Cambodia

In Cambodia we visited two places, Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. We are starting to run out of time so as much as we’d have like to visited more of Cambodia we only have time for these two places.

We decided to go to Angkor Wat for sunrise so we woke up at 4.30 and hailed down a tuk tuk and he took us there. We made it just in time but there were already so many people there and the actual Angkor Wat temple was packed. We got lots of good photos but we were not in the mood to stroll round loads of temples. Maybe its because we have already done loads of things like this in India but we just lost interest quickly. The most interesting one we saw was one with all the trees growing up/though/over the temples. It really felt like we were in a Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider movie. We left at 9.30am which I think is a record for the quickest Angkor Wat visit!

Angkor Wat

Ta Phrom

We saw on Facebook that Tash and Kane had just arrived in Siem Reap which was a shock because we had no idea they were coming here. We messaged them and arranged to meet for dinner and then to go to the night market. It was so good to see them again as we didn’t get to say goodbye in Koh Tao. They are coming to Phnom Penh the day after us so we said we’d wait and see the Killing Fields with them the day after they get here. At the market Mitchell decided to buy 10 polo shirts to sell when we get back to England. I only think this is stupid because he now has to carry them around with him! He finally chucked out his leg weights that he bought in Amristar which is shocking because he has carried them all this way!

We the traveled to Phnom Penh. There were 2 options of bus: a VIP bus and a local coach. The first was $12 and the local $6 and the local looked alright so we booked that one. A mini bus picked us up and took us to the bus station. The bus was acceptable although it was quite hot. We requested the front 2 seats and this always makes a big difference. The journey was comfy and we made a good choice to take the cheaper one. The bus took just over 6 hours and when we got off we were bombarded by tuk tuk drivers. I would safely say that this is the worst part of travelling! Its so overwhelming and they don’t listen when you say no until you basically tell them where to shove it! Eventually a nice driver came up to us and he took us to the street with all the cheaper hotels and we arranged with him to take us to the Vietnam Embassy in the morning and then to the Killing Fields the next day!

On Tuesday we got up to go apply for Vietnam Visa and when we got there we realised there was no rush as there was no bugger in there! We paid an extra $10 to get our visa’s processed instantly which was so worth the money! We headed back to our hotel and went for some lunch. We were going to go to visit the killing fields today but we are waiting to do it tomorrow with Kane and Tash. So today we walked to the central market where we spent way too much money! I bought some white hightop converse trainers and we both bought a pair of beats headphones. Mitchell bought 8 more polo shirts at a better price than the ones before so now he has 18 to carry around with him!

On Wednesday 12 June we visited the killing fields with Tash & Kane. We got picked up at 10 and headed out of town towards the fields. We were given headphone where we put in the number of the part of the field we were visiting. In the middle was a huge memorial stupa with all the skulls that were found in it. We saw where a few building used to stand where they kept their killing tools and where they kept some of the prisoners. When walking around we came across one of the burial sites and some of the bones and teeth are starting to appear from the ground and they get collected. The hardest part of the day was when we got to the burial for the children. There is a large tree by the side of the pit where the children and babies were swung by their feet and hit their heads on the tree to kill them and then tossed into the pit. It really bought a lump to my throat and it was hard to take it in. From this point on the weather took a turn for the worse and it got really windy and started to rain. It was weird and it really changed the atmosphere. It really started to tip down so we went into the museum to get some shelter.

We then headed for the S-21 prison where the prisoners who were killed at these fields were held. When we got there it was still raining and it was really erie. The prison was an old school so the rooms were huge, plain, grey and echoey. In each of the first rooms there were one bed with a case and a set of foot restrains. It was really chilling. The next building had photos of some of the prisoners who were kept here. There were even pictures of dead bodies. This was hard to see and what was even harder was the next building had all the prison cells intact still. Some were made of brick and some were made of wood. It was horrible but the mood was lightened up when Mitchell called me and Tash over to look in one of the cells and Kane jumped out. It wasn’t funny and Mitchell decided he wanted a go at scaring us so he ran off and hid. When he jumped out he yelled “are you scared?!” right in the face of a stranger – it was hilarious. What a douche! Today was a good learning experience but it as horrible at the same tie. All of this happened only 35 years ago and its an event that didn’t need to happen.

Gifts for the dead at the Killing Fields

Pile of bones that keep rising out of the ground

The tree used to kill the babies and children

S-21 prison

Chiangmai

Our train was leaving at 6.10 so to avoid traffic I made everyone get a taxi at 5! We got there at 5.30 and the boys all moaned that we were about to miss the train blah blah but I don’t care because I hate being late and it is just so much better to be early! The train was comfy and a guy bought round a menu for food that was to be served at 7. We ordered some to share between us and it was nasty! No one liked any of the food but thats probably because its such a big batch cook. It was cool when the guy came round to make the beds but I gave Mitchell the bottom bed which I completely regret! The top bed is right by the AC and its so bumpy but I managed to sleep eventually apart from being freezing!

When I finally woke up on the train I was shocked that I had slept so much! It was 8am and our ticket said we arrived at 8.15 so I got dressed and got my stuff ready. I asked the attendant how long till we arrive and he said one hour and half! So I curled up in Mitchells bed because it was warmer than mine and slept some more. We arrived in Chang Mai at 10am and got a free transfer to our hotel. We checked in and then got our room then some breakfast then chilled in the pool for an hour.

