All Good Things Come To An End

First of all, an apology. This blog post is wayyyy out of date seeing as I'm actually sitting in the comfort of my own home right now in sweats, a jumper and fluffy socks and NOT on a very hard bed in Thailand somewhere battling with the hotel's shitty wi-fi and changing between freezing cold and uncomfortably warm depending on the air-con. I should had done this post way over a week ago but, well, I didn't so here we are.

When I last wrote, I was about 2 weeks into my trip to Thailand and had just had a great afternoon playing with tigers. That day didn't end as well as it began as I got mega-sick and spent the whole night feeling like ass and sweating half to death as we were in a room that had one tiny fan above our bed which was like being blown on by a particularly feeble kitten. I survived the night though and the next day Me and Pops went out for the day to do a cooking class. We got picked up on scooters and drove 5 minutes to the school where we were in a class with 5 other people who we got to chat to before we got taken to the local market to learn about some of the local fruit and veg and to pick up our ingredients.

It was a really fun day and after we cooked each dish we got to sit down and eat it (I ate a tiny bit cos I still felt pretty delicate) so by the end of the session everyone was feeling pretty full. We had 5 dishes each and I cooked a prawn curry, thai fish cakes, chicken in coconut milk, pork paenang curry and sticky rice with mango. Everything was delicious, I just wish I could have appreciated it more rather than feeling rubbish but it was great value and, if you're interested, you can find out about the class we went to here... www.cookinthai.com
That night we went out to the Chiang Mai Sunday Night market which was absolutely incredible. It seemed to take up half of the city with all kinds of interesting and lovely things to buy. Shame we didn't have bigger rucksacks or I would have bought shedloads!

The next day, things got really exciting. We'd booked to spend 2 days at the Elephant Nature Park so we got picked up from our hotel at 8.30am and drove for an hour before we arrived at the park. I won't give you all the details about the park cos it'll take ages, you can read more on their website but it really is an incredible place. The owner, Lek, has devoted her life to those elephants and I don't think I've ever come across a person quite like her. At the park there are 35 elephants - 32 females and 3 males aswell as over 200 dogs and loads of water buffalo.
When we arrived we got to feed the elephants from a platform and in the afternoon we got to bathe them in the river which was such an incredible experience. They were all so gentle and you could just tell how happy they were, despite them all having such awful starts in life (All the elephants are rescued from logging camps, breeding camps, trekking camps and begging on the streets).
We also got shown a video that showed us a bit more about the terrible treatment of elephants in Thailand, as they're classed as domestic animals and therefore don't have any rights, but I have to confess that I was so tired from lack of sleep over the last few days that I didn't quite manage to stay awake through all of it. Awful, I know, but a girl's got to do what a girl's got to do.

We stayed the night at the camp in a really nice hut, although the water didn't really work enough to have a shower, but I'm not really complaining, I was used to being dirty at this point.
Get-ups are early at Elephant Nature Park compared to what we were used to but it was definitely worth it when we got to eat breakfast looking over the park and watching all the elephants wandering around. Such a surreal experience that I never thought I would have.
Our first activity of the day was a walk around the park with our guide, Tony, where we got to meet a few more of the elephants and then we just got to sit on the grass with some of the mahouts (elephant handlers) and watch the elephants go about their lives. It was really nice because we learnt a bit more about the elephants and how the park works and Tony was really friendly so it was just a nice chat really.
Tony then took us to the dog sanctuary part of the park where they keep most of the dogs that they've saved from floods in Bangkok and other parts of Thailand. The dogs were actually all really well behaved (most of them were much nicer than my own dog) so we had a bit of a cuddle with some of the smaller dogs and Tony introduced us to the dog that he wants to adopt and take home with him but can't because he doesn't have a car and can't carry it back on his scooter.
In the afternoon we bathed the elephants again and then had to say goodbye. We wished we could have stayed longer because it was such an amazing place but my birthday was coming up and we had a date with a VERY nice hotel.

