Thai Islands

Ah so I know I have been super slacking on my blog recently. I suppose I’ve got too caught up in doing nothing but chilling and moving from island to island in Thailand – a very difficult and stressful few weeks as you can imagine! This post is pretty long but each paragraph is a different island so you can always skip and choose as you please 🙂
So after Ho Chi Minh City we flew to Bangkok where we only spent one night before catching an overnight bus down to the south of Thailand. In Bangkok we met up with another camp friend Carys who was going to be joining us with a few others along the way. Camp reunion in Thailand – why not! The overnight bus was a lot better than expected, we didn’t have the weird kind of bed contraptions you get in Vietnam but the chairs were comfy and reclined enough to get a few hours kip. Only problem was arriving to the dock at 5am when the first boat didn’t leave until 10! Our first stop was Koh Phangan and the famous full moon party. After a lot of waiting around we finally made it to the island (after being scammed first of course – good old Thailand!). Accommodation around the full moon party is a nightmare to find. Either they make you stay a minimum of 5 nights or the hotels tend to be grim and very far from where the main action is. We had managed to book somewhere called Beer Bungalow which its name and reviews online seemed to suggest it wouldn’t be the nicest of places. But I was very pleasantly surprised! The rooms were a good size and clean, we were close to the party but not so much that you could still hear it once you stumbled home. Don’t know what these backpackers are complaining about! 
We arrived the day of the full moon party, so after a brief nap we got on our neon clothes and headed to the beach. Warned not to bring anything because of pickpockets and people generally getting drunk it felt pretty strange going in empty handed. There are stalls selling buckets of alcohol right the way down to the beach. There are also little pop up stands of people charging to body paint you. Steve got a glow in the dark dragon and ‘braveheart’ (everyone has to know that he is Scottish) which looked pretty good. I was sure I could do a better job myself though. Somehow we managed to convince a group of people to lend us their paint pots and I set to work making me and Carys neon. It worked pretty well! The full moon party itself wasn’t as insane as I had imagined but I preferred it this way. The entire party is on the beach which is pretty big, so there are sections where you can dance away in crowds of people but then you can walk 10 seconds and be in an open space where you can get a bit of a breather. The three of us really enjoyed it, especially watching those that had waayy too many buckets just collapse in the sand – a more comfortable bed than the concrete at home at least! We headed back to our room about 4am and crashed. The next day we just sunbathed and chilled and in the evening we went back to the beach for a more relaxed evening, having a few drinks and watching the fire shows which are insane! How they don’t have burn scars all over their bodies I don’t know.

The next morning we got the boat to Koh Tao which was perhaps the most horrendous boat journey of my life. After waiting in a queue with no shade in the blistering heat with my massive backpack on for about an hour and a half we finally made it on the boat. I am quite bad for sea sickness and there wasn’t really anywhere to sit outside so we headed indoors in the air con and grabbed a seat. The boat was only meant to take an hour but 2 hours later we arrived in sight of the pier. By this point my head was between my legs the whole journey had been so rocky I was ready to show my guts any minute. But at last we could see the pier! Only they then made us wait (rocking so so so so soooo much) for another 30 minutes until there was space for the boat to pull up. I could have cried. I have never run faster off something before in my life. I left poor Steve and Carys to find my bag and haul it down while I found somewhere to hide and try to focus my stomach back where it belonged. I charged through the queue of about 30 Thai people offering me taxis and plonked myself down on a step somewhere with my head between my legs. Next minute I hear a lady saying “excuse me Mrs….excuse me Mrs” I don’t even look up and say “no no taxi thank you” but she persists “excuse me Mrs….excuse me Mrs”. I finally look up and she’s trying to put this menthol oil on my fingers. I let her and then she starts actioning to me that I should rub it under my nose and start sniffing. She starts grinning and it does make me feel better. A sweet lady, I shouldn’t be so automatically judgemental! Anyway, after 10 minutes the other 2 arrive hauling my backpack along and we head to our hotel. We have a massive room here as its where we are going to meet Jenny and Katie – another 2 from camp. 