A private taxi picked us up and took us to the Tiger Kingdom which was about half hour away. We spent almost half hour deciding what package of tigers we wanted and we all decided to do the smallest (under 3 months) small (3 to 5 months) and the big ones (15 months). We started off with the smallest which were sooo cute. We had about 15 minutes with them and I wanted to stay there forever! It was amazing, they were all sleeping and we got to feel their paws and stroke and cuddle them loads. Then we moved onto the small ones. These were very active tigers and they just kept play fighting with each other. We had load of photos with them and loads of cuddles, they were amazing. We then moved onto the big tigers. We were all shocked to learn that these gorgeous animals were only 15 months old – they were huge! I was the first to cuddle the big one and all the boys were so thankful that I went first – pussies! He was so fat and lazy and rolled over to have his tummy rubbed. I also held one of this back paws and it was ridiculously massive! We all took it in turns and Mitchell wanted to spoon it lol. We all led on another big one and then had a photo with a female tiger who was sat up and yawned when we took a photo which was brilliant. On the way out we went to see the new borns who were so tiny they were like a teddy. We couldn’t get too close to these ones as they were literally only a week old but we had a pretty good queue. None of us really wanted to leave but we dragged ourselves away and back to our hotel.

The crew with the smallest tigers – up to 3 months

The small tigers – 3-6 months

The BIG tigers – surprisingly only 15 months old!

The next morning we got picked up at 8.30 for our day trip to the Elephants. We had the most legendary taxi driver who kept cracking jokes and using Cockney rhyming slang which I know nothing about and everytime he spoke I was really confused! We made our way to where the elephants were which took about an hour to get to. When we got there it was a bit sad and they were chained up but I got on with it and tried to ignore the chains. We trekked on the elephants for about 40 minutes and we fed our elephant bananas and he loved it. The elephant took us up steep tracks and down some steep slops which were crazy that we even stayed on! We went down into the river and the elephant behind us decided we were too dry so he sprayed us which we wern’t expecting. We climbed out and up past a smaller elephant who was asking for a banana but we didn’t have any left and I felt awful! When we got off I asked if I could buy more bananas and go and feed the little one and they said yes so we ran over to the little one and there was a big one in the way. When I sneaked past the big one smelled the bananas and trapped Mitchell so I got to feed the little one while Mitchell was bullied into feeding the big one! It was fun :).

Big elephants

Feeding a young elephant

After lunch we headed to go do water rafting. This was just an extra activity that we never thought about but we all thought it was the best part of the day. It was basically 6/7 bits of bamboo tied together which 3 of us sat on and a guy stood at the front steering. It was so fun and Mitchell nearly got knocked out by a tree because the guy kept banging the back of the raft against the rocks. We got stuck on a rock at one point and the guy had to get into the water to free us! We saw a few water snakes too so we really didn’t want to fall off. The journey took about an hour and it was so cool.

Water rafting

We got back at about 4.30 and our bus picked us up at 6 to take us to the station to get on the overnight coach to Bangkok. Mitchell was on a mission to get us the front seats which were amazing and we slept back to Bangkok. I wasn’t comfy so I moved onto the floor and fell asleep!

We were supposed to arrive in Bangkok at 6am but we got there at 4.45am. This would usually be ok but our plan was to wait up and go pick up our visas at 9 so now we had a dilemma of wether to wait up or get a room and sleep. We decided to wait up and sat in the lobby of our hotel so that we wouldn’t have to pay for a room. We spend the time on the internet and when the time came we eventually left for the Chinese embassy. Picking up our visas were a lot easier than applying! We chilled for the day and got our stuff ready as we go to Cambodia tomorrow.

Bangkok

We arrived in bangkok at 2am and we were dropped off at Koh San road. This is the road that we will be staying in tomorrow night but tonight we are staying in a hotel called Prince Palace which my nan has kindly paid for one night for us as our christmas present. This is the hotel that she stayed in last year when she and my mum came to see my uncle get married. Its a super posh hotel and my nan really wanted us to experience it. We originally planned to go straight to our posh hotel but we knew we wouldn’t be able to check in until 9 at the earliest so we tried to figure out what to do. Me and Alex went to find somewhere with internet so that he could check his flight details as he is flying straight out to Laos. Corrine and Anile are both flying out to Bali too so everyone is leaving us! We decided to go to our hotel anyway and sleep on a sofa so we said some hard goodbyes to everyone and got in a tuktuk.

We got to the Prince Palace hotel at 3am and we slept till 6 on the sofa then checked into our room. We got the feeling that the staff just wanted to kick us off the sofas but I didn’t mind as we got to go curl up in one of the comfiest beds of the trip! Our plan for the day was to go apply for our Chinese visa so at 9 we got up and got a taxi to the Chinese embassy. When we got there we filled in our form and lined up. When we eventually got to the front of the queue we were turned away because we didn’t have various paperwork including a letter from my employer – why on earth they need this to approve a 9 day tourist visa is beyond me but the lady was having none of it so we went back to go get some food and then try and sort out all our stuff. The embassy is closed on weekends so we have to wait until monday to apply again which is so frustrating!

In the evening we walked all the way from our hotel back to Koh San road where we had got dropped off on the bus. We took the longest route ever but it was ok because we got there in the end! Koh San is really quite crazy. Its full of pubs and night clubs and stalls selling everything from wooden frogs to books and there are also food stands selling novelty insects to eat. Mitchell has always said he would happily eat one if someone else paid for it but there was no way i was spending my money on an insect!

Our room in the posh hotel

Today when I woke up I really wasn’t feeling very well. We packed our stuff and headed to the pool where we stayed for a few hours before heading off. We got a tuktuk to koh san road and then went to the hotel that we had found the night before. I was so ill, we think it was food poisoning. I slept all day and poor Mitchell had to just wait around. Tomorrow we meet Mitchells old room mate from uni and his friend, both named Tom, and we have planned lots of stuff to do and see tomorrow so I need to be feeling better.

On Sunday morning we met the Toms in subway and they were there with 2 girls that they had met the night before. We all decided to walk around Bangkok and see some of the nearest tourist sights. We walked towards the river and then down the river bank and headed towards the Emerald Budda and Grand Palace. It was really expensive so I went in with the girls and Mitchell stayed with the Toms as they all wern’t that bothered. I actually thought the buildings were amazing and they were so detailed and stunning and glittering from the sunlight. The building that house the (tiny) Emerald Budda was full of people praying and we went and sat in the middle of them. I could really feel the faith and belief coming from all these people and I felt very calm and at peace, it really was an amazing atmosphere and I feel I soaked it up pretty well. The Grand Palace was ok but nothing too major.

