Kuala Lumpur

Our arrival into Kuala Lumpur was wet. It was tropical, lashing, rain, the storm drains were full to overflowing and we were trudging through puddles with our heavy backpacks trying to find the place where we had planned to say. I say planned because we hadn't actually booked and upon arrival at Reggae Mansion we were told there was no room and we would have to look elsewhere. With blame radiating from me towards Dibbs (who in my opinion had not shown enough interest when I had brought up the subject of booking the hostel- in his opinion he had told me to book it), we stomped off to find somewhere else with the wind and rain beating our faces constantly. Eventually, we arrived at another hostel which thankfully had a room, albeit not the cheapest but we took it anyway.

Sinking down onto a clean double bed was the best feeling in the world, blame was quickly revoked and we were heading out into the storms once again to find some food. Fortunately the rain had subsided a little as we walked in the direction of Chinatown. Sitting down at one of the now familiar street cafes we carefully checked all the stalls before making our orders. I chose a claypot of Loh Shu Fan. I felt a little dubious with my choice as most of the dish names are accompanied by an unappetising picture of the food. The image for this meal looked particularly unappealing however I was feeling adventurous. This was lucky because my meal was delicious. It contained fat, squashy noodles, a tasty stock, ground pork and egg. Although I can admit it doesn't sound magnificent, on that wet cold night it was exactly what I needed and I happily chomped my way through the entire bowl.

After a walk through the Chinese markets looking at the merchandise that we planned to spend our final pennies on we went back to the hostel to dry off and relax.

The following day we arose later than planned and dropped our bags off at Reggae Mansion where we had now booked beds. We caught the train from there to KLCC which is Kuala Lumpur City Centre, the place to be if looking for the main tourist attraction; the Petronas Twin Towers. These buildings were an awesome sight, I craned my head up to the spikes miles above me with my mouth gaping in wonder. They were also situated in a surprisingly picturesque location with a park nearby and water fountains out in front. We walked to the foot of the towers and right through to the vast shopping centre inside holding the names, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Cartier we quickly continued to another level closer to our price range. After exploring the park we walked to 'Imbi Market' a place that I had read about in Lonely Planet which appeared to be non-existent when we arrived, disappointed with this outcome, we were fortunate enough to stumble upon another place; Itesan Food Market. Walking down some steps off the main street we found an endless amount of food stalls where we feasted our taste buds.

With a final spurt of energy on our walk home we visited the KL Skytower. We had planned to climb to the top but this seemed expensive and so we contented ourselves with exploring the attractions at the base. We went into a horrible, grubby animal house that I would not recommend anyone giving business to. We also held some parrots which I did not enjoy after I had been pecked on the head.

I was exhausted walking back but had planned on a little retail therapy and didn't want to leave without having made some purchases. Stocked up with fake handbags and watches we finally made it back to our room where we checked in. Reggae mansion is probably the best hostel I've ever stayed in. It was clean, with each person having their own 'pod' to sleep in, big enough to fit a wide mattress as well as any other belongings you would like to keep inside. Reggae Mansion also has its own bar that we ventured up to, meeting plenty of other backpackers, some of whom we made plans to sight-see further with the next day.

Waking up to a free hostel breakfast we then went to meet our new friends who were planning to visit the Batu caves on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur followed by a trip to some local waterfalls. Aemon, one of the guys in our group, had heard that the caves were home to a gang of monkeys and so he had come prepared with a packet of cheezels to tempt them over. Walking up the 200 or so steps to the caves it was difficult to decide whether I was more eagerly anticipating seeing the attraction or seeing Aemon feed the monkeys. Whilst the caves were an interesting spectacle, the monkey feeding won in terms of entertainment. Watching the monkeys scurrying around to pick up these bright orange crisps was hilarious.

Next came the waterfalls where we did not need a packet of cheezels to tempt out the monkeys; they were everywhere. The waterfalls were stunning but I didn't feel entirely able to relax the whole time there due to the numerous signs warning us of thievery in the park. I'm not sure whether the thieves were the monkeys or humans but a mixture of not wanting to leave my things and also not knowing whether wearing my bikini in the pools was appropriate stopped me from getting into the water.

After a long day with nothing to eat we were all ready for some food and re-visited the Itesan Food Market to fill our bellies. Following this, I was desperate the see the Petronas Towers again, by night. I'm really happy that we summoned the energy to do this because the towers were stunning lit up from top to bottom.

Kuala Lumpur was the perfect end to our time in Asia and I was really sad to be leaving the next day. I loved KL and it is definitely a place that I could see myself living. It's a clean and picturesque city where you can find yourself walking through the richest areas directly into a dirty street market. Clearly a place of contrast it was a very exciting city to visit.

Penang, Malaysia

After bite one...

After spending eights nights in Koh Tao we were just about ready to leave by (another) long bus journey to Malaysia. I was nothing short of terrified to be crossing the border. After reading online about people being left behind and my friend Carly telling me that I would have to run to catch up with my vehicle after being checked through I was starting to wish we were flying. Possibly because I had been so nervous the crossing didn't turn out to be too bad at all. It consisted of three stops where we had to leave the vehicle. The main one of these was very much like the crossing back into the UK on the ferry from France. Despite this, the total journey was a long one- beginning with an overnight boat from Koh Tao with about 100 'beds' lined up next to one another. After this strange experience it was onto another bus, crossing the border and then hours and hours later we arrived in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia.

