South East Asia: Thailand Part 2

Hi again! 

I hope you’re all well and you’re sat down with a cup of tea ready to find out what I’ve been up to for the last two weeks.

If you haven’t already read my last blog post I suggest you have a scan of it because this one will continue on from that. 

So before I travelled to the Thai Islands I stopped off in Bangkok again. I was only supposed to but be there for one night but I made a mistake with my bookings but it actually worked out really well. One of my old friends from primary school who I haven’t seen in 8 years now lives in Bangkok and suggested we went for a drink and it was so nice to catch up! We talked about the language and he taught me some phrases that I used pretty often (one included ‘tasty!’). He then went on to invite me to go with him and his friends to a music festival that weekend called ‘Kolour in the Park’. It was nowhere near as big as a festival in England but that made it more intimate. I met so many people and it wasn’t too crowded so you could dance properly. The music was so easy to dance to and I discovered my current favourite artist: Youngr. He was an incredible performer and from the UK! The vibes were just amazing all day and all night. 

If wasn’t all good though as my relationship with two-wheeled vehicles worsens still. Somehow I managed to burn my calf on a burning hot motorbike exhaust which left a lovely big blister that I had to endure for a good week or two. And on another day I did a bicycle tour of Bangkok with was the most physically and mentally challenging thing I have done since I began my travels. I haven’t ridden a bike for about 2 years and I’m not the most confident cyclist. Within 10 minutes I thought it was too difficult and wanted to give up but I persevered. I now know that there is ALWAYS traffic in Bangkok at all times of day and we took on some very busy roads. We also took on paths though miles of jungle that were the width of a dining table with drops into swamps either side. No barriers. If anyone had fallen in it would have been me but luckily no one did. I’m glad I persisted because I saw a very different side to Bangkok. We rode through the slums and went to the greenest part of the city on the other side of the river where I saw the most beautiful butterflies. I didn’t even mind that my hands were stiff from gripping the handle bars too tightly... or that my bum was numb... or that my brain hurt from concentrating so hard on not falling off... or that I had never sweated so much in my LIFE.

The day after I travelled to Koh Tao, an absolute paradise island. The sand was white, the sea was turquoise, it was so preserved- it was just stunning. I arrived before my check out time so I went on a trek to a viewpoint which took about an hour... and I take back what I said about the bike tour being the sweatiest I’ve ever been. It was only a proper road for about half the time then it turned to a climb/jungle trek. I was so nervous I was going to run into a snake or a huge spider, but luckily one did not appear to ruin my day and send me tumbling down a mountain. The view was amazing though. I also went on a snorkelling cruise with some people from my hostel. I’m not too comfortable with the ocean and neither was my friend so we were both super scared but we overcame our fears and had such an unreal time. It’s so important whilst you’re travelling to just do things no matter what because you’ll regret not putting yourself out there. 

Edit

I travelled to Koh Phangan from Koh Tao a few days early because I met up with my friend, Tom, from Pai and his mates who had flown out to see him for the Full Moon Party. I was kind of upset because Koh Tao is so chilled and beautiful but the party and the amazing company definitely made up for it. The music was my kind of music: Mambo Number 5, the Macarena, all the stuff you can have a real good jig to. After they left I went further up the island and on my first night at my new hostel I went to a little festival called the Waterfall Party. The music was not good at all unless you’re into electric techno rubbish (I am NOT) and it was 100% not worth what I paid to get in. I got back to the hostel to find my phone charger and adaptor had been stolen by the guy in the bed next to me who was sleeping. It was sat on top of his bag so I just took it back without saying a word. It just reminded me that not everyone in the world is your friend and you still have to be careful about being too trusting.

The next day another friend I met in Pai, Kaylee, moved to my hostel!! We went on what we thought would be a peaceful trek to a couple of waterfalls, but we ended up climbing up what might as well have been Mount Everest and climbing down an almost vertical drop through jungle and spider webs. Later that day we saw two spiders almost as big as my hand (and those who know me know my hands are HUGE), so who knows what we disturbed during our jungle ‘adventure’. The waterfalls however were really nice and we got some banging instagram pics!

In Koh Phangan I discovered I am not a foodie. I can appreciate foreign food and I eat it because I feel obliged to try things when I’m in a different country but after a while I will always turn to pizza or a burger and that’s okay too. My new motto is ‘if you want chicken nuggets then get chicken nuggets’. 

On my last night in Thailand I may or may not have got a tattoo... This may be the first my family have heard of it so it may come as a bit of a surprise to them! Sorry Dad! I was such a wuss about it, I was so close to chickening out but Kaylee convinced me it would be worth it and I’m so happy she did. I got ‘to wander’ in Thai in my ankle to remind me of my first time travelling. 

The rest of my time on the islands was spent on the beach tanning or in the sea and it was total bliss!

I actually had a really huge change of plans too! Instead of heading straight to Malaysia I’m going to head to Cambodia for 10 days to see Tom! It’s gonna be so much fun and I can tick another country off my list. Another thing that I’ve learnt since being here is that sometimes it’s good to not have a plan. Don’t book all your accommodation in case you need to take a night journey or in case you decide you want to stick with someone you met with a different course of action or something similar.

Anyway! I’ll write again before I head to Bali!

Goodnight everyone,

Lizzy xx