Day 4 (6th May)

Today I woke up bright and early at 6am. 3 hours before I needed to. However not long after some Thai people staying at the same hotel decided to put the music on from their coaches full blast. So random it was funny!

At 10 we headed to Erawan National Park. We made the 100km trip in these open back taxis. Top notch health and safety but it was too fun to really care. The breeze meant I didn't get travel sick either which is always good in my books!

Once we got there, we were told about the waterfalls. We were all really excited to swim in the pools at the different levels, until we had to climb to them. Level 4 was supposedly the best level and was 550 metres up. 

It was pretty tough going getting up there, but totally worth it! In the pool, there were loads of fish that eat your feet. It was funny! The water was really clear though and a welcome relief after the climb. 

The top level was level was level 7 at 1,420 metres, but I didn't have time to make it up there. A bit of a shame but oh well! I did get to level 5 at 1,120 metres though :) 

It was all so pretty and a bit surreal swimming in a waterfall. How often are you allowed to do that in England??

We then climbed back down and ate lunch at the local restaurant. It seems some people in the group are getting a bit fed up of eating rice and noodles, which I get because there has been an awful lot! I guess it's like what chips are for us? Good thing I like rice and noodles though!

We then made the 100km ride back to the hotel in the open back taxis, and upon getting back I finally went in the pool! There was no sun left to sun bathe though...

In the evening we headed to an Italian restaurant (group vote) to get pizza. Oh wow, it was the most difficult thing in the world to order a pepsi and a pizza. It legit took 45 minutes to order it. It was obviously the language barrier (understandable), however others from our group on different tables had no problems. Best bit? It did not agree with my stomach AT ALL. Lesson learnt: in Thailand, eat Thai food, not Italian food. 

It completely ruined my night as we went to a bar afterwards to drink but I felt too sick to do anything. One good thing though; this bar had good wifi so I spent the night reading up on facts about turbulence to set my mind at ease for my flight home.

It also started to thunder and lightning a lot on our journey to dinner which was awesome! Thailand have amazing lighting storms! I half hope there's one when we're at Koh Phangan so I can get the full effect.

Lets hope tomorrow I don't get ill again! (2 out of 4 days; I'm not doing very well!).

Day 4 (6th May)

Today I woke up bright and early at 6am. 3 hours before I needed to. However not long after some Thai people staying at the same hotel decided to put the music on from their coaches full blast. So random it was funny!

At 10 we headed to Erawan National Park. We made the 100km trip in these open back taxis. Top notch health and safety but it was too fun to really care. The breeze meant I didn't get travel sick either which is always good in my books!

Once we got there, we were told about the waterfalls. We were all really excited to swim in the pools at the different levels, until we had to climb to them. Level 4 was supposedly the best level and was 550 metres up. 

It was pretty tough going getting up there, but totally worth it! In the pool, there were loads of fish that eat your feet. It was funny! The water was really clear though and a welcome relief after the climb. 

The top level was level was level 7 at 1,420 metres, but I didn't have time to make it up there. A bit of a shame but oh well! I did get to level 5 at 1,120 metres though :) 

It was all so pretty and a bit surreal swimming in a waterfall. How often are you allowed to do that in England??

We then climbed back down and ate lunch at the local restaurant. It seems some people in the group are getting a bit fed up of eating rice and noodles, which I get because there has been an awful lot! I guess it's like what chips are for us? Good thing I like rice and noodles though!

We then made the 100km ride back to the hotel in the open back taxis, and upon getting back I finally went in the pool! There was no sun left to sun bathe though...

In the evening we headed to an Italian restaurant (group vote) to get pizza. Oh wow, it was the most difficult thing in the world to order a pepsi and a pizza. It legit took 45 minutes to order it. It was obviously the language barrier (understandable), however others from our group on different tables had no problems. Best bit? It did not agree with my stomach AT ALL. Lesson learnt: in Thailand, eat Thai food, not Italian food. 

It completely ruined my night as we went to a bar afterwards to drink but I felt too sick to do anything. One good thing though; this bar had good wifi so I spent the night reading up on facts about turbulence to set my mind at ease for my flight home.

It also started to thunder and lightning a lot on our journey to dinner which was awesome! Thailand have amazing lighting storms! I half hope there's one when we're at Koh Phangan so I can get the full effect.

Lets hope tomorrow I don't get ill again! (2 out of 4 days; I'm not doing very well!).

Day 3 (5th May)

Day 3 (5th May)

Today was a bit rough. I woke up feeling fine but that soon changed...

