Krabi Town and around

Leaving Koh Tao, I had no plan on where I was going, as per the usual.  On Instagram, I am an avid follower of travel sites, and one of which I follow had gorgeous pictures of a place called Krabi.  So last minute, I booked a dual boat and bus ticket.  I got to Krabi Town and found out it wasn't exactly like the pictures.  I was a bit disappointed at first at the lack of beach and activities until I realized Krabi Town is the perfect spot for surrounding day trips to gorgeous places.

The first night I was there, I met another American girl, Emily, who was on a weekend trip away from her university in Bangkok.  We were both staying at a top rated hostel, for good reason, called Pak Up.  Every night in their bar they had a free kabob bbq and afterwards drinking games like giant jenga, beer pong, and flip cup.  Emily and I participated at Team USA in beer pong.  That night I learned the English don't know rules of beer pong, and will follow your rules if it benefits them, and yell at you if they don't like it.  Okay, maybe not all, but the couple we played really got quite heated at us winning against them.  The next thing I learned is that Germans know the rules of beer pong, and are excellent opponents in the game us American have mastered since we were 15.  Needless to say, team USA won the Beer Pong Olympics, along with an awesome shirt, and a bucket, which literally is a sand bucket filled with alcohol, in case you were wondering.  I was so blown away the first time I saw one.  How great, you can drink out of your bucket the night before, and build sand castles on the beach the day after!  Unfortunately I have no idea where the bucket ran off to.

Okay, so I did a lot more than just drink.  The real part of my adventures in Krabi came the next several days.  On the first day, Emily and I went to go meet up with some of her University friends on Ao Nang beach, a 20 minute tuk tuk or cab ride from Krabi Town.  Here, is definitely where most backpackers and vacationers will end up staying.  It is definitely a tourist hub with ladies coming up to you every ten minutes asking, "massage?"  After about the 10th time of being hassled, patience begins to really wear thin.  At first, I would go along with the conversation, but some of them just would not give up.  I had to stand firm with my no, instead of going about in my polite no thank you kind of manner.

After laying in the sun and jumping in the warm ocean for hours, we went to go explore a nearby stairway we were curious about.  As we climbed, we began to see a few monkeys.  The first I had seen in my trip to Thailand!  I was so thrilled and obsessed with those few, until we started to climb further, and there were about 50 little tiny baby monkeys and full grown alike.  This was such a cool experience.  I would see them up in trees with water bottles and I thought that was interesting until the monkeys started coming up to me and a tiny one bit my water bottle open and started drinking from it.  I thought it was the cutest so I just let it happen, as the water bottle was too big for the little guy to carry.  We said goodbye to the monkeys and made our way back down to the beach and I said goodbye to Emily to head back to the hostel after an awesome, eventful day.

The next day in Krabi, I was planning to go to brave the 1,200 steps and climb to the top of tiger cave temple, but at the time didn't have a buddy to go with.  I was fine with it, but surely enough, I overheard two American guys, brothers Ryan and Brett, talking to a tuk tuk driver about going there.  Before I had a chance to ask them their plans, they asked me what I was doing and invited me along.  We were hoping to find one more person to split the cost with and asked a girl, Joelle, who had just arrived to come along with us.  For about 1600 baht, we got taken around the entire day to several awesome locations including the gorgeous smooth rocked Klong Thom, the jade green Emerald Pool,  and last but not least the Tiger Cave Temple.

First, we went to the hot springs for an entry fee of 90 baht.  The first thing we saw was a man made hot spring pool, that was semi disappointing.  As we kept walking, however, we came across the real sight with a waterfall of hot springs and many natural pools to sit in.  The rocks were turned smooth and slick, in a beautiful dark green color.  You could climb all over the rocks or just sit nicely in the waterfall or many pools.  First stop, success.

Our second location was the Emerald pool, which was about 200 baht for an entry fee if you were a foreigner.  This was a nice walk through the forest, passed mossy trees and crystal clear but algae covered water.  On the way, we found a rickety old lookout tower that we climbed to the top of.  Our confidence went out pretty quickly as we started swaying on the top of the rusty thing.  However, the view was absolutely worth it.


When we finally got to the Emearald pool, it really was a sight to see.  The water was a deep bluish green that really had you in awe.  We swam for a little and looked about, but then headed back shorty after to get to the tiger cave.

Of course, our last stop was the Tiger Cave Temple.  Our hope was that we would get there in time for the sunset at the top, but when we got there it was already getting dark.  That didn't stop us from climbing to the top though.  Those steps really were a dog to get up.  Many people would say they really were grueling, and I tell you what, they really were some steep ass steps.  As we made our way up, there were monkeys covering the stairs. (YAY, more monkeys!). These little stinkers must have heard about me giving water to their friend over at Ao Nang, so they would not leave me alone.  One monkey was trying to get my water bottle, while the others were going for my feet.  Two others even were grabbing my camera bag, and worse, my camera!  Rio the movie really doesn't exaggerate.  Monkeys sure are cute but man are they little thieves!

