Koh Phi Phi

This past weekend was no doubt the craziest and most spontaneous weekend of my life. I had just got back to Bangkok after 13 days of travelling Laos and Cambodia and decided to leave for the island just three days later. I originally planned to stay home for the weekend to catch up on school work and start some final projects, but I'm only here for two more months and there's only so many chances I'll get to travel to all these awesome places, so I went for it.

We took an overnight bus on Thursday to Krabi and then took the 2 hour ferry to the island Friday afternoon. Friday was a relatively chill day. We tried to go to the beach but couldn't find a really nice one. Instead we opted to find food and make plans for the following day. So we went ahead and booked tickets for snorkeling! Friday night was fun though. We started the night at Dojo Bar and Stockholm Syndrome which are the best party bars off the beach. We soon headed to Slinky on the beach where we enjoyed some limbo and fire shows. However, after a day of travelling and a few drinks on the beach, I was ready for bed. So it was an early night for me.

Saturday morning we were up and ready for a day of snorkeling and cruising all around the island on a long tail boat. Initially I was a bit timid of swimming literally in schools of fish, but it was such an awesome experience that I soon forgot that I was ever scared. In between the snorkeling, our driver took us to several beaches and good swimming spots. At one point he took us to go cliff jumping, and I'm so upset that i didn't try it. I'm completely terrified to do it, but I might never have the opportunity to cliff jump in Thailand again. My favourite beach we went to would easily be Maya Beach, where they filmed the movie The Beach about 15 years ago. Unfortunately the day we went it was very foggy out from all the forest fires in Indonesia, so we didn't have very good visibility of the cliffs in the distance. Either way it was a beautiful beach and the whole day was so much fun. I definitely want to do snorkeling again before I leave Asia.

Saturday night was a crazy one. We spent most of the night on the beach going between Slinky and 4Play. There were amazing fire shows at every bar for several hours. We got some drinks and enjoyed the shows before going back into town to find some parties there. The beach was the more popular option that night so we headed back to Slinky. They have a mechanical bull there and if you can stay on long enough you get free drinks, so I volunteered to try. Surprisingly, I lasted the whole time and walked away with free drinks for everyone I was with. The tide was super low that night so there was a sand bar where we could walk out into the ocean for quite a ways. We followed the crowd and enjoyed the sand and water in our toes. I also met these two Australian professional rugby players which was super cool. Especially because we had been watching the Rugby Semi-Finals earlier in the night.

Sunday was a chill beach day. We wanted to find a different other than the party beach near our hostel. We walked off in the other direction of the island and eventually found our way to Long Beach. We found a nice shaded area in the sand, laid our towels out, and spent the day going between the crystal teal waters and the white, soft sand. It was such a relaxing day. By the time we packed up to leave, it was almost dark. Sunday was mostly the same as the other nights. We got supper, got some drinks, and had fun. We stayed in our hostel for a while playing cards until we knew the beach would be full. On our way home from the beach we walked by a tattoo shop so I went to see what this guy was getting tattooed on his back. I started to talking to him and turns out he's from Gatineau, and his friend is starting law school at uOttawa in January! Such a small world. I ended up staying with them for an hour as they both got tattoos and we talked about Ottawa. The guy from Gatineau is currently on exchange in Hong Kong. I love meeting other backpackers on my travels, but it's even more exciting when they are from the same area as me!

Finally on Monday we had to leave paradise. And of course it was the hottest and clearest day yet. Our boat didn't leave until 3:30 so we spent the morning and early afternoon exploring more of the island and doing a little shopping. The clothes on Phi Phi were a little more western than what you normally find in markets in Thailand. So it was a nice change. After our 2 hour ferry, and a delayed 13 hour bus ride, we arrived back in Bangkok at 6am this morning. I have yet to sleep, as I'm now in crunch mode to get assignments and final projects started and finished. I won't be able to travel this weekend, but I wish I could go back to Phi Phi for another few days. It was honestly paradise there, and one of the most fun weekends I've had in my three months in Thailand so far.

Exams= No Fun

So I haven't been writing at all over the last three weeks, and I blame it all on school. I've actually been pretty boring the last three weekends, as I haven't left Bangkok, and I haven't even done much in Bangkok. We just finished midterm week, which wasn't even all that stressful. I only had two written midterms, and several projects. But it was enough to make travelling a no-go for a few weekends. But not to worry, that ends tonight!

Tonight I'm leaving for 10-12 days in Laos. I'm so excited. This is my first time leaving Thailand and this will be my first actual backpack trip. So far, I've only done weekend trips. I'm travelling with three other friends. If you ask me right now what we're going to do I would not have a single answer for you. All we know at this point is that we have a 13 hour overnight bus trip to get to the country. We'll be arriving in Vientiane and will probably spend at least a day or two. We do hope to make it to Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang which are both more northern than Vientiane. I'm excited to be spontaneous and to not have a strict plan that we have to follow. If we love one city we can spend as much time as we want there. And if we hate it, we only have to spend one night.

For anyone who knows me, they know that I always over pack for any trip (I don't like to be unprepared). So packing enough clothes and toiletries for 12 days in one 60L backpack wasn't the easiest task for me. But this shall be good practice if I ever do do a 2-3 month backpacking trip somewheres.