Remaining Thailand

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Day 17 (10th Aug) Chiang Mai Chill out day, Night Safari
After feeling a little delicate from the night before (at my own fault), I had an oil massage to see if it could cure me. It didn't but was still amazing and did help. We later went to a night safari where Gemma and Clare fed a baby Leopard.


Day 18 - Chiang Mai before sleeper train to Bangkok
Spot of shopping before catching the train.


Day 19 - Bangkok


Day 20 - Bangkok Hannah arrives


Day 21 (14th Aug) Travel to Ko Phi Phi


Day 22-23 Ko Phi Phi
Lazy days spent on the beach followed by crazy nights partying with the locals and other travellers at the bars and on the beach.


Day 24 Ko Phi Phi
Snorkelling trip. We visited Monkey bay, shark point, Bamboo Island, Ko Phi Phi Leh. One of the guides on the boat decided to come along on Clare and my kayak. He showed us lots of the sea life, pointing out things we never would have seen including a huge snake, these funny black things that are apparently called cucumber something and beautiful big and small fish.


Day 25 Ko Phi Phi
After four nights of partying, my body asked me to stop by giving me stomach pains, sickness etc that the doc thought was food poisoning however I know was probably due to burning the candle at both ends. I am going to be really sad to leave Phi Phi though. We've had such an amazing time. We have met so many lovely people-Thai and otherwise-and have never felt so welcome.


Day 26 Travel to Railay
The boat journey from Ko Phi Phi to Railay was stunning. It passed countless beautiful small islands. After pulling up at Hat Rai Leh East we have decided to stay on that side as the accommodation is a little cheaper. There isn't really a beach this side, just a shallow and muddy bay. The views of the headlands and limestone cliffs are fabulous however. We arrived fairly late so had a well needed shower and headed out for some food. We had the bbq that was at the hotel, i went for tuna steak which was delicious. We ended up at a bar called 'The Last Bar' that had live music followed but a fire show which was the most impressive yet.


Day 27 (20th Aug) Railay
The weather has been a little off today. Clare and I however climbed a huge cliff from one bay Hat Rai Leh West (that has near-flawless white sand) in only our bikinis and no shoes, scrambled down the other side to another beautiful bay, Hat Ton Sai. We decided to swim back round which was ridiculously scary but we did it and it was so worth it because of the views. We do need to revisit Hat Ton Sai however as I was so scared about the swim back round (that one Thai guy said later that night 'you two crazy'😉, I don't think I fully appreciated all the bay had to offer. The afternoon was spent having a lazy lunch and snooze by the pool. The night was spent at 'the last bar' for more fire shows, dancing and a few drinks.


Day 28 Railay
Today we met up with Tam who we had met the night before. He is a local guy that offered to show us the sights. We thought he was going to take us to the view point and lagoon however there had been too much rain the day before so we couldn't risk it. We started off by walking to Hat Phra Nang which was the most beautiful beach i think I have ever seen. There were views of lots of smaller islands-Happy Island and Chicken Island. Also a cave called princess cave that is a shrine. Fishermen believe that by visiting the cave and offering gifts to the spirit their voyage will be blessed. We walked the length of the beach to the start of the walk in a cave. Apparently not many people know about the walk to the cave and we only passed a couple of people whilst walking up and back. There are no signs or anything advertising and it hasn't made the LP yet. The view was unbelievable. I hadn't realised we had climbed so high. There was only a tiny ledge. Even though my fear of heights etc must be easing from everything we have been doing, i still don't feel totally comfortable on sheer cliff drops so after taking one snap I let the girls stay on the ledge whilst I stayed a little further back in the cave. The night was spent eating delicious food at 'Mom's Kitchen' (big momma as we referred to her). 'Mom' was so lovely... 'Sawatdee Ka' 'Welcome Ka' and she loved us! Followed by more drinking games and a deathly bucket of Sangsom and Coke at 'The Last Bar'.


Day 29 Railay

Today we did a walk to the viewpoint and lagoon. I ache all over today. Not many people go because it is so hard and exhausting. It was really beautiful however there was proper climbing Involved so was ridiculously scary. It was only clare and i but thankfully we went with three locals, and then met along the way an Israeli couple and an Israeli guy. Luckily one of the locals and the Israeli guy were both good climbers so they helped us all a lot, telling us what to do. People are so friendly and helpful. It was brilliant and the lagoon was so stunning. It was the most tranquil and still place i have ever been. I must have floated around for about 10 minutes solid and was not disturb by anything. So it's been quite an active few days and feel good for it as I miss exercise. The lagoon really was spectacular. Crystal clear water engulfed in lush green jungle with long dangling vines. We were the only ones there and all you could hear were the animals and gentle trickling of water. It was really magical. Unfortunately I forgot my camera and clare only managed to get a couple of snaps before her battery ran out. I won't get the image out of my head very easily though.

In the early evening i helped Yaya, one of the locals we'd made friends with and climbed with to handout his leaflets for the Bamboo Bar and boxing match that evening. Later we (the girls) waked back to the west beach to join the 40 to 50 people watching the sunset. Later that evening we went to the only Thai boxing place and watched the match. I hate boxing but felt compelled to go after making friends with the locals from the bar and them taking us to viewpoint and lagoon during the day. Yaya was the actual one doing the boxing and his friend Boi was the umpire. Yaya was really pleased that we went to watch him and also that the Israeli couple went too.


Day 30 Travel to Krabi from Railay


Day 31 Travel from Krabi to Bangkok
We woke up with a start today as we had overslept. Our flight was at 12:05pm and we didn't wake up till 10am. So after the quickest pack ever we arrived at the airport at 1045am so still had plenty of time to catch the flight.


Day 32 Last day in Thailand - Bangkok
Today the girls went to the grand palace and then we headed to MBK, a huge shopping mall. It is safe to say the the girls purchased the entire mall. We had a great day though. After a mammoth pack trying to fit everything in, we finished off the day by going for dinner with a friend we met on Ko Phi Phi.

Goodbye Thailand... I've had an amazing time and really don't want to leave.

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Comments

[Kerrie]

Lots of great stories...
Loving the stories in this blog but there's lots more I'd like to know so we will ahve to have the full stories on your return. The climbing/hiking sounds pretty scary/amazing and looking forward to seeing any pictures you may have. Its good to hear that you have been making some friends and exploring 'off the beaten track'. Thailand wouldn't be Thailand without lots of partying but glad to hear you are taking it a bit easier now as its horrible being poorly away from home. Can't wait to hear about your Vietnamese adventures. Travel safe Little Sis. Lots of love x x x