Arrival in Krabi and jellyfish sting

After 10 hours on the night bus we arrived in Bangkok at 4.35am. Somehow I managed to sleep really well, and woke up feeling strangely okay (well as okay as anyone can feel at 4.35am). We got off the bus and tried to get a taxi for the 20 minute drive to the airport. They were quoting us ridiculous amounts like nearly £20 when we've been getting taxis for that distance for like £3 usually. Eventually we found a more normally priced one and headed to the airport.

Arriving just after 5 for our 8.25 flight we had ages and sat around sorting our bags out ready. On my way back from the toilet I couldn't remember where we were sat and ended up bumping into mollie who is joining us for just over 2 weeks! We managed to find the others quickly which was good and soon it was time to check in for our flight. After a wait we boarded and sat on the runway for ages before taking off an hour late, but somehow only landed 10 minutes after we were due. We grabbed a taxi and headed into town to our hostel.

We arrived and checked in, happy to be able to shower, and soon get ready to head to the beach. We walked into Krabi town which our hostel was in and got some lunch in a local restaurant before catching the bus into town. This was my third time visiting Krabi and we went to a beautiful national park which I've visited before and love. It involved a walk along the beach to get to the nicest bit and with the tide out lots of tiny crabs were running around.

We got to the nicest beach area and there was a no swiming sign which had been taken down, so we asked some locals if it still applied and they said no, it was safe to swim. Regrets. We all went in, having to trek far out because of the tide, and splashed around for an hour or so. As we began to walk out, both katie and meg complained of a weird sting feeling, and suddenly I felt it too. It quickly became apparent that we'd all been stung by jellyfish.I started panicking thinking it was a deadly one but forunately within a few minutes the pain had subsided substantially, and we checked with some people that we'd be okay.

After our traumatic experience we headed out for dinner and got a nice curry. As it's low season many places were offering discounts on food which was good, and afterwards we got the bus back, chatted to a guy in our dorm then went to bed.

Laura x

Cooking course and night bus

Last day in North Thailand! We're off to the south tonight on a night bus and flight, really hoping the weather improves as it's monsoon season and we've had a lot of heavy rain in the north. For our last day Katie and I did a cooking course. Meg didn't fancy it so we left as quietly as possible at about 7.50, and we're picked up around 8.20. 

After a drive of around 20 minutes we arrived at a local food market and were shown the different vegetables used in Thai cooking and given some time to look around which was cool, and I got some nut brittle and fresh lychees to try. We then continued onto the farm where we were spending the day cooking and met the rest of our group doing the half day course with us.

 We were allowed to choose what to make from a selection of stir fries, curries and soup. After choosing we headed out to the farm's garden and looked around at the different vegetables growing. It was interesting to see how different they are to at home, as well as see things like bananas and mushrooms growing. However all this talk of food was making me hungry and I was relieved when we soon began cooking.

They were happy to make everything vegan for me which was a blessing as I'd forgotten to mention it when booking. Forunately the prominence of coconut milk and vegetarian food in Thai cuisine made it easy to adapt; using mushroom and soy sauce in place of fish and oyster. The first thing we made as a group was spring rolls, and it was surprisingly easy to fold the paper neatly to assemble them. Before deep frying we made our stir fry. I opted for a cashew one and katie pad thai, and I swapped the chicken for tofu. It was so quick to cook, and after deep-frying the spring rolls being loaded with rice we had our first course. Without sounding too cocky it was delicious!

Next we made our soup and curry. We assembled the ingredients for the curry paste, I made a massaman, which included cloves, chilli, basil, garlic, salt and some other things, and we used a ((pestle and mortar)) to crush them down to a fine paste. It was hard work but definitely worth it. We then began cooking, adding vegetables and meat to oil in our individual woks, adding the curry paste and coconut milk, and peanuts in the massaman, and cooking until it developed a thick texture. We followed this with our soup, made of a mixture of ingredients including vegetable stock, coconut milk, chilli, tofu etc.

Finally we ate this main course and it was amazing, but sooo filling after all the food we'd had around an hour before. We also received a recipe book of all the dishes, including the desserts included in the full day course, to try at home. We headed back to the hostel around 1.40pm, arriving around half past 2. We met meg who had had a quiet morning and spent an hour or so packing our bags ready to take on the night bus later. We then ventured into town so she could get an early dinner (katie and I were still full) and went to a restaurant where we had drinks, and I was given a free coconut after a lot of confusion attempting to get a drink which was so kind of the restaurant owners!

