Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Well our second stop in Bangkok was to be much more enjoyable than the first, seeing as we were both in full health this time! We firstly picked a place just around the corner from the famous Khao san Road, just far enough to be able to get some sleep at night that is! Our plan for Bangkok was simple, see the Grand Palace, do some shopping and have a proper night out. We were not disappointed. Our night out consisted of plenty of cocktails, buckets and beers (centred around Khao san road), followed by a sample of deep fried Scorpion on a stick... actually not that bad. I also treated Laura to a helium elephant balloon and she took and instant liking to him (in her drunken state) and named him Bert! We were surprised to also see plenty of locals out in this area considering it is a tourist hub. Nice touch when you see both drunken locals and drunken Brits randomly dance in the street. Gave some hope to the drunken life!
We managed to surface relatively early the next day and walk on down to the Grand Palace for a tour. Unfortunately the Presedential Palace itself was closed off but it was quite a sight to walk around the grounds and temples, one of which consisting of an Emerald Buddha. As this was to be our last bit of culture for our travels, we marvelled at the intricate designs of each temple and surrounding sculptures which were very impressive indeed. For those that have never been, do go, but be wary of the scammers littered around the area taking advantage of unbeknowing tourists! After our tour we took a taxi to Chatuchak Market to have a browse of the copious range of stalls for one of the biggest markets in Thailand. We spent the rest of the day here desperately trying to find souveniers and gifts to take back home with us. This was to be our last spot of market shopping as the following day we checked out the MBK shopping centre, famous for it enormous range of shops spread over 8 floors including a very posh food court serving everything under the sun. Here we managed to finish our shopping along with browsing the other shopping malls in the area which were a bit out of our price range but impressive to walk around none-the-less.
Our final night in Bangkok was a extra treat from Laura where we stayed in a 4 star hotel equipped with a lovely restaurant menu and rooftop bar. We had an exquisit meal here and finished the night with beautiful views of the Bangkok skyline and a few cocktails. What an end to our final cityscape experience!
The next day we made our way down south by bus to Krabi town which took most of the day. We spent a couple of nights here exploring the area and booking ourselves on a Sea Kayak tour of the limestone outcrop littered Andaman bay. This was quite an experience I must say and although the weather didn't hold out, we managed to get the hang of controlling our tandem kayak through tough surroundings of marsh land and overhanging trees. About halfway through our trip the heavens opened and we were immediately drenched. We didn't mind though as we felt it added a wonderful atmosphere to the area while paddling through the soaring cliff faces of each outcrop island. We did spot a few lizards swimming in the water as well as a couple of monkeys but we weren't too fussed about the wildlife as the scenery was just too captivating.
Our last night in Krabi saw us scoping out the local water front market, full of locals selling culinery treats and various clothing bargains. We finished our evening off with a foot scrub and oil massage for a cheeky bit of pampering.
The next morning we left Krabi town to start our mini island tripping adventure! After a small boat ride we arrived in Koh Phi Phi in time to join in the water festivities of Songkran (Thai New Year). When we arrived Steve noticed how much more developed the island had become since his last visit 7 year prior. It was still really nice though and we headed up to our little hillside bungalow to dump our bits before hunting for a nice spot of sand and a cold beer. This wasn't a hard task and soon we were gazing out into the blue bay. That evening we went out for dinner and drinks but armed with our water guns ready to defend ourselves from the up coming onslaught of water that was to follow. We chose what we believed to be a quiet bar with fire dancers, but every now and then we were blasted with water by the bar staff.... until New Year formally kicked in at midnight and then all hell broke loose. The water fight went on for a good couple of hours but was beyond fun!
The next day was Songkran and the previous night was tame in comparison with the whole island joining in the water fight. It was lovely to see the kids joining in and locals being carefree and accepting to tourists joining in their tradition. The general rule was do not fire unless fired upon (unless you're a child and then that's fine!). Weapons of choice included water guns of all sizes and even just buckets full of water... perfect for dumping over heads! They even added red food dye and covered people in flour which turned to a gloppy glue. We just embraced it and said goodbye to the clothes we were wearing. We learnt a few sneaky tricks like adding ice to the water to make impact that bit more unexpecting We were quite soaked all day long eventually taking a breather to dry out on the beach with a beer. Later in the evening we had a night out on the beach bar stretch, watching endless fireshows and chilling on loungers whilst listening to a rare bit of good music by the Foo Fighters.