Mitchell & the Toms in sexy trousers!

The Reclining Budda

We went out and found the boys and then headed toward the Reclining Budda. This was amazing and it was sooo huge! We walked around the area and viewed all the little temples that surrounded it. After this we walked back to our hotel and got some food and then got ready to go out. We met the boys at their hotel and we ad a few drinks with them there before venturing out into Koh San road. When we were walking to the bars we walked past one of the stalls selling the bugs to eat. The boys dared Mitchell to eat a scorpion and he agreed if they bought it and bought him a drink! He munched down on the scorpion and looked rather pleased with himself and he said it tasted like salty pork scratchins! The boys then dared Tom Marks to eat a cockroach. Mitchell made it his mission to find the biggest nastiest cockroach in the pile and it took Tom sooo long to chew it and swallow – he didn’t look like he was enjoying it! We went for a few drinks and I kept reminding Mitchell that we had to be up early to apply for our Chinese visa.

Out in Koh San road

Today we had to go to the Chinese Embassy again and I was dreading waking Mitchell up. He once again told me where to shove it but I forced him to get up because I didn’t fancy getting in a taxi on my own around Bangkok! He was definatly still drunk and we grabbed all our stuff and checked out as we were not going to be back before 11.30! We then got a taxi and Mitchell fell asleep. He kept trying to convince himself that he was sick and that it wasn’t because of his hangover! He found himself a corner to curl up in and went to sleep. The queue was ridiculous and it took over 2 hours to get served. Finally though it was our turn and Mitchell appeared to make the application. Phew – all done! We went back to Kho San Road and went to the Toms hotel and chilled in the swimming pool for the day. I went and bought all our return tickets to Chiangmai and bought our Elephant Trek trip.

Koh Tao

Had a pretty good lay in this morning & packed our stuff to leave to Koh Tao. We are getting picked up at 1 so we went for a full English across the road. It wasn’t the best and it left me feeling really sick. Even before we got on the boat I wasn’t feeling great. Bloody 2 day hangover what is that about?! We got to Koh Tao and it took ages to find somewhere to stay. Eventually we found a place and got settled in. All the guys from our dorm were here but in a different hotel so we went to find them at the beach while Sam took us girls to do some yoga on the beach. It was so relaxing and for a little while it made me feel a bit better. We went for dinner and then planned to go to the boys dorms to play a game of Centurion. At dinner I couldn’t eat a thing. It was so annoying because I was so hungry and my dinner tasted so good but every bite seemed like such an effort and I really started to not feel well. Eventually I gave up and headed back to the room and that was me done for the night.

Mitchell carried on his night and they played Centurions – he won ofcourse and everyone else ended up projectile vomiting all over the place. The kids love him even more now. Especially Hugo who has taken a liking to Mitchell. Mitchell won on 83 shots when Jimmy was sick and that was the end of the game. They all ended up going to a lady boy cabaret show and somehow Mitchell, Jimmy, Harry and Hugo all ended up on stage dressed as women and were all dancing to Gangdem Style!! I was so gutted that I missed this, it would have been hilarious! It was caught on video though so I did get to witness it!

Centurions & the champion

Mitchell and the boys on stage

Since I didn’t go out last night I woke up refreshed and Mitchell was a little hanging but not loads. We went to the beach for the day and we arranged to go diving tomorrow with some of the other guys and all the girls are coming on the boat too to go snorkelling. I finally started eating the Thai food and I have found a new love for massaman curry!

Today we went diving at the coral reefs in Koh Tao. Mitchell has never been diving before so he was a little nervous that he’d be left behind from the group as we all have been diving before. We finally got onto the boat after waiting around for over an hour and we headed toward the dive site. We were doing a Discover Scuba Diving day which is just a single diver where they teach you the basics and you dive to about 12 meters. When we were in the shallows learning how to find our air mask if we lose it some fish decided it was dinner time and they feast on my scabs from the taxi accident and it hurt so much that i kept screaming into the air mask! The buggers ate my whole scabs off and when I got out my skin was smooth! While we were diving I kept loosing Mitchell because he was struggling to get his breathing right and was taking in more air than he was letting out so he couldn’t figure out why he kept floating to the top and no one else was! It was funny but he finally got it and because he was next to the instructor he got to see some cool fish. It was an amazing experience but the water was a bit merky so you couldn’t see too far infront of you!

This evening we went out for dinner as it was our last all together and Kane and Tash had arrived in Koh Tao so they joined us too. It was a lush dinner and was great to see all our amazing friends that we had met and been with for so long now. Tomorrow we travel to Bangkok with Alex, Corrine and Anaile.

Diving!!

Koh Phangan – Full Moon Party

This morning, Thursday 23 May, we travelled to Koh Phangan. We met some guys on the boat and shared a taxi with them to our dorms. The roads are the most ridiculous roads i’ve ever been on in my life – they are honestly like a real life rollercoaster and they cram way too many people into the taxi’s and struggle to get up the hills. Checked into our 20 bed dorm & met everyone who’s in our room. Theres a big group of 9 people in our dorm and they seem like they will be a good laugh. Corine and Anielle are metting us at Jayas as they had to get a different boat over to the island. We went and explored the area and then went back to our hostel to get ready for the jungle party that night.

We went to Coral Bungalows to meet Tom DD and his friends who wanted to come to the Jungle Party with us. All the way there it was advertised that there was a pool party at theirs tonight so we thought that would be cool too. When we arrived it was dead. There were no one in the pool and hardly anyone in the bar area. It was a good job we were leaving not long after as it was crap!

