Pai

Thursday 14th - Friday 15th September 2017

Thursday

Much to our embarrassment, Emma and I woke to the sounds of housekeeping knocking on our door an hour after I had set my alarm, my phone hadn't been charging properly so it kept dying and we didn't hear the alarm! We got ready in 2 minutes and raced downstairs to get the bus - although I pulled a classic me and left my iPad in the room. Luckily we're going back to that hotel tomorrow so it could've been a lot worse! We then had a 3 hour coach ride to Pai along the windiest, bumpiest roads and it's safe to say nobody was feeling fresh! But we all made it (just about) and went for lunch (well most of us bought food and then pushed it around the plate) before checking into our next hotel. I went for a quick swim to wake myself up a bit before heading to Muay Thai boxing with most of the others. Emma wasn't doing it so she went to bed! Boxing was so much fun, even if I was completely terrible at it! Chamani then took us to a beautiful lookout point so see the sunset, before heading to Pai's night market. The plan was to get the free shuttle home but Laura and I got hair wraps that took longer than expected so we went to go and see who was getting tattooed. Courtney had just finished so we went to get the shuttle back with her, but the guide didn't speak English overly well so we ended up having to wait an extra 2 hours for Codie to finish getting his done so it was nearly 1am by the time we got back... so much for an early night!

Chiangmai

Wednesday 13th September 2017

I awoke (well I say awoke I didn't really sleep all that much) to the lifts being switched on at 5:20am and then some rando song being played later so no more sleep for me! We got to Chiangmai at around 7am and headed straight to the hotel for breakfast, and what a spread it was! They even had heaps of waffles which made me so happy. After finishing, a few of us went to do the flight of the gibbons, a zip lining course. It was pretty cool, and we even saw a few Gibbons in the trees, although they were quite far away. We had an included lunch there (always a winner) before heading back to the hotel, checking in and having a quick shower etc before going to the Thai cooking class. We went to the market first and were told about all the different ingredients and what we will be using them for. We then went to the farm where the school is, about a half an hour drive from the city. It was so beautiful there! We made Tom Yum soup, Pad Thai, Padang curry and cashew chicken stir fry and I'm very proud to say that mine tasted amazing! I even did the fire bit when making the stir fry! Everyone decided to then go to a lady boy show, and look around the night markets. I genuinely planned to only go for one drink and then do a bit of shopping, but that one drink led to me having a full blown night out oops! 

Ayutthaya

Monday 11th - Tuesday 12th September 2017

Monday

Following on from the waterfalls, we had about a 3 and a half hour drive to Ayutthaya so we ended up checking in at around 7 in the evening. We hadn't eaten in a while and were borderline starving to death so a heap of us got tuk tuks down to the night market for food. One of the tuk tuks had multicoloured lights and played the same bassy song over and over... super lit! 😂 When we arrived I asked Nutty what she would recommend, and so Emma and I ended up sharing a Pad Thai and Tom Yum soup, everything was so delicious and cost us the equivalent of about £2 each... crazy cheap! 

Tuesday

It was an early rise this morning as we were off on our morning bike tour around the city. We saw some pretty cool temples, learning about the history of the place. I believe this was the second (could be the third I can't quite remember now!) capital of Thailand, and the royal palace used to be here during the reign of 33 Thai kings. When they moved on, they burnt the palace for 7 days so that no one could steal anything for themselves or something along the lines of that! It was pretty hard to hear the guy as there's so many of us and he had a quiet voice! The bike ride was actually a lot better than I thought it would be, that was until my back brakes stopped working properly and my chain came off too... luckily all the rubbish bikes at centerparcs have taught me how to sort that out quickly!  We then had free time until 7 so I literally just lazed in the pool with some of the others, grabbing food from 711 as I ate so much at the buffet lunch! We then climbed aboard the overnight train, and it was actually much nicer than I anticipated it to be! We were all in one carriage, so it wasn't as private as the one we went on in China, but it didn't seem like it was going to be that bad, other than the fact they leave a few lights on in the carriage which is going to be super annoying! Played cards against humanity for a bit, but wasn't anywhere nearly as funny as when I play it with the girls from uni, so I went and chatted with a few of the others for a bit before heading to bed. 