The next day we checked into the Ping Nakara hotel, where Mum had reeeeeeeeallly kindly paid for us to stay for 2 nights for my 19th birthday. When me and Poppy arrived we seriously could not believe how nice it was and I felt way to dirty to be allowed in there. That was soon sorted out, though, by a session in our gorgeous bath followed by one of the best showers of my whole entire life. That night we didn't move from our room from about 4pm. We stayed in our dressing gowns and watched shitty tv and films and ordered room service (for dinner and a midnight snack) we were extremely lazy but as the courteeners taught us, you're not nineteen forever.

So the next day was my nineteenth birthday and I'm not going to sit here and lie and pretend we had a jam-packed and activity-filled day. We definitely didn't. We had an incredible poolside breakfast and then took up our spots on our sunloungers and didn't really move from there apart from to get up and have a poolside lunch and to have a swim in the pool. When the sun went in, we lounged in our dressing gowns again until it was time to go out for some birthday pasta.
I had a really nice day but it felt so bizarre not being at home for my birthday so that it didn't actually feel all that much like my birthday but it was still a good day :)

The next day, we should have been leaving the Ping but we decided to stay an extra day using some money that Poppy's mum had kindly donated to us. So we had another day in the pool, topping up our tans, and trying to mentally prepare ourselves from leaving our world of luxury behind :(

We did eventually have to leave though to on the 5th of May, we left the Ping and dragged our bags across to Chiang Mai to our favourite american diner for some mood boosting burgers and then we had to get on a 10 hour coach back up to Bangkok. Mid journey, though, Poppy started to feel really sick with a reeeally bad temperature so I spent most of the journey worried and then when we finally arrived in Bangkok, I saw that someone had obviously tried to get into my rucksack that had been down in the luggage hold. Luckily, my bag was pretty well padlocked and I didn't have anything worth stealing in there anyway but it was just the perfect welcome back to Bangkok.

morale - boosting burgers

The next couple of days were spent packing, sunbathing on our rooftop pool and doing some last minute shopping for presents. Unfortunately Poppy was still pretty sick so we didn't exactly end on a high note but our time in Thailand was still incredible :)

Snorkels, McDonald's and Tiger Cubs.

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted and sorry I don't have very many pictures right now but I promise I'll add some as soon as I can!
After I last posted, we spent another 4 days in Phuket and most of those we spent in our room due to the torrential rain.
On the 18th we had a day trip on a boat where we went snorkelling at maya bay, which is where the beach was filmed then to Koh Phi Phi where we spent some time at one of the most Beautiful beaches of all time.
On the 19th we went to a neighbouring town on Phuket called Karon where I got the most intense massage of my life. It felt more like a workout than a relaxation exercise as I got pummelled and stretched to within an inch of my life!
The next day we barely moved out of bed due to the rain except to pick up our McDonald's delivery (which, if you ask me, is one of the great wonders of southeast Asia)
we were rained in again the next day and then finally got a boat to Koh Phi Phi on the 22nd. Spent 4 nights in Phi Phi and it is a beautiful place but once you've been to the beach (which is stunning) and done a boat tour of some more far flung, deserted beaches, there isn't a hell of a lot todo unless you want to learn to scuba dive (we didn't).
So by the time it got to Thursday l, we couldn't wait to get up to Chiang mai where there's heaps more going on.
To get up to Chiang mai though, we had to get a 90 minute boat, then a 12 hour coach, then an hour long flight do by the time we arrived we were pretty tired and dirty.
We spent our first night with a friend of a friend and it was so lovely to be in a house again, after just being in hotels, hostels and a camp for the past 3 months so thank you Iain!
Today we found somewhere to stay closer to the centre of town and we lucked out with a lovely guesthouse and the staff here are so friendly and helpful! After we'd settled in we went to a place called Tiger Kingdom where you can sit and play with tigers of all different ages and it was amazing. We only went into the enclosure of the baby tigers and any stories of them being drugged is untrue, they were all running around and playing and looked as happy as they could be (apart from being in cages and not the wild). It was an amazing experience and one I will never forget.

Homesick update: I still really don't want to come home but I think by my birthday on Thursday I'll be ready to come home.

Delhi belly update: everything seems to be ok but poppy got really sick last week so we're still not out of the woods yet!

Welcome To Thailand!