We spent about 5 nights in Koh Tao which were really good. The island itself is tiny but there’s lots of beach bars and places to relax. We made use of our new diving qualification we got in Gili and also took a morning dive session. Having to start at 7am wasn’t so fun but after a massive trek to our starting point (the weather was very choppy so the boat couldn’t come to its usual spot to pick us up) we headed out. Another horrible journey as the waves were so rough but after jumping in the water I felt fine. It was cool to set up our own equipment and just get to explore without doing lots of tests or sticking to our instructor like glue. We saw sting rays, puffer fish and some pretty cool stuff. We did 2 dives, but I think we were both a little disappointed. The visibility in Gili Trawangan is on average 28 meters. In Koh Tao the visibility was just 7 meters. It was very grey, there wasn’t much coral and you couldn’t really see a whole deal to be honest. It was still fun to do but considering it’s supposed to be the best dive site in Thailand we were expecting more! I suppose Gili has given us very high expectations! 

The rest of our time in Koh Tao is kind of a blur – we didn’t really do a whole lot! The other girls decided they wanted to stay a bit longer on the island but we were ready to move on so we got up at 5am to head back to the mainland. We had booked and paid for a taxi for that time which of course never showed, which left us frantically running about at that time in the morning trying to find a taxi that would take us to the ferry pier! We eventually found one and made our boat over to Surat Thani. From there we caught a bus to Krabi – Krabi is where most backpackers stop but we’d done a bit of research and saw that just a 10 minute boat ride away was a place called Railay Beach which seemed to have better stuff going on. It is still part of the mainland of Thailand but because of the huge cliffs that surround it it is only accessible by long tail boat. So we hopped in one of these boats and headed off. Now the water was a bit choppy yes, but we weren’t expecting this ride! It was like a roller coaster! The driver did not care about going slow! Each time the front of the boat hit the water every passenger (all 6 of us that fitted on the boat) got drenched. It was so funny and unexpected, we spent most of the time ducking into the floor and trying to hide behind the person in front! We arrived drenched and to a lot of laughs from the people waiting at the tiny pier. 

Once arriving we found our hotel (typically choosing the one furthest away and getting very lost in the process). It was also up about a million stairs up which is the most soul destroying thing you can see when you already feel like your backpack has crushed parts of your spine. But we eventually made it! There are also SO many cats in Railay Beach. I had not been feeling too well the last few days and after arriving for a few hours the pain reached its peak. Steve dragged a bedraggled and crying me down to the only clinic on Railay Beach where I had blood tests and all sorts to find out what was wrong. I was getting panicky I had appendicitis and that was not something I fancied experiencing in Thailand. It was quite funny in that the doctors would tell me nothing. Doesn’t matter that it’s my body nooooo. Steve or ‘my husband’ as they liked to keep calling him was called out and explained all my results, shown my cells and all sorts! Turned out it wasn’t my appendix thankfully and after a course of antibiotics I’m back to normal again! After that drama we grabbed some food and just went to bed. We were staying in a little bungalow hut which was pretty cute. We were so close to the sea which was nice and the whole place is strange in that the tide comes right up to the raised pavements every evening and in the morning is so far out the motorbikes drive on the surface where the water used to be, to get around. So you get the picture, the water is pretty close. And that night there was a HUGE storm. We literally thought the roof of our little bungalow was going to cave in or the whole thing was going to get swept away it was SO loud. 