By the time we walked back to the hostel it was after 5 and we got our bags ready to get a grab to the bus station. Suddenly a woman appeared clutching Katie's anorak which she'd left at the cooking class which they brought on their way back from the full day course! We then got a grab to the bus station, collected our tickets and boarded. We'd reserved the front row, which was an excellent choice as we got loads of leg room (and an excellent view of the strange tv show which was playing). We were brought round some snacks, water and a blanket, and before long I'd fallen asleep (thank god!)

Laura x

Last full day in Chiang Mai

Our last full day in Chiang Mai, and I'm pretty sure we've exhausted everything to do here. Not that it isn't a nice place, just a few days seems enough time to do most of what it has to offer, other than a jungle trek which I would have done if it wasn't wet season. . Everyone always raves about the massages and cooking classes so today we got a massage and Katie and I are off to our cooking class tomorrow.

We woke up a bit later today and didn't head out of the hostel until about 11 (the joy of staying for two nights). We wandered into town in search of food, all starving by this point, and spent a while looking at places which seemed more expensive than those we'd previously been to. We finally tracked down a reasonably priced place and got some lunch.

Feeling refuelled we headed to our massage after spotting a place offering 140 baht hour long Thai massages (a little over £3). I had one the first time I came to thailand but it was still very much an experience; pleasant at some points but painful at others, and I left feeling several inches taller and suitably relaxed.

We went for a wander around the city, it wasn't too hot though a little humid, and we went into a beautiful temple. The highlight of this visit was us mistaking some (very realistic!) sculptures of monks to be the real things, trying to subtly take photos of how still they were sat... I've never felt as stupid as I did realising the sign in front said "do not touch the sculptures". Oops.

After wandering round there for a while we got a cold drink from the supermarket then headed to a local park. It was pretty and also had these weird outdoor exercise things which was pretty cool, and we tried them out the best we could, before heading back to our hostel.

We got back after 5 to find it was still eerily empty, and did our workout, showered and did some research for later in the trip. We then headed out to 7/11 to get some stuff for dinner and breakfast, then spent the evening playing cards. Monsoon-like rain started pretty quickly which creeped me out massively as I started to think we were going to get trapped and probably murdered (always logical and rational) which was worsened by our wifi cutting out. The timing is very annoying, especially as my friend Mollie is joining us on Thursday and landing tomorrow morning, so hopefully it will be back working soon to contact her!

Laura x

Elephant Nature Park

Today we went to Elephant Nature Park! This was a highlight of the trip so far and although was by far one of the most expensive things we'll do, costing us around £57 each, it was such a great experience. We had a slightly earlier start than usual; waking around 7.15am and having some questionable 7/11 breakfast before checking out of our hostel, storing our bags and then waiting at reception to be collected.

We were picked up around 8.20 and boarded a mini bus. Our group weren't very sociable, which was a shame but we ended up sleeping some of the journey anyway. We had a stop halfway on the hour long journey (lol) which Meg and I used to buy cheap rain macs as it was forecasted to rain. We arrived around 9.45, after watching a video about some of the elephant's sad pasts and a documentary about elephant tourism in Thailand, both of which were very sad. We had a welcome talk with our guide, and then began our day.

Honestly, it was a different experience to what I was expecting. Initially we fed an elephant bananas which was really fun, they took them right from our hand and as they get through so many we got lots of chances to give them some. However; from this point the day was pretty much unstructured. While this is really good compared to a day of riding or anything else unethical, we'd all just expected something a little more structured than just walking around the park, seeing the elephants often with other groups. This didn't reduce the enjoyment of the experience, and made it more legitimate,  just came as a surprise.

We were told that it was okay to stroke the elephants but advisable not to and so none of us did, and it truly felt like we were viewing them in the wild, as they interacted with each other and us naturally. Some of their pasts were truly heartbreaking; many had been blinded by humans, lost feet to landmines, or suffered psychological abuse due to "having their spirit broken" so that they would carry humans for rides or perform in circuses or for begging. It was so sad to see as they are such big, beautiful animals who had suffered so much, but at least were at the sanctuary now.

Another highlight of the day for me was an all vegan buffet which we got to eat! It was a really lovely, ethical place and I would love to help volunteer there. They currently have 80 elephants and a lot of staff, and although expensive to go, elephants are very expensive to keep, and they have to employ a lot of staff and mahouts to care for the elephants.

