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.
Tuesday, 27 October 2015
Tuesday, 6 October 2015
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.
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.
Saturday, 19 September 2015
Volunteering at an Orphanage
Yesterday was Friday, which usually means that I'm off travelling to another exciting adventure. This weekend is a little different. With midterms coming up in a week, and several group projects to complete, I'm taking this weekend and next off to actually study. And also to just explore Bangkok more, because lets me honest, this city is huge and exciting and has so much to offer. So long-story short, I'm home all weekend with no definitive plans other than catching up on sleep and homework. When I woke up yesterday I was in a bit of a sour mood, and decided to spend the entire day in my room in solitude. That plan lasted a whole ten minutes.
Two friends of mine have to volunteer somewhere as part a project for one of their courses, and they chose to help at an orphanage. They mentioned it to me a few days earlier and I told them how I thought it was great idea and would be such an awesome experience, so they invited me to tag along. I'm so happy that I agreed to go. While we didn't specifically help with anything, it was great to just sit and play with the children for a few hours and to see how excited they were when we walked in to room. I've seen videos of people being attacked by puppies, but we were attacked (in a positive way) by toddlers! They just ran up to us and jumped on all of us for two hours! The orphanage itself is very nicely kept and large, but it's obvious that each child doesn't get the attention they deserve, solely because there are too many kids and not near enough staff. I also spoke with a director and he informed us that many of the children are not actually up for adoption, but rather that their parents are either in jail, rehab, etc., and the kids just remain there until it is safe for them to be with the parents again. There are, however, lots of children that remain in these facilities for years. This orphanage in particular usually only keeps children until age six, and then they are separated and moved to boys/girls homes. I was also informed that many Canadian families adopt from this facility, and it's something I would love to do in ten years time.
Again, we didn't do much except play with the children, we fell so much in love with them that we would like to make a few more trips to the orphanage before we leave Thailand. One of the guys I went with had the great idea that we should try to do a mini-fundraiser at Nonsi (the building we live in with 100+ other exchange students). We also agreed to bring the children some treats next time we visit. We know we won't be able to do much, but we're hoping that anything will help in a positive way.
I'll leave you with this note: if you want to see genuine happiness, look into the eyes of a child who finally gets his turn to play with a broken dinky car.
~Ally
Tuesday, 15 September 2015
BBA Trip- Hua Hin
***Just realized this didn't get posted. This was the weekend of September 4-6.***
Ah this weekend was so much fun. And I know I say that about almost all my weekends, but this was one definitely one for the books. It wasn't anything super fancy, but it was a weekend where I really got to know some of the local Thai students, and that was absolutely amazing!
So some of the awesome Thai students in BBA planned a weekend getaway to the city of Hua Hin, which is about three hours outside Bangkok. We left Friday afternoon, and after some delays in traffic and stopping for some amazing seafood on the way, we arrived at our hotel (which was so beautiful, situated directly across from the beach) at 5pm. We all took a few hours to rest up before we headed out to a night market for some more amazing seafood and a little bit of shopping. I also experienced my first rotee, which is basically a streetfood version of a crepe. They are utterly delicious, and I think I ate about four of them just this weekend. After the market came the real excitement though! We headed back to our hotel to have a party and truly get to know one another. We had lots of leftover money from what we each paid for the trip so the Thai students surprised us with tons of whiskey! This led to a very eventful night to say the least. But it was so much fun, and I am now close friends with some local students, which is great! They seriously have the answers to all our problems, so I highly recommend making friends with the locals wherever you go!
We also had the perfect place to hang out at night! All of our rooms were in the same hallway, so it was super easy to get to one another. And the Thai students all had a big family suite at the end of the hall, so we could all hang out in there. But outside their room led to a children's pool and playground, and lots of lounge chairs. And since the area was technically closed at night, it meant we had lots more room to enjoy ourselves. The whole night was actually so great. We had a guitar going and lots of singing happening outside by the pool, card games happening in every corner, people just sitting around getting to know one another, and of course, lots of whiskey being poured into cups.
