Last bits of Thailand

Ok, I'm not really in Thailand, I'm in Australia but I haven't updated since Surat Thani....BLIMEY! It seems like a long time ago that I was in that dump! I have done a lot since then, I'm going to try and start where I left off...this could be tricky as it's been a while and I have been in the sun all day (I know, it's a hard life) so excuse any bad grammar/spelling.

Phuket

Phuket was a pretty cool place, nothing to shout about though. On second thoughts, there is something to shout about....the hotel we stayed in had HOT SHOWERS :) I know its minor but after 2 weeks of cold showers it was very special! Afterall, it's the small things in life that count.

There wasn't that much to do in Phuket, on our first day there our annoying tuk tuk driver took us around a couple of places. We went to an aquarium which was quite good but it was very small. We were in and out in 20 minutes! We wanted to go back to the hotel but the tuk tuk driver insisted on taking us to a shooting range. I was well up for that! It was fun but it lasted 2 minutes and cost 1000 Bath which is a rip off, for Thailand anyway. Jimmy- the tuk tuk drive kept trying to make us go to other places that we weren't interested in. We kept telling him no but he was having none of it. I got a bit annoyed in the end and put my foot down and said in a firm tone "just take us back to the hotel now" and then a little please on the end! You have to be firm with these people. We had a lot of hassle in southern Thailand. People constantly trying to sell us stuff! We couldn't even walk out of the hotel without "you want taxi" being shouted at us. They would ask "where are you going?" we would reply "for a walk" their response would be "do you want a taxi there?" NO!! We're going for a walk.....I think you get my drift now! I felt like a bit of a horrible tourist at times but it does get irritating. We were very polite for the first 2 weeks but became less tolerant towards the end of week 3 in Thailand. The Thai people see white people and all they see is wealth. When we went out for dinner in Phuket we were the only white people in that restaurant and we were treated like royalty. I liked that part. It's all swings and roundabouts.

We had to stop off at Surat Thani to get the train to Bangkok (then Chiang Mai) we stayed there 6 hours....that was more than enough! It was a horrible place and I felt really bad for the people that live there. When I was a stroppy teenager (I still am) my parents used to say to me "you dont know what you've got" and after being in that place.....I actually get it! Being there made me realise how lucky I am to come from Felixstowe.

So, we slept on the train and got to Bangkok at about 10am and the train to Chiang Mai didnt leave until 6pm...this meant we got to spend the day in Bangkok....it was awesome! I love that city. More on Bangkok later!

Chiang Mai

After a 48 hour journey we arrived in Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is a wonderful place....maybe my favourite place in Thailand...I'm not sure. We found an awesome hotel with a pool, hot showers and TV. LUXURY! We decided to go to Tiger Kingdom as we had heard good things about it.....and it was AWESOME! I had the best time there, cuddling the tigers etc. We spent 15 minutes in a pen with 2 tiger cubs. They were so cute.....I was very tempted to put one in my pocket and take it home with me! We also got to cuddle and stroke some big tigers that were 15 months old. I got to spoon J-lo....I could have fallen asleep like that!

Although I loved the tigers and had an amazing time I did feel bad for going as the tigers were clearly drugged and got pulled around a lot by the staff. The tigers had never seen their natural environment and probably never will. I was nice to them though.... :)

After Tiger Kingdom we went to a temple.....I felt that we should go and appreciate their culture. The temple itself wasn't great. It seemed modern, tacky and boring. Plus it was expensive....another way to get money out of people...in my opinion anyway. The best part was walking down the 306 steps on the way down....yes, I counted!

In the evening we went to The Night Biazzar, which was very good. Lots and lots of market stools and food. We were so tired at this point though, we just ate dinner and went back to the hotel and went to bed (at about 9pm). Living life on the edge!

On our second day in Chiang Mai we went to Flight Of The Gibbon. It boasts THE BEST ATTRACTION IN THAILAND and it was probably one of my favourite activities we done in Thailand. It's a massive zip wire course in the rain forest....similar to Go Ape in England. I liked it a lot because I got to act like a monkey (or idiot) all day! The longest zip wire was 300m long and very very high! It was an exhilarating experience, going through the trees at what felt like very high speed (I don't know how fast).

When we finished the zip wires our tour guide took our group to a waterfall. I'm sure it was beautiful, but it didn't interest me as I had seen a lot of waterfalls by this time and was tired and hot! I couldn't be bothered and neither could Rosie so we waited at the bottom whilst everyone else in our group walked up it. I think I made the right decision. We then got given dinner at this funny little place with a home made band playing and the food was delicious.

The following day in Chiang Mai was fun and chilled out. Tom and Amy went on a Thai cooking course. I decided that I was already an amazing cook and didn't need to go. So we chilled out by the pool and caught some rays.

That evening we travelled from Chiang Mai to Bangkok on a coach....it was horrendous. I didn't sleep at all and we arrived in Bangkok at 5:30am....next time I go to Thailand I am flying everywhere!

Bangkok is an amazing city....it's completely different to the rest of Thailand....it was weird not having to take our shoes or flip flops off before going into shops or restaurants! The best part of Bankok is the Sky Train and the weekend market. The sky train is awesome I could sit on there all day! It's so cheap as well and it's air conditioned. I would say it's the best way to see Bangkok. The Bangkok Weekend Market was incredible....it was huge! They sold pretty much everything there....everything you ever could imagine! Oh dear, I sound like Willy Wonka! You have to have a lot of stamina and patience for the weekend market though as it was very, very hot and rammed with people!

And that is pretty much the end of Thailand! I had an amazing time there and have many, many happy memories. A month is definetely enough in Thailand, we went pretty much everywhere and done a lot.

We flew out of Thailand on the 24/1/11 it was a sad day. Firstly because we were leaving (obviously) and secondly because my purse got stolen just before we boarded the plane! Which was very inconvinient and I was cross. Never mind, these things can be replaced! haha!

Anyway....onto Sydney, Australia!!! :)