The trip to Bangkok was probably the longest leg of my entire trip, thanks to the longest wait at customs that I’ve ever had to endure. My bus left at 8:45am from Siem Reap, so I had to order a tuktuk to take me to the bus terminal. I booked my bus with Giant Ibis again (the only company that I trusted) for $32 USD/$46.33 AUD, and they supplied each of us with a coffee, water, and biscuit when we got on the bus. We arrived at the border just before noon, so they stopped at the casino for a bathroom break while they took our passports to the Cambodian border. By that point, I was getting hungry since it was lunchtime, and I assumed that we’d get some food soon. We had to walk about 10-15 minutes to the Thailand border, where it was absolute mayhem! After finally figuring out what line we had to stand in, we got arrival/departure forms to fill out, and we stood in the extremely long line.
There wasn’t any air circulation, there were hundreds of people, and it was above 40 degrees with the humidity. There wasn’t a dry shirt in the room – everyone was drenched! After about 45 minutes, someone walked by selling bottles of water. He must have made a lot of money because we all jumped at the opportunity to buy some water (I had stupidly left my water bottle on the bus because I assumed that we’d just be in and out of customs). There were three separate lines, so every 20 minutes or so, we’d move up about 3 metres. Finally after an hour and a half downstairs, we were at the front of the line! However, this was only to move into the area upstairs. At this point, I was already deep in conversation with some of the people around me – two of which were a couple that I happened to meet over a month ago when we took the same boat tour from Cat Ba to Halong Bay – so crazy! We got to the top of the stairs, but there was a small door leading to the next room, so it was like a bottleneck effect, with everyone trying to push through the door. The closer you got to the door, the more you felt people push around you – it was the worst! I finally made it through the door after about 15-20 minutes but then, the couple that I was talking to was a few people ahead of me (and they were separated from each other as well). We could see the booths at the back of the room, but there was a line of hundreds of people zigzagging back and forth through the room. I didn’t really understand why there had been three separate lines downstairs (separating foreigners and locals) since we were all mixed together upstairs. We were stuck upstairs for about three hours, with no access to food, water, or toilets (unless someone in line saved your spot and allowed you to come back). People started getting really aggressive with other people trying to butt in line (including myself). I’d notice some people who JUST got into the room trying to sneak in line on one of the sides, and I’d just tell them that there was no way that they’d be getting into the line. So they gave up. During our time up there, two older men fell (one gashed his forehead on one of the posts), and I think everyone was dying of heat, hunger, and thirst. I didn’t understand how it could be legal to have so many people in a room with no access to anything. I was surrounded by a bunch of people from the Philippines, so we chatted quite a bit and they said that they were shocked how busy it was that day because normally it’s never that busy. I guess with the combination of it being the end of Songkran (Khmer New Year) AND Easter weekend on a Friday, I chose the worst possible day to cross the border. When we finally got to the front of the line (just before 5:30pm), we couldn’t contain our excitement – I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face! After I got through, my first task was to find a toilet, then water and food. Our tour guide was still in line so I knew I had some time. We found our bus and I was SO excited to see that they had “lunch” waiting for us (at nearly 6pm) – we were all starving! I grabbed some money so that I could use the toilet, and then came back to devour my meal. We finally got going again at about 6:30 and an hour later, we stopped at a gas station so we were all able to load up on more snacks (I don’t think the lunch was big enough after not eating for the entire day). We finally got to Bangkok at 10pm, so I walked to my hostel (which took about 15 minutes) and I checked in. This time, I was staying at Born Free Hostel for 200 baht per night ($9.27AUD) in a 12-bed dorm (I paid more to be in a room with air conditioning). It was one of the friendliest hostels that I’ve stayed in – I think because Bangkok is a starting point for so many people, so a lot of people were looking to make new friends at the beginning of their trips. I contemplated getting dinner but I was so exhausted, I decided to just get ready for bed. As I was getting my stuff ready to shower, the door of the room opened and in walked the British couple who I had been standing in line with before. We were shocked that once again, we were crossing paths! I had a shower and went to bed, and luckily many other people were already sleeping so I didn’t have to feel guilty about going to sleep earlier. However, I was woken up at about 1am because one girl decided to FACETIME HER BOYFRIEND (without headphones). As we all listened to their conversation, which escalated into a fight because the boyfriend was out with some girls, someone finally told her that we were all trying to sleep, so she said goodbye and hung up. However, after that, her friend came in and they proceeded to have a full conversation with someone else in the room. I couldn’t believe it! I hadn’t dealt with this very often on my trip, so I was pretty upset about it and wondered if I had chosen the wrong hostel. I finally got back to sleep at about 4am and slept for the rest of the night.
On Saturday morning, I was planning to go to Chatuchak Market to buy a bunch of stuff (and fill up a suitcase to bring home with me). When I finished changing, I bumped into a guy named Connor who had just arrived from the United States the day before, and who would become one of my best friends in Bangkok. He said that him and another guy (from Greece) would be going to the market soon and said that I could join them. I said that I’d get breakfast first and then meet up with them, so I walked to a nearby bakery and got a coffee and some pastries. When I got back to the hostel, we met another girl (from Melbourne) and the four of us decided to go to the market together. I have to say that I was excited to come back to Bangkok because the last time I was there, it was 33 degrees (which seemed deathly to me) but since I had been in 39-degree weather during the past couple of weeks, I would welcome it with open arms. However, I was in for a surprise when the humidex actually brought the temperature up to 49 degrees that weekend! I don’t even know how I ended up surviving… I had gotten used to catching Grab (Uber) everywhere, so I was set on getting a car for the four of us, but everyone else wanted to do it the cheap way and take the bus. We ended up waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the bus to come and then made our way to the market. The market was huge! I didn’t know how we’d be able to find the same stall more than once. However, it was also quite touristy and the prices were a lot higher than what I was used to seeing. Therefore, I ended up holding back quite a bit on the spending, and still didn’t get as much shopping done as I had wanted (but this was also probably because I wasn’t shopping alone). We had lunch at a quite expensive (for the amount of food) outdoor food stall, and then continued exploring the markets until we couldn’t stand the heat any longer. We got on the bus and headed back to the hostel, but on the way, we passed a Dairy Queen and from that moment onward, I had a one-track mind. I wouldn’t keep quiet about Dairy Queen until I finally got some! When we got back to the hostel, we all showered and decided to go out for dinner. I saw a guy sitting in the lobby and asked if he wanted to come join, and he introduced himself as Max (also from the United States), who would end up being my other best friend in Bangkok (he obviously didn’t introduce himself as that). We all went out in search of food, but spent more time walking than eating. We finally decided to get some street food on the street next to Khao San Road, and I got some pad thai. After dinner, we went to the 7-11, where we were able to get beer until midnight. Mike and Simonne had to leave early because they both had planes to catch late that night/early that morning, so that left me, Connor, and Max. We walked back and forth down Khao San Road, which was full of people dancing and having a great time, so it wasn’t hard for us to join in. We didn’t get back until after 2am, and had such a good night!
On Sunday, we decided to do the exact same thing again. I went to get breakfast (with an iced coffee AND a smoothie), and then went back to the hostel, where the boys were waiting for me. We took the bus to the market again, and spent some more time walking around. We also checked out some of the other sections of the market. We went to a (very welcomed) air-conditioned plaza, where we all had lunch, and then we continued to a flea market in a mall, where there was a DAIRY QUEEN! The boys treated me to an ice cream cake since it would be my birthday the next week, and I was so happy that I’d have an ice cream cake for my birthday. However, there was one problem… Because it was so hot outside, we had no choice but to eat as much of the cake as we could in the market. And since Dairy Queen isn’t AS popular in Thailand, they only had two 2-person tables, which we stole as soon as they became available. I think the workers were confused, intrigued, AND impressed when we started digging into the cake right then and there. We asked for a knife, a few cups (they gave us their smallest ones), and a few spoons, and we each ate a quarter of the cake.
We saw two guys standing in line so Connor ran over to offer them the rest of the cake, and they ended up being from Canada and were very excited to have some ice cream cake. The market was closing soon, so we made our way through the pet part of the market, which was quite sad since most of the animals looked dead because it was the only way they could cool off. I questioned if any of them were ACTUALLY dead multiple times, but Connor assured me that they were just sleeping.
I didn’t do as much shopping that day but instead helped the boys buy some clothes to go out in that night. We went back to the hostel to shower and then I still had to pick up my drumsticks, so we all took a Grab to Hard Rock Cafe, I bought my drumsticks, and then we walked around for quite awhile, searching for food. It was already past 10pm by that point, we were all starving, and everything seemed closed so we took another Grab back to Khao San Road, got some kebabs, and had another night walking the streets.
