Bao, really beautiful spot over looking the sea but the bungalows were so so so basic, no bathroom, just basically a wooded shack with a bed in it, pretty funny!

 

We had 2 nights booked here but I decided I needed at least a bathroom in my room so we went looking for more suitable accommodation. We met a nice Polish couple who were also moving from the bungalows and they gave us the information for this place 10 mins up the road called Gu’s Bay. So we went to check it out and it was just what we wanted, even with a pool!!! Great vibe there too, loads of backpackers just having a ace time, it was really cool.

 

We went on a ‘Gu’s Bay Boat Trip’ one day, which was a really cool day. The snorkeling was really impressive, loads of fish – scary! We then stopped at this deserted island and swam to the beach, white coral sand beach and turquoise waters, it was really beautiful, met some cool people on the trip who were staying at Gu’s, had a great Koh Change family vibe for the rest of our time on the island.

 

It was Christmas while we were on the island, which was lovely. We managed to have two Christmas dinners, one on Christmas Eve and one on Christmas day, the one on Christmas day was so good – all the trimmings including cranberry sauce! We had a big night out on Christmas Eve thanks to me looking after our money and thinking ‘buckets’ were a good idea! It was a great night though topped off with a moonlight dip in the pool.

 

Koh Chang was a really fantastic place to have Christmas, it’s a really lovely island, and we had such a great time there – I was really sad to leave!