Thailand this year.... and plans for next year!

Just realised I never wrote a last post to sum up my trip to Thailand this summer.....


After the islands we headed back to Bangkok for our last couple of days exploring, we went to the grand palace and went to lumpini park, which I have to say was a major highlight .. considering the size of the geckos wandering around the park! We also did some final shopping and general wandering around Bangkok and of course a final tuk tuk ride (or two). To sum up the trip - I had a really good time, it made me so happy to back in Thailand, but it was not long enough! Currently in the process of working out what to do next summer but I am determined to be away for longer than two weeks this time :) will update when I have some set plans.

kanchanaburi, koh tao and koh phangan

Where to start....lots has happened simce my last post (some good and some not so good). We spent our last day in Kanchanaburi at the Erawan Falls, which were very beautiful. Then it was back to Bangkok so that we could make pur way down to the islands. Unfortunately while waiting in Bangkok to begin our overnight bus journey I began to feel sick. We considered stsyong a night in Bangkok but decided it would be better to get the long journey over and done with. The journey was not ideal as I threw up many times throughout it....! Once we arrived in Koh Tao I was feeling a bit better and thankfully we were staying in a lovely bungalow (at Woodlawn Villas) which was the ideal place to rest up and try to get better. We had a pool here which was a nice luxury! We were staying in the Chalak bay area of Koh Tao but as Koh Tao is quite small we could easily explore other areas too. Although the sickness had stopped I proceeded to get an upset stomach, which lasted most of the time we were in Koh Tao - annoyingly!! We did still manage to have some good times though, such as going on a longtail boat to some other bays where we could snorkell and exploring Sairee beach on our last evening. We are now in Koh Phangan and I am feeling much better. We are staying in another little bungalow and have enjoyed being beach bums today! Our bungalow is right by the beach! We had manicures/pedicures this afternoon too and we have arranged to do a cooking course tomorrow. We are here for 5 nights so can really relax here and get to know the area well.

First few days in Thailand!

Me and Alison have been in Thailand for a couple of days now. Our flight was fine apart from the fact that Alisons bag didn't arrive....! Luckily it arrived yesterday though! Yesterday wwe went to Siam Square and the MBK centre for some shopping in Bangkok. Then we spent the evening on the Khoa San road. Today we travelled to Kanchanaburi which took around 2 hours. Where we are staying here is really nice, we are staying in a cute bungalow. We managed to do quite alot this afternoon. First we had a dip in the pool just behind our bungalow. After that we headed to the bridge over the river kwai, then we went to a war museum, had a wander round some market stalls / shops and then had a foot massage. Kanchanaburi is a bigger town than I expected, although it's quite quiet. Lots of empty bars and restaraunts about. It's nice and relaxing after busy Bangkok though! The river is really pretty too! I've juat had a nice pad thai for dinner and Al had a red thai curry. tomorrow we're hoping to go to the Erawan falls, which is a 7 tiered waterfall. Will try to write again soon!

Thailand

I've booked flights for my trip this summer! After thinking about it for a long time I've decided to just do two weeks in Thailand this summer and then hopefully do a bigger trip somewhere later in the year or next summer. I'm going with my sister this time round, which is exciting as we haven't travelled together since my gap year. Our flights leave on the 30th of June and we return on the 16th of July (in time for my graduation on the 19th of July) so we'll have 15 nights in Thailand. Can't wait to go back!! It doesn't seem that far off either - only 3 months! Our plan at the moment is to start in Bangkok, I don't mind going back there at all as it's huge and there's so much to do there. Then we are going to head to Kanchanaburi (a town 2 hours from Bangkok) for a couple of nights. Then we'll make our way down to Koh Tao and Koh Phangan on a night train or bus. I have been to these islands before but we're going to hopefully go to different parts of the islands to where I went last time. Then we'll head back to Bangkok to fly home. I'll update when I know more details!

End of Morocco

My blog feels a bit neglected as I've been home for a while now and I never wrote a final post for Morocco. The last few days were some of the best! I think just the fact that everyone knew each other really well by then made them so good! After Chefchauen we went to Asilah, a beach town, for two nights. Here we went to 'paradise beach' and had a really nice day..... aside from the mode of transport we used to get there and back. Having been told it would be 'fun' to get a horse and carridge (hardly a carridge more of a plank with nothing to hold on to) we jumped on board. Although I've found animal rides in the past pretty cruel (and scary), I thought it was just me being a vegetarian and having concern over animals, however with this one all members of my group found it very cruel and a pretty uncomfortable journey! It did make for a funny story afterwards though.... We had a final night dinner in Morocco as a group and the next morning we made our way over to Spain, by ferry. Then we got ready for a night out, a much needed one having not been able to get any alcohol for the majority of the trip! We went on a night out in Gibraltar (England abroad) and had a good dance and a laugh, before getting slightly lost and finally finding our way back to the bus, where we were expected to sleep for the night! Slightly uncomfortable but I think the consumed alcohol stopped most people caring. The next day we had lunch and mooched around Gibraltar, before heading home. Was very sad saying goodbye to everyone :( ..... coming on my own actually turned out to be an invaluable experience as I think I probably formed closer friendships with people than I would have done going with friends, it is definitely something I would do again. Character building one might say! Don't get me wrong the first few days were very hard and if you'd asked me then if I was enjoying going by myself I would definitely have said no but after a few days I pretty much stopped feeling like I'd gone by myself, as although it sounds cliche the group felt like 'one big family'. Having a reunion with most people from the trip on the 1st of September so hoping that means I will stay in contact with some of them! Goodbye for now........ will blog again when I have plans of what I'm doing next summer! Hoping for a slightly longer trip next summer, to celebrate finishing university and put off getting a graduate job! I would really like to go back to South East Asia and explore further, going to countries like Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia etc or I may go somewhere completely different.. South America could even be on the cards!

Here are some of my favourite photos from Morocco:

Fez and Chefchaouen

The next day in fez we had a tour around, which took us to one of the tannerys (where they produce lots of leather products) and a 'pharmacy' where there was lots of spices and herbal remedys. Then off we went to chefchaouen, a lovely blue and white town which is definitely one of my favourite places we've been. Yesterday we went shopping and I bought a few bits and pieces. Then today we went to 'paradise' where we had to scramble over lots of rocks leading us to clear water pools. Was pretty hard trekking over the rocks in the heat but it was worth it when we reached the pools. Tomorrow we head to a beach town for 2 nights. Not long left of the trip now!

More of Morocco

After a nice relaxing day by the pool we cooked dinner.. more cous cous and vegetable stew, which we're all pretty bored of by now! Its fun cooking together though and is saving us money. The next day we got back on the bus and headed to the sahara desert! Stopping off for a pizza on the way which we all enjoyed. We got to ride on the top of the bus while riding through the sahara. We chilled at a hotel and cooked for a while and then waited for the camels... At about 11.30pm the camels arrived to take us right in to the heart of the desert. I lost my flip flops along the way.. Although it was definitely an experience I'm not sure I'll be getting on a camel again any time soon, was pretty terrified I was going to get thrown off the whole time! After about half an hour on the camels we got off and settled down for a night of sleeping in the sand dunes, complete with rain and wind which we didn't quite expect in the desert. The next morning we went on to the 'jurassic hotel' a hotel with a pool and a dinosaur out the front. We cooked vegetable stew again. Then last night we camped in monkey forest. Watching a monkey drink orange juice in the morning was a highlight. We were all pretty pleased it was our 6th and last night of cooking vegetable stew. Today we drove to fez where we had a slightly uncultural visit to macdonalds! We're off out now to walk around the medina! :)