Touring Thailand

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For the last 3 and a bit weeks we have been touring Thailand by boat, bus, plane, tuk tuk (motorbike taxi type thing) and of course by foot! We have seen most of the places you're supposed to see but there are many more we have had to unfortunately leave out of our travels. But I guess we can add them to the list of places to see next time we come this direction! Time has really flown and we only have 4 days left before we fly back to Sweden! However 36 hours after touch down we will take off again to Agadir, Morocco, Africa! But until then we have the last few days to enjoy in Chiang Mai in the North of Thailand and then Bangkok before we fly out.

Thailand so far has been great. Most of our time was spent on Thailands islands and beaches namely Ko Lanta, Ko Phi Phi and Ko Phuket. Ko Phi Phi was the only place where we noticed the effect of the tsunami. The place is like one big construction site and was still far too crowded when we were there. They also have inflated the prices to roughly 5 times what they should be, but people were still paying including us because of its status as a beautiful tropcial thai island made famous from the film "the beach". However when we were there I didnt like Ko Phi Phi all that much but we were impressed by its sister island that is protected by a marine conservation ( thank god!)

It remains unspoiled and has the most amazing clear water and lovely white sandy beach. Definitely a place to visit but only for a day trip!

From Ko Phi Phi we took a 2 hr ferry to Phuket and while the sandy coast of Phuket seemed inviting we decided instead to stay in Phuket town. The reason being was at 7 euros a night for B & B it was by far the cheapest place to stay on the Island but it was also a good base to explore the many lovely beaches. We also got a bit of culture too, eating in the local markets nearly every evening. One of my favourites was chicken fried rice with a singha beer for a euro! There was also a busy Irish bar nearby that had some good adverts that would probably be illegal at home!

After a week on the beaches we decided to get more into the thai culture. So we decided to travel to Chiang Mai, the centre for thai spirituality in the north of thailand. Chiang Mai has loads of temples and monastries but it also has many meditation centres, good cooking courses and interesting treks into the thai jungle to meet the interesting nomadic tribes in the area. So in the last few days we've taken a cooking course, a thai massage course and travelled to many impressive budist temples. We havent done as much as we would have liked here because 2 days ago Ulrika and I were very sick from food poisoning. It has taken 2 days for us to fully recover and its only today that we can eat without feeling sick. Its the first time its happened to us and Im glad it was only the once! It has put me off eating rice and noodle dishes so in a way I'm not that sad that our time here is coming to an end!
For those wondering Ulrika and I will be back in Ireland on the 7th of February... not long now!

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Comments

[Lui]

Get ready for snow!
Hi Folks! Good to hear you'll be back soon...so we can finally take revenge for all the blog entries detailing how you were lounging in the sun while we were dripping with rain back home ;-) Snow has finally arrived in Sweden (I'm in Stockholm now), it looks fab! Looking forward to seeing you back in Ireland in February