We all got into a taxi to go to the jungle party which is back up the ridiculous road. We got dropped off at the end of the path to the jungle and we started walking. Some taxi’s were still driving down here and we all thought it would be a good idea to jump on the back. When I say taxi – imagine a truck with the back cut off and lined with two benches for people to sit and a step on the back for people to stand. Me and Sam, a girl in our dorm, jumped on the back of one and when I saw that Mitchell hadn’t got onto one I decided to get off and walk with him. When I went to jump the bloody taxi accelerated and in what felt like slow motion I skidded onto my side trying my hardest to keep my bucket of alcohol from spilling everywhere. I failed in keeping my alcohol and grazed my knee, leg and elbow. It was hilarious. Mitchell ran over to see if I was ok and as soon as I started laughing he didn’t stop. Everyone we met he was like SHE JUST FELL OFF A TAXI HAHAHHAHA – it was funny until it started to hurt then that was enough! The party was fun and we stayed for a few hours until Mitchell got his drunk tired eyes then it was time for bed. Needless to say the next taxi we got in I found a seat and stayed there until the taxi came to a complete stop!

This morning I woke up with a VERY sore leg. It didn’t show but it felt like the whole side of my thigh felt completely bruised and it was hard to sleep without it hurting. We went to the beach and found a spot in the shade where I fell asleep for a few hour. Everyone went in the sea but I stayed clear as I didn’t want to infect the wound on my elbow that was still open. There was a massive football tournament going on and Mitchell watched that when I left to go sit in the air con dorm!

Tonight was a big pool party at a hotel called Coral Bungalows. We went here last night to meet Tom DD and we were going to meet him again. Tonight was a different story than last night – it was completely packed! Ive never seen so many men in one place! It was very overwhelming and I don’t think I was drunk enough for it! We tried to find Corine and Alex who had come out in a taxi before us but they were no where to be seen. Mitchell got in the pool but was soon out again and described it like being in a gay porno! Or a 1993 Take That Music video. The pool was just full of half naked buff guys who just wanted to throw water at all the other guys. It was an experience but I just wasn’t feeling it so we left and walked to the beach. The beach was a much better party and we had a pretty good time.

On Saturday we woke up and headed for the beach & once again I fell asleep but this time I was in the sun and I woke up a brighter shade of pink! Whoops. Tonight is the Full Moon party so we rested all day and got prepared for the evening. We went over to Lloyds dorm and we used loads of UV paint and got ourselves very pretty for the evening. We made the mistake on the Jungle Party of starting to drink at 7 so I tried so hard not to drink until 9.30 because the buckets are just so lethal they are an instant drunk!

We were all drinking and playing games in our dorm room and then we took the party into the street and thought it would be hilarious to get a bed sheet and make a skipping rope. It ofcourse was a bit of a disaster and many drinks got spilled and people got hit if they wern’t careful. We then moved to the beach and by now my memories are starting to get distorted. We walked onto the beach with Becky, Lloyd, Kane and a few other lads/girls from the room. Becky appeared from nowhere with some laughing gas balloons and this is the first time ive ever done them. IT WAS AWESOME. I went crazy and was falling all over the place and I was laughing sooooo hard that I couldn’t open my eyes. Best thing ever and I’d love to do that again. From then on the night is a blur. I woke up in my bed at about 2.30 all on my own wondering what the hell happened. Oh well I must have killed it and I went to sleep.

We literally did nothing today. I woke up so upset that I thought I had completely missed out on all the full moon fun. It turns out I didn’t miss that much because the best things happened when I was there. Most of the room made it to sunrise and I am actually very happy that I was so drunk that I just slept through everyone coming home as you can imagine I bet they wern’t the quietest. We were hanging so much! Watched a few films and went and got some lunch – bacon sandwiches and crisps! It didn’t help and the room was the safest place to be as the minute you hit the heat it makes the hangover hurt so much more!

Koh Phangan beach – best beach so far.

Pool Party

Full Moon Party May 2013

Phuket & Koh Samui

We travelled to Phuket at 8am and arrived at about 3pm. We found a hotel and checked in and then walked to the beach and then watched a local football match. I had to buy ANOTHER camera (mine might have got damaged in the rain and it just wont open!) and I found one for £100 which was waterproof, shock proof, dust proof and sand proof. If i break this one I will impressed!

We went out for dinner and then drank in our room. Alex was too tired so he went to bed and me and Mitchell went out and I think we went to the wrong area of he town and it was dead. The only people in the bars were older men on their own and it wasn’t the sort of place we wanted to stay but we couldn’t figure out where to go! I am pretty sure that we were just in the wrong area of Phuket but we just headed home.

We woke up and decided that we wanted to do something today but when we looked outside it was horrendous weather so any Elephant trips would have not been enjoyable. We finally decided to go to one of the malls that has a bowling alley and we had a game of bowling. Mitchell won, I came second and Alex was last – he wasn’t impressed that he got beat by a girl but he left his game at home! Then we went to the cinema and we watched Iron Man 3 which was amazingg! Before the film started we all had to stand up in the cinema and show our respect for the king – it was a weird experience and I think it was just because I wasn’t expecting it!

We went back to the hotel and got Ellias who has been so ill that he hadn’t left the hotel room but he is leaving in the morning and we all went out for a nice leaving meal. We went to an english bar where they were playing the play off game so mitchell was happy and I had a steak pie for dinner. It was my best meal of travelling and the best pie I have had in my whole life – I’d do anything for that meal again!