The next day we nursed our hangovers with pub style food and the Formula 1 at a sports bar... Laura was VERY happy with this! We also trekked up to the top of the peak of the island to take in the beautiful views of the island. It was hard going but well worth it. That night there was an almighty thunder storm and the lightening was probably the worst we had ever experienced. It didn't help that our bungalow was pretty flimsey! Eventually we got to sleep ready for our next destination...
Another small boat ride and we were in Koh Lanta, a much more relaxed environment than the party crazed island of Phi Phi. Just what we needed after the madness of Songkran! Our beach bungalow (much less exotic than it sounds), was back to the basics again and felt like we were part of a desert island cult as the resort we were staying in appeared to be very empty and had a very dodgy owner which we couldn't figure out to be Male or Female! What was advertised to be "beach bungalow" was in fact a good 10 minute walk to the nearest stretch of beach. Our days therefore consisted of beach and soaking up the sun as it was now dawning on us that we didn't have much longer until we were back in the land of no sun!! After the beach we walked back to the bungalow and happened to pass by a nice little beach bar which over looked the coast and had a great view for the sunset, to top it all off it was Sunset Happy Hour! Great cocktails which we were always drawn to at the end of a hard day on the beach.
Three nights was enough we thought at this resort and decided to see another part of the island at a resort we were informed about on the ferry across. This was to be a much nicer set up with a perfect beach area and pool. The food and drink was also pretty amazing so we were very happy. After another day chilling out we decided to rent a bike and explore the island properly. Our journey took us around the surprisingly well paved roads to see not only great coastal views but also quite mountainous terrain as we got further inland. We stumbled across a quaint little town called "Lanta Old Town" which certainly did have a vintage feel about it. After this we had a coffee at a hillside restaurant overlooking the Andaman bay wondering how far it was to mainland. As darkness drew in we headed back to the resort to finish our Koh Lanta time before our journey to the other side of the peninsula to Koh Samui where we were to celebrate our 4 year anniversary.... and something else!!
We took a bus and another boat to Koh Samui where Steve had booked on the quiet a 5 star luxury resort for our anniversary. It was AMAZING! We were immediately greeted and our bags taken to our room (this was very different to what we had been used to!). The room was massive with views looking out over the sea. We were even treated to complimentary bubbles which went down very well. I was so excited to have a hair dryer, dressing gown and slippers so after freshening up, we got comfy in these and mooched. We ate in the hotel restaurant which overlooked the private bay, and explored a little of the resort at night. We returned to our room to find our beds prepped and slippers layed out for us both with some lemongrass incense fragrancing the room. Lovely!
The next day we treated as our 'anniversary date' so spent the day down on the private beach snorkelling and swimming in the infinity pool. Not before checking out the ridiculous spread on offer for breakfast consisting of anything under the sun as well as fully cooked selections. Steve suggested we get dressed up and go to the cocktail bar in the resort followed by dinner delivered to our room. It was so nice to relax, talk and listen to music over a bottle of wine and dinner. It was only after dinner that Steve started acting odd! After saying some lovely things at the dinner table, he then asked if he could ask me a question.... to which he got up, walked round next to me and dropped to one knee!!! 'Will you marry me?!'... 'Are you serious?!'... 'Yes'... 'I would love to marry you!' It took me a while before I realised he had a ring and he explained he had carried it round in his bag the whole time since before we left to come travelling! This was by far the highlight of my travels and not only did i get to travel the world with my best friend... I now get to spend my life with him... Very happy Laura indeed! We soon ordered more bubbles to celebrate and ended up a bit tipsy...
Our final day we spent on the beach again and snorkelling and generally chilling out (not without constant texts and messages of congratulations from home).
Our travels were fast coming to an end and it just so happened to coincide with the world famous Full Moon Party. Our resort was a 15 minute drive from the Sunrise Beach where the party was to be held so the first two of the three days on Koh Phangan, we explored the area and soaked up as much of the sun as possible as well as blogging trying to catch up as we didn't want to be finishing the blog in the England.... like we are doing now!!!
The night of the party we lined our stomachs with a Mexican feast then began drinking and exploring the stretch, beach bar by beach bar. Each one had it's own style, fire shows and drinks promotions, mainly consisting of Buckets and cocktails. You were just overwhelmed by things going on and before you know it the chair you are sitting on gets engulfed by the tide! This was proving to be quite an enjoyable way to finish our travels and we partied all night until the crack of dawn where we headed back to our Bugalow to get a quick hour of sleep before our early morning ferry to take us back to the mainland where a bus would take us to Phuket for our last night in Thailand before flying to the UK. Luckily it rained this day so it didn't feel as depressing to be leaving.
Well what a trip it had been and we hope you have enjoyed it too! See you next time
- comments