Kanchanaburi

Sunday 10th - Monday 12th September 2017

Sunday 

It took a couple of hours on the bus to get to Kanchanaburi, and our tour guide, Nutty, was telling us heaps of stuff about Thailand. She liked to tell us which fruit was 'alkaline' and 'good for your body' and also tried to fob us off with how delicious durian fruit is but it smells like sick so I don't believe her! Our first stop was at a cemetery for some of the poisoners of war that died when the railway from Thailand - Burma was being built during the Second World War. I went round the museum with a few others and it was really interesting. It's so crazy how the war effected literally the whole world and we only learn about a fraction of it at school. It's really made me want to look into it even more! After that we headed to check out the bridge over the river Kwai which was pretty cool apart from being bitten by thousands of mozzies! I swear they can sniff me out miles away! Afterward we went down to a wee port that reminded me of the one we went to to get to Robinson Crusoe Island. It was about a ten minute boat ride down to our resort and it is honestly the coolest place I have ever stayed in in my life! It's called Jungle Rafts hotel and it is literally that - a hotel on rafts on the river in the jungle. We didn't have long until dinner so we chilled out a bit - there's no electricity here so we had little oil lamps and led candles which was super cute. Dinner was amaaaazing (and included so win win!) and was served 'family style'. After dinner most of us chilled out on the deck with a few drinks, I still had a huge headache so only had the one and then went to bed at 10ish - not that there was much point! I didn't get much sleep as even after the others went to bed the river and insects were so noisy! 

Monday

Woke up at 6am but I didn't actually get up until 7ish. The local village that looks after he resort has an elephant that they brought by to feed. I've got such mixed feelings about it as it isn't looked after in the best way, but it seemed happy and was very keen to have the food! After breakfast Nutty took us to the local village, and we saw the wee temple and school, as well as the elephant again! It was so hot so when we got back I went for a swim in the river with a few others. It was so refreshing! I was a tad worried about the current but it was manageable thank god! We had 'brunch' at 11 which was basically a huge meal and super delicious again. We then grabbed the boat back to the bus before setting off to the national park to see the Erawan waterfalls. It was so pretty! There were seven levels in total, I only went to the fourth one as the plan was just to have a swim and relax there for a bit before going back to the coach. This was not the case, there were so many fish in there that eat dead skin so they wouldn't stop biting you unless you were moving around! So after about fifteen minutes I decided I'd had enough, got out and went back to level one as there were less fish there! 

Bangkok

Bangkok

Friday 

The flight wasn't so bad, my extreme lack of sleep over the past few days helped me to have a wee nap on the plane which made time go by quicker! After landing and finding my luggage (thank goodness!) I went to go and check Emma's arrival time. Her flight wasn't on the board. She was at a different airport... bloody typical!!! Not the sort of thing we thought to check when we presumed Emily at STA travel was going to give us as similar flights as she could! So then I pottered around a bit trying to make sense of where to go, realised I needed help and so asked at the info desk and they told me to get on the a4 bus. I honestly have no idea where I'm going to get off but I'm just going to hope for the best! Life is a lot harder without data on my phone! Although luckily google maps was working offline (thank god) so I managed to work out where to get off and it was only a 5 minute walk from the 'bus stop' which was good! I checked in, the receptionist told me that Emma had already been here but I have no idea where she has gone! I went for a wee wander around the immediate area but I don't understand the currency yet so there's not all that much point in me buying anything yet! I then just chilled out in the lobby for 15 mins hoping emma would come back anytime soon! It wasn't long before I checked in and omg he room was soooo nice compared to all the hostels we have been in! The shower was honest to God the best shower I have had for a very long time and I got out feeling fresh as! I was just wondering what Emma was doing when there was a knock at the door and in came Emma rocking her new mani- pedi! We decided to get some washing done and then grabbed lunch at a nearby restaurant.  I then decided to have a Thai massage, as it was the equivalent of about a fiver (absolute bargain). I was expecting a nice relaxing massage to prepare me for the nap I was going to take afterwards, however this couldn't have been further from the truth! I think I should've read up about Thai massages before