On monday 20 may our taxi picked us up at 7.30 to take us from Phuket to Koh Samui and we crammed into the back of the minibus. Mitchell tried to sleep but it was too uncomfortable so we ended up killing same time by playing an animal game. It was funny and it defiantly made the trip go quicker. We got dropped off at a restaurant at 12 and told that another bus would pick us up at 2. We were confused at why we weren’t just dropped off at the boat. We made friends with all the others from the bus and we played a few fames of cards and I ate my first Pad Thai – it was ok but I found it boring. We finally got to Koh Samui and we made our way to our hostel. Alex was staying in a dorm in the one next to ours and for the same price we got our private aircon room. The room has THE smallest bathroom I have every seen in my life. It just fits the toilet and sink and the shower is directly above the toilet so to shower you either have to hold the shower or straddle the toilet – nice!

We made friends with two girls on the bus and they are staying in the same hotel as us. We went and got some drinks and played a game of Ring of Fire and then headed out towards a club called Green Mango. The taxi dropped us off on the road and we stopped in a bar with loads of pool tables. A man with a tiny monkey came past and mitchell thought this was cruel so he offered to buy the monkey off the man for £600 – luckily the man refused saying the monkey was a family pet! After a few games of pool we moved onto a bar across the road. Mitchell joked about ringing the ‘cocktails for everyone’ bell but Alex actually did ring it and it cost him 1,400B! After we headed to Green Mango which is one of the best clubs i’ve been too. It had 3 levels and was playing real cool music.

We were both feeling very rough today so we stayed in the room and waited for alex to get back from the Thai Embassy where he was extending his visa. He got back at about 3 and we went to the beach for the afternoon. We saw that there was a fire show so we decided to go to that in the evening. We went for dinner but the whole place had a powercut so most of the places had limited food. We managed to get some dinner and then headed for the beach and the fire show.

Because there was no electricity the whole show was done in silence apart fro the roaring of the fire. It was so relaxing and the guy was really good at it. He spun his fire so sooo long without stopping for a break. He then did a huge one with actual fireworks and he looked like a human Catherine wheel! I was so peaceful and then a man came out with an acoustic guitar and he started singing. He had such an amazing voice and it really topped the night off.

On wednesday 22 may we once again had a 7eleven breakfast (our favourites) and we chilled at the beach & in the sea for most part of the day! In the afternoon we decided to do something cultural so me and Alex jumped on his moped and headed for the Big Budda. It was just a Big Budda, nothing too special but I am glad we made the effort. We had a very western dinner (if you cannot tell, I am not a fan of the Thai food). We had Nachos, chips and rice and it was sooo good! We are travelling to Koh Phangan tomorrow ready for the Full Moon party – exciting!

Koh Samui beach

Alex paying for everyone’s drinks

The amazing silent fire show

The Big Buddah Koh Samui

Koh Phi Phi

Today, Tuesday 14 May, we travelled from Ko Lanta to Ko Phi Phi. We got in a little AC mini van and made our way to the ferry terminal. We all got onto the boat and were waiting to leave when someone mentioned that there was a dog stuck in the river and it started to struggle. Mitchell was shocked that no one was helping so he went out and rescued the dog! When he came back onto the boat the girls behind us were impressed and one of them gave him their sandwich! We saw Molly & Leanne on the boat (from the boat to Koh Lanta) and they told us to follow them to the hostel that they stayed in last time. It was a bloody long walk but it was worth it and we decided to save some money and get a fan room – bad idea! We powered through the heat and got on with it and went to see what the beach was like. It was gorgeous but there wasn’t alot of it as the tide seemed to be quite far in. We hired a sun bed and the tide kept coming in and at one point the whole sun bed was in the water!

In the evening we all got ready for our first night out and we met back up on Alex’s porch. We had a few drinks and played some cards and then headed to a club called Dojos which had a beer pong game set up and Molly and Leanne were playing. It was hilarious and me & Mitchell played against Alex & Ellias – they won but Ellias kept bloody cheating! Then we headed to a club called Slinkeys. On the way we stopped at an irish bar and randomly had some shots poured into our mouths! After that we went to Slinkeys and danced the night away. We ended the night with some Phi Phi Pizza!

We woke up on Wednesday and went for full English breakfast, I had bacon roll and it was so yummy! At 1.30 we went on a boat trip to go cliff diving. We all got seperated into cliff jumping and whos not jumping and got split into two boats. The boat that we were on was full of some amazing people. We met Corine and Tom along with quite a few other people. The weather was a bit choppy out in the sea and the journey was horendous. The waves were massive and there was 15 of us in a small long tail boat and I can say I did not feel too safe! When we went past the bad part we pulled into a small cove and went swimming and snorkelling and there were so many fish. Some guys were throwing bread at us so that the fish would come up close to us and it freaked me out! After the snorkelling Mitchell wasn’t feeling too great and started throwing up over the side of the boat. I was being a very good fience and was taking good care of him – Tom even said how lucky Mitchell was and he’d only just met us! After Mitchell was sick it was obvious that he just wanted to get off the bloody boat. But we waited there for aaaaaages then we finally headed off for Maya Bay.

Everyone who goes to Phi Phi usually goes to Maya Bay. It’s where The Beach was filmed and its stunning. The only annoying thing is trying to get to it. The boat parks around the back of the island and you jump off the boat and swim about 60 meters to the stairs to get out. On top of swimming there, there are rocks everywhere in the water and you have to hold on to a rope to stop yourself smashing into the massive rock. Then you get to the stairs which are soaking and slippy and ridiculously steep so its a task in itself to climb them. When you get to the top your just praying that your thankful for being alive! One of the guys on our boat took his underwater camera with him and got smashed by a wave while climbing the stairs and dropped it. The effort was worth it and the beach was truly stunning. There were a few people there but we’d been told it gets packed so we must have gone on a good dsy as there was only a few people – or maybe it was because the sea was so choppy.

