Thailand

We decided to take a trip over Christmas break to Thailand, and flew with the regions cheapest airline Cebu Pacific. We missed a lot of cheaper deals, but managed to get relatively cheap flights from Cebu to Bangkok.

We left on Dec 22nd and flew Cebu to Manilla. Due to a misread ticket we almost missed our flight! Luckily the flight was slightly delayed so we did not have too much of an issue. When we arrived in Manilla, our next flight was also delayed (it seems this is a recurring issue with Manilla airport).

We arrived in Bangkok at about 1am, and straight away I noticed just how much more developed Thailand is than the Philippines.

Taxi took us to Khao San Road which is the Costa Del Sol of the city. Really touristy and full of groups of western tourists getting drunk. I knew that it would be like that, but actually it didn't offend me as much as I thought it would have. I was actually really happy to see so many westerners seeing as thought I've been working with a very small group of them for the last few months.

In the morning had a small wander around the city streets, had some great food and saw a temple. Street food is amazing, 20Baht for spring rolls. Fruit shakes here are also phenomenal. I highly recommend the coconut ones!

We then went to catch a bus from Bangkok to Koh Phi Phi. We had a terrible time finding the right bus due to one of our party wandering off at an inopportune moment which caused us to loose out guide. After about 30mins manic running around we eventually found the right bus!

Double decker bus with blankets, not to bad and is the cheapest way to travel. We had to change bus half way through the journey and my friend realised that his passport had been stolen. He had been sitting next to the window with his bag under his seat and had woken up to find his bag in the aisle of the bus, without his passport – strangely though his ipad and wallet were still there... He then needed to head off to the police station to file a report and we waited for our boat across the Koh Phi Phi.

The ferry was very straight forward, talked to a couple of English guys and took some photos. Arrived in Phi Phi and were swamped by people trying to get us to stay at their hostels. As I have learnt from working on cruise ships, never take anything from anyone waiting at the docks to harass tourists as they are going to rip you off. Always walk away a bit (be this when looking for transport, food or anything) and you will always get a better price.

We had been really worried that we wouldn’t find anywhere to stay as everyone had been hyping up how many people were going to be in Phi Phi because of Christmas, but we met a nice American who suggested going along the sea front, past the mosque and getting a guest house round there – slightly cheaper and quieter than the main party area – this turned out to be an amazing piece of advice as we found the lovely Tee Guest House and got a room for 3 for 800Baht per night – bargain! We had also be told that Phi Phi was going to be the most expensive place we would go in Thailand as it is where The Beach was filmed and has the most beautiful beaches in the country. However it was cheaper than some other places we went.

We didn't spend very long in Phi Phi as there were too many groups of louts. On Christmas morning I had taken an early morning walk along the beach and through the town and had passed several guys just passed out in the street. At 11am I walked past a couple of bars with British kids dancing on pool tables totally smashed already and it just wasn't the vibe I was looking for.

We spent Christmas Day on Long Beach which is off the main straight and was far quieter and therefore more enjoyable. To get to the beach its about a 15 min walk through the woods and was a lovely wee trek.

When in Koh Phi Phi check out Papaya for dinner, we had a great meal of massaman curry, chicken with basil and chili and so many other great tasty things. Go to Banana Bar, its got a great roof top terrace and it was really easy to make friends there. Also check out Stones bar for their fire show and dancing.

After 2 days we took a ferry over to Koh Lanta which was such a different environment! Koh Lanta is another island off the Andaman Coast, but far less touristy. We stayed at a stunning little beach resort with a pool right on the beach.

Koh Lanta has long stretches of empty beaches and is one of the most chilled out places I've ever been. All the beach bars have hammocks and areas to lounge about. Lots of couples and families and it would definitely be an easy place to take kids.

After a few days we decided to move on again. Originally we were going to head to Krabi and the mainland for a few days before heading to Koh Phangan for New Year. However we kept hearing stories about millions of people heading there for New Year and we had no accommodation booked so we left one of party to go explore the mainland and we headed straight to Koh Phangan to try and get set up for New Year.

We arrived late in the evening and made some friends with 2 South African girls and 2 Aussie boys and tried to find accommodation. The girls had booked into some huts in Hat Riin so we all went up to see if they had any other spaces available. However when we arrived at the place we had to go up a really long mud track and it seemed like rape alley so we decided against it. We then wandered around Hat Riin for a while before finding a room for the night. We then spent the rest of the evening going into every hostel in the town looking for accommodation, but everywhere was full up for New Year, which started to cause panic. Moral of the story, if you are heading to Koh Phangan for New Year, book in advance! Black and White Bungalows looked really cool, and had a great party vibe. Lots of folk sitting on their porches drinking and partying. I would on the other hand avoid any hostel with the work “party” in the name...

After the first night of staying in Hat Riin, we hired a scooter and set off around the island to find accommodation. Because of new year everywhere was booked and so it took about 3 hours to find somewhere. We eventually found a bungalow at Chokana resort in Ban Tai, which was way over our budget, but in the long run was really worth it. Beautiful little house, massive bed, resort right on the beach. Food was good, if not a bit over priced, but the family that ran the resort were amazing, particularly Manock who acted as taxi driver several times for us, running us around the island in the back of his pickup truck.

At new year him and his family went to the Buddhist Temple from 11pm until 1am to reflect on the past year and welcome in the new one. Such a healthier way to start the year than the rest of us!

Met a few really cool people at Chokana - bunch of guys from England who were out meeting friends on exchange from uni and were currently living in HK. A couple from London, one of which works in production.

We went to a couple of preparties before new year. Only issues was getting a taxi home with 8 English skinheads who were EDL members and had painted neon swastikas on their heads... why they were in Thailand I will never understand.

On the second I made my way back to Bangkok. My journey took about 23 hours – boat to the main land, bus to Surat Thani, and then a few hours wait in the bus shed before an over night bus back to Bangkok which arrived at about 7am. Met some really cool people on the way even though it was a killer journey. Met a couple who were traveling back to Bangkok because the guy had been hit by a drunken scooter driver who had hit him and then sped off. He was in agony the whole journey but needed to get to Bangkok to go for proper Xrays. Koh Phangan hospital does not have a proper Xray machine, so beware when there. I saw so many people bandaged up when I was on the island, people really go mental when they are there, a lot of scooter and alcohol related accidents!

Returned to Bangkok, spent the day sightseeing and then caught our flight back to the Philippines. As we flew over Cebu I did actually start to get a bit excited about being back in the Philippines. Driving back to the house it was actually fairly refreshing to see normal people just living their lives. I realised that I did not have that sense at all whilst in Thailand as everywhere we went was so touristy. There are several different backpacking trails that Lonely Planet recommend and we seemed to have done one called “The Beach Binge” - my trip was definitely a holiday rather than traveling. Now being back in the Philippines I can see that if you are looking for a trip to get away from Westerners, Thailand is not the place for you, however, as I've been living In the Philippines I was so happy to see other westerners and make friends so it was the perfect place for me. If I had just come from the UK I'm not sure I would have been so enthusiastic. I was there at peak season though, so I can imagine its not like that all the time though.

So, my trip highlights? So many! We met so many great people, and I'm still amazed by how friendly and chatty the majority of other travelers were. I didn't find it to be like that as much in India, but then again, maybe its me that's changed... I think I probably am more friendly than I used to be... perhaps...