I can't believe that I've already been in Thailand for a week and in 3 weeks time, I'll be on a plane only a couple of hours from home (all being well touch wood) the past couple of months have gone super fast but this week has to have gone the fastest.
All of our flights from India to Thailand went as smoothly as possible which was a relief. When we got into Bangkok, me and poppy we're overwhelmed by how clean an organised everything was. We definitely weren't in India anymore.
We got to our accommodation in Bangkok, a place called nap park hostel, close to khao San road where all the backpacker hostels are (apparently it's in the film 'the beach') and it was lovely - very clean and in an awesome location and we had ac and hot showers!
Our few days in Bangkok were really good but it's kind of a crazy city that's packed with people trying to scam you one way or another.
We saw some temples but I couldn't tell you the names of them and took a river cruise down the chaopraya river and window shopped in some of the crazy shopping malls there. We wanted to see a ladyboy show and a pingpong show aswell but in the end we just weren't brave enough.

While we were in Bangkok, it was the songkran festival which is Thai new year and is celebrated by having a huge water fight in the streets. It was absolutely incredible to see the streets packed with people, all armed with water pistols but we had to leave to get a bus to koh samui on the Friday and had to battle our way through the water fights with all our earthly possessions on our backs, which wasn't so much fun.
We took an overnight coach and then a boat to koh samui so we were so exhausted that our first day there we basically spent in bed.
The next day we spent all our time on chaweng beach.
We paid for that though as we got so sunburnt that we weren't really in the mood to do anything the next day!
We did, however manage to make it to a ladyboy show and it was incredible. Some of the girls were amazing and you would have never have guessed that they had something different between there legs if you saw them on the street.
Today we moved from koh samui to Phuket which involved a very early start at 5.30am and we had to get another bus, boat, pick up truck and minibus to get us to patong. The hotel we're in is lovely but where we are in patong isn't exactly picture perfect.
I am really loving Thailand but it's been really difficult getting used to being in a different country and me and poppy keep thinking in rupees instead of baht.
I just can't wait to see what happens in the next few weeks :)

Homesick update: me and pops reeeeeally don't want to go home so no, I'm not homesick.

Delhi belly update: *touch wood* all is well here

Club gokarna, drinks are free.

I'm off to Thailand in under 12 hours do I thought I'd just do a short post on the last week. After I last posted, Delhi belly finally caught up with me, and my other two roommates and as we were meant to be taking Mari Anne to the airport that night, it really wasn't very much fun. Saying goodbye to Mari Anne was hard but the whole fearofpooingyourpants does tend to distract you a tiny bit so it wasn't AS emotional as it normally would have been.
Monday morning, me and poppy took a trip to the hospital which is much less dramatic than it sounds. People here seem to go to the hospital like we would go to a GP so he loaded us up with drugs and then we hit the road!
Leaving IDEX really wasn't sad at all, in fact, we did a little dance in the car as we drove away and then we caught a bus to palolem where we met our friend Jen and his dad, who was verrrrryyyy kindly putting us up in an incredible hotel with ac and a pool and a proper bed and fluffy towels (god praise gilbert) and I really can't thank him enough because it was the perfect place for poppy to heal our aching tummies.
In the end, we decided we didn't have the time or the stomachs for the 15 hour train journey to Kerala so instead we got a train to gokarna which is a pilgrimage town in Karnataka, the next state down from goa. Unfortunately, tourists are now banned from the temples so we stuck to two of gokarna's very quiet beaches. Our first stop was Kudle beach which is basically full of hippies. On our first night we stated in what felt like a prison cell, before upgrading the next night to a hotel. We had a really nice time there and ate the best pizza of our whole trip and met some interesting people, including a short, Dutch man called Sally who was completely off his rocker but extremely nice. On the wednesday night we even experienced our first indian rain when a big storm hit with lightning which lit up the whole beach and was pretty incredible. On Friday we got. Short boat ride to the next beach down, called om beach. St Christopher must have been looking down on us that day because we managed to get the last room in the only decent place on the beach, which turned out to be a bit like an Indian butlins but was nice all the same.
On Sunday though, it was time to go and Jen had to catch a train to Kerala while we wanted to get back up to Majorda to be close to the airport. It sucked to say goodbye yet again, but we're already planning trips to Manchester, Cardiff and London so I'm sure we'll all see each other very very soon.
Me and poppy then got a train to Majorda and made a visit to the idex camp to pick up a package that had arrived for me (thank you so much Lynda, it was lovely!) and from there we wanted to find somewhere to stay close by but we couldn't really find anywhere so we decided to just stay at idex for 2 more nights which wasn't ideal but this way we have a guaranteed car to the airport at 4am so we can't really complain.
It's been very weird being back when all the volunteers are new faces but we're just so excited about Thailand tomorrow that that's really all we can think about!
Next time you hear from me, I'll be in the land of Thai so pray my plane doesn't crash and I'll see you all very very soon xxx