The next day we got to explore Railay Beach, we looked around the caves and watched the monkeys play about with each other and steal people’s drinks. I even saw a snake slink its way out of a hollow branch which was pretty cool! We laid on Pranang beach which is beautiful and so picturesque. But before long the tide was way in and we were practically swimming to try to get back to town! The next day we had booked to go rock climbing, the main attraction in Railay Beach. After dragging myself out of bed we met our instructor and headed to some of the cliffs back on Pranang beach as they are sheltered and the rain was intermittent but very heavy! It was really fun, we had the shoes and all the safety gear but it was a hell of a lot harder than I thought! The first few climbs we did were ok – sore on the fingers but it was so cool to be so high up with such an amazing view. And you definitely feel like you’ve accomplished something. The last climb I did though – my god. Half way through there is a huge overhang which you are supposed to somehow haul yourself up. I think by this point our instructor had got a bit bored. Everytime I looked down at him for help he’s just standing there holding my rope but having a good chat to his friend. Then he would look up and say “just stand up!” This really got me going. Gradually half way up this cliff face I was getting so angry at this man I was ready to kill him. “DO YOU THINK IF I COULD ‘JUST’ STAND UP I MIGHT HAVE DONE SO ALREADY?!” He was useless. Steve tried to help but I think by that point I was past taking instruction even if the man had given me some useful tips. In the end I think I pretty much fell off and he hoisted the rope with me attached with it over the overhang. But I made it eventually! Steve did another climb but that was even harder. I was offered it but though mmmmm maybe not. Overall though it was really fun! 

After Railay Beach we hopped on another boat over to Koh Phi Phi where we spent ages. There are no cars or bikes on the island which was a nice change. We hadn’t booked anywhere to stay that night so once we arrived we found somewhere that seemed half decent with a pool. How wrong we were! Our first night we were up from 2am – 5am with a load of drunk idiots screaming their heads off and jumping in the pool. The hotel staff told them to be quiet once, they offered him money and so he grabbed his guitar and joined in! I got so mad. The next day I went and stormed to reception and was met by the horrible owner who put his hand in my face and told me to go to the police if I was bothered. Needless to say we left that hotel pretty quickly! We found one which was so much nicer – a little more expensive but with an amazing pool and incredible views. After a few nights here the girls met us in Koh Phi Phi and spent some time here too. The weather was on and off while we were there and to be honest we didn’t end up doing a whole lot! Just sunbathing or exploring. One day we took a boat trip out which took us to monkey island and the Viking caves.  We went snorkelling which I didn’t like – the fish were right by the surface, there were hundreds of them! They’re all up in your face and in your toes and asdfghjkl no. I like them at a distance where they’re not going to touch me haha. We also went to Maya Beach which was an experience! A famous beach in Thailand it is supposed to be beautiful. No one tells you about the assault course to get in to it though. If you managed to swim through the rough sea and huge rocks scratch free, you then had to climb bare footed up what I can only describe as like a lattice of rope. Not easy! After finally making it there alive and paying an extra 200 baht for the privilege we finally arrived. And the whole place was FULL of rubbish it was disgusting. I was so disappointed! People are saying it’s because of the bad weather recently everything has washed up. I have seen beautiful photos of this place but all we saw was garbage. The scenery was nice, we even walked waayy into the sea to sea if it would get any cleaner but not at all. I think if I came back I’d definitely have to make sure it was better weather! On the way back we found a cut through the rock which meant we didn’t have to brave the ropes down again and the staff from the boat took kayak runs to get us from the shore to the ship as it was now near impossible to swim! We made it and had some fried rice before watching the sunset.

On our final night in Koh Phi Phi we trekked up to the viewpoint, famous for watching the sunset. My god that was a serious hike for someone who has not exercised in 8 months (hence the seriously sweaty photos!) The views at the end were seriously worthwhile though and it was a great end to our trip. We then spent 2 nights in Krabi (where there is nothing to do – don’t go) before flying and having a night in Bangkok. And that is where I am now! Excited but also mildly terrified about the next section of our adventure….INDIA!

Sorry this has been so long – a lot to catch up on! Will update you sooner next time!

Lots of love x

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

    
    
    
    
    
   

Hanoi and Halong Bay, Vietnam

We LOVE Vietnam so far! It’s been so great, the people in this country are some of the friendliest I’ve ever met, the place has so much history and a mixture of cultures and there is so much to see and do. 