This is where we snorkelled just before Maya Bay

At Maya Bay (this is where the beach was filmed)

After visiting the beach we headed to go do our cliff diving! The sea was still choppy here so when we jumped off the boat to the rocks I couldn’t get myself up onto them so the instructor pulled me up. Unfortunately I hadn’t got my footing right and he basically dragged me across the rocks and I cut my leg and it decided it wanted to bleed loads! When we jumped the feeling was amazing. We jumped from about 10 meters and the freefall was intense. But I did not like hitting the water! I went in fine but I didn’t cover my nose enough and I swear I got water into my lungs as when I eventually came up (felt like 5 minutes!) I couldn’t stop coughing and annoyingly I missed Mitchell jumping. Jumping isn’t the right word – falling is more appropriate. He was so scared of the height that he didn’t want to look down so he took a kinda run up and tripped on his shoe and fell horizontally into the water and smacked this whole body like a mental belly flop! So gutted that I missed it! By now it was dark and we went to see the glowing plankton which was pretty special. When you shook the water the plankton glows its so cool!

This is where we jumped off the cliff

Everyone on the boat decided to go out in the evening so we met up at the boys hostel and drank on the guys balcony. Then we went to the Thai boxing place & got hit on by the Canadian lesbian! It was hilarious, me and Corine sat on a bench and this girl comes over and shakes her massive tits in out faces and gives us a drunk lap dance! We couldn’t stop laughing! Alex thought it would be a good idea to get in the ring & fight one of the guys who we had just met. Turns out this guy did it the night before a battered someone so Alex was suddenly quite nervous. Obviously we ended the night in Slinkeys and had a pretty good night. Alex, the crazy bastard, thought that he hadn’t had enough ation for the day so he climbed the Slinky Pole on the beach (maybe 6 meters high and a tiny platform on the top) and wanted to back flip off. Mitchell rounded up some beefy men and they all watched as alex back flipped right over them and landed in the sand! Mitchell and Ellias managed to catch his head but he landed straight on his ass and then was in alot of pain. What a Wally! Haha.

Alex in the ring in blue

Crazy Slinkeys party on the beach & the famous pole!

With Corine & neon paint in UV light – and not forgetting our bucket!

On Thursday we went to the pool by the beach which was 200 each and was soo worth the money. It was an infinity pool and you could swim up to the edge and watch the sea. We stayed here all day and then went to the restaurant by us to have a steak dinner and I was so happy just to have some veg that I ate all of mine, Mitchells and Ellias’ vegs too haha.

The gorgeous pool

We all got ready for our night out and Corine and Laura came to meet us for a few drinks then we headed to Dojos again for more beer pong! There was a massive queue for it and the rest of the club was dead so we went to the Irish bar and danced there. When we were walking down to Slinkeys we saw Leanne getting a tattoo and it was so funny cos we were all drunk – dunno why it just made it hilarious (her tattoo was actually lush). We got very drunk again and there was no backflipping off any poles tonight! On the walk back we managed to eat 3 massive slices of Phi Phi Pizza which was yummmyyy.

On Friday we woke up still drunk & someone thought it would be a good idea to go up to View Point. This is a place where you walk up to the top of one side of the island up some ridiculous stairs (I HATE stairs) and it was hot again so was a sweaty walk! The view was gorgeous and was worth the walk and we stayed here for almost an hour! Then we went for a well deserved bacon roll & spent the day at the pool again. It started to rain so we headed back to our hotel and we got our dinner to takeaway and all ate outside Alex’s on the balcony.

We are travelling to Phuket really early tomorrow so we stayed in to avoid being sick all day on the boat and we watched a film while Alex and everyone conquered Phi Phi one last time!

Krabi & Koh Lanta

Today, Thursday 9th May, we travel from Malaysia to Thailand. We teamed up with Alex and Ellias because it makes more sense if theres more of us, it feels safer and its cheaper! Plus Alex is basically doing the same route as us and Ellias only has 15 days untill he needs to leave Bangkok so he might leave us a little while before. We left Zach’s at about 11.30 to go to catch the ferry over to Thailand. We crammed all 4 of us in a taxi and it was hot and uncomfortable! We bought our ferry tickets and then enjoyed a KFC! The ferry ride was actually enjoyable and I didn’t feel sick at all!

We then got a taxi to bus station to try and get coach to Krabi. We could have got one from the ferry terminal but they wanted to charge us almost 800B each when we knew the bus would only be 250B! When we got to the bus station the next coach was full so bought tickets to 8pm coach. Went into town & killed some time. Went to a little market then walked down a street which led to a huge rock with Buddha statues in & walked down a street lined with people’s wooden houses on stilts. All the children shouted ‘hello’ but the men wern’t impressed that we were walking down their street but the women loved us! All 3 boys got a beard & hair cut and then we went back to the restaurant with our bags and had steak! Yum!

We got a taxi back to the bus station and caught the 4 hour coach to Krabi. We got dropped off on a random street with only one ‘taxi’. He wanted to charge. Us 200 each but we got it down to 125 each and off we went. We found our hotel and checked in and all the boys went out for a drink and came back at 5am. This woke me up & Mitchell told me about his night and fell asleep leaving me awake and annoyed!

After my poor sleep I was a little groggy when we woke up. The boys found a SubWay so we went there for breakfast/lunch and it was yummy. We walked down to the beach and looked in a few shops. We saw a snorkel set and bought one each as thats something that hopefully we will need. The beach has a gorgeous view but the sand isn’t the best – it just looks like crushed shells. Unfortunately the sea isn’t clear water so the goggles were a waste of time here! We stayed on the beach for a few hours and then made our way back to the hotel.

We decided to get some alcohol so we bought some beers and some vodka and then went out for dinner. We had pizza and chips which was good. Then we went back to Alex’s room and drank and played spoof & blind poker – both funny games! At about 11 we went out & found an alley full of bars & full of LADYBOYS! They are everywhere and the boys kept trying to get Ellias to flirt with them before he realised they were men! Overall the night was a laugh but the real details are very scrambled! Too much dodgy alcohol for me!