Ice Kacang

I was not sure what to expect from this island but it certainly wasn't the reality. Having spent so much time on Thai islands, regardless of what I had read about Penang I still expected to be relatively close to a beach at all times. Instead of this we found ourselves in the bizarre Georgetown on Love Lane in a hostel called Old Penang. The hostel was lovely, nice and clean, cool enough to sleep and with free breakfast until 12pm we weren't complaining. We were in the middle of a cultural, historical, art enriched town, supposedly famous for its street food. With this in mind, after a refreshing shower we went in search of one of the dishes on our street food map; after searching around the streets, having a prostitute shout that she wanted to kill me and walking for miles we gave up finding a place on our map and stopped at a street food cafe. James was displeased to say the least and I was also uncertain but didn't want to reveal this after my insistence on trying some local dishes. Luckily we both enjoyed a nice meal but were left feeling slightly disappointed that it wasn't one of the infamous Penang dishes we had read about. Not to be discouraged we went in search of the national desert Ice Kacang which we found in a nearby coffee shop. I suggested that perhaps we should try one of these in case it wasn't to our taste but on hearing the word ice cream, Dibbs was adamant that we should have one each. What turned up was a bowl full of liquid, inside this was a block of unflavoured ice on top of which balanced a scoop of ice cream. I should also probably mention that inside the liquid floated, green noodles, kidney beans, sweet corn and strange jellies that seemed to disappear as your chewed leaving nothing to swallow. Dibbs made the valid comment that perhaps this famous dish had been invented by a child king and no one could refuse to accept it. At least we ate the ice cream.

 Defeated, we headed back to our hostel, shattered after our long journey.

The following day we decided to make a start on viewing some of the popular tourist attractions in the area. This began with a walk to the quays, although not overly impressive, our walk through the Chinese quarter to get there was interesting.

Next stop was the snake temple, where pit vipers had found their home. One thing about Georgetown is that it takes an incredibly long time to navigate anywhere, this is due to the appalling maps, busy traffic and inconsistent buses. However, we finally made it to a random roadside shack, behind which stood a pretty poor excuse for a temple; although, lets face it, we were there to see snakes. We walked into the entrance where there was a tree with fake snakes strategically placed, we both sighed thinking it had been a waste of time and made our way into the temple where we saw lots of venomous pit vipers lurking in the trees. It definitely put me on edge- not as much as when we came back inside to see that the 'fake snakes' we had been stood close to were all real as the guide poked them with a stick to prove it. There was also a huge python lurking in a tank which Dibbs held along with the only de-venomed viper in the place. I was content to simply stroke the python, at the end furthest from its head.

We had enjoyed our time at the snake temple but afterwards it was a 20 minute wait for a bus that drove straight past us when we tried to hail it down, followed by another 20 minutes then a 40 minute ride home. Tired, we made our way back to the hostel where we would find a new friend, Jeff from Borneo, waiting for us. We were soon off out to dinner with Jeff and Rick, Malaysian and Taiwanese. Jeff laughed his way through every conversation and was mildly sexist- I think he may have referred to me as a prostitute at one point. Walking back from dinner with them we were called over by a guy sat with a group next door to our hostel; this happened to be somebody we had met on one of our many bus journeys. So many bus journeys that neither we nor Jordi could remember which but we spent the night chatting with him and the rest of his group ending up in a Reggae Club that played pop music.
The club was a funny experience- it was Halloween but I don’t think this is particularly well celebrated in Malaysia so there were a scattering of people dressed up. There was also a Chinese girl in the club with her Korean roommate. I say her Korean roommate because I never learned her name- the Chinese girl simply called her ‘my Korean roommate’ constantly. She was also obsessed with the UK and hugged me when I said James was my boyfriend.
The next day saw us taking a bus to the national park nearby-ish. Another long bus journey and we arrived at the entrance to the park with a choice to go to either Monkey Beach or Turtle Beach. We set off on our hike to Monkey Beach which a girl the day before had told us we could accomplish in flip flops. I think that you could but I wouldn’t advise it. The walk was really pretty; we saw huge monitor lizards, monkeys and lots of big colourful butterflies. The beach itself wasn’t stunning and we didn’t swim because of the numerous jelly fish that were washed up on the shore. It was still a nice spot and had a pier that we walked along to look at a nice view of the beach.
That night we finally found a huge street food market called Red Garden Cafe which, ironically, was only a five minute walk from Love Lane. We stuffed ourselves with biyriani, stewed pork, noodles, roti and beer. Although I still hadn’t tried many dishes listed on the street food map I was satisfied. My research had shown me that there would be much local, traditional food on offer; however, the place that we went to provided a cultural mix of dishes. Penang is hugely influenced by Chinese and Indian cooking with a China town and a little India in Georgetown.
On our third day in Penang we had a plan. It involved a bike. Not just any bike. To see it was to love it. Our ride was a version of a tandem, perhaps a chuckle brother’s variety. Joined at the handlebars we sat side by side with a canopy over head.  Leaving the bike rental shop we rode like total maniacs along main roads for about half an hour before we realised we were going in circles and would be needing a map. I was completely helpless sat on the left side of the bike because James had all the steering power. Whilst we laughed all (the majority of) day I think the time we probably looked most amusing to bystanders was during a heated argument where James kept running me into the curb to avoid traffic.
It took us around an hour and many treacherous five lane motor way crossings where the beeps were a mixture of anger and amusement but we finally made it to our destination- the foot of a train line. This old railway which had been developed over time, took us up to a hill station where we had a stunning view overlooking Penang. We could even see where we had cycled from (although I’m not sure that gave us much motivation for the return journey).
After spending some time relaxing and marvelling at what was on offer at this altitude- paintballing amongst other things- we made our way down to jump back into the hot seats.
We had one final mission on the way home which was to take our mode of transport through a McDonalds drive through. I’m not sure who found this funnier- ourselves or the people around us. After ordering a cheeseburger to share (we weren’t even hungry) and two cokes, we parked up in a car space for a rest.
We arrived back in Georgetown, weary after the day’s exertions but still managing to fit a little sightseeing in on the way home. We stopped at a few of Penang’s famous street art spots. These were really incredible and I would have liked to have walked the street art trail but, completely shattered and knowing we had to get up early for our journey to Kuala Lumpur the next day, we left it for another time.
I enjoyed Penang a lot but was surprised by how large the island was; it felt as though we were in a big town on the mainland. It is a multi cultural place with Chinese and Indian influences on the food and town. It is fairly quiet and not the place to go if after the beach or party scene but there are lots of sights to see if feeling up to the challenge of navigating the bus system and finding them all. 

Koh Tao- Taking the Plunge

Sunset Koh Tao

A 'short' boat ride later we arrived, from Koh Phangan, in Koh Tao. After our unproductive 5 night stay on the party island we had become more lazy and unmotivated than usual and had been unable to come to a decision as to whether or not we would complete our open water diving qualification here. Eventually, after plodding around with our backpacks on in the midday heat getting increasingly irritable, we decided to walk to Phoenix Divers and 'take the plunge'. Within a few hours we had been checked into some ropey accommodation (AC resort) and were sitting in front of a video tape watching the first of many informative diving films. We were in a small group, 3 of us Brits and 3 Dutch; me being the only girl. 