We ended up sitting ourselves down, where we met up with some more people until the place closed down. We then got ourselves in a weird situation, where one of the spa owners came up to us with two Canadian passports, so we found them on Facebook and wrote them. However, some other Thai people got involved and said they’d take the passports back (including a random tuktuk driver on the street), which seemed really sketchy. We said it was okay, that we’d take the passports back to our hostel, and that we had already messaged them about it. But then everyone else got super aggressive and started yelling at us for the passports, taking pictures of us, and saying they’d call the police on us. The passports ended up going to the local police department on the corner, so we just wrote the people telling them that they would be there. We then made our way back to the hostel.
My flight was on Monday at 3:15pm so I slept in a bit, packed up my stuff (which got considerably heavier!), and Connor and Max walked me to the bus stop. I was so sad to say goodbye to these guys, as we had gotten so close during the past couple of days. Their trips were just beginning and mine was finished, but it was the perfect end to my trip. I was going to miss my wolfpack!
I got to the airport at 1:15 to check-in, and I had finally paid to check in a bag (which cost me $80!). Once I got through security, I decided to get some food since I hadn’t eaten yet and as I sat down to eat, I got an email saying my flight had been rescheduled for 4:35pm. Then about 45 minutes later, I got another email saying it had been rescheduled to 5:30pm. Then, the departure screen said that it would be leaving at 6pm. I started feeling nervous because that meant I wouldn’t arrive in Kuala Lumpur until 9pm and I had another flight at 10:30pm. Any later and I definitely wouldn’t make it. While I was waiting for my flight, I was going through my Facebook and noticed that Rebekka (a Canadian girl living in Melbourne, who I met briefly in Ho Chi Minh) was IN Kuala Lumpur for the day and would be going to Melbourne that night. I wrote her and asked what flight she’d be on, and she said the same one as me! Life is full of coincidences… So I finally boarded my flight and when I landed in Kuala Lumpur, I had to speed walk for about 15-20 minutes through security and to the other side of the airport. By the time I arrived at my gate, they had already started boarding so I ran to go to the bathroom, get some water, and stand in line. The 8-hour flight was long and I don’t think I got any sleep.
We arrived in Melbourne at 8:20am the next morning in Avalon airport, where they had customs officials who actually grilled us hard (the first time I came to Australia, I didn’t talk to a single person). I got my bag, got a ticket for the Skybus, and waited for the bus to leave. Rebekka showed up and sat next to me so we chatted for the hour-long ride into the city and then went for breakfast at Southern Cross because we were both starving. She went back home, but I was so exhausted so I sat and relaxed for a bit and then made my way to Jess and Vic’s house, because they graciously allowed me to stay with them for a few days until I found a place of my own. However, I’ll save that story for another post. Love always
On the morning of my trip into Laos, I got up at 4:45 (after having less than 5 hours of sleep), packed up my stuff, and went downstairs for breakfast. I only took two pancakes and two bananas, but as soon as I took the first bite of a pancake, I started heating up and felt like I was going to throw up again. I kept forcing myself to eat because I didn’t want to be rude, especially since the hostel owner had gotten up at 5am to prepare everything for me. It was definitely a struggle, and I had to keep taking bites with coffee just so that I could get it down. We left at about 5:50 and the hostel owner drove me to the bus station so that I could catch the first bus to the Laos border at 6am. She gave me a big hug and sent me on my way – she was so sweet! I got on the bus, which only had one empty seat left (it seemed like there was a big group of people travelling together), and paid 100 baht ($4.36) for my trip to the border (just outside the city of Chiang Khong). The process was actually a lot more straightforward than what I was expecting! The price of that bus is actually 65 baht per person, but then they normally drop us off at a tuk tuk station and we would have to pay for a tuk tuk to go the rest of the way to the border. Because there were so many of us in the bus, they just charged us 100 baht each and took us straight to the border, which saved us one step. When we got to the border, we had to use our departure cards to leave Thailand (which they give you with your arrival card when you get INTO Thailand, so it’s important to keep it safe). Lucky for me, most of the people had lost their departure cards and therefore had to fill out new ones, so I was able to go straight to custom control without a lineup. Then I had to pay to take a bus across Friendship Bridge, which would bring me to Laos customs. The ticket only cost 25 baht ($1.09) and then the stand also exchanged Thai baht into Lao kip. However, normally the ticket is 20 baht but because it was before 8:30 (and therefore outside of office hours), I had to pay 5 baht extra.
us to pay for the visa in order to get our passports back. As a Canadian citizen, I had to pay $43 US ($58.86AUD) so I gave $103 and got three 20s back. I then took those 20s to the currency exchange so that I could get more kip, because I realised that I’d use all of the kip I had to buy my boat ticket. I stood in line, finally got to the front, and she said that she wouldn’t take my money because there was a stamp on it. I was so mad because I had already stood in line for awhile, plus I was tired and still feeling sick, and I tried to explain that I had gotten the bills from the visa booth. She told me to go back there and return when I had new 20’s. Livid, I walked back to the visa counter and cut in front of the extremely long line to explain, and the man easily exchanged my bills. I went back to the currency exchange, waited in line once again, and she REALLY examined the bills. She pointed out a crease down the middle of one of the bills and said that she’d only exchange two of the 20s. Whatever. I couldn’t be bothered anymore – I was too sick and too tired to care (Note: the currency exchange in Luang Prabang exchanged this bill easily.. this lady was just being difficult). I got my money and went to the ticket booth to buy my ticket for the slow boat. There are two options to get into Laos – the first is to take a bus and the second is to take a slow boat (which is two 7-8 hour days). I had been trying to book a ticket beforehand so that I’d have proof that I’d be leaving Thailand but when I asked a company about it (Mekong Smile Cruises), they quoted me $700USD because as of March 1st, it was “low season” so if 6 people joined, they’d lower the price down to $130 per person! I said absolutely not, and decided that I’d just play it by ear when I got there. I’m extremely glad I made that decision as well because I was able to do it A LOT cheaper on my own (about $28USD!). I had read that the boat left at either 10:30 or 11, but was surprised to see the sign that said it left at 11:30.
would cost 210,000 kip ($34.57). However, even though the signs said 210,000, they charged me 270,000 kip ($43.47) to include the tuktuk. I knew that this was a legitimate charge because I read that you have to take a tuktuk to the Thailand border, a bus across the bridge to the Laos border, then a tuktuk to the slowboat. I paid and then they gave me a badge to wear around my neck, which I would later exchange for the boat ticket.
only opportunity to buy food and water for the day (luck was on my side!). They also said that we could book accommodation and buy SIM cards if we wanted. It almost seemed like a tour company because they were only selling rooms for one type of accommodation, so I went on my phone and found my own place. Before my trip, I was told not to book anything in advance and instead walk past all of the people when I arrive, tell them I have a reservation, and then just show up to a hotel because they would charge you a lot less. However, I still wasn’t feeling very well and just wanted a piece of mind that I’d have a room with a bed and bathroom when I arrived. I honestly wasn’t even sure if spending 7.5 hours on a boat that day was a smart idea, but I just wanted to get to Luang Prabang because I’d have four nights there and could find a clinic if I needed. I booked a room on Agoda at BKC Villa 2 with my own queen-sized bed, a river view, and my own bathroom for a whopping $17.90, which was cheaper than some of the dorm rooms I stayed at in Taiwan, and almost half the amount of staying in a dorm room in Australia! After booking my room, I found some water and soup crackers for 20,000 kip ($3.22), as well as a sandwich for 15,000 kip ($2.42) in hopes that I’d eventually want to eat it. Just before 10:30, they drove us to the slow boat, where we had to wait to get our tickets, and then could board the boat. They said that day, we only needed to SHOW our tickets to the driver because we’d need to keep the tickets for tomorrow or we wouldn’t be able to get onto that boat.
up, with a set of three seats on both sides. They were actually wooden benches (which looked like pews) with cushions on each spot, and papers with numbers on each cushion. We all had numbers on our tickets, and I was assigned to a middle seat but luckily a couple wanted to sit together, so I traded and got an aisle seat.
bunch of kids crowded around and kept pointing to my bag. I wasn’t sure if they were asking for food, or offering to carry it for me, but I just kept saying no since it was the only water and food I had. I saw a sign for my accommodation held by a boy who wouldn’t have been older than 12, so he walked me to where the guesthouse was, which was only about three minutes up the hill and was likely the first hotel on the road, which was nice! They didn’t even ask for my passport or my name when I got there – they just gave me a key and pointed to my room.
