Sawasdee - Kaa

As promised, I am attempting to keep up with myself so here it is, my first few wks in asia. :)

So, we landed in Bangkok and much to Kates excitment we managed to see her big bro Tim before he flew down to Phuket. It was very emotional, both of them were crying, so naturally i started crying. God knows what we'll both be like when we see everyone when we find our way home. Anyway....we got in a PINK TAXI (yes i know, how amazing is that, all the taxis are pink, wooop) and checked into a hotel. Now, seeing as i'd not slept in about a wk i was so grateful for a bed so at 1pm i went for a lil nana nap, excpet i didnt wake up til 6am the next day haha!!

The backpacking place in Bangkok is Koa San Road, which is absolutel hectic. The first thing i noticed was how colourful everything is and i hate to say it, but how annoying some of the thai people are - no i dont want a tuk tuk, no i dont want a taxi and why does it matter where i'm going, ive got legs! grrrrrr, seriously, they call us sir and follow us trying to sell us tac and it is beggining to do my nut i'm not going to lie.

Anyway, we met up with D1, also known as Daniel (from cairns) and Jake (from cairns, sydney, melbourne hehe) and the fun started. We went over to the grand palace which was absolutely stunning, so much gold. Everywhere i turned there was sparkling jewels and blocks of gold and everything is kept in such a pristene condition. We went into the room with the emerald buddah and between ensuring my feet were not facing buddah watching the monks pray/ meditate, it was so peaceful!! The grand palace encouraged us to grab some tuk tuks to go see standing buddah and sleeping buddha, word of advise - NEVER GET A TUK TUK IN BANGKOK! We thought we were getting a bargin 5 baht each (which is about 20p) to get to both buddhas, except the drivers had other ideas. To them, what was more important than us seeing buddha was them taking us to about 8 stores consisting of jewllery, clothes, souvenirs etc....and in return for them bringing us to the store, the manager gives them petrol for their tuk tuk. I was so mad, really that was not what i had planned for my time in Bangkok. At frist i thought it was s***s and giggles, but by the end i'd had enough so we demanded they take us home - we'd not yet seen sleeping buddha though!! But between the tuk tuk man asking if me and dan were on our honeymoon (we were sharing a tuk tuk) and then the other one asking if i was pregnant, to which i replied 'no, i'm just fat' and nearly wet myself laughing (i'm not actually that fat, but i was standing in an awkward position just incase any of you were worried lol) i just needed to not be anywhere near a tuk tuk. glad i got that off my chest haha.

As we had a few days to kill before tim got back to bangkok and Liz (kates best friend from home) arrived the four of us took a bus down to Pattaya.
I'm sure everyone is aware that Thaiand is basically the sex capital of the world, we Pattaya is the sex capital of Thailand. Everywhere i looked i saw young pretty thai girls with old, hairy ugly and i suppose lonely foreign men. It was difficult to see, especially when the girls look no older than 14 some of them, but by the end of our short and bizarre stay i came to an understanding with the situation.
My one big night out in Pattaya (i could only handle one in my lifetime) consisted of me, Dan and Jake drinking a few too many buckets of Samsong and other delicious concoctions of alcohol i ended up attending a show in a bar called Angelwitch which was errr interesting then onto a bar where there was a jacuzzi with a naked thai girl in it (dan did try and throw me in there, i was not impressed) however the night finally came to an end for me when i was dancing on stage with about 10 thai prostitutes who were wearing nothing but a g-string (i was fully clothed) and i thought it was the perfect op to practice pole dancing. As much fun as i was having, i decided to end my night - enough for me, was defo an experience that i'll never forget though.

Myself and Kate could only stomach a few days in Pattaya. We ended up back in Bangkok waiting for Liz and Tim. This stay in Bangkok was waaaaay too long for my liking, but i had Jake to keep me company whilst kate was out doing her thing with Liz and Tim.

After Bangkok, it was an overnight journey (bus and boat) to Koh Toa which is a beautiful little island, where all the guesthouses appeared full. Kate and Liz found a nice hote on the beach front, and me and boys managed to find a room with 2 single beds up in the mountains, only 10 mins walk to the beach. The vibe in Koh Toa is so nice reay relazing and i would definately go back there. It was in Koh Toa that i literally bumped into my friend BZ from home with whom i went to school and uni with, i got very excited and literally jumped on the poor boy screaming my head off. It's such a small world. It was BZ that hooked us up with accomadation in Koh Phangnan for the infamous full moon party.

It was so nice to spend time with BZ, it was a taster of home that i have to admit i was in much need of after seeing Kate with her brother and bestie. Koh Phangnan was way too touristy for me, but i still had an awesome time. 2 nights before full moon, myself, BZ, Jake, Dan and D3 (Julian from Cairns also) went to a pool party. Such an awesome night even though i got totally bulied by the boys who decided to throw me in the pool fully clothed (thanks again D3 haha) and then continuously throw me up in the air splashing into the water. We ended up raving away on Had Rin beach later in the night, with foam parties, stages, skipping ropes with fire coming off them - of course sian the clutz managed to cut her feet open on glass (one day i'll learn to wear shoes again) so had to end my night relativey early at 5.30am haha!

Full Moon party was hectic. The whole island was buzzing with excitment, and of course we went all out with paints, tops, braclets etc....never one to miss a dress up op. We spent hours (all of us) getting painted up until every inch of me was covered in fluro paint, incuding my hair (i am still finding paint to this day) and off we went. I spent the night partying on this word famous beach with people from all over the world. With myself and BZ the last ones standing by 7.30, i was happily running around in the water with some crazy dude, attempting to help the boat drivers (i wasn't helping at all, infact in hindsight im sure i was rather annoying, alcoho, what it does to us ha) when i heard my name being screamed, next thing i knew i had a girl jumping onto me giving me a huge hug, it was 2 more friends from home. On a beach of 30,000 people partying, at 7.30am they spotted me, craaazy.

Saying goodbye to all the familiar faces from home was sad, and it was even more sad was saying bye to Jake, D1 and D3. But it wass off back to Bangkok in time for our flight to Cambodia Phnom Penh where I will be spending the next 4 wks or so volunteering in a school thanks to Kates father, Dick. :) The rest of Thailand will wait until after out volunteering, along with Laos and Vietnam
So, come on Cambodia, show me what you got.
x