When we finally got through the monkey madness, we really began our exhausting, sweaty climb to the top.  I am in pretty decent shape, and man oh man, those were some difficult steps, but the top was absolutely worth it.  Unfortunately, when we got to the top it was dark, so we didn't get quite the view we had hoped for of greenery for miles as well as the town below, but the fact that we were the only people up there really had a sort of serenity and peacefulness we probably wouldn't have gotten had we come earlier, when it was packed with tourists.

As great as that feeling was, I wouldn't recommend going there at night.  On the way up, I saw lamps that I assumed would turn on when it got dark enough.  You know what they say about those who assume.  As we began our way back down, it was pitch black.  We had to very carefully, feel around at the steps to make it safe.  When we got to the bottom, there was no injuries or slips, so I would call that a victory for us.  We were all drenched in sweat and exhausted, but damn was that one hell of an adventure we had.  Not too many people can say they climbed 1,200 steps to the top of a temple at night (Most likely because they are slightly more sane than us.).

When we finally got back to our hostel,  we thanked our driver for lugging us around all day, and had a much needed, might I add, WARM shower and a nice cold beer after a long, adventurous kind of day.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Koh Tao really is an island of wide variety.  You can have a drink on the beach and go party at The Rock, or hike to gorgeous viewpoints of the island and the absolutely stunning blue water, but generally when you think of the Island Koh Tao, automatically your mind goes to one thing: diving.  Here you can get your dive certifications for one of the cheapest prices in the world, in one of the most beautiful locations in the world.  Really it's a win win situation if you're adventurous enough to brave the deep and unknown underwater world.

When i arrived in Thailand, I had no clue what I was doing or where I was going. I figured I would talk with other travelers first and see what they could recommend for me.  I knew that I wanted to get my dive certification, but I hadn't really planned a where or when.  A few buddies of mine and me went to a local tourist shop and booked out bus ride, boat ride, 4 nights accommodation, and dive course for 12,000 baht, or roughly $340 US dollars.  Realistically, we could have gotten it a bit cheaper had we done it all ourselves, but the price was fine for all it included, and it was nice to have something arranged for us just putting our toes in the water of traveling Thailand versus jumping right in seemed like a safe bet.

My English friend, Billy, that I had just met, and I set off together to begin our diving.  We went through Buddha View Dive resort that was on a quieter part of the island, which was perfect because of the early days beginning our course.

The first day we began our training in a pool and did all sorts of exercises getting us ready to go into the ocean.  At first it was really simple for me because I had already done a discovery dive with my fiancé in Cyprus prior to the course.  One of the skills I really struggled with was taking off my mask and breathing with only the regulator.  I sucked water up my nose and couldn't breathe without plugging it.  Day 2 we had the same sort of skills, only instead, in the ocean, in much deeper water.  When i filled my mask completely with water and had to empty it, I panicked underwater.  I couldn't breathe with my nose unblocked so when I tried it felt like I was choking on water and couldn't get a breath.  I started to panic, but then i remembered Wayne, our instructor, telling me that feeling of choking is only that I had swallowed water.  So I plugged my nose to calm my breathing, swallowed the sea water, took a deep breath, and cleared my mask.

In general, I really don't fear much of anything.  That feeling of total fear is very few and far between for me with most things in my life, but that day really was something else.  I really was afraid of that skill and when they told me on day 3 I had to do it again, the entire boat ride over I was preparing myself on exactly how I would handle it.  I was dreading it.  I was talking myself through the process that would work for me.

"Okay.  Take a super deep breath then take your mask off.  Let the air slowly out, and put your mask back on.  Plug your nose with the mask on to take another deep breath.  Unplug your nose and breathe out to release all the water out."

I went through this over and over and over in my head till we were finally in the water and it was my turn to do the skill.  It was easy.  I didn't panic.  I wasn't afraid.  That had to have been one of the best feelings in the world conquering that fear and overcoming that obstacle.

In the end, when I had passed my exam and done all my skills, I felt a sense of accomplishment not only because this was yet another thing I could cross off my bucket list, but the fact that I overcame my fear, becoming an even more confident, fearless person.  If I can conquer one fear, why can't I conquer all of them?