Luang Prabang until about 4pm, so we were in for another long boat ride. I got to the boat at about 10 minutes to 9 and by that time, half of the boat was already full. The full part of the boat had tables, so all that was left in the back of the boat were seats that literally seemed to be taken out of multiple cars (and therefore reclined!), so they were set up two by two down the middle of the boat and along the sides. I grabbed one of the seats along the side right before the huge 10+ group of British people (who spent the entire boatride drinking the day before) came and took all of the remaining seats. Unlike the day before, there wasn’t any room to spread out so I was confined to my one seat and the girl beside me seemed to take not only her own part of the seat but also part of mine (for no reason other than not seeming to realise that there were two separate seats). Anyway, I just put my earphones in to tune everything out, and kept myself busy for the next seven hours.
Again, it went by quite fast and we arrived in Luang Prabang at about 4:30pm. They dropped us off quite far out of the city so we had to grab all of our stuff, go up a whole bunch of stairs to get to the road, and pay 20,000 kip ($3.22) per person to get a tuktuk to the city centre, which was about 10 kilometres away. Luckily, I got on one of the first ones (since the majority of the people who were on the boat seemed to be travelling with tour groups, so they had to get sorted out first) so I arrived in the city centre just after 5pm. However, I’ll save Luang Prabang for another post. Love always
Chiang Rai was when I finally got sick with something… I’m still not exactly sure what it was, but may have been a combination of carsickness, food poisoning, and overheating. Once again, I booked my bus tickets on 12Go, and I had to go back through Chiang Mai in order to get to Chiang Rai. I had read reviews that some people’s first bus ended up arriving late so they missed their second bus. Therefore, I wanted to leave ample time between my two buses so that it wouldn’t end up happening to me. I booked my first bus for 8am, which was scheduled to arrive at noon, and cost 215 baht ($10.05). I booked my second bus for 2:15pm to arrive in Chiang Rai at 5:50pm for 289 baht ($12.61AUD). On Friday morning, I got up at 6:30, got ready, packed up, took a quick look at the sunrise, and started my walk to the bus station so that I could get there 30 minutes in advance.
Anyway, I took the advice of some people and didn’t eat anything beforehand because apparently it makes you more sick on the car ride. Another girl had said that she bought motion sickness tablets halfway through her trip, and they ended up not working and just made her drowsy. I had bought motion sickness tablets, but I didn’t want to risk feeling drowsy all day so I decided not to take them. Maybe it was the wrong choice though… We started the journey back to Chiang Mai and once again, I was in the back seat, leaning all over the place. At one point, my bag of food came loose from under the seat so many people (including myself) just spent the next 20 minutes watching my bag roll from the left side of the vehicle to the right side of the vehicle and back. At the halfway point, I decided to get some coffee but still decided not to get food. I wasn’t feeling too great and was now understanding how people who get carsick feel. We got to Chiang Mai an hour earlier than scheduled (at 11), so I went to check in to my next bus and asked if it would be possible to get on an earlier bus, but the lady said that they were all full. Therefore, I had about three hours to kill. I found a restaurant called Black Coffee Smile, and decided I needed to force myself to eat something. I still wasn’t feeling well, but I hadn’t eaten all day and by that time, it was 11:30. I ordered a cashew chicken with rice and a coke.
each morning to make breakfast for everyone who’d be travelling to Laos. I also really liked the set-up of this hostel because there was a huge shared shower and toilet room (rather than having only 2 or 3 separate bathrooms), and even though the room was 16 beds, each bed got their own pod so you still got lots of privacy. The hostel owner asked if I wanted to go to the night market and said we’d leave at 6:50 (in a half hour). I said sure but as I was preparing my things, I started questioning whether it would be a good idea for me to go. I felt like I’d feel better if I threw up, but I really hate that feeling so I didn’t let it happen. I went to the night market with a girl from Finland and a guy from kind of all over the place. The hostel owner stopped at the clock tower, which does a light show for 7 minutes every night at 7pm.
dollars, and THEN exchange the dollars into Laos Kip when I got to Laos because I’d lose less money that way. This actually surprised me because I assumed I’d lose less money by changing baht into kip directly. Paulina and I walked about 15 minutes to a currency exchange place so I could change all of my money, and then we continued another 20 minutes to the bus station. We found a big sign that said ‘White Temple’ and saw that the bus was supposed to leave in 4 minutes (good timing!). We got on, paid 20 baht (88 cents), and arrived at the White Temple about 20 minutes later. We had to pay 50 baht ($2.18) for entry, and it was extremely crowded when we got there!! Online, there are so many pictures of people alone with no one around, and I have no idea how they would have managed to get a picture like that unless it was Photoshopped. The White Temple is extremely unique because the person who designed it added a bunch of random features, such as heads hanging from trees, or a bunch of hands coming out of the ground.
glad that I was with Paulina because she had read that there were cartoons inside (and I totally wouldn’t have noticed them if I wasn’t with her). As soon as you walk in (almost behind the doors), there are random characters added into the painting such as Spiderman, Harry Potter, Angry Birds, Michael Jackson, Sailor Moon, etc. It was really entertaining trying to find them all! We walked around the grounds for awhile and then decided to go back into the city to get lunch.
time we decided to leave, I think both of us were fine with just finding another cafe to relax in. We found another cafe, and stayed for another two hours there. This was another situation where we clicked so well, and talked about anything and everything – we had so many conversations that I’ve never had on my entire trip (many conversations tend to get quite repetitive). We decided to walk back to the hostel to reorganise so that we could come back for the Saturday night market, which was supposed to be much larger than the regular night market (it went for 2 kilometres!). The hostel owner drove us (me, Paulina, and a guy from the US) to the night market at 7pm. We walked along the length of the market, and then walked back to where the “food court” was. In the middle of the food court was a dance floor, where we were surprised to see so many people all doing the same dance moves. However, most people didn’t
really look like they were enjoying themselves and were doing the moves robotically, so it was more comical to watch. We walked around looking for somewhere to eat, but I wanted to make sure I could get something that I could actually SEE being cooked. The problem with many of these food stalls is that most of the stuff is just sitting there – the sushi, the cooked sausages and skewers, the noodle dishes, and I can’t help but question how long it had been sitting there. Finally, we found a stand that was actually cooking their food, and their dish was oyster omelette. I’ve read great things about oyster omelette, so I decided that it was finally time to give it a try. However, this oyster omelette was definitely made with mussels, and I’m not sure if there were even any oysters in it. Paulina ordered first, and she got the more-cooked selection. Then I ordered and they gave me some of the less-brown selection. We all found a place to sit in
an area where they had a bunch of mats and small coffee tables, so we took off our shoes to go on the mat and then sat around one of the tables. I tried one of the mussels but it was a bit too chewy for my liking (I’m very picky with my seafood and the way that it’s cooked), so I put them all aside. We sat there for quite awhile and enjoyed people-watching all of the dancers in the middle of the food court. Then at 9, Paulina and I decided to walk back to the hostel because I had to get up at 4:45. However, when we were walking back, I suddenly started overheating and I felt like I was going to throw up again. It was bizarre because I had eaten two meals that day and felt fine, and all of a sudden, that familiar feeling was back. Right before we got to the hostel, Paulina asked if I wanted to go into the grocery store to get some food for tomorrow (because I’d be on a 7.5-hour boat ride with no food) and we stepped in. After 30 seconds, I said I couldn’t stay and I needed to go back to the hostel. We went back so I could sit down, and I was feeling like crap for at least a half hour. I was so close to going to the bathroom so that I could throw up. It was nice that Paulina sat and chatted with me to keep my mind off of everything, and we actually ended up talking until nearly midnight. I felt much better by that point, so I got ready for bed and decided I’d deal with the lack of food the next day. Love always
Going to Pai (pronounced Pie, mmmm) was a bit more of a bumpy ride (literally)… I had booked my return ticket online on 12Go because I heard that the buses filled up fast. My bus wasn’t leaving until 11:30am but I decided to leave the hostel at 9:45 in hopes of catching the bus to the bus station at 10am. The hostel owner in Chiang Mai told me to walk to the second bridge, which would take less than 10 minutes. I saw a bus cross the bridge before 10am, which ended up being the one I should have taken, but I didn’t know at the time. There were a set of seats with a Thai sign right in front of the bridge, so I stood there for awhile before questioning whether I was in the right place. I decided to cross the street of the bridge and then further down the street, I saw a sign that said “Bus Stop.” By that point, I realised that I had missed the 10am bus so I found a spot in the shade to wait for the 10:30 bus. At about 10:25, I saw the bus coming down the bridge so I ran to the stop and waved it down. The trip only cost me 20 baht (87 cents AUD) and took less than ten minutes to get to the station. I checked in because I wasn’t able to print out my ticket and therefore had to get one at the counter. All she did was
just take a piece of paper, write my seat, bus number and time, and tell me to give it to the driver. I decided to find a cafe to get a coffee and then stopped at the 7-Eleven to grab some snacks/breakfast for my 3-hour busride. My bus cost me 215 baht ($10.05) each way, which was a bit more than the 200 baht offered around the city. I got on the bus (which was a 14-passenger van) and I was in the very back. After about 45 minutes, we got off of the main highway and started the twistiest turns I’ve ever experienced. I was warned about this on multiple blogs, but I was NOT expecting the driver to continue doing all of the turns at full speed! We’d lean left to right, back and forth, forward and backward until the driver finally stopped in a small town called Ban Mae Lao, where we got a 20-minute break (thank goodness!). I was trying to decide whether missing breakfast was a good or bad idea because once again, I started to feel a bit car sick. We all got back into the car and had one horrible hour to go. I swear I got nervous every time I heard a plastic bag crinkle because I knew that if someone ended up getting sick in the car, I’d probably be right there with them. I also noticed how the three of us in the back were leaning back and forth much more than the rest of the people in the vehicle, so I definitely wasn’t lucky when it
came to my seating assignment. I arrived in Pai at 2:30 and headed towards my hostel, which was about a 15-20 minute walk outside of the city. Once again, I was questioning why I had chosen a hostel so far away from everything. However, once I arrived, I completely understood why. It was a treehouse-type hostel, with a beautiful common area overlooking the river and hills.