Saturday was a super eventful day, once we finally got everyone up and out of bed. We first headed off to a temple about 35 minutes away. The area itself was small and the only main attraction was this giant statue of a Buddha, but regardless it was very cool to see. We then headed for a Thai Boxing Class, and I think I fell in love with a new sport. It was fun and such a good and hard workout. I'm currently looking into finding some classes in Bangkok that I can attend to learn a little bit more about the sport. Before supper that night we went to this little Vintage Market that is designed to look like old Thailand. It was small and the stores weren't super great, but the food was amazing! They also had live music being played and a dog show taking place. It made me miss my own little pet squirrels (I mean dogs). We went to a different night market on Saturday that was more touristy with everything there being handmade. So it was really more of a craftshow. There were buskers all around the area singing, breakdancing, doing magic shows, etc. It was neat to see but it was more like the markets I've been to in Canada, so we actually decided to leave early. Once again, Saturday was very fun with even more whiskey. Except this time, I was determined to stay up all night so that I could watch the sunrise over the beach in the morning. I just barely managed to stay awake long enough, but was it ever worth it! I can't even describe in words how beautiful it was! Only six of us were awake to watch it, but it was perfect. I've never experience serenity like that before. I'm sure I'll see lots more sunrises and sunsets during my time here, but that was a perfect first one to see.
As you can imagine, I was dead come Sunday. After a busy two days and two very long nights, I was running on no energy, and I really just wanted to head back to Bangkok. But as a last minute decision, 12 of us decided to take on of the vans and head to a waterpark for the day. Normally I'm not a big fan of waterparks, just because I usually find them dirty and crowded, but this one was amazing. It's call Vana Nava and they definitely had some good rides. Everyone's favourite was definitely one of the two big ones where six people go in one tube. I don't know how many times we climbed those stairs that day to ride it. My favourite thing about being at the park, however, was the view from standing at the top of the slides waiting to go down. It was breathtaking, and I only wish I had've had my camera with me to take pictures. If you looked in one direction, you could mountains covered with brush and greenery, and in the other direction you looked out into the sea. It was like two worlds colliding into one in that exact location, and I'm so lucky that I got to stand there and admire the views, all while riding exhilarating water slides for six hours straight with some of my best friends here. To say the least, it was a great day, and a great weekend, and I can't wait until the Thai students plan another trip for us all to go on.
~Ally
Ah this weekend was so much fun. And I know I say that about almost all my weekends, but this was one definitely one for the books. It wasn't anything super fancy, but it was a weekend where I really got to know some of the local Thai students, and that was absolutely amazing!
So some of the awesome Thai students in BBA planned a weekend getaway to the city of Hua Hin, which is about three hours outside Bangkok. We left Friday afternoon, and after some delays in traffic and stopping for some amazing seafood on the way, we arrived at our hotel (which was so beautiful, situated directly across from the beach) at 5pm. We all took a few hours to rest up before we headed out to a night market for some more amazing seafood and a little bit of shopping. I also experienced my first rotee, which is basically a streetfood version of a crepe. They are utterly delicious, and I think I ate about four of them just this weekend. After the market came the real excitement though! We headed back to our hotel to have a party and truly get to know one another. We had lots of leftover money from what we each paid for the trip so the Thai students surprised us with tons of whiskey! This led to a very eventful night to say the least. But it was so much fun, and I am now close friends with some local students, which is great! They seriously have the answers to all our problems, so I highly recommend making friends with the locals wherever you go!
We also had the perfect place to hang out at night! All of our rooms were in the same hallway, so it was super easy to get to one another. And the Thai students all had a big family suite at the end of the hall, so we could all hang out in there. But outside their room led to a children's pool and playground, and lots of lounge chairs. And since the area was technically closed at night, it meant we had lots more room to enjoy ourselves. The whole night was actually so great. We had a guitar going and lots of singing happening outside by the pool, card games happening in every corner, people just sitting around getting to know one another, and of course, lots of whiskey being poured into cups.