I am now a certified open water diver

Bangkok, Thailand

Day 1

My initial plan for the first day I arrived in Bangkok was to be lazy because I figured I would be jet lagged, however right when I walked in my room to other guys walked in at the same time.  We got to talking and then decided to go for a wander around the streets of Bangkok to find some food.  As we were walking a very polite Thai lady started talking to us, making conversation on where we should visit.  Before we knew it she was putting us on a Tuk Tuk and sending us on our way to a good restaurant she liked.  I read and read and read about not to do this because they get commission if they bring in customers to whatever shop or restaraunt but did it anyways.  We later got taken to a suit shop in a somewhat sketchy place and from there I had had it and asked him to take us back to our hostel. On the upside, the food was very good and we did get taken around to a temple as well as a travel agency where Bill, one of my roommates, and I decided to travel down South to Ko Tao and get our dive licenses which cost us about 12,500 baht including travel and lodging.  Day one was down and I had actually been semi productive and adventurous for being jet lagged as well as learning to listen and follow through with other travelers advice and experiences. Never again will I get on a Tuk Tuk without knowledge of knowing exactly where I want to go.

Day 2

I wanted to explore the city as much as I could so my friend, Bill, and I set out and walked the streets of Bangkok with a map and a few baht for a little over 4 hours.  The only street food I have tried so far was a delicious banana smoothie for 30 baht. I am a horrible traveler for now, I even said no to the cooked scorpions I promised myself to try.  Luckily, (unluckily?) I have plenty of time for that.

Right now in Thailand, the experience is one of a kind since the death of the King.  The entire country is in mourning.  Walking the streets, we were the only tourists around the grand palace, as it is closed for now to foreigners. The streets were lined with black and white decorations and shrines for the king.  Every Thai person I have seen have some sort of black on.  The love they have for him and their country truly shines through as they mourn for his loss together as a whole.

Though the Grand Palace is closed, there was still plenty of other gorgeous Buddhist temples all over Bangkok.  One of my favorites, and one of the most famous, I saw was Wat Pho.  It was a large temple surrounded by other smaller buildings and Buddhas everywhere. The great and unique thing about here is the big reclining golden Buddha that in length was about 42 meters.

Once we were done with our sight seeing, we walked around more eventually somehow making our way back to our hostel.  During that time we got caught in a massive rain pour and were completely soaked head to toe.  It was like life stopped as even those prepped with umbrellas and rain gear attempted to wait out the short storm.  Another time daily life stopped, we were walking when all of a sudden we noticed that all the Thai people had stopped moving.  A military officer, one of whom were lining the entire street, motioned for us to quickly stop.  As we stopped a government car drove through and when it was out of sight, people resumed as usual and the officer motioned to us it was okay to move.

After a long, interesting, eventful day, we got back to the hostel and relaxed our sore and tired feet, hanging out in the hostel lobby with other travelers.

Day 3

The night before about 15 of us from the hostel went out to Koh San Road for a few drinks even though there wasn't the usual fun, loud, and exciting atmosphere, we still had a good time.  The most shocking thing for me was that the bars sold laughing gas you could order.  They would bring you a balloon full for 200 baht and it was quite the interesting experience.  We went out till about 2 am, me being fully award I had to get up at 6 am for a tour of Ayutthaya.

When I got home from going out, I assumed I would get at least 4 hour of sleep being how tired I was.  Sadly, I was mistaken because I was still jet lagged and stayed lying awake until a little after 5 am.  So I got a short nap and woke up exhausted and hungover.  I would complain how tiring the day was but I did it to myself so I mustered up as much energy as I could and headed out on the bus out to the ruins.  We saw about 5 different sites all over the city showing us the beauty and awesomeness of the ruins that were once where the monarchy was until it was taken over and destroyed. Since then they have worked to restore it as much as they could.  We had a guide that was supposed to speak English however no one in the group understood anything he said unfortunately so the learning aspect of this trip was very little but the excellence and beauty of just taking it all in made up for that part.

First days in Bangkok, Thailand 2016

After visiting my now fiancé for 19 days in Cyprus, it was time for me to say goodbye and start my travels to Southeast Asia.  I flew through Qatar airways which was a great airline for a great price.  I received breakfast, lunch and dinner for free. Food is love, food is life.  

I landed in Bangkok, Thailand around noon and took a taxi for about 450 baht to my hostel near Khao San Road called Nap Park which was a clean place with a good atmosphere of people.  The amazing thing about traveling solo is how many people you meet and how quickly it becomes like you have known them your whole life because everyone here all has similar goals... To learn new things, meet new people, and experience new places.

Right now, late October 2016, I am witnessing history.  Sadly, the Thai King passed away a few days before I arrived, and the entire country is in a 30 mourning period.  Usually, Thailand is seen as a great place to party for travelers and locals alike, but the entire country has completely transformed in the last days.  Walking the streets, almost every single Thai person is wearing black out of respect for their beloved King.  Many travelers are getting out of Thailand because of what is happening but I find it absolutely incredible and lucky I get to experience this part of the Thai culture.  This is the kind of atmosphere I will never experience again, seeing an entire country so unified and full of the utmost respect.  When I visit again, as I know I will, it will be such an entirely different atmosphere compared to this unpredictable one as of now.