The most amazing month ever...Thailand

Thailand was so amazing! I only went to Koh Phangan so I need to go back to explore the rest of the country! I can’t write about everything that happened on my holiday but I will tell you about most of my adventures!

                                                (View from my first hotel).

My sister and I spent a night in Bangkok while we waited for our flight early the next morning to Koh Samui to get a boat to Koh Phangan. The hotel was very nice and a little expensive. It was ideal for us because it was so close to the airport. The room had a free mini bar with oreos, coca cola, beer and water. We didn’t go crazy and party in the city because knowing my sister and I, we would have never made it on our flight if we’d partied the night before! So I guess I will have to explore Bankok another time!

As soon as we walked through the airport after arriving in Bangkok, I couldn’t stop staring at the amount of westerners everywhere! For the first time in six months I was walking through crowds of people who were not staring at me for being white!

The first hotel we stayed in on the island of Koh Phangan was lovely!! We stayed in a basic hut right on the beach. It was a little out of the way from the main clubbing area of the island but we were happy with it. It gave us some peace and quiet to relax when we would have a break from partying! The hut was very basic and it was very hot because the air conditioning was a little fan on the ceiling! Also, during the day, ants would appear and live on our bed! During the night they would disappear. This was annoying though because we would be out during the night so my sister and I had only a few hours to sleep on the bed before daylight appeared. We had to take turns to sleep in the hammock on our balcony and on the hard wooden bench next to it! It was very basic accommodation but the location was amazing so we couldn’t complain much really!!

                              

                                                   (The beach our hotel was on).

I only stayed in Koh Phangan for one week because I had to go back to China to work! My sister stayed in Thailand and continued travelling for six weeks. She also went to Malaysia and Singapore. Out of the three countries her least favourite was Thailand! She said it was because there were too many British tourists in Thailand. This is understandable but when you have spent a lot of time away from British people it was nice to mingle amongst them! There were also tourists from all over the world! I enjoy meeting new people from different places and hearing their stories! Unlike other British tourist destinations in Spain and Greece, there is a big variety of different types of people to meet. My sister and I loved confusing people about where we were from by speaking in Welsh to each other. One minute we would speak in English and the next we would be talking in Welsh. I love doing this!!

We heard many funny, dangerous and interesting stories about people’s travelling experiences. I loved taking a taxi on Koh Phangan. They are blue trucks and as many as ten people can sit on the back of one. (Maybe more)! This is a good place to meet people! We heard drug related stories of silly boys getting in trouble and having to pay a lot of money to the undercover police or risk getting put in prison! We heard stories of the many beautiful beaches to see. Everyone loved talking about the beach from the film ‘The Beach’. I didn’t get to see it unfortunately as it is on another island, Ko Phi Phi. This will be another place I will have to visit on my return visit to Thailand in the near future!

We also heard stories of people being injured on motorbikes (apparently a girl was killed on one while we were there) and people having things stolen. We heard on more than one occasion of girls having everything stolen from them (including money, phones and sometimes even their passports)!!  During the Full Moon Party, someone tried to rob from my sister. She had a good travel bag so we kept our few possessions of the evening with her in her bag. We walked through a big crowd of people and on reaching the end of the crowd she realised that her bag had been opened. However, her bag is a clever invention and there are so many zip pockets on it. The thief had opened a wrong pocket and had taken only a free map that we had got from the hotel! Lucky for us we didn’t lose anything or have anything stolen! A tip for future travellers and party animals…don’t take anything valuable!!!! Also, don’t ride motorbikes like a crazy person…you’ll get hurt!!!

The parties in Koh Phangan were so amazing! I won’t bore you about how much of a good time I had but it is definitely worth experiencing!! One of the best parties I have ever been to was the Full Moon party! I want to go back there for New Year’s Eve but this is a dream at the moment I think! My sister and I had our arms painted in neon paint. I had a big dragon down my left arm and a Welsh flag put on my right arm! We drank from the famous cocktail buckets.

                                    
                                    

The Full Moon party was fantastic! There were different DJ’s all the way across the beach playing different kinds of music. There were the usual fire games. We didn't take part but watched the brave (and stupid) people who took part skipping over fire ropes and jumping through a hoop on fire.

My sister and I made it to the end. We saw the beautiful sunrise and poked fun at certain people who had got too drunk and had gone to sleep on the sand. We also were aware of Thai children running around staring at the floor looking for valuable items that drunk people might have dropped by mistake! We made it home by 9 AM and went to sleep on the sun loungers. Due to our hotel being so quiet, we didn’t once have to fight for a place on a sun lounger!

We saw many animals during our stay including monkeys, giant iguanas, tiny lizards, massive toads and a ridiculous sized horn beetle.

We also went to a jungle party and a Waterfall party (there was no waterfall there). These parties were also a lot of fun!

After the main parties on the island, most people move onto the next islands for the next parties. My sister and I stayed behind and carried on relaxing. There are still tourists in Koh Phangan during this time but it is a lot quieter! We moved to another hotel for a change of scene. This hotel was much grander than the last one! Our hut was really big and modern. The owners were French and were really friendly. The huts were right on the beach again. It was so beautiful!!

We went to a beautiful beach on the north of the island called Blue Bottle beach. It was very quiet and peaceful! 

                                      

We also went to Amsterdam Bar. The view from this bar is incredible!...

There was a big storm one night and it rained for hours. My sister and I watched the thunder and lightning from a bar on the beach. It was a memorable storm to watch! Even before we left our hotel we could tell the weather was turning. You can see the clouds in this picture gathering and the wind moving the trees.

I cannot describe how relaxed I was on this holiday! It was just amazing! On returning to the overcrowded, dirty, polluted city of Zhengzhou I had the holiday blues for ages! Thailand I hope I will see you again very soon!!