Koh Tao - Thailand

So, currently sun bathing by the pool and have a lot of this shizz to catch up on. We arrived in Kho Tao around 4ish on Monday 23rd Decemeber, just in time for Christmas. We were both so happy to be on sandy beaches and away from chilly Laos. 

As a cheeky Christmas present, we splashed out on our accomadation which was the best idea. We had to catch a taxi from the port to Sairee beach (the longest and most popular beach on the island), where our resort was located. The taxi itself was already more expensive than up North and cost us 125TB each. We were staying at Koh Tao hillside resort for £29 each a night. The place is just perfect. We were welcomed with a drink of some sort, and our bags were taken to our bungalow. We'd originally booked a deluxe bungalow but upon our arrival, we were told we'd been upgraded to a superior bungalow. PERFECT!! The bungalow is amazing... So nice to be staying in a decent place with daily room service, a good shower, good bed/pillows, infinity pool and a buffet breakfast. Literally in love with this place. Not quite sure how I'm going to cope going back to budget accommodation (cry). 

After settling in, we caught the daily shuttle taxi that the resort offers into town. By this time, it was getting late, so we attempt to find some grub at a reasonable price. Everything is so expensive in comparison to what we've been paying previously; restaurants, bars, even street food. Dining in Koh Tao is more like dining in Brighton, there's food of all sorts; Mexican, Italian, Japanese etc. Everythings based around tourism really. We finally found a small decent place that does dishes for 60-70TB so tucked into some pad Thai and some chicken noodles. 

Night life in Koh Tao is mainly along Sairee beach - bars offer sun loungers and serve cocktails just off the sea shore. We went for a wander and decided to head back (up a ridiculous amount of steep hills) to the hotel. 

Getting to Chiang Mai, Bangkok -Thailand

From Bangkok, we headed to Chiang Mai. There are many options in terms of transport to get to Chiang Mai which all have their pros and cons. 

We'd read that the best way to get to Chiang Mai would be to take the sleeper train which departs 4 times a day. 

After enquiring at a travel agents, (these are based everywhere in Bangkok) we - well I - had a mini heart attack after finding out that on the 5th of December every year, Thais seriously celebrate the Kings birthday. This results in closure of local businesses and cut down in transport. So we had to abandon the idea of going by train, since the last train left at 7.30pm on the 4th. We were advised that only coach trips would be available during the bank holiday which ran till the 10th Decemeber. 

The idea of a 13hr, hot and stuffy coach journey did not appeal to us at all so we were kinda stuck in Bangkok (panic). After remembering someone mentioning something about inhouse flights, we hit jackpot. For both of us, including hold luggage and flying out the next day, (5th December) it cost us a total of 3200TB (£30 each). The flight flew from Don Muang with Air Asia and took a tenth of the time. Everything was so efficient and easy - it's definitely worth checking out if you're travelling far between places within Thailand.

Options:

Bus/coach - 12/13hrs - 990TB

Train/sleeper train - 11/12hrs - 1100TB 

Aeroplane - 1hr - 1300TB without hold luggage/ 1580TB with hold luggage

We landed in Chiang Mai around 9pm and caught a taxi to our new hostel. It took us an HOUR to find this bloody hostel. The taxi driver had no clue where it was; the map on trip advisor was wrong resulting in driving in circles around Chiang Mai. The journey should've initially taken 10 minutes...

Anyway, we finally checked in at our hostel, Trekkers Camp around 11.30pm on 5/12/13. The place was owned by a lil Thai family with a traditional but cute decor. For me, it finally felt that this was the beginning of our adventure. Our room was basic, 2 rock solid beds, a horrible paint job (lime green) and a private bathroom. At only 500TB for two nights including breakfast, (£2.50 each) we couldn't complain. 

 

Only problem with Trekkers camp was that was miles away from Chiang Mai old town. Other than that it was a sweet daint place in the middle of Thai countryside. 

A quick overview of Bangkok -Thailand

Right, currently sitting in the back of an open 4x4, heading towards Chiang Mai mountains to go elephant trekking (can't contain my excitement), so grabbing this moment to do a quick overview of Bangkok. 

Bangkok is a mismatch of old and modern infrastructure. Poverty is mixed with wealth; tinned roof houses are squeezed in between run down apartment blocks and traditional Thai houses. 

The heat in Bangkok is like no other; due to the buildings being so high, the air is still and muggy. This was quite a big shock for me since I'm from Brighton which is by the sea, whereas in Bangkok, I started to feel like I couldn't breath. With not much fresh air passing through the winding streets, there's a constant polluted sewage smell which takes some getting used to. 

Tips for around Bangkok: 

 

- Bargain as much as possible, don't give up and you'll hit the lowest price merchants and drivers can give you. 

- Don't stay at Kohsan Road if you want to get some sleep at night, there are loads of niche guesthouses near by. 

- Try and do Bangkok in 3-4 days, if it's your first time travelling, then you might consider staying longer, however once you reach other parts of Thailand you'll realise it was a waste of your visit. 

- Try check out the Skybar if you can afford it, drinks are skyhigh in price (see what I did there) but the views are phenomenal. It's where the Hangover 2 was filmed and the cheapest drink is around 700TB (£14) which could buy you two nights in cheap accommodation instead.  Dress code is smart; no flip flops or shorts. 

- Beware of your belongings on tuk tuks, bike thefts are known to snatch bags out of people's arms. 

- Respect the Thai culture, always say hello, pronounced "swadicaa" for girls or "swadicap" for guys and bow your head. Thank you is pronounced "kapuncaa" for girls and "kapuncap" for guys. 

- Beware of "helpful" people; some Thais come up to you offering you some help and information but will charge you after. 

- If you don't want to be hassled by street merchants or in general, it's always good the act confident; people will feed off your vulnerability, so keep your head held high. 

- There are loads of cute Thai kids sellings roses around the bars and cafés; challenge them to a thumb war and see what happens. 

- Keep water on you at all times, kinda common sense, but it's easy to suffer from sun stroke, dehydration etc. 

- Go out and explore the streets without a map, you'll end up getting a real feel for Thai culture since you'll get lost between markets and alleys. This way you won't stick to tourists points and you can always catch a tuk tuk out.