After watching the film we were given some homework(!) to answer questions from the tape we had watched. I learnt a lot about decompression which made me feel a little nervous about going deep into the ocean. After finishing our questions I suggested we go to a place called Sairee for dinner where I had eaten numerous times on my last visit to Koh Tao; being adventurous I had the same meal as last time too. After a foot massage for me and a full body massage for Dibbs we were ready for an early night in order to be fresh for diving the following day. 

Sunset- Lotus Bar, Koh Tao

We woke up stiff and aching from our rock hard bed and ambled down to breakfast. After a quick bite we were back in the classroom to finish the theory part of our diving course. Once completed we were all eagerly anticipating getting into the pool to practice some essential skills. Firstly, we needed to learn how to assemble our equipment; connecting regulators to our all important air tanks and checking that our buoyancy jackets were working properly. When all had been assembled, taken apart and assembled again five times I heaved on the heavy apparatus and waddled after the others towards the pool. I was feeling nervous because, although I have been diving a couple of times before, going underwater with only a mouthpiece and a couple of tanks supplying oxygen to your lungs is still unnerving. I was particularly fearful of doing the skills on top of trying to breathe normally and not start panicking. However, once we were in the water and the first skill had been completed by each of us, breathing came naturally in comparison and I soon felt relaxed. The first of the skills that we had to demonstrate was to fill our masks with water and then clear them. This is achieved by letting water in through the top of your mask then tilting your head backwards and breathing out through the nose. Admittedly, my clearing of the mask wasn't quite as graceful as the instructors and did involve a lot more snot flying out however, all in all, I think it went ok. I had decided to wear my contact lenses while diving for a clearer view of the sea life, however it did mean that I couldn't open my eyes in the water, when doing skills, and had to rely on a tap from the instructor when my mask was clear, consequently, I ditched the lenses after our first practice. 

Next we had to go a step further and remove our masks entirely, keeping our thumb in the nose to easily re-fit them. This was fine after having already filled and cleared our masks because clearing is the hardest part anyway. Mask skills done we were ready for the skills that the whole group had been nervously awaiting- removing our regulators (the mouth piece that you breathe through), finding them again and clearing the mouth of water. The most important part of this skill was to keep breathing out whilst finding the air again. This is the number one rule of diving- never stop breathing. The instructor turned to face me and I fought to look confident as I pulled out my regulator and flung it behind me. I ensured that I continued to blow out small bubbles of air until I had located the regulator and shoved it back into my mouth, blew out the water and was able to breathe again. Phew. After being in the water for half an hour we were all shivering with cold and opted to warm up and put on wetsuits for part two.

 I felt much more comfortable climbing into the pool for a second time because for me we had already completed all the skills I had been most afraid of. The rest of our time spent under water consisted of trying to create neutral buoyancy- floating at the perfect level and controlling movements by breathing in and out. I have to say I don't think I ever really achieved this. We also practised emergency ascents; sharing air with our diving 'buddy'. The last part we needed to experience before going into the sea was to have the oxygen in our tanks turned off. Although it was only for a second it was a sickening feeling to take your last breath before the air was turned back on; not something that I would like to experience in a real life situation. 


After leaving the pool we were ravenous and went in search of something to fill us up. Going behind the main beach path and into the town we found a restaurant called SU Chilli which was packed out; a promising sign. After our first night of delicious Thai food we returned for eight nights in a row, trying crispy pork, massaman curry, red curry, satay chicken, tom yum, chicken with cashew nuts and Thai meatballs. The food was incredible; it is quite difficult to find really tasty food on the southern islands because of the catering to western tastes however SU Chilli meals were beautifully, spiced, authentic Thai and we couldn't get enough of them (clearly). 

The morning came and we groggily made our way down to breakfast ready for the first of our sea dives at a point called Mango Bay. We had a different instructor taking us out which was a shame because the guys who had trained us in the pool had been great. Josh was still ok but I was definitely treated like the only girl in the group when he indicated that if I would prefer I could take my mask up to my forehead instead of all the way off like the boys. Of course I saw this as a chance to prove myself, ripping my mask straight off and clearing it in the same way as everyone else. After doing all our skills in the sea we were off the explore the underwater world. We were desperate to see a whale shark after several recent sightings, unfortunately, this was not meant to be. Needless to say, we saw some incredible creatures, hundreds of beautiful, colourful fish within touching distance, corals and even a hidden stingray under a rock. After what seemed like a very short time we were resurfacing, disassembling our used air tanks for new ones in preparation for our second dive. 

Early morning coffee

Logically, each dive should become easier but with so many things to think about and numerous factors that can affect a dive, every time we went down I felt different. On this particular dive I was having real trouble equalising which can be extremely painful to your ears; air expanding next to your ear drum that needs to be compressed by equalising. I finally got the pain under control and equalised, making my way down to the second dive site- White Rock- which was possibly more impressive than the first. Again, we saw a vast array of colour and movement. Dibbs must have much heavier breathing than me because I lost my buddy who was using his air very rapidly and had to be taken up with one of the assisting instructors. With plenty left in my tank, I followed Josh and a few others to explore a few under water crevices searching for hidden life. We found some camouflaged fish sticking close to the rocks, ones that I would not want to get too close to as they are extremely poisonous.

Preparing for an early dive

That night, we ran into a guy who we had met on a long bus journey and enjoyed a few drinks together as we watched the sun set over Koh Tao followed by another feast at SU Chilli. The contrast between our time on Koh Phangan and Koh Tao was huge; from late nights, lots of drinking and mornings lost to sleep we were now going to bed at 11 to get up at 6 and begin new journeys under water. I think the second life style was definitely more healthy.

