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Thailand - September to March 2015

Bangkok

From London we flew straight into Bangkok and said our goodbyes to Bo and Leah at the airport before taking a taxi with two other travellers, Ashley and Francesca, to the famous Backpacker Mecca, Khaosan Road. Here we spent a few days looking around the city and sampling delicious dishes from the roadside stalls.  

Phuket

Next stop was the island of Phuket. We took a short flight from Bangkok to Phuket and got a mini bus down to Karon Beach where our guest house was situated. Bo and Leah were only a 30 minute walk away at Kata Beach. Here we spent our days bombing around on a scooter trying to see as much of the island as we could which included trekking through rainforests!

Koh Phi Phi

Our next stop was the island of Koh Phi Phi where we spent a couple of nights. The island was a maze of little streets crammed with stalls selling brightly coloured clothes, jewellery, bags and bikinis. We spend our time walking long walks and visited the lookout which gave some beautiful panoramic views of the island. Nick finally did some diving. He was so desperate to get back in the water!

Krabi

From Koh Phi Phi we took a boat trip back to the mainland to Krabi. Our guest house was a litle run down but cheap and only a stones throw away from the colourful Krabi night markets where we sampled some delicious food. We visited temples, markets and trekked through rainforests. Bo and Leah joined us and we took a trip to one of the waterfalls. We all loved our time in Krabi and would definitely come back!

Koh Lanta

After booking our tickets we headed down in a mini bus to Koh Lanta which was accessed by a small car ferry. Our guest house was right down by the beach where we saw some of the most incredible sunsets. Nick and I explored the island on our scooter, visiting markets and places of interest. Koh Lanta certainly has some of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen.

Trang

While we were there we didn't see any other tourists which was great. The people in Trang were so friendly and we timed our visit just right and managed to experience the Vegetarian Festival. Our guest house owner was so nice and even walked us to one of the local vegetarian restaurants so we wouldn't get lost. We visited waterfalls, rainforests and even went down into The Lost Elephant Cave.

Koh Lipe

Bo and Leah were already on the island of Koh Lipe and met us at the little jetty. Just like Koh Phi Phi the island was a maze of little streets and shops. Nick and I had rented a bamboo hut just off the beach and spent our mornings walking around the island through some of the back streets and tracks. We did some snorkelling here and managed to find some excellent evening entertainment in The Elephant Bar.

Hat Yai

Nick and I had to make a trip to the city of Hat Yai so we could try and fix our laptop which has stopped working a couple of weeks into our trip! The city was huge and we were staying down a dodgy back road near the train station. We spent our days bombing around the city in little 4x4 taxis costing as little as 10 baht per trip. The markets were a sensory overload and so where the huge shopping centres!

Koh Samui

What we didnt realise, before reaching the islands, was how much it was going to rain! Our first guest house was so disgusting we had to move! After hiring a scooter we visited waterfalls and took long walks through the rainforests. Here we visited a couple of temples which were home to two mummified monks and spent a few  hours in The Cat Cafe, smothered in felines!

Koh Phangan

It rained the whole time we were in Koh Phangan but that didn’t stop us getting our and about. When we first arrived there was a big market that took up the entire street. We had rented another bamboo hut right on the beach which was a short walk from the pier. The food markets were incredible and so cheap! On the last day we discovered Orion Healing Centre which offered some amazing vegetarian/vegan food at their cafe.

Koh Tao

We had only planned to stay in Koh Tao a week so I could do my open water with Leah and Bo, however, an accident kept us here along with Nicks Dive Master course. We rented a room just north of Sairee Village and I found myself a job at The Hacienda Bar and Grill where we both made friends with all of the staff. We spent our days in Coconut Monkey cafe and enjoying our time with Bo and Leah before we moved on again.

Hua Hin - Bangkok

After getting another visa from Burma we had to go up to Bangkok to extend and look for a new laptop. After taking the night boat from Koh Tao to Chumphon we trained it up to Bangkok stopping off at Hua Hin on the way to collect some important mail that Donkeys Rest Guest House had been holding for us. Bangkok was just as crazy as we remembered and our guest house was right on Khaosan Road again!

Orion Healing Centre - Koh Phangan

We had already visited Orion Healing Centre when we were in Koh Phangan but Laura wanted to go back to do her Reiki level one and two. This was something that she had wanted to do for years and had missed so many opportunities! So leaving Nick behind in Koh Tao she ventured off to Koh Phangan during a storm and spent 4 days in a bamboo hut on the beach and spending her days at the healing centre.

Back to Bangkok

Once Nick had finished his Dive Masters course we were finally ready to move on. Our journey took us from our little island back to the mainland and up to Bangkok where we spent a few days trying to fix the new laptop and feasting on vegetarian delights at our favourite eatery, Ethos. After spending a couple of days here we booked our bus up to Ayutthaya on onwards to Chiang Mai.

Ayutthaya

We booked a one way ticket to the ancient city of Ayutthaya where we spent a day looking around the crumbling ruins. We hired out a scooter from our guest house to explore the area. After a day looking around the temples we spent the evening walking around the colourful night markets eating fresh papaya and watermelon. After booking our train tickets to Chiang Mai we were ready to move further up north!

Chiang Mai

After a long train ride we arrived in Chiang Mai and we made ourselves at home on the outskirts of the old city. We hired a scooter and explored the city, sampling vegan ice cream and lots of delicious vegetarian food. We were joined by Lauras brother, Bo and his girlfriend Leah and then a couple of our god friends arrived. Having everyone together in the same place was a blessing.

Pai

We hired out a scooter and rode through the mountains to the hippy town of Pai where we stayed in a lovely guest house ten minutes walk away from town. The countryside here was stunning and we spent long afternoons on the scooter checking out the sights. We visited The Canyon, Waterfalls and The Land Split. The night markets were a fantastic place to pick up cheap tasty food!

Chiang Rai

From Chiang Mai we took a bus to Chiang Rai where we spent a couple of days planning our trip into Laos. Here we visited the White Temple and the Black house and spent a lot of time in one of the cat cafes cuddling with the cats. We found a few good places to eat in the market and plenty of fresh fruit! We made a big mistake taking an ancient Honda Dream into the mountains…..