Sunday 12 October 2014

'Fit for Thailand'

We went to Thailand for 10 days, and typically it was the most unorganised trip until about 3 days before. We booked all our accommodation, decided where we were going to go all whilst in Japan, leaving us very stressed out one day when we realised how hard it was going to be travelling around Thailand with all my luggage. However, saying that, we had no problem with hotels, with only one of the four hotels being a complete dump.
If i was to do Thailand again, i would probably cut out one of the places we went to. Going to 4 places in 10 days meant that we were doing a lot of moving around, which could best stressful.
We started in Phuket, which has the famous 'Bangla Road'. I guess its sort of like the Malia of Thailand, just 10X tackier and with many questionable lady boys. all in all its an unforgettable experience.
We stayed there for 4 or so nights, spending most of it sunbathing, eating a lot of thai food and having the funniest nights out.
we also did a boat trip to James Bond Island, which typically it poured down as soon as we reached, so it wasn't quite the scenic views we were expecting to see.
from phuket we moved onto phi phi, which was both mine and alisas favourite island. Its where they filmed the movie 'The Beach', although we thought we visited the beach off the movie, but apparently it was round the other side of the island, oops. Phi Phi is a tiny island with no cars or public transport, its so picturesque and exactly how i expected thailand to be. on a night the beach turns into a massive party, with fire limbo and music.
we were so sad to only stay in phi phi for one night, as our next place didnt meet the standards at all. the hotel was dire, and it rained the whole 2 days we were there, not ideal. most of the two days in Ao Nang were spent recovering from the past 6 days and chilling out, in a way it was needed.
Our final stop was Koh Samui, in order to be close to the full moon party.
The full moon party was a lot of fun, however it is an absolute nightmare to find your friends. me and alisa lost each other so easily amongst the crowds. we both didnt bring phones because we were told the party was prone for pickpocketing, so we were walking around aimlessly trying to find each other amongst 30,000 or so people. we also didnt take bags due to the pickpocketing reason, so all our money was carried in our shoe.. The full moon party was actually a lot tamer than i expected it to be, with most people being 18 or so. i had better nights, but I feel like it's something you have to do whilst there, as its so legendary.
the next day was spent on total recovery, and in the evening we rented scooters with two guys we befriended.
our last day in thailand was spent travelling back from Koh Samui to Phuket, ready to catch our flight.
we left Koh Samui at 8am, arriving in Phuket at 4pm ready for our 11pm flights, longest day ever...
whilst we had a long wait in the airport, i sort of didnt want it to go fast because i knew it would be the last time i saw alisa in a very long time. after having spent every waking second with her for the last 3 weeks, it felt weird knowing that she wouldn't be by my side.  it was scaring me thinking that i wouldn't have her with me in Melbourne, having to start all over again. I realise how incredibly lucky i am to travel to all these places, and literally have the best summer ever.
Below are photos of all my travel adventures in Thailand, including the time we were charged £4 for a photo with a monkey
amazing thai food, all for the equivalent of £1.50

bonding with a cute flea ridden monkey




Muslim fishing town 

cute cannoeing 

the filter is deceivingly good at hiding just how bad the weather was. in the midst of a huge storm at James Bond island

we went on an elephant ride one day. worst idea ever. the guy was so mean to the elephant and our hungover states couldn't handle how upsetting it was. heres a photo of us looking sad and distressed on said elephant.

beautiful Phi Phi

urgh, take me back



walking under fire, the most fun night 

arriving in Ao Nang. Pretty. but rainy
at the full moon party. we bumped into a friend from uni (guy in the centre)




Japan bound

I flew out to Japan on the 22nd June with my best friend (one featured in nearly all photos). she's half japanese and her parents live out there so we stayed with them for most of the trip. She grew up in Nagoya, which is quite a big city. we spent most our time there, but also took a weekend trip to Tokyo which was so much fun, and a few day trips around nearby towns.
going to japan was literally the most eye opening experience. I've never been to a place where english is barely spoken, so it was weird to find that i wasn't understood, and a lot of the time i stood out for being white, which was totally weird for me.
we were there for 12 days in total, it was so good to go with someone who had lived there, so could show me around without just doing the typically touristy stuff. i had so much great food and sushi, and some really fun nights out meeting everyone over there! one of my favourite days was spent visiting an old japanese village, i think called magame, it was so pretty and preserved, looking just like how japan used to look.
the scenery in Japan is so different to the Western world, which is what struck me as crazy when i first got there.
I had well over 1000 photos, so this is an extreme shortened down version of my trip to Japan in pictures
haha this is the weirdest thing ever, i think called purikura and its so popular in Japan. You can dress up and the photo will edit your face, so your skins smoother, your eyes are larger etc. it also slims your legs which is really freaky. It's just so Japanese

This is the Nagoya Castle, in the town my friends are from. they took me here the first day, and it was honestly so beautiful and traditionally Japanese



with my best friend before our first night out in Nagoya, missing you girl :)

in Tokyo! stood by the famous statue of Hachuko, the dog that waited for its owner every morning in the same spot, until one day the owner didnt turn up


pretty 

us 4 before going out in TOKYO


getting my fortune

Harajuko!

pretty TOKYO pre thunderstorm

us in the maid cafe. weirdest experience ever

taken from the pretty old town, Magame


thanks to the Juni family for having me and showing me round, had the best time 

KYOTO, Japan's old capital


Golden Temple

not sure how to twist this round, urgh missing proper Japanese food so much

last night out in Nagoya

leaving Japan with sushi socks intact

photos are of bad quality as were only taken on iPhone, but hopefully this gives a bit of insight into my trip in Japan. I had the most amazing time, and was lucky enough to be able to travel to such an interesting country whilst visiting a friend. Becoming friends with people from all over the world has ben such an amazing experience, allowing me to visit their home countries and see the country through the eyes of a local, and it's been such an eye opening experience