Day four was our last day of diving; we went to two sites, Chumpon and back to White Rock. Dibbs and I both had trouble equalising at these but didn't waste too much time and were soon 18 metres deep watching schools of fish swim by and an enormous jelly fish floating harmlessly along. We were becoming a lot more confident as we swam through tiny caves and got deeper with each dive. The most exciting part of our last dive was when Dibbs and I were at the back of the group, taking our time and suddenly a giant brown fish with yellow markings swam right over Dibbs' head. I was manically shoving the camera towards it while

Shark Bay

Dibbs was jigging around underneath until our instructor mimicked a gun with his hand to indicate that we were swimming with a trigger fish who could have attacked at any moment. (See below).

As a protection against predators, triggerfish can erect the first two dorsal spines: The first, (anterior) spine is locked in place by erection of the short second spine, and can be unlocked only by depressing the second, “trigger” spine, hence the family name “triggerfish”.

I'm really glad that we decided to dig deep into our wallets to do the diving course as it is an experience that I will never forget adding the the fact that I am now a qualified SSI Open Water Diver, meaning (scarily) that I can rent equipment from anywhere in the world and go out diving- I think I will be buying an underwater map before I do this. 


After finishing our course we were due to leave the island however, after so much travelling, we simply couldn't be bothered. Instead, we spent our nights drinking and watching the sun set, spending time with Alpe d'Huez friends, eating and snorkelling.

Together with Finn and Michaela, we went to shark bay where we were all lucky enough to snorkel with black tip reef sharks, see more triggerfish and other colourful sea life. Koh Tao was a good time, I'm glad that we stayed to relax a little after the chaos of travelling from place to place. 

Koh Phangan

We were absolutely gutted to leave Koh Chang; it had everything we needed, sunshine, beautiful beaches, superb seafood and cheap accommodation but it was time for a change. Another reason for our disgruntled departure was the 26 hour journey that lay ahead. Unthinkingly we had assumed it would be easy to reach Koh Phangan from Koh Chang but, due to travel routes, we had to go all the way back to Bangkok as part  of the trip. We were disappointed further when we saw the bus we would be travelling on- cramped even for my short legs. Nevermind. We finally made it to Koh Phangan and the contrast between this more well travelled island and the places we had already been was made immediately apparent by a girl in our taxi complaining that her vodka may be smashed by the local person moving her bag for her and the loud, offensive Geordies bragging the entire way to our accommodation. Looking forward to a nice shower on arrival we were ready to throw enormous strops upon being told that the electric wasn’t working in our room. Undeterred we walked to the beach.
Sunrise beach in Koh Phangan, despite its tacky reputation, is one of my favourite beaches in Thailand. Looking past the hordes of people on the beach you can see the beautiful colour of the water and the white sand. Soon, we were happily playing bat and ball, our 26 hour journey completely forgotten.
That night, finally showered and fresh we went to the beach for some drinks ending up at the infamous Coral Bungalows Pool Party. Given that there are only two of us travelling we should have spent the night making friends but instead I spent the night being piggy backed through the pool by Dibbs , me tapping people on the shoulder while he threw buckets of water in their faces. We haven’t met many people.

Similarly to last time I went it’s difficult to say too much about Koh Phangan because it’s easy to fall into the trap of partying, sleeping late and sunbathing. We had a good time though, the highlights included meeting up with Dibbs’ friends who were also working in Alpe d’Huez last season, Dibbs jumping through a ring of fire on the night of the full moon and visiting sunset beach, at sunset.
Koh Phangan is said to be a beautiful island, which it is, but this is apparently true particularly about the parts further away from the party areas. With this in mind I had vowed to visit more places this time around. This did not happen, therefore, I have still seen only the Haad Rin area. The Thai food is ok- the locals aim their food towards Western tastes more here so Mama Schnitzel is certainly very good, sunrise beach is stunning. One thing about sunrise beach which isn’t advertised on the full moon posters is that when you enter the sea you are surprised by a stinging sensation on your body. This is caused by jelly tentacles that are washed ashore with the full moon tide. Strange but true.

Back to Chiang Mai & Koh Chang

Our next destination before we visited the southern islands of Thailand was Koh Chang. For a while we had hoped to get from Pai to Koh Chang in one day; however we soon realised that this was far too ambitious. The sensible place to stop on the way would have been Bangkok but neither of us was keen to stay there again so we took another option and chose to stay in Chiang Mai for a second time. Instead of staying at Mojito Garden again we decided to stay at a place recommended by my friend Sophie Kendrick called SK guesthouse. The guy on reception also remembered Soph and was really friendly, reminding me to ‘say hi to SK for him’. SK was perfect for us after staying in small hut style accommodation in Pai, we were now able to relax in hotel style rooms with a swimming pool next to the downstairs restaurant. It was also really reasonable and not too far from the centre of town (if you know where you’re going).
Having left Pai at lunchtime it was early evening by the time we had settled into SK. After getting some food we walked to the night market ready to spend, spend, SPEND. As with every time when you are actually looking to buy things we couldn’t find anything we wanted but did both end up with a pair of fake Havaianas. Strolling through the market I noticed Dibbs suddenly getting a little glint in his eye, turning to see what he was looking at I saw three ladyboys in full sequins, makeup and huge man-sized heels. Next thing Dibbs knew he was amongst them with me taking photos whilst they kissed his cheeks.  The women/men were there advertising a show that night in the market square. I was keen to go and see this as I had heard that the shows can be really entertaining. Dibbs seemed a little more sceptical as we sat nearby watching them ‘do their thing’ to entice the crowd into the bar. Our particular favourite was a chubby, short, smiling character who was possibly the least convincing ladyboy I have seen so far.
At 9pm we sat down at the ‘free’ show with the most expensive drinks we had had since leaving the UK. We weren’t too worried however as 400 baht between us for a drink and a show was still fairly reasonable. The music began and a voice boomed out that we were about the see ‘the greatest caberet show in the world’, we both laughed and rolled our eyes and this as the performers began to walk out onto the stage. My eyes took in the vast amounts of sequins, feathers and glitter unfolding before me.  The first song was fairly standard euro-pop and I had a feeling I knew the sort of show we were about to see, that was until the second song- Telephone by Lady GaGa and Beyonce- began and a GaGa impersonate burst onto the stage. Don’t get me wrong, these performers don’t exactly look like women and I certainly wouldn’t be mistakenly asking her for GaGa’s autograph anytime soon but I did tend to forget that I was watching a Thai man prancing around the stage in full dress. I laughed my way through this entire performance, through the entire show in fact, especially when a Beyonce figure joined GaGa on stage followed by Tina Turner amongst others. Entertainment is what we went for and entertainment is what we got. It was definitely worthwhile to go and see; I smiled