We arrived in Hanoi very late and planned to get our visa on arrival. Vietnam visas are a bit strange in that in order to get it on arrival you have to pay an agent to write you a letter from Vietnam confirming you’re ok to be let in. After sifting through the hundreds of companies online we found the cheapest and got it no problem. We also filled out the application form in advance – we were arriving at 11pm so I wanted the whole process done as quickly possible. On all the forms it specifies very clearly that you need a 4x6cm photo – which we didn’t have. So I spent the whole 7 hour wait in Bangkok worrying that I wasn’t going to be let in because my stupid photo was the wrong size. So we turned up in Hanoi and they literally couldn’t care less so that saved any hassle. There were even 2 guys there with NO photo and after some persuading even they managed to get the visa easy! Haha pretty laid back to say the least. So after going through immigration we caught a taxi to our hotel. The taxi driver insisted he knew where it was, of course he didn’t! After getting very lost and making lots of phone calls we finally made it. We crashed into bed pretty quickly after that!

The hotel we were staying in was really nice, proper fancy for us! And for about £6 each a night we couldn’t really complain. In the morning we booked a trip to Halong Bay for the next day which would be an overnight cruise on a boat to the world heritage site where there are about 3,000 separate rock formations/mountains coming out the sea and something like 400 different caves. But for our first day in Vietnam we generally just did some exploring and walked about 100 miles. Everyone talks about the roads in Vietnam, especially its capital Hanoi but you can never really explain it until you’ve experienced it! There are motorbikes just EVERYWHERE as well as cars, buses, rickshaws – everything! And they are just travelling constantly, no one has right of way and there are very few traffic lights and no crossings whatsoever. Because the traffic is relentless it means there are very few opportunities to cross a clear road. So you basically have to just walk and not stop! The bikes will drive by judging where they expect you to be on the road so you can never turn back or stop, you’re far more likely to get hit. It’s so scary at first but you can get more confident with it over time and we managed to survive! So we walked for some lunch then went around all the different side alleys and streets in the old quarter. Each street is named after what it sells and though you can’t read the road sign in Vietnamese you can easily tell by an entire street selling metal or underwear or toys or fabric which is kind of cool. We went to visit –prison, which is now a museum. It was really interesting to learn some of the history of Vietnam that I don’t really know a lot about. Vietnam was a French colony but has also been part of China and you can see throughout the country a lot of these influences (e.g. baguettes everywhere – it’s great!). The prison was run by the French during the occupation to hold the rebels and revolutionaries fighting for the independence of Vietnam. As you can expect, the conditions were horrendous and the torture was pretty bad. There were also American prisoners of war held here but in comparison they were treated like kings – proper beds, clothes, food, games, no torture! Many prisoners managed to escape out of the sewers and all sorts which was grim but the whole place showed the Vietnamese spirit despite the French. 

After visiting the prison we walked to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where the former president of Vietnam who led the revolution is buried. We didn’t stay here long because it was SO hot. We stood still for one photo and I felt like I was cooking. Like when you accidentally touch the hob and burn your hand? That kind of feeling all over! It was unbearable. We were so hot by this point we dragged ourselves back to the hotel where they told us the power was out and so the air conditioning wasn’t working. I though I might cry! I asked for our room key anyway and so we headed upstairs and I sat in the shower in the pitch black to try and cool myself down. Thankfully after only about 10 minutes the power came back on. We checked the forecast and though it said it had only been 37 degrees the “but feels like” said 45 – no wonder we were a bit warm! After cooling down and relaxing for a bit we went into town for some food where I had some really nice Vietnamese spring rolls before going to ‘beer street’. Here you sit outside bars on tiny little stools and drink beer for 45p. It’s ‘fresh’ so is delivered daily and only lasts 24 hours before being chucked out – for someone who doesn’t like beer it was actually pretty nice! We were heading back to the hotel when the hugest thunderstorm hit. We quickly ran under the awning of some garage or something and watched the heaviest rain I’ve ever seen. The wind was insane and the whole thing was relentless. A few Vietnamese girls pulled in next to us and hid with us before disappearing round a corner. Then a minute later one girl pops her head round and beckons us to her. We follow and they are all hiding out in a tiny tiny little alleyway with an old lady. They offer us a tiny stool and we all sit there cramped in this damp dark space but properly sheltered from the rain. They were so nice and friendly, they offered us dried squid, to which we both tried to refuse but after persisting we felt like we had to. It was disgusting, definitely not chewable. Ste managed to discreetly spit his out but all eyes were on my reaction so I had no such luck. We sat with them for about 45 minutes, chatting in broken English and watching the rain pour. It showed no signs of stopping and really our hotel was only a 2 minute run away so we left our lovely local ladies and made a run for it.