No to Plastic Bags” everywhere (yet they still continue serving their street food in plastic), and I even saw a sign for kombucha. And in Pai, you definitely notice a bit more hippie clothes and a bit more dreadlocks. Thailand definitely knows what they’re doing, so I give them props! I headed back to the hostel and met Marlot, who’s from the Netherlands and is new into her trip. We talked for quite awhile and seemed to click right away. She had just road a motorbike to Pai with a Canadian couple who ended up crashing, and it sounded
pretty traumatising! Even though there are many places that I regret not being able to ride a motorbike (Pai included), I’m still glad that I didn’t start “learning” in Southeast Asia as I’m not sure how well it would have worked out. Marlot was going back into the city but I decided to stay back because I had already done a lot of walking. I ended up passing out by 10:30 that night and had one of the best sleeps!
minimum of 1000 baht/$43.63 if you visit). I would be picked up at the market at 1pm, which was about a 30-minute walk from my hostel. I stopped at a restaurant for lunch called Easy Cafe, which was actually run by a British lady whose husband was Thai, so all of her British friends were there having lunch together at one table. Once I saw French Toast on the menu, I was sold! I got that with a fruit salad and yogurt with honey, as well as a smoothie for 140 baht ($6.11) and it was absolutely delicious!
area for people waiting to go to CNF. The lady reminded us that we’d have to pay a minimum of 1000 baht (I guess they’ve had problems with people not knowing this in the past) and then our ride showed up, which was a pick-up truck. Three people went into the actual truck and then six of us were
crowded around the back – I definitely hadn’t sat in the back of a pick-up truck in ages! The trip to the farm was about 30 minutesand then we met up with four other people so our group was 13 people. We were started with an introduction by Wes, who was actually from the United States but had been working in Thailand for the past 2.5 years in reforestation management. He shared how Thailand’s logging industry ended up booming and within 100 years, they lost 70% of their forests. Then in the 80s, the country suffered a large amount of landslides because there weren’t enough trees holding everything into place. Therefore in 1989, the government banned logging and a whole bunch of loggers and elephants were left without jobs. That was when they moved elephants into the tourism industry, where many
were/are mistreated and used for elephant rides (Note: Elephant backs are NOT made to carry the weight of humans, and elephant rides should never be taken, no matter how nice the picture might look on your Instagram!!). The work of the CNF is to fix what was broken, and one of the main things they do is plant trees. Wes is in charge of deciding where new trees should be planted in Thailand, what combination of trees should be planted together, and making sure the different layers of the forest grow properly (starting with the canopy layer) so that it will be able to sustain itself after a few years. The good thing is that the trees they plant won’t be cut down again since it’s illegal, so their work won’t be for nothing. Their goal is to plant 250,000 trees this year and they hope to reach 1 million trees within the next few years. They also have one elephant that they rescued from the tourism industry, and their goal with any elephants (and tortoises) they have (they usually only have one or two elephants at a time because they’re very expensive to buy) is to eventually release them back into the wild. Apparently there are only 6000 elephants left in Thailand, and 4500 are still in captivity, so they are trying to reintroduce them into the wild one at a time. In order to do this, they have to go through a long process of teaching the elephants how to fend for themselves – how to wash themselves, clean out their eyes, find food, practice self-care, etc. We first went to the tortoise area, where they have two types of endangered species. The turtles were pretty hard to find, as they usually find a shady spot to relax in.
with us, we would let her and if she didn’t, we’d leave her alone. Only two people should be around her at one time (and in our case, we only went one at a time). He said that she was quite hormonal, so we wanted to respect what she wanted and she was only allowed to spend a maximum of 90 minutes with people each day. He also had to remind us that elephants don’t express affection the same way that we do so petting, hugging, kissing, etc. was unnecessary. We would all get a chance to feed her, and then we could watch from a distance. We had to walk through a stream/river to get to where she was and within 30 seconds, she was right there!
gin and tonics) and helped herself to the entire basket of passionfruit. It was quite entertaining to watch – she definitely has a personality! You could see her left side bulging out and sometimes, you could even see it move, which was so cool! Wes said that she normally would eat 200kg of food per day but now that she was pregnant, she was eating about 40kg more. They said that it’ll take three years to ween the baby off of the mother’s milk, and then they can reintroduce them back into the wild (so the process was prolonged a bit due to Kamee being pregnant). Kamee also has two mahouts that are with her 24/7, and who help her learn how to live in the wild.
inspired after my day, and it got me seriously considering other careers because I feel like I would really enjoy being a part of a project similar to this anywhere else in the word. It made me realise that I can use my biology degree in other ways! So I might have to look at that in the future… They dropped us off at the market again and I decided to walk to the White Buddha, which can be seen from all around the city since it’s up in the hills and is supposed to have a great view of the sunset. The walk was about 45-50 minutes but after about a half hour, I was starting the incline up the hill (which I’d have to do for the next 15 minutes) and less than two minutes later, a man stopped beside me on his motorbike, asked if I was going to see the sunset, and told me to hop on. Normally, I’d say no and continue on my way but I really wasn’t looking forward to walking uphill for 15 minutes and THEN having to do a whole bunch of stairs, so I hopped on. Less than 2 minutes later, we were there! I took out my sarong and light cardigan to cover up, and started the stairs up to the Buddha. I’m so glad I accepted the ride because even though my phone said that sunset was at 6:30pm, it definitely started shortly after 6pm so I would have ended up missing it. It was really pretty, especially seeing the entire city below us, and I ended up talking to a couple of girls afterwards for awhile.
I then started the walk back into the city and at 7, I met up with Marlot so that we could get dinner on Walking Street. I had noticed a taco stand the day before and decided I needed to try it. We each got taco bowls for 60 baht ($2.62) but the weird thing about them was that our sauce options were sweet chili, mayonnaise, or spicy ketchup. Marlot was going to a festival at 9pm, so we were walking towards the end of Walking Street when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and it was Abbey, the girl who took the night train with me to Chiang Mai! The three of us checked out a few shops together before Marlot had to leave, and then Abbey and I found a restaurant to get smoothies and catch up on the past few days. It’s nice how seeing a familiar face is such a good feeling, even though we had been strangers less than a week ago! Travelling does that to you
though, and I love it! The restaurant ended up closing so we said our goodbyes (and possibly our see you laters – you never know!) and I headed back to my hostel. I had an early morning to catch the 8am bus, so I had to call it an early night. When I got back to the hostel, I went to grab my towel and then noticed that the EXACT towel was two towels down from what I thought was mine. I then spent a bunch of time questioning which one was mine, and even asked everyone who I could find if they had the same towel (no one did). One of the tags said KMart Australia while one just said KMart, so I took the Australia one and hoped I made the right choice! Hopefully I can wash it soon but until then, I’m backpacking so my expectations are never too high 😛 Love always
It actually felt a bit cold when we got off the train in Chiang Mai (pronounced Chung My) at 7:15 Sunday morning. I had looked up a Grab and it said that it would cost 60 baht to get to my hostel. However, as soon as we stepped outside of the station, there were SO many people trying to get us to take a taxi with them (they must prepare for this moment everyday). Abbey had heard about red taxis being cheap and when approached by one, we asked how much it would be and they said 50 baht per person ($2.18AUD). I decided to come along, and she led us to the red taxi (which was a songthaew), which already had about 8 people in it. We squished in with our bags and they dropped me off first. They missed the turn though, so I still ended up having to walk a bit to get to my hostel. I was staying at Mapping Hostel for 99 baht/night ($4.41) in a 6-bed mixed dorm! The price was so low, but it was also located about a 30-minute walk away from the city centre. However, it was extremely quiet and was on the edge of the river, so it had a really relaxing vibe to it. It even had some tents set up next to the river! I obviously wasn’t able to check in because it was before 8am, so I paid 20 baht (89 cents) for a coffee, and found a place to sit next to the river.
other things to do in Chiang Mai. I found a self-guided walking tour, so I wrote Abbey and we made plans to meet at the front gate at 10:30. We decided to first go for an early lunch since I still hadn’t eaten any breakfast. Many places still weren’t open, but we ended up going to a restaurant called Cooking Love, which was rated really high when I looked up “Cheap Eats Near Me” on Google. We decided to try the Khao Soi, which is a northern Thailand specialty. It’s a yellow curry noodle soup that’s topped with dry (crunchy) noodles, and it was absolutely delicious!