so much all the way through that my jaw ached afterwards.
After leaving the show we had a few more drinks and then attempted for about an hour to find our way home. This is the problem with Chaing Mai; it’s a complete maze. The old town is set in a square layout with canals running around the edge. This means that when reaching a canal it is easy to assume you are in one place but really be completely the other end of town. This happened for a long time before a local took pity on us after passing us for about the fourth time he took us on the back of his moped all the way to our hostel.  Clearly not as street savvy as we thought.
We spent the next day by the pool, me reading Water for Elephants out loud for Dibbs. It was so nice to relax in the sunshine despite the shade quickly covering the main pool area in the afternoon. Reluctantly we packed up and were climbing on a bus again by 6pm. The overnight bus took us all the way to Bangkok where we arrived early in the morning to travel onto Trat and then Koh Chang. Horrendous sounding, the journey wasn’t as bad as we were expecting especially when we stepped onto (a very rusty) ferry and pulled up to the beautiful island of Koh Chang.
With no idea where we were going we climbed into an open truck taxi with some other travellers and picked a beach at random from one of the posters we had seen on the boat. We ended up in an area located on Lonely Beach and quickly sought a good meal; the last three had been snack meals bought from service stations and made up of crisps and Cornettos. After finding a place to stay called Magic Garden for 200baht a night between us and fueling up on some tasty seafood we went in search of a bar. It was a choice between dead quiet drinks in an empty bar or crazy loud music and expensive cocktails. A few cocktails later we were back to our little hut dubiously walking across the huge cracks in the floor well aware that cobras are native to Koh Chang.
The next day we hired out our second moped and set off to explore. The roads in Koh Chang we a lot steeper than in Pai and I clung on tight as we wound along, up and down. The first stop was a viewpoint of the road that displayed a stunning view of the islands close to Koh Chang as well as the turquoise and deep blue mixing of water below.
White Sands was our next stop but we ended up getting sidetracked at Kai Bae running onto the beach and diving into the sea where we were both thrilled to be after lots of dry land and trekking around in north Thailand. We had also impulse bought a snorkel each, although the reason for the ‘excellent deal’ we had for these became apparent as the salt water filled up our masks and stung our eyes. Three small fish later we ditched the snorkels and played bat and ball on the beach for a while, jumped in and out of the sea and sunbathed. Kai Bae beach was absolutely stunning, definitely top 5 if not the number one beach I have seen on my travels so far.
We didn’t get to White Sands that day but continued to cruise casually/me clinging on to the bike in terror along the coastal road.
That night we went in search of a highly recommended Mexican restaurant (bad of us in Thailand I know). It had recently been moved from Lonely Beach to Kai Bae, however, after driving up and down the street of Kai Bae about twelve times we finally saw the ‘coming soon’ sign and had to re-think our dinner plans. After finishing our meal I was highly grateful for the non-existent Mexican restaurant because I ate, instead, the best seafood of my life. We picked a restaurant at random with a selection of fresh fish displayed outside on ice and ordered a whole white snapper between us. It was beautiful, crispy skin, perfectly spiced, meaty fish. Neither of us could stop smiling on the way home and after a few drinks in the ‘Magic Garden’ bar we went to bed full and happy.
The next day we actually made it to White Sands which, while beautiful, was much more commercial than the other beaches we had seen. There are a lot of expensive resorts on Koh Chang where you will see rude, rich Russians parading the beach in front of fancy hotels and it seemed most of these were in White Sands.  Where we were staying in Lonely Beach seemed to be the most backpacker friendly. That said, White Sands was still beautiful and home to lots of restaurants where I would have spent my whole time if I could have.
Our last night’s meal had been booked at another seafood restaurant which included a boat trip to see fireflies. With cheap seafood being so readily available we had to go for the lobster; this was actually the first time I have eaten lobster in a restaurant and I loved it. Hopefully I can earn plenty of money in Australia as I believe my tastes are becoming expensive. After dinner we climbed onto the boat for our promised firefly experience which was a little bit of an over-statement. To be fair we did see fireflies, about three. They didn’t exactly light up the trees as suggested in the guide book, however they were still a pretty sight after a tasty bite.
Koh Chang provided a serious contender for the top spot currently occupied by Pai. It is a beautiful, secnic island; not all of it is occupied because part is entirely covered in jungle. Noticeably quieter than the other Thai islands it was also a great place for us to relax for a few days. Relax we did. Whilst in Koh Chang we slept, ate, drank, swam and sunbathed. Repeat.

Pai

We were dropped off at the main bus station in Pai on a fairly busy street called ‘Walking Street’, which was encouraging as we had absolutely no idea where we should be heading. We walked along the bustling road until we got to a restaurant, called FineRice, with wifi to try and suss out the area. We were greeted by a really lovely lady who found someone to direct us towards the nearest cluster of guesthouses. We were suspicious that she may be doing this for some sort of personal gain, however when we ended up finding some nice, cheap accommodation it started to become clear that in the north locals are generally a lot more friendly and helpful than in Bangkok and southern parts of Thailand. Once settled, we went to find a restaurant and enjoyed some delicious curries followed by a night in a Thai reggae bar (these are more common than you would imagine). On first impressions Pai seemed like a friendly, small but bustling place. There is one main street called ‘Walking Street’ so it is fairly easy to get around on foot to find places to eat, drink or get a massage. There were also a lot less tourists around than I have previously experienced in Southern Thailand. Another major positive was the pricing; most things were about a third of the cost compared to the south.