The next morning we were up really early for our trip to Halong Bay. It was about a 4 hour drive away on a minibus where we met the other travellers on the same trip and was introduced to our tour guide whose English was just a bit tricky to understand to say the least! Once we arrived we caught a small boat to where our main boat Lemoncruise was anchored up. As we stepped on the heavens opened and once again it absolutely poured. We were given lunch on the boat while we travelled to the actual Halong bay which was still about 2 hours away. The sound of the thunder was some of the loudest I think I’ve ever heard and watching the lightening hit the sea next to the boat was pretty scary! I was worried that this would mean we’d spend our whole trip sat on the boat but thankfully after a few hours it subsided. We visited Sung Sot Cave which was pretty impressive. It was discovered by some fisherman in 1901 and I can only imagine what they must have thought when they first saw it! You go through a small entrance into a small but very tall space where the limestone rock formations dangle in all different shapes and sizes before going through a narrow alleyway into a HUGE space – it was pretty cool. After the cave we got our smaller boat to a place where we could do some kayaking. Me and Steve were keen to have a go and jumped in the first one and went off around one of the mountains. The water was so warm (everyone else managed to get out the kayak bone dry apart from us 2) and it was really cool to get up close to the caves and see all the barnacles and purple crabs scuttling about. We were then taken to a beach where we could just chill or climb the 400 steps to the top of the mountain to get an impressive view of Halong Bay. We opted for the stairs (though it was definitely a struggle!) and then threw ourselves in the water after. Bit like Chiang Mai, it was like swimming in a bath. After a swim we went back to the main boat for some dinner and a chill.

The next day we were up early and out again to visit a Pearl Farm set up on a floating platform in the middle of nowhere in the bay. It was pretty interesting, watching them fish for the oysters and cleaning them before they can check if there is a pearl inside. Our group got to chose one ready for opening to see if there was one. We were lucky and picked one with one in so we were all pretty excited. The locals were not on our same level of enthusiasm haha. Apparently being not quite spherical and a bit dirty means it’s a bit crap and will be crushed up to put in women’s creams and deodorants. It’s also quite interesting because if an oyster doesn’t produce a pearl, they will take the tissue out of a flesh oyster and insert it in the other one with a bit of shell to help it produce one. We were here for about an hour before going back to our main boat where we had a cooking class. In this cooking class we learnt how to fill one spring roll with a mixture of pork and veg that the cooks had already made. Not quite the cooking class I hoped for so I don’t think I’ll really be making you any when I get home! We then started our journey back to Hanoi. Overall the trip was really good but would have been so much better if the weather was sunnier – it was cloudy or rainy the whole time which meant we couldn’t really lie out on the deck or get the amazing photos we’ve see of Halong bay in the sunshine.

That evening we went to the Friday night market in Hanoi. It was mainly just clothes and nothing too exciting but a woman did try to pick pocket my bag! It was sat on my front as well but they’re so sneaky. Luckily Steve saw her open my bag while we were in a big crowd and she disappeared before doing anything more! They’re so clever, I thought I was fine having my bag on my front but clearly need to be a bit more careful! I’ve started walking around with my hand on the zip now or with a lock on.

Overall Hanoi was mental and so busy but really fun to experience and our trip to Halong bay was well worth it.

This blog post turned out to be way longer than planned so I will add Hué (where we have just been) in with the next one. 

Speak soon!