When we went to Phuket, the rain came as well. The heavy downpours actually caused flooding on the journey there. We decided to stay in Phuket town, and we were really pleased to see how Thai it was, as we hadn't exactly heard good things about Phuket from other travellers We decided to go to the cheapest guest house in the book for a room, and we really surprised when we booked in to it that it was the same hotel that Leonardo DiCaprio stays in, in The Beach. It was called On On Hotel, and despite the rain leaking on [View Full Entry]

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We all decided to head over to Ko Samui as we'd all heard really good things about the island. When we arrived, we found that the people were all amazingly friendly, and things were a little cheaper, but in general the feeling of being in absolute paradise was gone. After looking at some guide books, we'd decided that Hat Chaweng was a good option, but when we arrived there were more Westerners than Thai people! As Robbie and I were due to fly from Phuket a few days later for our visa run, Suzie and Justin decided to make the trip [View Full Entry]

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As Suzie needed some rest and re cooperation, we decided to go straight down south to some beach resorts in order for us to have a chill with our feet up. We were made comfortable by “Frank” on the train, who was one of the cheeriest and campest characters that we have met in Thailand to date, and that is saying a lot! The train journey was over almost as quickly as it had begun, and as we caught a bus to the pier, we caught a sun rise over Chumphon and it was beautiful, I think it gave us all [View Full Entry]

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After a few days rest in Kanchanaburi, Suzie's foot didn't seem much better, and so we immediately went to the hospital in Bangkok to put our minds at rest that it was only twisted. Unfortunately, the x-rays revealed that the heal was fractured in two places! We were all really shocked, but it wasn't the end of the world, and Suzie had a pink cast fitted and was sorted out with some crutches. I think it put all of our minds at rest that she'd seen a doctor! Justin flew in as well so the four of us had a little [View Full Entry]

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Meeting Suzie at the airport went without a hitch, and we were all really excited to see one another and to be in Thailand together. The journey to Kanchanaburi only took three hours, which was a good job as the bus stunk to high heaven! As soon as we arrived we had some lunch by the River Kwai, and checked into a hostel called the Jolly Frog. After this we hired some push bikes and had a look around town. It is a lovely place and reminded us a lot of Chiang Mai. Whilst riding, we found ourselves at a monkey [View Full Entry]

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Coming back through the Laos border back to Thailand was pain free, especially compared to how it had been crossing into Laos. When we crossed the Friendship Bridge, the bus simply started driving on the other side of the road. It didn't really feel too much like crossing a border! We arrived in Bangkok early, and had to wait around from five o'clock to book into a guest house. This wasn't an issue as the bars on the Khao San never close, so we got some breakfast, had a beer and people watched for a while. Bangkok is the kind of [View Full Entry]

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The next morning we were both still a little sore from the tubing, but we decided to get the public bus to Vientiane. This was the best move that we could have made, as the local bus was full of local characters, and was a bit of a clapped out shell of a bus. The journey took twice as long as expected, and it was really noisy as well as being really uncomfortable. It was still our favourite journey though, because it was a slice of life in Laos. People tried to sell us barbecued rats on sticks and we enjoyed [View Full Entry]

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In the minibus to Vang Viang, we were all pretty squashed. As fourteen of us were squeezed into the back, we all got to know each other quite well quite quickly! Our first impressions of Vang Viang were not that good. The backdrop of the mountains and the river were stunning, but the town itself seemed completely geared towards tourism, a bit cheesy, and felt a bit empty! We were a bit concerned about this and nearly got the next bus out of there! The following day though, we decided to go tubing. Tubing. The word itself doesn't really give away [View Full Entry]

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Initially, we saw Louang Prabang as sleepy and untouched, and really pretty. The Kip was still proving a little tricky as well. The guest house where we decided to stay was a proper family run sort of a place, and it was nice that the kids woke us up in the morning but it made me miss my nieces and nephews even more! The night market was really cool as well, but the haggling was more tricky here as people just wouldn't budge, even when we walked away. Louang Prabang had loads of colonial buildings, as well as lots of beautiful [View Full Entry]

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The night bus that we took from Pai to Chiang Khong was pretty harsh on our stomachs, partly down to the Sangsom we'd drunk the night before with Greg, and worsened by the bus constantly flying up and down hills and lurching around corners. As soon as we did arrive, we were ushered to some rooms for 3 hours sleep, before being woken abruptly and quickly ushered to the immigration point. We had to have our visas for Thailand stamped to say we'd left the country, and we were then ferried across the river to obtain visas for Laos. It was [View Full Entry]

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