Whilst in the reggae bar we were given some information by other tourists that we had chatted to who said we should get a moped to go and see some of the sights on the outskirts of Pai. Bearing this in mind, we struggled out of bed the next day with the idea of hiring a moped and attempting to navigate our way around. We decided to go to FineRice for breakfast as the lady there had been so nice. Unfortunately they didn’t really have a breakfast menu so, feeling too awkward to leave, Dibbs ordered some noodles and I got a soup. Wow- my soup was a cross between the most delicious, flavoursome soup and also the spiciest I have ever had. It certainly woke me up. After my spicy start to the day, I wandered off to get a £3.00 pedicure while Dibbs went in search of a moped. Half an hour later I looked up to see Dibbs at the window cheerfully revving away with what looked like a bowling ball on his head. I happily hopped on the back donning my own helmet and became chief navigator for the day. We set off, weaving through the busy streets, me on the back with an open map blowing in my face while I shouted out vague directions. We were soon on our way to a viewpoint that had a good reputation. I was glad of Dibbs being the driver as some of the roads were closer to the dirt track variety- it was also really steep and we were both giggling as we struggled to get up all the hills on our sweet ride.

When we reached the top the view did not disappoint. A payment of 20 baht is required to walk to the peak of Yun Lai Viewpoint but a pot of tasty peach tea is included to sip whilst taking in the views.

After relaxing here for a while we were back on the moped heading towards Mor Phaeng Waterfall. To find this, my navigating skills went out the window as we slyly joined a group of Chinese on mopeds also heading in that direction. We reached the waterfall along with our Chinese biker gang and took a short walk from the little car park to get to the water. Mor Phaeng wasn’t the most spectacular fall I have seen, however it was pretty and had a few small tiers that we stood in the middle of. One of the main draws of this waterfall for adventurous tourists is that it is possible to slide down the fast stream and into the pool below. After watching a few people shoot out at painful looking angles I lost my nerve and decided against trying.

Before returning to Pai we had spotted one final attraction on our map that we wished to visit; a piranha farm. We excitedly set off towards to farm and had just turned off from the main road when a spluttering noise could be heard as our engine slowly cut out. After a small initial panic of thinking that we had broken down turning into the realisation that, actually, we had run out of fuel we both began to snigger. Possibly we should have checked the amount of fuel that we had at one point during our trip but we had been too busy scooting around with our Chinese biker gang to notice. The lack of fuel didn’t stop us from pushing the moped back up to the main road and free-wheeling for about 6km, once at 60kmph, overtaking other mopeds. It was lucky that we had broken down at the top of a mountain as when it flattened out we had no hope of keeping up our pace. After a while we found a place on the road selling gas and, still chuckling, got back on to ride to Pai.

Although we have been keen on eating Thai food and trying new things, that night, we couldn’t resist having a bite at the quirky burger cafe at the end of our street. They sold every burger from the standard beef and chicken to crocodile and venison. We tried the ostrich and beef which did not disappoint. Happy and full we had a few drinks and went to bed ready for another day of biking ahead of us.

Map in hand we set off in a different direction the following day to see Pai Lake. The road to the lake was rough to say the least. Eventually, we abandoned the bike and trekked through some trees and muck to get to the lake’s edge. We were greeted with a stunning view of a still, mirror lake. However, the entire thing was completely surrounded by thick trees and not very accessible. I was also a bit dubious about possible wildlife lurking beneath the water and chose not to take a dip. It was still worth a look though and I’m glad we persevered in finding it.

Next stop on the map was Pai Canyon. This was easy to find being just off the main road that loops around Pai. As with many places in Thailand, when we arrived there was no health and safety which left us to explore the canyon as we wished. Most days we will do something that one of us wants to do more than the other and on this day I had wanted to visit the lake and Dibbs the canyon. I wasn’t particularly interested in seeing dry rock. My pre-conceived ideas about the canyon were proved completely inaccurate when we reached the edge as it was absolutely stunning. We could see for miles over a completely different part of the landscape that we had seen from the viewpoint. Trees everywhere in addition to the peculiar rock formations of the canyon created interesting scenery. We were also able to scrabble down the rocks and through the canyon to explore even further and see more of the tree filled valleys all around us.

Our final stop was the Hot Springs which we rode to but never saw when we realised that we were being charged four times the price of the locals. As frequently as this happens in Asia it is always frustrating to see the immense price difference. We were imagining trying to charge a foreigner different prices in the UK; I think you’d get fined for being racist.

Leaving the hot springs we sadly returned our moped in exchange for some bicycles hoping to reach the nearby public swimming pool on our map. The weather in Pai had been glorious since we’d arrived so we were desperate to soak up some sun by the pool. Unfortunately, despite the maps of Pai being informative and clear they can also be slightly ambitious.... The pool wasn’t actually quite finished being built yet. I was devastated by this as I had been really looking forward to launching myself into some cold water. As a consolation Dibbs suggested that we try and find a waterfall that we could see nearby on the map. We set off- me moodily trailing behind- until we reached a stream, turning into a river which put a clear stop to our cycling up to the waterfall plan. This plan was scuppered further when we met a couple of guys who said it took three hours to walk up to the fall and we would need hiking shoes. Forcing myself to cheer up, we did a bit more racing around town on our bicycles, dinging our bells at surprised passersby before returning them and booking a white water rafting trip for the next day.

After a freezing two hour journey the following morning we finally reached the river that we would be rafting down. Dibbs was thrilled to find that our raft contained a couple of other girls from Cambridge and some boys from Oxford and we excitedly set off down the river with our enthusiastic guide, Chai. Chai, incidentally, called me the perfect lady- what a wise man. He also pulled the sleeves of my t-shirt up to curiously peer at my freckles and ask me how I got them. The rafting began fairly slowly in the morning and we were worried that it would be more of a ‘water rafting’ rather than ‘white water rafting’ trip. As we continued, Chai pulled our raft over to the shore so that we could climb up a small waterfall which was quite exciting. Cruising alongside the other boat on our tour, we were glad to be in our raft; the other boat contained the most showy Israeli guy who smoked weed at lunchtime, harped on about how much opium he smoked in Laos and argued with the rafting guide the entire way downriver. The temptation to grab the back of his lifejacket and pull him into the river as we passed by was overwhelming.  