The zodiac signs were really popular here, and they often had all of the animals on the temple grounds. All of the temples were spectacularly shiny, and I couldn’t capture it at all in the pictures, so everyone might just have to go and see them for themselves! We started at the Three King’s Monument, which shows the three men who built Chiang Mai in the late 1200’s. We then headed to Wat Hua Kuang, which was beautifully adorned with gold.
We walked to the White Elephant Gate and Wat Kun Kha Ma (Golden Horse Temple). Then headed to Wat Rajamontean (Dragon Temple), which was another really beautiful and shiny temple.
We sat in the shade for awhile because the heat started getting to us, and then we continued on our way to House of Success, a hotel that was built in 1993 but was vacant for 20 years because it had bad feng shui. It was just opened in 2017 so it is a relatively new building in the city.
By the time we finished our tour, it was 4pm, which was when the Sunday Night Market was supposed to begin. We decided to get another cold drink (they’re vital in this kind of heat!) while we waited for everyone to finish setting up for the market. By this time, both of us were starting to lose energy from our lack of sleep on the overnight train (and likely because we had also been up walking around for over four hours) so I got an iced coffee in hopes that it would wake me up. At 5pm, we decided to check out the Sunday Night Market. It only happens in Chiang Mai once a week and the stalls go down the street for over a kilometre, so there’s lots to see! A lot of it is handmade and local, unlike many of the tacky stalls that you see in many other markets. I quickly started
feeling lightheaded so I got steak on a stick for 50 baht ($2.18) and then just enjoyed looking at all of the unique things to buy.
We walked to the nearby market (Sompet Market) to see some of the spices that we would be using. Nune gave us 20 minutes to look around on our own, and then we headed back to the school. Our first dish that we could make was a noodle dish and I decided to go with the classic Pad Thai (because you can’t NOT make Pad Thai while at a cooking school in Thailand!). This was probably the most difficult dish to make because you had to work quickly so that your noodles and eggs wouldn’t get mushy. We started at the cutting boards, where she would tell the Pad Thai people what to cut up, and do the same for the other two dishes. Then we all went to our own wok and stove, where she first did a demonstration, and then told us what to do step by step.
The last two things we had to make were 1) the curry paste, which would then be used to make 2) the curry. I was going to make a Massaman curry until I tried the Khao Soi the day before, so I decided to make Khao Soi instead. To make Khao Soi, we had to make a red curry paste, so we first had to cut all of the ingredients into tiny pieces and then use a mortar and pestle to mash everything up.
one of the couples were French and didn’t speak a lot of English so I ended up having to translate some stuff for them. Words were easily coming out of my brain that I didn’t even know were still in there! It was reassuring because I had so much difficulty remembering French before, but I think it was because I was always under pressure or felt judged. This way took all of the pressure off, so it was a lot easier. We were given a half hour break so I walked around for a bit. Then we only had two dishes left to make: salad and dessert. We started by making dessert and I chose mango sticky rice. Then we made the salad, which for me was papaya salad. Again, we had to use a mortar and pestle to mash up all of the ingredients. We got to eat the two dishes at the end, but I was so full!
However, finding all of the ingredients might be a different story… I got dropped off at the hostel, did my laundry, and relaxed for a couple hours before walking to a different night market. I went to a restaurant called Kat’s Kitchen, which was completely full and already had a line-up out the front. I only had to wait about ten minutes, and luckily was seated because the line kept getting longer and longer. I ordered a Massaman curry with rice, and a melon smoothie for 115 baht ($5.02). The food was a bit of a wait because all dishes were individually made by Kat, but it was definitely worth the wait! The only thing that I didn’t like about this restaurant was the locals knew how busy it was, so people kept coming to the tables trying to sell things, or giving out flyers.
information centre on the way and they told me I could get a taxi from either Sompet Market or from North Gate and it should cost 50 baht. I walked towards Sompet Market (which was likely about a 40-minute walk total) and when I got there, the guy said that I’d have to wait for other people to join because he wouldn’t take just me. He said that I’d probably have better luck at North Gate, and his friend offered to take me there for 50 baht. Nope, I’m good! “But it’s 2 kilometres, you’re going to walk that whole
way?” Yup, I was planning on it! It was actually only 1 kilometre (15 minutes) away but as usual, they were trying to use scare tactics to try to persuade me to buy. After about five minutes, another red taxi pulled over beside me and I asked for Doi Suthep. She replied 500 baht.. What?! Absolutely not! But then she started saying 50 baht and then 40, and I don’t know how I logically thought that she meant she’d charge that to go to Doi Suthep. It’s probably because she kept saying “Doi Suthep – 40
baht.” So I got in and she ended up dropping me off pretty much across the street, where the North Gate was (I could have easily walked there in less than 10 minutes). I took out 40 baht and she said, “No, 50 baht. Doi Suthep – 40 baht” (even though there’s a sign there that clearly says Doi Suthep – 60 baht). By that point, I was just angry so I took out 50 baht, gave it to her, and went to the sign. There were five people already waiting but they wouldn’t leave until we had 10 people. They were charging 60 baht each way, so 120 baht total ($5.24). (By the way, I know I sound like a Scrooge when I keep saying that I had to pay extra, when it’s really only 50 cents more, but that’s the mentality that you get into while you’re here. Anything more than 100 baht seems too expensive!). After about 10-15 minutes, we had nine people so they said that we could go. We got in the back of the songthaew (with everyone sitting on the side benches) and got on our way. This was the first time in my life where I actually started to feel car sick. There were twists and turns the entire way to the temple, and they didn’t slow down so we were leaning back and forth the whole way up. Looking at everyone’s faces, I think everyone was feeling pretty sick. We got there at 3:30 and the lady said “Come back at 5, and you pay when we get back.” I was still in a bad mood from getting ripped off twice and only getting an hour and a half to explore, which wouldn’t give me enough time to try any of the hiking trails. The devil in me was contemplating not showing up at 5 and likely saving money because I’d only have to pay for the way back. However, I just couldn’t do it (good thing I have a conscience) and I decided I’d just go back at 5. Honestly, I wasn’t impressed with Doi Suthep at all. Maybe it was my already bad mood, but I think it was because I had already seen much nicer temples. I had to pay 30 baht ($1.31) to enter, but it was so loaded with tourists, so I didn’t spend much time there.
5pm to hit. Surprisingly, everyone except one person came back at 5pm (which our driver seemed pretty upset about) but then they found two MORE people so we were even more squished in the back this time. I was towards the front so it wasn’t as bad as sitting in the back, but I still couldn’t believe how they did those turns! I started walking back towards the hostel and found a restaurant called Lucky Too, where I ordered a Khao Soi and banana smoothie for 100 baht ($4.36). This one was alright, but I think the one I
made was better. I then spent quite a bit of time checking out the night market and then went back to my hostel to order my bus to Pai for the next day. There were signs that said 200 baht all over town, including in my hostel, but then when I asked the hostel owner, he said that they don’t do trips anymore. I didn’t really understand why but it sounded like the company that they worked with hadn’t been reliable. He said that I could book it on my own – I’d just have to get to the bus station, so he told me what I’d have to do the next morning. And that’s exactly what I did on Wednesday! Love always
My train from Bangkok to Ayutthaya left on Saturday at 12:55pm, and it only cost me 15 baht (65 cents AUD)! I went to the platform and found a seat in an already hot car. The train ride was only an hour and a half long, but it didn’t have any air-conditioning and we were heading to a city where the “feels like” temperature was 39 degrees. Needless to say, I was sweating like a pig and I was actually scared to get off of my seat because I knew it would be wet. I tried to open the window beside me and couldn’t, then two other people tried to help me and they couldn’t either. Now I know why I was able to find an empty seat so easily… I got to Ayutthaya at 2:30 and was planning to spend the day exploring the temples until my train to Chiang Mai at 7:45pm. I started questioning whether I had left too late when I started talking to another girl who said all of the temples closed at 6pm. Honestly though, I don’t think I could have went any longer with the temperature outside! I found a luggage storage at the station, which was open 24 hours and
only cost 10 baht per bag (44 cents). Ayutthaya was the capital of the Kingdom of Siam, was founded in 1350, and the city is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The railway station is quite far from the city centre so I went to the information booth to ask how to get to the temples. The lady said that I could rent a bike, so I asked how long it would take and she said 30 minutes. There was no way I was going to bike 30 minutes in 39-degree weather. I asked how much the tuk-tuks would be and she said at least 200 baht ($8.93). I asked if there was a bus and she said no. She didn’t seem too keen on helping me out so I left. I went on the Grab app and I could get a car for 87 baht ($3.80) and since I didn’t have lunch yet, I asked it to take me to Malakor Cafe & Restaurant. While I was waiting for my Grab driver to come, a songthaew pulled up (a Thai type of bus) so I guess I could have tried one of those if the information booth told me about them. I have a sneaking suspicion that Grab is actually illegal in Ayutthaya because there weren’t many drivers (so I had to wait 10-15 minutes for my ride), and then he sped right by me and parked about 100 metres away. The thing with Grab is it automatically translates for you, so if I write my driver in English, it’ll translate to Thai and if he writes me in Thai, it’ll translate to English. He wrote me and said, “Can you come to me? I’m afraid of 3 wheels,” which I took to mean that he’d get in trouble from the tuk-tuk drivers if they saw me going into his car. Anyway, he dropped me off at the restaurant at about 3:15 so by that point, I was starving. I ordered a shrimp pad Thai with a coke, which cost me 125 baht ($5.45), and it was so good!