Time To Say Goodbye

We're finally here, my last day at IDEX camp. I'm sat writing this with wet hair after my last shitty shower here and I've just had my last bland IDEX lunch and penultimate meal. To say we're excited to leave would be a bit of an understatement. Me and Poppy can't wait to start travelling for real and Mari Anne can't wait to get home so I don't think there will be very many tears when we have to wave goodbye to Majorda but we're taking Mari Anne to the airport in the middle of the night and there will definitely be more than a few tears then.

The view from our terrace in Patnem

Half of this week, we spent in Patnem and it was just as amazing as we'd hoped it would be. The huts that we stayed in were absolute heaven with our own terrace and a hot shower and super soft pillows and duvets.
I will confess that we spent most of our week lying on the beach not doing very much but we did venture off our sun loungers a couple of times. On Tuesday we decided to walk north up the beach to Palolem which is the bigger and busier beach and I'm really glad we did because we found a gorgeous, deserted little cove with only a few fisherman's huts on it.

 

 Tuesday was also the day that we chose to be my fake Indian birthday to go with my real Thai birthday and my fake English birthday so when we got to Palolem we treated ourselves to a cheeky mocktail (it was pretty early in the day, after all) in a bar with a few down the whole of Palolem beach.

That day we also took a spontaneous dolphin spotting trip and we did actually see a lot of dolphins but my reflexes and my camera aren't quick enough so I didn't actually manage to get an pictures but you'll just have to take me word for it. I did, however, get some pictures of the boat ride because the sea was such an incredible colour that it would be impossible not to take a few cheeky snaps.

On Wednesday, our friend Jen came out to join us because she, too, had gotten a bit bored of IDEX living in her last week and she is a very bad influence so on thursday night when we decided to go out for a few cocktails in Palolem and then maybe head to a silent disco, we ended up having more than just a few cocktails and stayed out until 5 in the morning and we only went home then because Mari Anne had fallen asleep at the table. Then when we finally got home, we decided it would be a great idea to go in the sea with nothing on but our inflatable rubber rings on, only to then be seen by the security guard that keeps watch over our huts. I'm sososo embarrassed about it now but at the time it was one of the funniest things that had ever happened.
So as you can imagine, there were a few sore heads on friday morning and the taxi ride back to camp wasn't exactly the best experience of my life but I think it was worth it for an awesome last night out as the four of us.

So now, I'm pretty much all packed and ready to go and we just have a last few goodbyes to do before we're out on the road. Me, Poppy and Mari Anne are going for one last meal out tonight and then we take Mari Anne to the airport at about 3 in the morning then go back to camp for a few hours sleep before we leave in the morning. So far, our plan is to get a bus down to Palolem to meet Jen, who's staying with her Dad as he's come out to visit her for a couple of days. From there we're going to attempt to get some train tickets but if me and Poppy can't reserve tickets from Kerala back to Goa in time for our flight then we'll have to abandon the Kerala plan and stay in Goa which would suck but we don't want to take any risks with missing our flight to Bangkok so wish us luck!
From now on, I won't have constant internet so if anybody emails or messages me and I don't reply quickly, that doesn't mean I've died I just haven't been to an internet cafe in a while and I plan on keeping up this blog but I probably won't post as regularly but I'll keep you updated as much and as often as I can so, see you when I see you!

Delhi Belly update: My body's still not (touch wood) doing anything too dramatic and I've kind of just resigned myself to the fact that my stomach will just be a bit weird until I get home and I just have to put up with it until then.

Homesick update: Got my birthday card the other day that my Mum posted to me which made it sink in that I won't be home when I turn 19 which will be really bizarre but it's only a week before I get home so I'm sure a birthday in Thailand won't be such a horrible thing :)