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Published: April 23rd 2010
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I know that this blog is very delayed but better late than never! What can I say my second visit to Thailand in 2009 changed the course of my life!
I arrived back to Bangkok in early December where I met up with my friend Laurie. I was so excited to see her I arrived a day earlier than I needed to; the sad thing was I thought that I was arriving on time! Laurie and I had plans of shopping for her store and exploring Laos and Cambodia; that all changed one night when we followed two cute boys down the very busy street of Bangkok. Laurie and I didn't really get a chance to get to know Dave and Sean the first night but the next day when we met up with them at the week-end market it took nothing but a simple question to change the course of my travels. On a very spontaneous decision Laurie and I trashed our train tickets for the north of Thailand, gave up the idea of Cambodia and Laos, and booked a bus ticket to the South of Thailand for a diving adventure with Dave and Sean.
The first island
that we visited was Koh Tao. We stayed at nice hotel with a lovely infinity pool, which I spent most of my time in. I did manage to complete my advance dive certification so now I can dive to 30 meters on my own if I was crazy like that! The diving there was not the best for me; however, the restaurants were the amazing! Anytime anyone is in on the island of Koh Tao they have to go to Zanzibar, the food is incredible!!!
Laurie and I made the choice to spend Christmas on Koh Lanta. We said see you later to Dave and Sean and we started off on a very long journey to the other side of Thailand. In 21 hours we took a taxi, a boat, a taxi, a bus, a taxi, a mini van, a mini van, a ferry, a minivan, a ferry and finally a minivan which delivered us to our hotel which was close to the end of the island. Koh Lanta was a completely different island from Koh Tao. Everything was so spread out, the food was not the best, and the island was very quite.
Laurie and rented a
motor bike for our first time. Even though Laurie had driven a motorbike before she thought that it would be a better idea for me to the driver. To be honest, I did a really good job, that was until I had to make my first right hand turn (which is the wide turn in Thailand) and I wrecked, not a bad one but Laurie did get her knee pretty scrapped up. Being the good sport that she is she didn't get upset about the whole thing. It did take some build up of bravery to drive the bike again 😊
We found an amazing dive company in Koh Lanta called Flip Flop Divers, the shop was filled with South Africans and it was nice to be surrounded by that laid back mentality again. Plus they had the sweetest little kitten named Sarah. I loved her! The first time we went diving was in Koh Ha, to date one of my favorite dives ever. We saw some of the biggest Cuttlefish I have ever seen, the water was so clear it was like looking through a window, and there was a current that I could relax and just float
in while drifting past the wall. Awesome experience. The boat that we were diving off of was a speed boat which really benefited us because we could get to all the big dive sites before all the slower boats.
Dave and Sean ended up meeting up with Laurie and me on Christmas Eve. After some investigational work Laurie and I found a restaurant that served a full English Christmas dinner. It felt really good to have a friends and a nice Christmas dinner. Christmas day, I spent exploring the National Park on the island, can't say it was the most impressive part of the island but it was a nice way to spend the day. Laurie and I went out for a pizza dinner at a restaurant that linen napkins and everything. Then we played the most challenging game of mini-golf that I have ever been up against. Really it was very pathetic because the course looked so easy!
In addition to the holiday, the amazing diving on Koh Lanta there was also this really fun cave that I spent the afternoon in. To get to it, I had to climb up this hill, where they grew rubber
trees; it was very interesting to see how they milked the sap out of the trees. While walking with my head was down, I walked right into the branch and almost knocked me out. I tried to be tough because I was with Sean and Dave but wow it really hurt! As we were climbing through the cave I met these two guys that were from the Greenlake area in Seattle, it is such a small world. The experience was wonderful minus the spiders the size of my hand.
For New Years Laurie and I went to Koh Phi Phi. The island was very small and very alive. We spent the day snorkeling and seeing the surrounding islands, and then for New Years Eve we danced the night away on the beach, watched the fire works and then we got Laurie’s upper lip pierced. It was a very eventful last night of 2009. Just to prove again that it is such a small world, I ran into a girl that I used to work with at See Sound. Once again, Sean and Dave met up with and then we all split ways.
Dave and I went to Bangkok,
Sean stayed behind on Phi Phi and Laurie went to Chiang Mai to begin her shopping. The biggest highlight of Bangkok this time was the Baiyoke Tower, a very large tower that has an excellent view of BKK.
I said good bye to Dave and went on a very expensive Visa run to Laos. I spent a few days there but not really enough to talk about except for the fact that their boarder people are not very honest.
I finally meet back up with Laurie in Chiang Mai where we shopped and shopped and shopped. At the end of this expereince, I now know the one thing that I will never want to be is a professional shopper.
Chiang Mai will always hold a very special place in my heart; it is where I said good-bye to my 20's and hello to my 30's. Laurie went all out! It was such an amazing day. We started off with a Thai cooking class, where my Massiman Curry was so fabulous! From there we met back up with Sean, who had made his way to the North of Thailand by then. The three of us went paint balling.
I seriously felt like I was fighting for my life. Sean hit me in the back of my head with a ball and I thought that I was going to die, I am such a sissy. The next stop was go karting, again we were the only ones there. The guy who ran the paint ball place was so nice he droves us from his place, to the go karts and then back to our hotel. We then went for dinner at Miguel’s the best Mexican Restaurant in all of SE Asia! We then went on to Thai Boxing and finished the night sipping on Sapphire Tonics and listening to a jam session at the local bar.
It was an amazing way to start my 30's and finish the first 8 months of my travels. Thank you all for following my stories through this point. There is more to come😊
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Julie
non-member comment
What a incredible trip!! Xo