I went with my friend, Rochelle, to Thailand from January 22-February 5. It was one of the most random trips I have ever planned because other than the flight, Rochelle and I didn't plan a single thing. We had all sorts of suggestions from people of places to go and of course we each had ideas of what we would like to see, but really we had nothing other than our flights and the first night in Bangkok figured out when we met up in Bangkok. Rochelle's flight came in pretty late, so we started by staying the first night in Bangkok so we could take the next day to get our course figured out. We knew we wanted time at the beach and time in more of the jungle area of Thailand. So our trip would go from south to north.
Eventually we tracked down a Tourism Authority of Thailand office... definitely the way to go. I haven't really done a ton of backpacking or world traveling, so we needed someone to help us figure out transportation and lodging that wasn't going to scam us. And if you're like that too, then I definitely recommend TAT. A lovely man there organized exactly what we wanted, at the price we wanted, and it was such a great experience for us over all. The plan was to go down south to the island of Koh Phi Phi for some beach fun then travel north to Chiang Mai to enjoy the jungle and end our trip in Bangkok for a couple days to explore the capital. The first order of business was to get to a beach! I was definitely feeling spent from school and Rochelle was exhausted from the travel just to get the Thailand, so we just wanted to be able to get somewhere and chill! We took an overnight bus from Bangkok down to Krabi where we boarded a ferry that took us to the incredibly beautiful island of Koh Phi Phi!
I love how blue the water is around the island! The whole thing is really breathtaking...
Yay for the beach! And I was careful to not get any topless people in this shot! That was definitely something interesting to get used to in Thailand. I realized that in general Canada seems to be quite a conservative country. Probably because we spend most months of the year bundled up instead of on the beach (especially in Edmonton!). But nothing makes you feel more comfortable in a bathing suit than when everyone around you is in bathing suit... that's nice at least.
This is the bay where the beach was on. As well as a classic Rochelle shot in Thailand... smoothie in hand.
Ah... paradise. Before the sunburn.
God is sure creative. It's overwhelming how beautiful our world is sometimes. I couldn't help but feel so grateful to him for being able to see some of this world's natural beauty.
Our accommodations was a place called Maneys. They were just these little bungalows kind of up the hill away from the town in Koh Phi Phi. Kind of a bit of a trek from the beach, but at least they were cute and really cool as the huts were kind of sheltered by the jungle.
The inside
The bathroom! Very fascinating that there were these rocks that they just built the hut around basically. I guess you can sit on it while you shower if you'd like
The other end of the bathroom... it was quite large actually. And another rock.
This isn't actually ours... ours was at a weird angle to take a picture of the front of. But this one is identical, just facing a better direction.
Hanging out on the porch with my Kindle, water, and some snacks. Gotta love Thailand.
There is a lot to do on Koh Phi Phi... like shopping, eating, swimming, snorkeling, diving, kayaking, thai massages (which were awesome!) etc etc. If we would have had a ton more time I would have loved to go snorkeling or diving even. But we definitely did a lot of activities as it was. First, the pad thai on Koh Phi Phi was probably better than anywhere else I had pad thai in Thailand, so that was really nice. So eating was definitely good! One day Rochelle and I rented a kayak to paddle around the bay and get into some open water. That was definitely fun... though intimidating the further out into the ocean we got. You can tell I'm so from the mainland...
My toes were on the beach and now in the kayak...
I want to maintain that although in this shot it looks like Rochelle is doing all the work, I definitely paddled that kayak!! It was fun!
I was super pumped to find a Dr. Fish place on Koh Phi Phi as well! This was seriously one of the weirdest experiences I have ever had! Basically what you do is scrub off all the contaminants on your skin on your lower leg and foot (like sunscreen, oils, etc) and then put your feet in a fish tank where these tiny fish come and eat the dead skin off your body. It's so weird! It feels like there's these little shocks covering your feet. Plus the fact that it is just plain freaky to watch the fish swarm to your body and to let them eat you!
Eek! Here they come!
Man was it ticklish! I kept screeching... it was so weird!
Every time you moved the fish would swim away and then just come back in a few moments when you stop squirming. But it was soooooooooo hard to remain still!
I'm trying really hard to maintain a smile that is not screaming... (plus you can see my sunburn pretty good on my face, haha)
I seriously recommend this though. At least just to experience it! One of the strangest yet coolest experiences.
So when I think Thailand, I am definitely going to think about sunburns unfortunately. The sun was just so intensely hot! Different than what I am used to in a summer. And one of the weirdest things happened to me, that really pictures are just not going to show justice to. I actually burned my lips (as well as most of the other exposed areas of my body). One night I kind of noticed my lips were tingling and felt a little swollen. I asked Rochelle if they looked weird and she said just kind of red or something. So we were watching a movie and during the course of the movie I noticed my lips were getting tighter and felt blistery or something. By the time the movie was finished my bottom lip had swelled up! Like Angelina Jolie style! And by the morning my lips were definitely twice, if not three times the size of normal! It was the weirdest thing that had ever happened to my lips! Luckily, after a quick visit to the pharmacy (where the girl behind the counter literally flinched when I unveiled my bottom lip) things got under control...
After a a couple hours of watching a movie my lip is seriously larger...
At least I can still maintain my sense of humour!
Ok... that's Part 1 of Thailand. You'll get the Chiang Mai and Bangkok parts another time. Maybe tomorrow if I'm feeling on the ball. Thanks for reading! And here's a tip... go to Thailand!
No comments:
Post a Comment