On Saturday we woke up with very sore heads! We eventually rose from the dead and went to he 7eleven and bought some food. Alex read online about the market in Krabi and asked reception how to get there and was told that theres a taxibus that goes every 15 minutes from outside. We forced Mitchell to get up and then got a taxi to town. It was very long journey and I wanted to throw up the whole way there! When we got there we soon realised that there was no market and that it started in the evening at 6 (it was 2.30 at this point). We tried to kill some time by walking around and stumbled upon a monk temple and had a look at that. In the end we decided to ditch the market and head back to the hotel and get a massage!

We got back and all piled into the massage shop and I got a Thai massage and Mitchell got an oil one. The Thai massage hurt! I couldn’t decide if it was enjoyable or not but some moves she did I honestly thought she was about to snap my bones! After my body felt very good but I probably go for an oil one next. Mitchell however got raped by his man who repeatedly rubbed his balls all over him and stroked his pubes and tried to cup his balls!!! Surprisingly he didn’t enjoy his one. After our massage we went and got some food from a stand and it was really nice, pork and noodle soup – yum!

Today we got a very early bus to Ko Lanta. We thought we were buying a ferry ticket but we drove all the way so who knows wether that was a mistake or if we bought a ticket for a bus? It was an alright journey and we met two girls on the bus, Molly and Leanne, who we were talking to for a while. When we got there we soon realised that the place was dead! It was a crap day and it took forever to find somewhere to stay. I was left with all the bags and the boys went and found some hotels. Alex & Ellias choose to stay in a tree house that had no walls and Mitchell thought I wouldn’t want to stay there so we went to a normal hut which had smelly water but at least the place had walls.

Koh Lanta Beach

We tried to find somewhere to eat and ended up having a curry – it was good and made me realise that I miss curries! We found a bar that had table tennis in the middle and we played a few games. We all went and got changed and then we headed out to a place called Pirate Bar and I decided not to drink because we were heading out tomorrow on a 4 island snorkelling tour in the morning which we hadn’t booked but we saw the guy from the shop and he told us he would book us in in the morning and pick us up at 8.30. Even with the knowledge of getting up super early for the snorkelling Mitchell still decided to get smashed! He was so drunk and I kept saying to him ‘one more beer and theres no way your coming tomorrow!’ We played a few games of pool and danced a bit and then went back to our room.

Today, Monday 13 May, we woke up early to go on the snorkelling trip. Mitchell was still drunk and he wouldn’t get out of bed and when he did he fell into the bathroom! We went to the boys treehouse and they were still asleep so i woke them up. When i went back to the main area I saw the guy who had come to pick us up only to tell us that the trip was full and he couldn’t book us in. I felt so bad now that I had woke everyone up! Mitchell fell asleep in the hammock and me, Alex and Ellias decided to go on a kayaking trip through the mangroves. We got a taxi there and then got into the kayak. It was so easy as I was sat in the middle and Alex and Ellias were the power, I didn’t even have a paddle. We were floating around for a bit and some how came across a floating restaurant/house thing. We rode around it and then some Thai man shouted at us asking us if we wanted to come on board. We tied up the kayak and then climbed up onto the floating house! Ellias was in his element as the man offered his bong to him so both the boys had some – Alex was fucked instantly and regretted it so much! Before we knew it the man had offered to take us to a pirate cave where pirates used to go to get fresh water from a waterfall pool inside a cave. The next thing we knew we had agreed to it and were on the boat on the way to the cave! Alex was in a bad way and he was starting to sketch out – it was so funny. We finally got to the cave after a beautiful journey and we jumped off the boat and swam inside the cave.

When we got out the water we looked up at this stupid steep climb and I started to have a panic attack because we couldn’t see where it led and it scared me not knowing. Alex and Ellias tried to calm me down and convince me to climb and eventually I agreed. It was a horrific climb. It was so wet and slippy and steep and you have to climb up using a rope and it was so hard on your arms! When we got up the top Alex apologised to me saying if he knew it was that bad he wouldn’t have encouraged me! It was covered in bat shit and the floor was bouncy from all the layers of it. When you shone the light up to the roof it was covered in bats and the ceiling looked like it was just moving! We walked around to where the fresh water pool is and discovered that we had to climb upright up a tiny hole and me and Alex took one look and we were out. I don’t know if Alex was just being nice because he knew I would be having none of it but he stayed with me! When Ellias came back down he said it was amazing but I don’t think we missed out too much (I hope). We headed back to the boat and slipped all the way down the way that we climbed!

Once on the boat again we headed towards an uninhabited island that had a gorgeous beach (but was covered in stones & chipped shells). It looked gorgeous and we stayed there admiring the view for a while. We left there and headed for where the monkeys live and when we pulled up two monkeys jumped onto our boat and it was truly amazing. These gorgeous wild animals were literally on my lap and I was in my element! On the way to the kayaks earlier we stopped at a stand and bought some bananas so we got these out and watching the monkeys eat them was amazing. Literally a money cannot buy experience! It was getting pretty late in the afternoon and I thought that Mitchell would be getting annoyed that we wern’t back yet. We made our way back to find that our taxi was no where to be found so we just jumped in another car and paid to get back. We found mitchell completely relaxed in a hammok on the beach so we didn’t feel too bad as he was very happy! We had some dinner and then tried our hardest to sleep with all the bugs in our room!

On the Kayak

The Pirate House

The cave that we swam into

Private paradise!

MONKEY!!!

Langkawi

Today, Saturday 4th May, we managed to wake up in time and we walked to the ferry terminal. We waited for a bit and then boarded the boat and prepared ourselves for a horrible journey. It wasn’t a good boat trip, it wasn’t smooth and there was a woman being sick which made it worse. It got better a little while in and I was so happy to get off the boat! We got in a taxi and made our way to a place called Zachery’s Guesthouse which was recommended to us. It was a lovely little hostel with a cool bartender called Sam and there were a lot of other travellers there too. We put all our stuff down and then went to the beach.

