hi! this will be my last blog, as we're leaving bangkok tomorrow for home, and so our adventure will, sadly come to an end. its difficult to look back and think what our most favourite parts have been as so many stick out but for me, koh phi phi in thailand is up there with the (many) others.

we have been in thailand for just over two weeks now, after a blissful few days in halong bay. the place was so peaceful and we got to do lots of kayaking and swimming, then lay on deck at night and watched the moon rise. i even got to see a shooting star that night which was incredible, one of my highlights in asia i think.

we flew to bangkok, as we found this to be the cheapest way in the end, bypassing the 20 hour bus journey we would have taken from hanoi to luang prabang in laos which is supposed to be pretty dangerous. anyway, the airline we flew with air asia would only allow 15kgs of baggage, which obviously we were all over and then charged us a fortune for our excess! so maybe not the cheapest way to go then...

in bangkok we immediately fell in love with khao san road, which is the street where all the backpackers hang out. the road is filled with street stalls selling everything from bootleg tshirts to fake id to pineapple and noodles, and is so vibrant and exciting in the evenings. we just kept going back to soak up the atmosphere. it was weird for us to see so many backpackers though, for the most part in asia we have only seen a few at once. in bangkok we also went to see the floating market which was so much fun, we wended our way down the narrow canals in rowing boats passing boat laden with fruit and souvenirs. we also went to the bridge over the river kwai and the jeath museum which was really unusual and quirky and the tiger temple which we all came away with mixed feelings about. i love the tiger cubs who were happy and playful, trying to grab at our hand when we stroked them, but the adult tigers were very placid, allowing the volunteers to turn them around for the photos which i dont think a tiger, even a sleepy, well fed, partially tame tiger would allow a human to do without some fuss.

we took a night bus up to chiang mai and spent a few relaxing days there, visiting the many temples in the old city and in the heat of the day drinking smoothies and starbucks. we went on an elephant trek which turned out to be an amazing day, i absolutely loved the animals, they seemed really slow and gentle and we got to feed them bananas! i was happy that the elephants were able to roam around freely when they were not taking people for rides and seemed very content! we also did some more white water rafting here which was really fun and sailing on a bamboo raft. we finished the day by swimming in a pool carved out by a waterfall which was an idyllic spot, worthy of a herbal essence advert.

we flew to the south of thailand to phuket as the bus journey was ridiculously long and the flight really was cheap this time. phuket is a very lively island with a lot to do there, but also very neon and touristy. i loved phi phi, where we stayed for a few days for some relaxation. koh phi phi lei is the island where the beach is filmed and we had quite an adventure getting there ourselves, having to swim, dodging rocks to the shore and then walking through the middle of the island to the beach. it was stunning though. we swam in the clear waters and imagined the bay being the utopia they found at the beginning of the film, not hard really... we did lots of kayaking and some snorkelling at a place called shark point, where we saw no sharks despite naomi and i returning the following day. the fish here were incredible, it was like jumping into finding nemo. they were so brightly coloured, and we saw shoals of hundreds of fish darting around us. i tried a bit of skin diving and dont think ive damaged my ears too badly! phi phi itself is such a lovely place, absolutely beautiful and with a small but friendly little town with a really relaxed atmosphere. i wish we could have stayed a week.

we are now back in bangkok, and should be spending this evening packing and making sure we're ready for home. it will be so sad to leave, because ive loved how free it feels to travel and how interesting it is to look in on other peoples lives and cultures but at the same time im really looking forward to coming home, seeing my family and friends and hopefully enjoying some more sunshine this summer!

xx