The last temple that I wanted to go to (Wat Phra Si Sanphet) was about a 20-30 minute walk away, so I slowly walked through the park, which had a lot of random temples within it. I finally got to the temple at about 5:30 and spent about an hour there watching the sunset and just enjoying the tranquility of it all.
that would be. After about ten minutes, I tried again and thankfully, something came up! However, I still had to wait about 15 minutes for him to arrive. I got him to drop me off at the 7-Eleven across from the station so that I could pick up some snacks and water since I didn’t know what would be available on my 12-hour train ride. I went back to the station, got my bag, and waited for the train to arrive. My train ticket was a bit more expensive and cost me 1266 baht ($52.69), but I guess it was a pretty long trip and got me out of having to pay accommodation for a night. As I was about to get on the train, I met my second Australian of the entire trip: Abbey, from outside of Sydney. She ended up getting the bunk on top of mine. We were in a female berth and everyone else had their curtains closed, so we seemed to be the only ones talking. The set-up of the train was pretty cool though!
A lady came around with a menu and when we tried to order the cheapest thing, she said that they didn’t have anymore. Therefore, we ordered the next cheapest thing, which was a meal with questionable soup, rice, juice, and a muffin for 140 baht ($6.11). The lady set up a little table in the middle of my bed and then Abbey and I had dinner together. After dinner, we talked for awhile and then I got ready for bed. The bed was actually really comfy, however I was constantly rolling back and forth because of the motion of the train. We were to arrive at 7:15, so I set an alarm for 6:45. I’m pretty sure I woke up at least once every hour because of the jerks of the train whenever it would stop and start back up again. At about 6:15am, they made an announcement saying that they needed to flip the beds back into seats, so they asked us all to get out of our beds. I guess I didn’t need an alarm after all! I changed and then went to the bathroom to wash my face and when I came back, my bed was back into two seats.
Well since the last time I wrote, I’ve already went to two counties! I got to the Taipei airport three hours before my flight to Kuala Lumpur (at 1:20pm). Surprisingly when I checked in, they didn’t ask for proof of onward travel. They DID, however, ask me to put my bag on the scale. Uh oh… it was the first time that I’ve been asked to weigh my bag and I knew that I’d definitely be over 7kg – I just didn’t know by how much. I hesitantly placed my big bag on the scale (hiding my handbag behind the counter, which had all of my heavy electronics). 8.5kg…. I was expecting the worst, like having to pay $100 per kilogram and waited to hear how much I’d have to pay. “Okay,” she said, and placed my passport and boarding pass on the counter. What? Really? Okay, I’ll take it! I didn’t have to talk to anyone at custom control (so no new stamp on my passport) – all I had to do was scan my fingerprints before being let through the little gate. Security was also pretty smooth so I got through a lot fast than expected. The first thing I did was convert all of my Taiwanese dollars (except 300 for lunch) into US dollars because I’ve been told that you can’t convert them outside of Taiwan. I then went to find some food, but found out that there were only two restaurants on the other side. How were there no restaurants in an airport? One of the restaurants was high-class (with dishes costing way over 300THB), and the other one was middle-priced (with dishes starting from 180THB). I found a cafe and just got a salad and caramel macchiato for 280THB ($12.45), which was a lot more than I was used to spending on a meal.
my sister while eating my meal and waited to check in. The flight was just over 4 hours so I arrived after 5:30pm. I had to take the bus back into Kuala Lumpur, so I followed the signs to the bus. However when I arrived, there were a whole bunch of bus companies selling tickets around Malaysia. I definitely didn’t recognise this area! I walked around for a bit and finally saw a stand that said KL Sentral, so I bought a ticket for 12 ringgit ($3.92AUD) and waited for the bus. The bus ride was an hour long, and then I had to take the metro to where my hostel was. This time, I was staying at Marquee Guest Houzz (which has now changed its name to ZigZag Travellers Home), and I had to pay 23 ringgit ($7.90) for the night in a 6-bed female dorm. I was pretty hungry since it was after 8pm and I was actually really looking forward to having an Indian meal. Conveniently, my hostel was located in the Central Market so there was an Indian restaurant called Yusoof Dan Zakhir right next door. I ordered butter chicken with garlic naan and a tea tarik (milk tea) for 13.50 ringgit ($4.41), and it was delicious! I love my Asian food, no matter what the cuisine!
My six days in Koh Lipe went by way too fast – I was nearly in tears when I had to leave, and that hardly ever happens! The taxi driver (who must work for the hostel) picked me up at my hostel in Langkawi and we made the 20-30 minute drive to the pier. He said that I was lucky because he was about to wash his car so if the hostel owner had called him ten minutes later, he wouldn’t have been able to drive me. We got to the pier and as we walked into the building, the taxi driver said that Koh Lipe was more expensive than Langkawi, which scared me since Langkawi was already expensive as it is. We walked up to a dark office, where there were a bunch of people filling out forms and waiting. The driver asked me for my passport and told me to sit down, then came back with a number for me to wait in the queue. My number was 75, the most recent number was 53, and the ferry was to depart in about an hour. I FaceTimed with my parents while waiting and surprisingly, I was called after two numbers. The man asked if I was coming back to Langkawi and then asked why I didn’t buy my return ticket. I didn’t know how long to stay and because it was 40 dollars each way, I didn’t want to just stay for 2 or 3 nights. I said I’d stay for a week and got a return ticket for the 20th, which cost 118 ringgit ($38.52AUD). He said to be in the waiting room a half hour early (2pm), so I went downstairs and called my parents back. When I told my mom about cutting my foot, she told me to go buy antiseptic because I still
hadn’t properly cleaned it, especially since everywhere in Thailand and Malaysia (even in many convenience or clothing stores) we have to walk barefoot when inside and leave our shoes outside. Just as I hung up with my parents, they made an announcement to line up for the ferry so we could go through customs. I quickly ran to the pharmacy to find antiseptic, came back, and the door was already closed with a gate set up across it! I panicked, walked up to the door (which thankfully opened), and snuck around the belted gate to go to customs (so no one actually took my ticket). After going through customs, there was a man standing there and he asked for my passport before getting onto the ferry. “Why?” I asked, hesitantly. “You’ll get it back when you’re in Koh Lipe.” I reluctantly gave him my passport, which he added to the big stack. I then walked onto the ferry, which was quite dungeon-like – very dark with glazed windows. I found a seat and relaxed for the next 90 minutes until we arrived to the transfer terminal. I had gained an hour so it was only just after 3pm when I arrived. We all got off the ferry and then had to walk across the floating dock, go down a ladder (with all of our luggage), and get into a long-tail boat, which would take us to the Koh Lipe beach (the ferry was too big and would destroy the coral if it got too close). The longtail boatride was less than five minutes and before we knew it, we were on Pattaya Beach.
anything like Koh Lipe, then it’ll be one of the next places on my list. I almost don’t want to share how much I loved Koh Lipe because I don’t want it to lose its charm and become a huge tourist destination, like many of the other Thai Islands are. Its beauty is captivating, with clear waters and corals all around. There aren’t any vehicles (occasionally you’ll see a pick-up truck), but there are many motorbikes with sidecars.