After a tasty rice lunch, we hopped back onto the raft to be thrust into some much faster flowing water. We were not disappointed by the water now. I was soaking wet within minutes as we went up and down over huge rapids, got stuck under a rock and jumped out under our guide’s instruction to be carried along by the strong current. Another highlight to the afternoon was an opportunity to do a cliff jump. After assessing the height of the jump only a few people left the boat which caused me to think carefully about whether or not to jump. Not that carefully though; thirty seconds later I was climbing up the rocks to the top. I’ll admit, the careful thoughts returned as I peered over the cliff edge and I turned back more than once as the others were jumping over. However as each person came bobbing back up with a grin on their face I couldn’t resist and finally took the terrifying leap. I’m glad I did, it was scary but amazingly fun. I was also proud to say that I was the only girl who would do it.

Exhausted but thrilled we began the long, long journey back to Pai in the back of an open truck that was soon freezing again as night fell. Somehow we managed to drag ourselves out for a few drinks with team Oxbridge that night before leaving Pai the next morning to begin our long journey to the south.

I’m so glad that we included Pai in our trip. It was cheap the people were friendly; there was so much to do, or not do, depending on what you felt like. The scenery was stunning as was the food. It was also easy; pick up a map and a moped and you can see so much within a couple of days. I would definitely recommend Pai to anyone visiting Thailand.

Chiang Mai

The overnight bus to Chiang Mai was made completely unbearable by the smelliest guy in Thailand, possibly the world, sat in front of us. He smelt so badly that it actually burnt my nostrils and when we got off the bus he was the topic of every conversation.  Besides that the journey went quite quickly, we stopped off halfway to get food at a place rife with cockroaches and other bugs- I reached for a packet of mentos only to look down in horror at the box containing them which also held hundreds of tiny little insects.

We arrived in Chiang Mai with only a road name to find our accommodation, luckily after a bit of walking we came across a street map and found Mojito Garden quite easily. We couldn’t check in straight away so had some breakfast in the guest house restaurant. It was pretty gross, we both quite tired and Dibbs was moody. To make his breakfast a bit tastier, Dibbs went for a bottle of ketchup which exploded all over him when he opened it. HA HA HA- it was all over both of our faces and the floor in the restaurant. Still not able to check in we left our bags and wondered into town (with the remnants of the ketchup explosion still splattered here and there). We didn’t really know where we were going and it was baking hot so we spent a lot of time walking around aimlessly; we were both a bit low being so tired from the bus journey and our GoPro camera that we’d spent a lot of money on had stopped working which we were frustrated with. Despite this we did walk down to the river and see a guy fishing with a huge net to walk back through a food market; this was incredible with vast baskets full of chillies, garlic onions, fruit, veg and an eye widening selection of live fish.

After checking in and having a short nap we took a taxi to Tiger Kingdom. I didn’t really know what to expect from this as it is the kind of thing you can be continually ripped off with and we had also heard that a lot of the tigers in Thailand are drugged so that they’re sedated for interaction with people. These tigers were definitely not drugged. We walked into the ‘Tiger Kingdom’ area which held a number of enclosures with various ages and sizes of tigers. I had really been looking forward to getting up close with the tigers but actually, simply walking past all the enclosures was amazing. I’ve never seen so many tigers; at the zoo everyone wants to go see the tigers and get excited when one turns a head or gets up and walks a few steps but these tigers were so active; jumping in and out of pools, play fighting each other. I was suddenly quite scared to be going into the enclosure and extremely glad that we had chosen to meet the small tigers and not the large- the tourists in with large tigers looked simply terrified with these huge animals running all around them. Luckily ours were quite quiet and mostly lying around napping. Our guide took us straight up to the first tiger and indicated that we should get up close immediately. We were introduced to about four or five tigers that we stroked, lay down next to, played with their tails and paws. It was surreal being close to such a rare wild animal and I almost didn’t take it in until afterwards. I think because they were lying down and we were just stroking them it was almost as though they could have been anything. However when we got to the last tiger the guide had it playing with a big stick and I was much more awed by being so close to tigers playing. It was scary but amazing at the same time. It also made me appreciate the close contact that we had just had with them. After spending 15 minutes with the tigers we walked around the other enclosures and also saw even smaller tigers and lots of tiger play. Safe to say we were much more cheerful on leaving Tiger Kingdom.

That night we wanted to go out for some dinner and drinks somewhere with a sociable atmosphere but found it really difficult navigating around Chiang Mai. The whole city is set in a square about 2kmsq so is really spread out and we couldn’t seem to find a central hub which was a bit disappointing. We still had some really nice Thai food though and got an early night ready to be up at 7.30am the next day.

Bright and early the next day we were shattered but excited for our elephant experience which we had been looking forward to for a long time.

We were picked up in an air-conditioned van which was amazing after waiting around in the sticky morning sun. The journey to Patara Elephant Farm showed us some beautiful scenery and I realised how far north and into the mountains we were staying. We met the rest of our group and all copiously applied bug spray (I have already suffered at the hands of these complete cretins). As a group we walked over to a seating area where a huge elephant was standing with a trainer. We were all immediately reduced to ‘ooos’ and ‘ahhhs’. The guides allowed us to take it in turns to stroke and feed her, telling her ‘bon’ to open her mouth for a banana and ‘dede’ for ‘good’. Following this we had a talk with both the owner of the farm and the man responsible for the health of the elephants. We learnt interesting facts about the elephant and the way that the farm works. We were also given traditional Mahout clothing to wear. Next we were off to meet our elephants. The first one we encountered was a huge male with tusks who was partnered with one of the girls from our group. We got into the main area where there were a lot of elephants and Dibbs was introduced to his big, grey elephant Bun Jun (the crazy). I was videoing Dibbs feeding bananas to Bun Jun and so ended up being last to meet my elephant but when I turned round there was the sweetest, smallest in the group, elephant, Lucky (the cute). I fed her a whole basket of bananas using the commands ‘bon’ and ‘dede’ that we had already learned. After this she got some long bamboo leaves and gave me a cuddle by wrapping her trunk around me. Dibbs’ elephant was a complete terrorist and after finishing all her food went on the hunt for more and when the trainer was speaking to us we could see her crashing around in the background carrying food in her trunk making sure none of the other elephants could get any. So they say that they try to match you with an elephant that has a personality like your own.....  Both of our elephants at 12 and 14 were pregnant for the first time but the trainers explained that they still need regular exercise to be healthy during pregnancy.