getting one as it says that they combine acupuncture and helping into yoga poses. Anyone that knows me know show extremely inflexible I am and I honestly could not stop laughing about it... shit out to the masseuse though she got my legs in places I never thought they would go! And I think she cracked just about every bone in my body including my whole spine a fair few times! She was the cutest and even asked me if I felt ok at the end of it! Afterwards I went back to the hotel room, I thought at that point I didn't need a nap but after reading a massive 2 pages I fell asleep for a couple of hours. Unfortunately it was a bad nap and I woke up feeling sicky but I ignored it and went for a swim in the rooftop pool before coming back, ordering room service and watching greys anatomy until going to sleep! All in all a great first day! Very excited to start the Contiki tomorrow and meet the people we will be travelling with! 

Saturday 

We had planned to have a nice long lie in today, which went to pot when we were both wide awake at 7am again! Honestly I can't believe my body clock is still so messed up! We went to grab breakfast and on the way asked about our room for Contiki, luckily they said we could stay in the room we were already in which is amazing!! After breakfast we had a wander around, and then for a bikini wax which was an... interesting experience! Feeling fresh now though! We went back to the hotel and chilled out by the pool, and also bumped into a couple of girls on our Contiki so we went and got lunch with them later on in the day. After lunch, we went back to the pool for a bit before chilling in the room before our meeting at 6. We went through all the classic bits of information and stuff we needed to know, also had to decide what extra activities we want to do... I decided to do most of them as a mostly everyone else was and in total it came to around £260 which is less than a quarter of the amount I spent on extras on the Big Tiki! I'm super excited for the elephant park.. especially as it's an actual legit one that treats the elephants well. We then all went out for dinner and I really wanted to try mango sticky rice but unfortunately they had sold out! So I panic ordered fries and regretted it as usual! I felt like crap so Emma and I and a few others headed back but I believe mostly everyone else stayed out! 

Sunday

Still didn't feel to good this morning, and woke up with no appetite which was worrying! (Luckily it came back by lunch time!) I forced myself to eat, I wish I was hungry as there was a whole spread of food for breakfast! The pineapple was super yummy and very sweet, just like the pineapple in Fiji which makes me so happy. Afterwards we headed out to the Grand Palace which is absolutely beautiful! We also fed fish outside of another temple on the river before heading back to the hotel to pack, sort out money for the excursions and get ready to leave Bangkok! 

Singapore

Monday 4th - Friday 8th September 2017

Monday
So my flights went super smoothly, that is until I arrived in Singapore and waited for my bag for a particularly long time... the last bags were out and, along with a dozen or so other people, my bag was nowhere to be seen. I waited around the airport for a bit and filled in some forms before heading out into the city to find the hostel. It was actually a blessing in disguise as I didn't have to lug it around on the train! Eventually I got to the hostel and then went out to find a maccys for dinner a si wasn't all that hungry and that was the only thing I fancied! I had an iced milo and I can't believe I haven't had one before! So delicious! I then finished rereading 'the girl with the dragon tattoo' whilst I waited for Emma to get here at around 1am.

Tuesday
Luckily I had a spare outfit in my bag so I had something different to wear today and fresh underwear thank god! Emma and I grabbed breakfast as the free breakfast at the hostel was literally just toast and marmalade and didn't look overly appetisingly. I got a maccys breakfast again (supersize me hehe) and then we had a wander around the shops before meeting Jillian. It was so good to see her, I haven't seen her since she graduated a couple of years ago! She gave us a guided tour of Singapore, pointing out different buildings and taking us to a couple of cool places for lunch and dinner. We also went to the gardens and checkout out the cloud forest and flower gardens which was pretty cool! When we got back to the hostel my bag was waiting for me which was such a relief!

Wednesday

We had a wander around a few more of the shopping malls today but the weather was pretty rubbish so we ended up coming back to the hostel and chilling there in the afternoon. We went back to Zam Zams for dinner as it was so good... Indian noodles are delicious! 