We watched the elephants bathe in the afternoon, and they swam around with each other. There was a slightly scary moment when a few charged out near the water and we had to quickly run back, as these are huge creatures weighing tonnes who could quite literally crush you! Whilst watching them swim it was strange to see other elephant camps operating on the other side of the river operating elephant rides and bathing, both of which are cruel to the animals, so close to the sanctuary.

Unfortunately it started to rain towards the end of the day really heavily, and although this put our rain macs to good use seemed to cut the day a bit short as we headed back to Chiang Mai around 3. We'd seen a lot of the animals though and learnt about the park though so I'm not sure any longer would have been necessary.

When we arrived back at around half 4 we got our stuff together and got a grab to a new hostel which was about half the price per night. It took the driver a while to find it as it is on a side road, and weirdly we are the only people staying here and there are no night staff! A littler terrifying but hey ho. We did another workout and some washing before heading to the night market around 9 in search of food, and had a wander around before heading back pretty late to go to bed.

Laura x

Back to Chiang Mai

It really does feel like we're doing a whistlestop tour of asia so far, but at the same time we're fitting so much in that it doesn't feel rushed. Our bus back to Chiang Mai was booked for 5pm, leaving us with nearly a full day to explore. We decided to hire bikes and explore the area around the main street a bit more. But first, breakfast.

Due to our budget, breakfast usually consists of whatever the hostel are giving and some crackers/oreos /strange asian bread creation from 7/11, but today we decided to go and have something more filling. Pai is known for its brunch scene and vegetarian food but we managed to find somewhere still with pretty much local prices and between us had porridge, a pancake and a croissant. Feeling sufficiently fuelled we went to find a place to hire bikes. Everywhere rents motorbikes for 100 baht per day, just over £2, but none of us were brave enough and opted for push bikes. We paid 50 baht, a bargain, and headed off along the road.

Katie had a map of the area saved on her phone and we essentially just headed towards the green area surrounding the city, and fortunately found our way enroute to the Karin hill tribe and a waterfall. Whilst it would have been really interesting to see the tribe, who have elongated necks from wearing many necklaces, I've read before that it's a very unethical tourist activity as they receive very little money from tour groups visiting and are just viewed as a strange novelty, so I was glad when we took the route to the waterfall instead.

It was a really beautiful place to cycle, and fortunately the weather wasn't too hot, meaning we only had to pause for a couple of breaks. We cycled alongside rice paddies and farms and it felt much more rural than the city we had seen. Eventually, however; the path stopped by a river, and we attempted to carry our bikes across. We then continued along the river for a bit, but quickly the path became too narrow and high up to continue by bike, and given anywhere to lock them up we headed back towards the city. We cycled around for a while, at times often on large roads which were almost deserted, before heading back to return the bikes at about 2.30pm.

After stopping off at the hostel for a quick wash and to refill our water bottles, we ventured out to get some more food, and found a very cheap local restaurant along the way which was perfect for a late lunch. We then collected our big rucksacks from the hostel and headed to the bus station, only around a 10 minute walk from our hostel, and quickly boarded the bus back to Chiang Mai. As I mentioned previously the bus takes 3 to 3.5 hours, but somehow ours managed it in 2.5. Although we did sacrifice the short 10 minute stop this time I was amazed but slightly concerned by how quickly we managed it, though after watching some very dodgy overtaking on thin mountain roads I was just relieved we all arrived in one piece!

On arrival at the bus station we managed to get a tuk tuk for 100 baht, but due to our low price we seemed to be treated like the last stop on the bus. This was fine with us as we essentially got a tour of the city and also chatted to an old, western lady and a group of friends travelling from Hong Kong. When we finally arrived we checked into the hostel and were offered 3 beds in a 6 bed dorm which turned out to be empty which was perfect. After showering and unpacking we did our ab workout again and then headed to the large Sunday night market.

Meg was feeling sick so headed back on her own, but katie and I explored the huge market for a couple of hours, managing to get good prices on some clothes. I got yet another fruit shake in an attempt to get some vitamins in, and we headed back around 11 via a quick trip to get breakfast. After packing our stuff for the following day and creating large washing lines of our clothing we all get a fairly early night ready for tomorrow's early wake up.

Laura x