one end to the other in about 45 minutes. It has three main beaches: Pattaya Beach is the most popular so I only went to it a couple of times, and it has bars and restaurants along it. Sunset Beach is a smaller beach which I never actually went to. And Sunrise Beach was the closest one to my hostel, and was much less busy so I spent most of my time there. Anyway, we had to wait in line to go through border control. Luckily, there weren’t many of us so I didn’t have to wait long but I’ve heard that people have had to wait for over an hour. Then, they checked my bag and made me pay the Tarutao National Park fee for 200 baht ($8.73), which protects the coral reef so assuming you’re on the water (which you would have had to in order to get there), you have to have a national park permit with you. I walked less than ten minutes to my hostel, Shanti Backpackers, which is run by a friendly, quiet pregnant lady who often has her 8-year-old daughter (Shanti) with her. Shanti warmed up to me quite quickly and would come give me big hugs when she saw me, and ask me questions. She doesn’t go to school, but her English is so good! The hostel was basically one big room that fit about 16 people, so we had to get used to being one big, happy family. I paid 250 baht per night ($10.91). Outside the hostel, an old man stands on the street corner all day everyday (he closes at midnight) and sells coconut pancakes. He sings the same song over and over again: “Coconut donut, 10 baht, 10 baht, Coco!” and I’m pretty sure all of us could sing it in our sleep just within one hour of being at the hostel. I got changed and made my way to the northern part of Sunrise Beach so I could get one swim in before sunset.
which came with eggs, bacon, ham, sausage, toast, and coffee. However, it came out within two minutes of me ordering it and I knew it was because most of the items had just been sitting there, waiting for someone to eat them. The toast even came untoasted. I ate the bacon but left the sausage and ham behind, as I couldn’t bring myself to eat them. I decided to walk to the viewpoint of Koh Lipe, which only took about ten minutes. The view was really nice!
Papaya for breakfast. This time, I decided to stick with having Asian breakfast, as I no longer trusted English breakfasts. I had rice with chicken and vegetables, and a coffee for 120 baht ($5.24).
fire dancers, which was cool to see. I was so itchy from all of the mosquito bites that I had gotten (by the way, Koh Lipe = mosquitos galore!), so I went to buy some Tiger Balm from the pharmacy. Tiger Balm is made for sore muscles and can also help people clear their sinuses if they have a cold, but I’ve met lots of tourists who use it for mosquito bites, and it works!! The heat sensation takes away the itchiness so I’d put it on all of my bites before bed.
“Taxi 100 baht” and I told them I wanted to go to Koh Adang. I got on the boat and the driver asked me what time I was planning to come back. “Oh, I don’t know! How long do you think I’ll need?” But he didn’t understand what I was asking. The ride was only about ten minutes long but was very wavy and I wasn’t too dry by the time I got there.
found signs directing me to Chado Cliff and made my way up. The hike had three viewpoints, with the last one obviously being the best. However, this hike was one of those hikes where I kept thinking to myself, “Why did I decide to do this? Why do I do this to myself? Is it REALLY going to be worth it?” Most of the hike was in direct sunlight, in ‘feels-like’ 38 degree weather, and usually had a steep ascent. I definitely took a lot of breaks because I was nervous that I was going to get heat stroke if I pushed myself too hard. I think I made it up to the top in about 45 minutes and even though I was sweating through every pore in my body, the view made it totally worth it! I had the perfect view of Koh Lipe, along with all of the surrounding water with different shades of blue.
one before, which was a foot massage in China. And it was one of the most painful, un-relaxing
experiences I’ve ever had so I wasn’t in a rush to get another one. One of the girls at the hostel told me to get an oil massage because it’s less painful, so that’s what I did. I went to JK Blue Beach Massage on Sunrise Beach because it had high ratings, and I knew that the masseuses (weird word…) were all certified and had education in massage. I asked for an oil massage, which would be 400 baht and then I also tipped 40 baht, which cost $19.20 in total. There were about 8 massage beds all in close proximity to each other – I was less than a foot away from the person next to me. In order to have an oil massage, you have to be naked so that was a bit weird for me to undress on a beach with people all around. However, the ladies were really great with keeping you covered and making the process as easy as possible. I have to say that during the first part of the massage, it took quite awhile for me to get comfortable with the actual massage. At one point, the lady was kneeling on my legs and digging her hands in my shoulders – as in all of her body weight was on top of me. I couldn’t ever get my mind to fully relax (obviously, I’m an over thinker – this is why I can’t nap) and I was constantly thinking of what I had to do later that day, what was she doing, how does it feel like there are ten hands on me at once. I honestly didn’t think I’d be able to last an hour. Eventually, I eased up and finally started to relax as every part of my body was massaged, head to toe (and all ten toes). The time then sped right by and all of a sudden, she said I was finished. I was so tempted to buy another hour, but decided against it. Best massage of my life (although I don’t have much to compare it to)!
soaking of the feet or hands, no scrubbing, no washing, etc. All it included was cutting the nails (which I had already done the day before) and painting the nails (which started coming off the day after). Regardless, I still tipped 30 baht so in total, it only cost me $14.40 so it wasn’t a huge amount of money wasted. I haven’t painted my fingernails in about five years because the last two times that I painted them, I woke up the next morning with huge, swollen eyes (almost swollen shut – I couldn’t even put my contacts in) and a rash all over my face and down my neck. I was hoping that since it’s been so long, maybe it won’t happen again. I woke up the next morning and I was fine! I was so happy because ever since I’ve come to Asia, I’ve had
less skin problems and my skin hasn’t been as sensitive. I wasn’t even reacting to my sunscreen! (I had forgotten to knock on wood…) The day after that, my bottom lip felt a bit puffier when I was eating breakfast. I peeled off as much of the nail polish as I could that day, but I don’t have nail polish remover so there is still some that has stayed on. The next day, my eyes were a tad puffy (not as bad as usual, but if I looked up, I could feel my eyelids touch my eyebrow) my skin was soooo itchy, and I started to get spots all over my neck and chest. The problem was I kept scratching, but I’d obviously scratch with my fingernails, which would just add more chemicals to my skin, which would in turn make it even more itchy. I took a Claritin, which temporarily would make me less itchy. Today, I’m less puffy and less itchy, haven’t taken a Claritin, but the spots of my skin are starting to break into rash so it’ll probably take a few more days to clear my system (plus having a bit of nail polish still on my fingers probably doesn’t help but I couldn’t find nail polish remover so I might just have to sit through it). Anyway, I’ve always wanted to try fingernail polish again to see if I’d react, so now I know to stay away from it! After my mani/pedi, I went for my pancake and shake and then went back to visit with people at the hostel. We went for another late dinner at Thai Lady Pancake Shop, where I got Pad See-Ew and a shake for 130 baht ($5.67), and then we once again got drinks at 7-11 and sat on the beach to watch the fire dancers.
the tour groups went out together since we were in the middle of the ocean so if anything happened, one of the surrounding boats could help out. We rode the longtail boat for about an hour to go to the furthest point, stopped at Ko Hin Sorn to take a picture of the rocks, and went to Ko Bulo, where we got to go snorkelling for about 20 minutes.
of course, this island had to have monkeys. I sat with a Dutch couple, and we enjoyed a pretty spicy curry chicken with rice meal while watching the monkeys steal other peoples’ food. After lunch, we went to a little inlet across from the beach to enjoy another 20 minutes of snorkelling.
10am. I packed up my stuff, went to Thai Lady Pancake Shop for one last breakfast and one last shake, and then walked to the beach to check in at 9:45am. The walk was long (even though it was only 8 minutes), and I felt so sad to leave. It was nice to feel so at home on this beautiful island! I’ll definitely be back one day… Love always
free barbecue every night of your stay (which was just two skewers with chicken and vegetables, so I only took advantage of it once cause we ended up having to stand in line for over a half hour to get them). I showered and got all of my stuff organised, and then I was starving since I didn’t really eat a proper lunch. I went to a restaurant nearby called Chalita, which served both Thai and western food. My stomach still felt a bit off so I decided to just get a spicy chicken burger with fries. After dinner, I walked around one of the night markets before heading back to the hostel and going to bed.
notice the plastic bag on my back. I suddenly felt a tug on the water bottle under my arm, and pulled it back from the greedy monkey trying to take it. It was then that a smaller monkey noticed the plastic bag on my back so it jumped on my bag and was hanging off of it. Luckily, it couldn’t figure out how to open the bag so eventually it jumped off and I quickly ran up the stairs to escape the rest of the group.
