Southern Thailand

Cities visited: Koh Tao, Koh Pha Ngan, Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, Koh Lanta, Krabi, Bangkok

We were so excited to be back in Thailand! We missed the people, the food, everything. We were also super excited about the fact that we were heading south, to the islands! After (another) crazy night in Bangkok, we took a sleeper bus to Surat Thani and transferred to a ferry which would take us to Koh Tao. Koh Tao was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. We absolutely loved the island. We spent our days on the beach, and our nights checking out the well known Koh Tao pub crawl. We also made a day trip out to Koh Nang Yuan to go snorkeling.  The island has a view point which offers an amazing view.

Next on our stop was Koh Pha Ngan, which is essentially known as the full moon party island. The island is packed with backpackers and vacationers who come to check out the famous monthly party. That isn’t the only party on the island though. There’s also the half moon party, the waterfall party, the jungle party, and probably a ton more we didn’t even hear about. Basically like I said, it is a party island. The night of the full moon we dressed in bright clothing, painted ourselves in neon paint, and grabbed a bucket (or 3). We danced on the beach all night making new friends as we went along. We had a great time! That is until against my better judgement (I blame the buckets), I attempted to pet a dog on the beach. The dog was clearly not as pleased to see me as I was to see it, and it bit my hand, drawing blood. This would be worrying in any country, but in Thailand where many dogs carry rabies, this was even more serious. So that is how I ended up at a medical clinic at 5 in the morning dressed in all my neon clothing and wearing my flower crown. I got antibiotics, a tetanus shot, and a rabies shot, and was told I would need 4 more rabies shots over the next month to complete the series. Not something I imagined having to deal with on our trip. Oh also the total of the shots came to $1600. Thank goodness for travel insurance, am I right?

After that whole ordeal on Koh Pha Ngan we headed onwards to Phuket. Here we took it easy for a few days, as my hand was swollen and hurting – that dog really bit me hard! We hungout on the beach, ate dinner in restaurants, and watched movies in our hostel.

After a few days of rest I was starting to feel better. From Phuket we took a ferry to Koh Phi Phi, where we were staying on a resort. The resort was so cute! We had a bungalow on the beach, and the beach was beautiful. We had a great time on this island.

From Phi Phi we took an hour ferry to Koh Lanta, where we were also staying on a resort. I think it’s safe to say we were getting kind of tired of hostels. In Koh Lanta, when we weren’t lounging by the pool, we went to a vegetarian restaurant which offered a tasting menu. We sat at a table right on the beach and enjoyed the 5 courses, and some Mai Tais. The papaya salad and the red curry were my favourite. We love Thai food!

Next we went back to mainland Thailand, to Krabi. There we took a long tail boat out to beautiful Railay Beach during the day and later explored the huge night market.

From Krabi we headed back to Bangkok, for the third and final time. We had two days here and then we were flying home so it was sad to know we had no more cities left on our trip. One thing I was really looking forward to doing was a cooking class. We did the May Kaidee class in Bangkok – it’s fully vegetarian! It was one of my favourite things we did. I love cooking so getting to make all the delicious Thai dishes was an incredible experience. We made pumpkin hummus, fresh spring rolls, papaya salad, a few types of curry, tom yum soup, pad thai, and mango sticky rice. We got to take home the recipes so I will definitely be recreating them!

Our first night we stayed in a hostel near Khao San Road, and decided to have one last crazy night out. We grabbed some buckets from one of the many bars, and then got in a tuktuk and had the driver take us to the one and only Nana Plaza, a 3 level red-light district. Nana is Thai for ladyboy. We couldn’t leave without seeing it! When in Bangkok…

I had a surprise planned for our last day. I had booked a room in the beautiful 5 star Lebua State Tower hotel, the one with the Bangkok Skybar. I somehow convinced Seán that we were simply there to grab a drink at the bar, but then managed to check in without him noticing and led him to our suite instead! He was so surprised and so happy. The room was amazing with the most astonishing view of the city. We had a perfect last night enjoying the complimentary lunch and endless drinks in the lounge, a delicious sushi dinner at the restaurant, and exotic cocktails at the Skybar. It was better than I could’ve even imagined. We weren’t going to see each other for over a month after that night (me going back to Canada and him to Ireland), so I wanted to make it really special.

Overall this trip was an adventure of a lifetime and I am so lucky I got to do it with Seán. We had the most wonderful time and we have so many incredible memories now. It really was the most amazing trip. Anyone considering going to Southeast Asia, 10/10 would recommend!