The beach was gorgeous! We sat down on some sunbeds (that belonged to another hotel) and then spent some time in the sea and sunbathing. After a day of relaxing we headed back to the hotel, got changed and then went out for food. There is a Mexican restaurant next to us so we went there for nacho’s and chips!

Swindon Town are playing the first leg of the play offs at 1am so Mitchell tried so hard to find a way of watching it on the TV but no channels had it on. We tried to download an app to make it play on the ipad but it was shit. A guy called Alex had just arrived and when talking to him I noticed he had a laptop so we asked him if we could use it to watch football on and he let us. Eventually Mitchell got to watch the football but it wasn’t a clear picture.

On the Sunday we woke up with the plan to go to the beach but when Mitchell when out to the communal area he found out that loads of people were getting a taxi to a waterfall and they asked if we wanted to join so we did. There was Alex and 3 germans – Ellias, Ruben and Marley (last two are a couple). We all jumped in a taxi and made our way up to the waterfall. When we got there we had to walk up some more ridiculous steps – I hate steps – and it was so hard this time again!! It was worth it though. There were loads of pools of water and the rocks worked well as a water slide! We stayed for a good while and decided to leave when it started to rain a little.

We got to the bottom and walked towards the famous Langkawi Cable Car. We grabbed some food and then got in the car. The hight of it was ridiculous and both Mitchell and Ellias were scared of how high it was! The view was incredible and although it was a little cloudy it was amazing! The way down in the cable car was even more funny than the way up!

When we got down we were on our way out when we saw a Segway ride for only 17 ringgit – we had to do it! Me, Mitchell and Ellias went on them. It was so weird, they run entirely on how you move your body and it took a while for me to get used to it.

When we got back to the hotel we watched a ‘live band’ as we were told but it turned out to be a guy on a guitar and a guy on a big bongo! They were really good and got everyone involved! It was a good laugh!

On the Monday we didn’t do too much as we were feeling a little worse for wear so we went to the beach to relax. We got the same beds as before and were there for a few hours. When it started to rain it ruined it a bit so we left and went back to the hotel. Its the second leg of the play offs tonight so Mitchell set up the laptop again for the football.

We literally had a do nothing day on the tuesday again. We spent the day chilling in our room or in the bar/kitchen! It rained nearly all day. The germans hired mopeds for the day and when they got back they invited us all to go to the beach to watch the sunset. It had stopped raining now so we all went to the beach and watched the sunset from the sea. After we all went and got showered/changed and then went out for dinner. There were more of us now and a guy called Johan joined our group and came to the sunset and dinner too. He said about going to the waterfall and asked if we wanted to go again. We talked about hiring mopeds and exploring the island as well.

At 10.30 we were woken up by Alex asking us if we still wanted to hired a moped. We agreed and we all went to the bike shop. It took Mitchell a while to get used to it so I jumped on the back with Alex and we rode to get some breakfast. After food I jumped on with Mitchell and it was so much fun! We are a bit slower than the other guys and I felt sorry that they kept having to stop and wait for us! We went to the waterfall again and it was a lot sunnier today so the view was better and this time we went to the bottom of the waterfall which too was gorgeous.

We all drove to the main town on the island to see if we could buy ferry tickets for tomorrow to go to Thailand but unfortunately they were shut. We did however find out what time the ferries were so we planned to get the 1.30 one. We walked around for a bit while Johan went to see if he could find the postoffice. There was a small pond with turtles in and Ellias kept picking them up. We also saw the Langkawi eagle statue which was cool. The ride back wasn’t fun as flys and dirt kept flying into our eyes and they hurt when they crash into your body!

Next stop – Thailand!!!

Penang

Today we are travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Penang by bus. We hadn’t booked a bus but we knew they were common so we just tried to get there for 11 to catch the next one. We got there at 10.45 and there was a bus at 11 but we needed food so we booked the 11.30 bus and grabbed some food. At 11.20 we made our way to the bus loading bay and waited. And waited and waited and waited until 1pm when the bus eventually arrived. We were tired of waiting and just wanted to get on the bus! When we did the bus didn’t bloody move for another hour – ridiculous!

When we got to Penang the bus dropped us off really far away from where we wanted to be so we took a taxi to our street only to find that the hotel we wanted from the Lonely Planet book was no longer! We settled into SubWay, wolfed one down & then Mitchell went off in search of a place to stay. We finally found one for a good price and settled in.

The next day we wanted something cheap to do so I found a park online and we jumped in a taxi and headed there. It was further away than we thought. We walked around for a bit and we saw some stupid steep steps which lead off into the forest & saw an older lady start walking up them. We walked up the ridiculous hill because Mitchell said it led to the top of the waterfall when I fact it was a 6km treck up an almost vertical hill of steps to the top of Penang Hill. It was horrific and I nearly cried after walked just 1km of it & it really annoyed me that Mitchell realised a long time ago that it wasn’t to the waterfall & decided not to tell me and torture me more! We made the decision to turn round and both our legs were shaky and wobbly! Never again! We then sat down for a bit and then ventured down a little path by the bottom of the waterfall which was nice. While walking around, Mitchell’s 6 year old favourite flip flops decided they had had enough and they broke! It was the end of an era & Mitchell was very upset and now annoyed that we had to walk around with one shoe!

We decided it was time to leave so we made our way to the front gates and then tried to find a taxi. There were none around and we were told about a bus that was coming in 10 minutes so we waited for that. There were loads of monkeys there too and there was a stand selling packets of nuts so Mitchell went and bought one and we fed the monkeys again from our hands! We got on the bus and made our way to the town centre where we started to look for a new pair of flip flops! Eventually we found a pair and then went for a KFC!

We decided to catch the 8.15 ferry to Langkawi tomorrow morning so tonight we went and walked all around the town’s historical landmarks. The island has a lot of protected historical places within walking distance so we walked around there for a while – it was ok!