I’d reply that I’ve already been jumped on and it was fine. However, I definitely wasn’t prepared for what was to come… I’ve found that on many stair climbs that I’ve done, the monkeys get more and more aggressive as you make your way to the top. And these ones got much larger. A few hundred steps later, I ran into my second group of monkeys. They noticed my plastic bag within a matter of seconds, and before I knew it, two large monkeys jumped on my back, ripped open the plastic bag and all of the snacks inside it, and had a feast of food at my feet. Everyone around me was shocked, including myself. I should have taken a picture but I think I was more stunned than anything, and wanted to get myself as far away from those monkeys as possible. I FINALLY made it to the top after about 45 minutes and I looked and felt like a hot, sweaty mess. When I did the CN Tower climb a few years ago, it was 500 steps higher, I did it almost ten minutes faster, and I felt like I was going to die THEN. However at least during that time, the steps were all the same height and I was in a cool stairwell. This time felt way worse! I sat down for quite awhile to try to cool myself down and then I finally got up to enjoy the views. It was a pretty overcast day, so I’m assuming it would have been even more spectacular with a blue sky, but at least it wasn’t foggy so I was still able to see everything around. At the top, I had to make sure my knees and shoulders were covered, so I covered up with a sarong and a cardigan (which was the last thing I wanted to do in the state that I was in). However, the climb was definitely worth it and the views were still pretty nice!
around, got lost in a really cool street market, but eventually decided to eat at an Italian restaurant, as I think my
stomach was still having difficulty with eating non-western food. I think the Italian restaurant (called Uno) was pretty authentic, as the owner definitely didn’t look like he was Thai. I decided on penne arrabbiata, which was so good! I got that with a coke for 175 baht ($7.64). After my late lunch/early dinner, I walked around for a bit and then went back to the hostel to decide what to do the next day. The rain had started from the storm and would be continuing for the next couple of days, so my options were pretty limited. The ferry to Railay beach still wouldn’t be working, so I decided that I should just take a tour to see the hot springs and the emerald pool. It was a half-day tour so I’d get back to the hostel by 2:30, and the hostel worker said that the storm wasn’t supposed to start until about 4. I went to the free bbq at about 8:30, visited with some of the other people for awhile, and then went to bed.
the trip since I wasn’t sure I’d be able to buy a lunch anywhere. My tour was booked through Cattery Tours and they were very organised! It cost 800 baht for the tour ($34.90), which was a bit pricey but was still a good way to spend the day. They had 16 different groups going, so they gave each of us a coloured bracelet in order to keep track of our vehicles. We drove for about an hour to get to the hot springs and when we got there, they were absolutely packed! I’m glad that I was just one person cause it was easy for me to be able to squeeze in between random families, but it seemed to be more difficult for people who came in groups.
I made my way back to emerald pool and had about a half hour to enjoy myself before having to walk back to the van.
shake (to go with the heat of the soup) for 140 baht ($6.11). After dinner, I asked my hostel the best way to get to the airport for my 7:30 flight the next morning and they said I should leave at 5:30 in a taxi for 400 baht ($17.45). However, considering they said the same thing for me to get to Tiger Cave Temple, I wasn’t convinced. I walked to where the songthaews were to ask, but the driver didn’t
understand what I was asking and just kept telling me to “get in, get in!” Luckily, there was a travel stand next to me so I asked him when the songthaews started running and he said 6am. When I asked him how much a taxi would be and he said 400 baht, I realised it would be my only option so I went back to the hostel, booked the taxi, got my bags packed up, and called it an early night. To be perfectly honest, Krabi Town wasn’t my favourite place – it’s extremely touristy and there wasn’t a lot to do. However, the weather and constant rain probably contributed to my impressions of it. I think Krabi province would probably be more worthwhile to explore so maybe I’ll have to check it out next time! Love always
Thankfully, I had asked the Smiley owner about taking the bus to Koh Lanta before I went to bed the night before. I assumed that I could just show up at the bus stop at 8:30am, but now I’m not too sure I would have gotten a spot had I done that. I had to go to the local travel agent next to a pharmacy in Khao Sok to buy a ticket ahead of time. She gave me three options to leave: 6:30am, 8:30am, or 9:30am. I went with 8:30am, she called to make sure that there was space available, and then wrote me a ticket. It cost me 650 baht total ($28.36AUD) – 250 back to Krabi and 400 with the ferry to Koh Lanta. This service was great in that it picked me up from my accommodation and also dropped me off at my hostel in Koh Lanta,
so I didn’t have to worry about paying extra from the ferry. From the time I left Khao Sok until the time I arrived in Koh Lanta, it took about 7.5 hours. On Sunday morning, I got up and ready, picked up the best “breakfast” I could find at a nearby shop (a pack of donuts and some bananas), and waited for my taxi. The ticket said that the taxi would arrive between 8:30 and 8:50, and it came shortly after 9. We then started the 4-hour trip to Krabi. This time, the 13-passenger van was full for the majority of the trip, and the driver had to turn down some passengers on the way (so I’m very happy I ended up buying the ticket beforehand). I actually didn’t end up arriving at the bus station in Krabi until just after 1:30 pm, as the driver had to make some stops along the way. Then, I waited for about a half hour until the next taxi came. I thought it was going to be just me but then we stopped at the airport and filled up the van again. We arrived at the ferry terminal around 3:30 and were on the next ferry within a half hour. A little boat had to push the ferry in the right direction, as I guess the ferry couldn’t turn on it’s own.
As soon as I got there, I was starving since I hadn’t eaten a proper breakfast or lunch, so I went for dinner with Joe, the guy living in Mongolia. We ate at a restaurant called Three Sisters, where I had green curry with rice, and a shake for 170 baht ($7.42). I was so hungry, I forgot to take a picture! We then walked to the beach to catch the last of the sunset, and then got some drinks at one of the bars on the beach, Freedom Bar.
back room so if anyone wanted to make some late-night drunken decisions, they could get a permanent tattoo. There was a guy getting a half-arm tattoo of a pineapple when we were there, and the girl that he was with didn’t look too happy about it. It was definitely a good place to do some people watching!
sick or injured, gets them back to good health, and tries to find a home for them. Some of the stories were quite sad, especially about one of the dogs (called Tomato) who had been shot so was very scared around humans. They got her better again and got her used to humans and found a new home for her at a local’s house. Unfortunately, Tomato was too slow to feel comfortable at her new home and the new owner lost patience so the owner tied the leash to the back of a motorbike and pulled Tomato behind. When Tomato came back to the Welfare centre, she was completely skinned 🙁 Now, they are working to get Tomato to feel comfortable around humans again.
maximum of 50), so they are desperately trying to find new homes for as many animals as they can. It’s neat cause they have pictures of all of the animals, and you can see if they’ve been adopted and where they’re going, so there were a few going to Denmark and Canada as well. The centre relies on volunteers (mainly tourists) to come and walk the dogs, in the morning or late afternoon – they don’t allow the dogs to be walked in the middle of the day. Every night, one of the workers (who is also a volunteer) has to sleep in the dog area to make sure they stay calm. They also have a cat cafe, so people can go and cuddle with the cats. After my tour, I stayed in the cat cafe and it started pouring rain, which meant that all of the cats were forced to sit around the edge since the middle part didn’t have a roof over it. Therefore, I had more cats to sit with!
a nearby restaurant called 
the hostel at 8:15 to go on the Four Islands tour. I read about this tour before coming to Koh Lanta, but I also read reviews about it being too crowded. Maybe going on New Year’s Day was a smart thing for me to do because there only ended up being 10 people on my longtail boat (I think normally, there’s about 25 people), and we ended up getting a lot of the areas to ourselves. There are tons of companies that do the Four Islands tour and the cheapest I could find online was for 1300 baht. Luckily, I asked my hostel owner and he booked my tour through a company called Lanta Longtail, and it only cost me 800 baht. I also gave a 100 baht tip so overall, it was $39.27.
surprisingly, I didn’t have that problem here! The tour guide was great and pointed out where to go, and even dove down into the water to point out some clownfish for me to see. Apparently the boat belonged to the main guide, the driver was his dad, and his mom had cooked the lunch.
through the cave at low tide. However, when we got to the lagoon we had the place to ourselves for a few minutes. It was such a nice area to go to, and seemed like a little piece of paradise.
completely exhausted! It started pouring so we decided to skip watching the sunset. However, the rain stopped 6 minutes before sunset so Joe decided to run to the beach. Karin and I were just going to watch from our patio but we couldn’t get a good view, so we decided to hurry to the beach as well but on the way, it started to pour! Her and I were trapped at a bar on the beach, we missed the sun setting, and we didn’t have any money to buy anything.
having breakfast, and packing up my things. Karin and I were going to go to the beach but we stopped for lunch at a place called Nong Pheat kitchen. I got a glass noodle spicy salad with shrimp but by the time we got our food, I think the heat started getting to me and I felt too sick to eat.
up at 2:20pm. I was seriously contemplating skipping my time in Krabi because I didn’t want to leave Koh Lanta, but I decided I should continue with my plans. I hope to make it back there again someday!
Prairie Girl Abroad 