We went on to learn some important things in checking for good health in each of our elephants; flapping ears and tail swishing, mud on sides as proof that they slept lying down, sweat by toes ( the only places elephants sweat) and poo- checking fibre, squeezing to see if it was moist and checking amount. After this the elephants we ready to be washed but first we had to get them to lie down to brush the loose mud from their backs. This was hard work as you had to swish hard with the bamboo leaves to get it all off. We used the command ‘look’ to get the elephants to stand back up and walked them to the river by saying ‘ma’ and walking with them. We got to a clearing at a pool above a waterfall; the location was stunning, with a small waterfall behind and a pool with a massive waterfall gushing below us. The elephants went eagerly into the water and we followed with our trainers explaining that we would need to get onto their backs to wash them. They didn’t need to ask us twice and we were soon washing and playing in the water with our elephants. They were keen for us to have nice pictures and asked Dibbs to come and sit on Lucky with me so that we could have couples photos. After cleaning their heads, trunks and the top of their backs we walked closer to the top of the waterfall where it was shallower and finished scrubbing their skin. Then, when all the elephants were stood together we rinsed them down as a group and turned around for them to shower us with their trunks.

Once we had finished bathing the elephants we took them back up to the open ground and the trainers showed us how to climb onto them to take them for their exercise. There were three methods of correctly mounting the elephants, two from the trunk and one from the leg. A ‘graceful mount’ is the best way to describe the trainers’ way up and down. An ‘un-co-ordinated clamber’ is closer to the way everyone else went up. I went up trunk end and have a picture in my head of me heaving myself on, arms and legs flailing everywhere, grabbing and poking poor Lucky on the head to hurl myself up. At least I got up first time. This was the part of the elephant experience that I had been most looking forward to; picturing myself as graceful, at one with nature and the elephants, trekking through the jungle; in place of this, I was nervously hitched up behind Lucky’s ears, clinging on for dear life as we lurched around up and down some steep hills. It was wonderfully terrifying. I soon got separated from Dibbs who, sat on lively Bun Jun, had stormed far ahead. Once I started to relax a little and felt less as though I would come crashing to the ground and with each step I started to laugh- I could see Dibbs up ahead completely out of control, on Bun Jun who, by this point, had a substantial about of vegetation in her trunk. I also had no sense of being in control. The commands they had taught us to successfully ride the elephants- ‘pai’ for forward and ‘how’ for stop were next to useless. This became a running joke towards the end and, I think, clear to everyone that the elephants only really listened to our words when they wanted to, as soon as a juicy plant came along ‘pai’ and ‘how’ were out the window. Towards the end of the trek on more solid ground I felt a lot more composed and had started to become used to the way Lucky moved underneath me. I was feeling quite smug with myself until I had to dismount- this involved me slithering/jumping down her trunk. At least I landed on my feet. The end of the first half of our trek had brought us to our lunch stop which was in a beautiful location next to a river. The spread was impressive, laid out across a huge table, food wrapped in the traditional way with leaves. The meal was a bit of a lucky dip as it was all local dishes, some delicious, some not some much. However, whatever we didn’t eat we could feed to the elephants which we all enjoyed.

After finishing lunch we walked a while to a clearing to meet the newest member of the farm, a two week old baby elephant. He was completely adorable. I assumed that we would only be able to see the little one from a distance and that the mother would be very protective at this early stage, however, the mother stood, happily chomping away on bananas, while we all cooed over the tiny, hairy baby crashing around between us all. I’m not sure if this was a defence method or if the little elephant was not used to using its long legs but when it got close to someone it would push against them, moving them round and round. The baby was pushing against Dibbs for ages and I couldn’t stop laughing. As well as the mother and baby there was another small elephant of three years old. This elephant was such a character and had clearly been getting a lot of attention and a LOT of bananas; I was in stitches watching her running around accepting all the bananas she could carry in her trunk and mouth, happily munching away and also dropping bananas all over the floor as she eagerly accepted more that she couldn’t carry. As we walked away both the smaller elephants came trotting after us and I was sad to leave them behind. However, there were elephants to be ridden. Our leader announced that in the afternoon we would be riding the elephants as couples- how romantic. Not with Bun Jun around. After riding sweet little Lucky Bun Jun seemed HUGE. Also, at lunch she was somehow the only elephant that had managed to find water and get completely soaking wet. We climbed on; I sat on her head with Dibbs behind. I felt as though I was going to be tipped off the second we started moving, Bun Jun was a lot faster than Lucky and was happily shoving past the other elephants, creating her own routes and dragging us into every bush and tree she could get away with to grab more food. Had I been on my own I think I would have been terrified but with both of us up there, we were soon howling with laughter about our complete lack of control and unsteady seating. The afternoon trek was stunning, we were walking through a river and peering around at gorgeous scenery; mountains, rivers, lush green fields. I didn’t want it to end. Sadly it did. I was depressed saying goodbye to Lucky. She gave me a goodbye suck on the face with her trunk. I gave her a basket of bananas.

On returning from the elephant farm, completely exhausted but exhilarated we were desperate to find a more lively atmosphere for our second (and last) night in Chiang Mai. After trekking around for ages, tired and feet hurting, we once again gave up looking for any kind of a central part to the old town and had some nice food on a quiet street. Despite not finding anywhere to go for a few drinks, we decided to go to the night bazaar to look around the market; now we had found the atmosphere. The market was busy and bustling with all the usual goods on sale, but also on our way there we walked through a street lined with restaurants and bars- finally! We strolled around the markets and then walked back to the bars for a few drinks. We quickly found ourselves in conversation with a Thai lady(boy)?! Who began to tell us the story of all her past and present boyfriends. Fortunately, she drunkenly wandered off and we got chatted to another couple, after a while Dibbs and the other guy we were talking to got challenged to a game of pool by some ladyboys. They lost. The girls then claimed that the boys had to buy them drinks, the most expensive drinks in the bar too, I put my foot down, along with the other girlfriend, and we moved on. Things closed down pretty early in Chiang Mai compared to the southern islands where the party goes on all night so it was off to bed ready for our journey to Pai the next day.