Thursday

We went back down to the gardens at the bay this morning but it was super ridiculously hot and neither of us had slept much as there is one stupid girl in the dorm who leaves her lights on all flipping night and everyone was just so noisy... can't wait to be living in hotels for the next month! Due to this, we decided to go back to the hostel chill out and pack our bags before going out this evening to grab dinner and go back to see the gardens at night. 

Friday

Honestly had the worst nights sleep, tried to get an eary night but a guy kept talking to us about how we seem to be asleep all the time haha! Eventually Emma stopped the conversation (by that point I was pretending to be asleep) and I slowly drifted off... except he girl underneath me kept turning her light on and off and chatting away to her friend who was quite clearly asleep! Eventually at 2am I decided to not bother trying to go back to sleep as my alarm was going off at 2:50am to catch out early flight! I was not happy haha!

Ubud & Kuta Beach

Thursday 31st August - Monday 4th September

Thursday

So the boat ride from Gili T to Bali was horrific. I have never been so scared in my life, my life actually flashed before my eyes. I had visions of us sinking like the titanic every single time the boat rocked enough to make my heart plummet to my stomach. Thank god for my iPad... if I hadn't been watching greys anatomy I would've had to actively think about that for the whole journey... and fast boat my ass that took 3 hours and it sucked the whole time, I'd rather make a day of it on the slow boat... actually scrap that I'd rather fork out they extra dollar and fly! Never again I swear!! Although we had a better time than the family in front of us, one of their kids puked the whole way and the window started leaking on the dad! Their mum was sitting next to us though and she was pretty smug as the Dad had refused to swap seats with her! Next it was time for our long shuttle bus journey back to Kuta beach. It was so nice to get back to pop hotel and just chill out, all I had to eat for dinner was a pot noodle and Oreos we grabbed on the way to the hotel. We just crashed we were so tired!

Friday

Check out wasn't until 12, so we had a nice leisurely morning (even though I still woke up before 7) and grabbed breakfast at the same place we had breakfast on our first morning in Bali. Afterwards, we got a private car to go to Ubud. It took longer than first thought as the traffic was super bad! We got there at around lunch time, so, after checking in, we grabbed a bite to eat and did a bit of shopping before grabbing a taxi to the Teggalalang rice terraces. They are so cool! So much better in real life than in the photos, although it was super hot and there was a lot of walking so we got mega sweaty! It took us a while to realise there were no bluebird taxis allowed in this area, so we grabbed a drink and then got a private taxi back to ubud town. It was a classic pot noodle for dinner again today and we just had another night in to save money before the Contiki. 

Saturday

It was banana pancakes for breakfast again this morning, but this time we had watermelon on the side and chocolate sauce! Super delish! We then headed down to the monkey forest, Emma still pretty nervous after the monkeys attacked her in China! I reassured her and forced her into going... and it worked! She was a bit nervy at first... but to be fair so was I when they came a bit too close for comfort! We paid 10,000 rupiah extra to have a photo taken with one and afterwards Emma said she was so happy I made her do it as she feels a lot more at ease than before which is awesome! It was a pretty cool forest too, not as big as the one in GuiYang though. We were in and out within an hour so we then had the rest of the day to fill up. We dropped in at a cafe where they gave me a sour coconut and tried to fob me off saying they were supposed to be like that. There was no way they were gonna swap it so I just paid for it (ok it was all of £2 but it's the principal!) despite not really touching it... I feel like I'll stay away from coconuts as I never seem to get the tasty ones! We then shopped around a bit and I finally got some grey elephant pants!! I've been after some for so long and these cost me the equivalent of just under £4 so win win! After lunch we went back to the hostel and chilled out by the pool. The people who work here brought us out some traditional Indonesian snacks, and I pretty much liked all of them but the others weren't too keen on a few! 

Sunday

Had the delicious pancakes again this morning, and then emma and I headed to a cafe (Kafe)-for some chill out time before needing to check out from our hostel... I will miss this hostel it's been so good! It was hen time to part with Emma as her flight was a few hours after mine so I hopped in the taxi, went to the airport and got all checked in ready for my journey to Singapore!