At 11 we got on a coach to travel to our next stop: Kanchanaburi, where we'll be staying for 5 days. The journey was 2 hours, but I don't travel well on the roads so felt a bit ill. Once we got to the hotel, I realised that it was the drink messing with me as well so went to my room and slept instead of joining the others at the pool. It was a shame, but I felt so much better for it!

At 6 we had dinner on the river. It was so pretty and we had a buffet with lots of different foods. Battered carrots anyone? They were weird... Was really nice though!

We then all decided to relax at the bar and just chat for a few hours before going to bed. Maybe we'll head into Kanchanaburi town tomorrow night?

Day 2 (4th May)

(More photos to be added)

Today our trip really started. We all met in the morning for our trip orientation with our guide Smithy (he seems fun!). He talked us through the basics of the trip and taught us some basic Thai too, though I keep forgetting to use it!

At 11 we started our Bangkok tour. Smithy lead us to one of the rivers where we hoped on a river boat to go to a market. It was really bizzar sailing through the canals as we passed lots of houses that were half falling apart but still being lived in. It was actually really cool in a way though, because we were seeing all sides of Bangkok.

The market was only small but really interesting. It seemed like a place tourists wouldn't usually get to go to. They had lots of foods, and people were feeding these massive fish in the canal! One stall had live animals you could buy and I'm assuming cook, like eels and even baby turtles (so cute!). 

We then jumped back on the boat to head to our first temple; Wat Arun Rajwararam (The Temple of Dawn). It was a very old temple, with a massive pagoda in the middle that you could climb up. One problem: the steps were VERY steep. I only made it half way up and got too freaked out. The attention to detail on the building was amazing though! There wasn't a space that didn't have some kind of image or design on it.

Next we headed across the river Chao Phraya to the next temple: Wat Pho, the temple with Thailand's largest reclining Buddha. He sure was big! I think he was made of pure gold too.

Smithy then gave us the option to go to the Grand Temple however we would have to pay 500TBH and couldn't actually go inside, so the group decided to pass. 

Then we all took tuk tuks back to the hotel which was awesome! The roads here are so crazy because everyone drives like a maniac but being driven was so much fun. Wouldn't want to drive myself though!

We got back to the hotel at about 2 and went to our room for a bit because of the heat, but it started to thunder and rain! So cool.

I then feel asleep (as you do) and woke up at 6 so quickly headed out onto Kao San road to buy a small bag for clubbing (can't really take a rucksack...), some harem pants and a necklace. I wanted more but can't fit it all in my bag.

We had dinner at 8, then started drinking! A cocktail is about 150THB which is about £3 so not bad! Especially as all the drinks are really strong. 

To make a long story short we all got really drunk and went clubbing. It was so much fun (what I remember of it) and we met so many people. I even ate a fried scorpion! Wouldn't do that sober... 

It was a really long but really fun day :)

Day 1 (3rd May 2014)

So after a very long, very bumpy flight (seriously, does Asia have more turbulence than Europe??) I have finally arrived in Bangkok. 

Ali from Real Gap came and met me and 7 others at the airport and took us in some crazy awesome bling bus to our hostel on Kao San road. 

Kao San road is basically back packer central so there are loads of people here from all over the world. There's tonnes of market stalls here too! All the trip reviews said you can buy all your clothes out here, and now I see why. Imagine the clothes stalls at Camden market and it's basically all those kinds of tops and harem trousers. And then loads of bracelets, bags etc. i want to buy it all but don't really have the room...

This first day nothing was planned as our group were all arriving at different times. I met my roommate Katie who had already been here for a day. We went to our room and ended up napping for a bit (long, sleepless flight + heat = sleep). Later in the afternoon we went down to chat to our group who were there and ended up all going to dinner on Kao San road. All 18 of us! There were so many places to eat, but the place we chose was good. Chicken Satay is so nice!

After food, those that still had some energy hit the bars; Silk bar to be precise. Drinks are super cheap at about 150TBH for a cocktail (about £1.50) so a few of those were consumed...

After a good night with everyone I headed back to the hostel at about 12:30am to get some rest. Tomorrow night could be later...

All in all a good start to the trip!

Intro - Pre Trip

Hello!

My name is Emma, and this is a little blog I've started up to document my time in Thailand.
I'm travelling to the country for 28 days for my 21st birthday! I turn 21 whilst on the trip; happy birthday me!

Whilst I'm out in the country I'll probably only be able to update on my phone, so in some posts photos may be added once I return home. (Text walls!?!)

Currently, I leave in 32 hours and I'm still not packed and have just remembered things I need to buy. Doh!
Lastminute.com

Hopfully my next update will be on Saturday the 3rd May once I have landed in Thailand. Exciting!

Until then, I need to pack!!