Saturday was a super eventful day, once we finally got everyone up and out of bed. We first headed off to a temple about 35 minutes away. The area itself was small and the only main attraction was this giant statue of a Buddha, but regardless it was very cool to see. We then headed for a Thai Boxing Class, and I think I fell in love with a new sport. It was fun and such a good and hard workout. I'm currently looking into finding some classes in Bangkok that I can attend to learn a little bit more about the sport. Before supper that night we went to this little Vintage Market that is designed to look like old Thailand. It was small and the stores weren't super great, but the food was amazing! They also had live music being played and a dog show taking place. It made me miss my own little pet squirrels (I mean dogs). We went to a different night market on Saturday that was more touristy with everything there being handmade. So it was really more of a craftshow. There were buskers all around the area singing, breakdancing, doing magic shows, etc. It was neat to see but it was more like the markets I've been to in Canada, so we actually decided to leave early. Once again, Saturday was very fun with even more whiskey. Except this time, I was determined to stay up all night so that I could watch the sunrise over the beach in the morning. I just barely managed to stay awake long enough, but was it ever worth it! I can't even describe in words how beautiful it was! Only six of us were awake to watch it, but it was perfect. I've never experience serenity like that before. I'm sure I'll see lots more sunrises and sunsets during my time here, but that was a perfect first one to see.
As you can imagine, I was dead come Sunday. After a busy two days and two very long nights, I was running on no energy, and I really just wanted to head back to Bangkok. But as a last minute decision, 12 of us decided to take on of the vans and head to a waterpark for the day. Normally I'm not a big fan of waterparks, just because I usually find them dirty and crowded, but this one was amazing. It's call Vana Nava and they definitely had some good rides. Everyone's favourite was definitely one of the two big ones where six people go in one tube. I don't know how many times we climbed those stairs that day to ride it. My favourite thing about being at the park, however, was the view from standing at the top of the slides waiting to go down. It was breathtaking, and I only wish I had've had my camera with me to take pictures. If you looked in one direction, you could mountains covered with brush and greenery, and in the other direction you looked out into the sea. It was like two worlds colliding into one in that exact location, and I'm so lucky that I got to stand there and admire the views, all while riding exhilarating water slides for six hours straight with some of my best friends here. To say the least, it was a great day, and a great weekend, and I can't wait until the Thai students plan another trip for us all to go on.
~Ally
Weekend in Northern Thailand
Another amazing weekend has come and gone. This weekend I very much felt like a true backpacker. We started the weekend by taking a 14 hour night train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. It was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. We were a group of seven so we stayed entertained for hours playing cards. I managed to meet a Canadian who was three bunks over from us who also joined us for the activities for quite some time. My only complaint with the train was that it was way too cold to sleep comfortably. But I would definitely travel by train again, just for the fact that you truly do meet some really cool people on there!
We arrived in Chiang Mai Friday morning and met up with my neighbours from Nonsi, who were also in the city for the weekend. Two of us spent the day visiting temples and walking around the Old City while the guys rented scooters and headed straight for Pai, a small town about four hour north of Chiang Mai. We took the bus and met them there later Friday night. Overall Friday was fun, but we were very tired from the train ride and then the bus. So Friday night I passed out as soon as we made it to our rooms. Speaking of rooms, our guesthouse was not the nicest place I've ever stayed. But it was right off the main walking street which becomes a food and shopping market at night. I actually loved Pai, the atmosphere there is so chill and relaxed. And we met some amazing people throughout the day who we would run into on the streets at night. We made really good friends with an English guy who now has plans to visit us when he makes it to Bangkok. I even met a girl from Ottawa at this tiny little strawberry farm on the outskirts of town. This is definitely my favourite thing about travelling, meeting people from all over the world and becoming instant friends.
Saturday was such a jam packed day. We headed out on scooters and first visited a Chinese village on a mountain that overlooked Pai. As we were climbing the mountain to reach some viewpoints we got stuck in a rainstorm and took cover under this little hut. We then sat in this restaurant atop the mountain and took in the view while we made more plans for the day. We next headed about 10km away to a canyon. We read that it is the supposed Thailand version of the Grand Canyon. While it wasn't near as big and exciting as the Grand Canyon, it was still very cool and my favourite thing of the day. We hiked up to the top and had again a wonderful view of the mountains in Pai. I just loved seeing all the greenery and breathing in clean, fresh air. The canyon was fairly large, but to see the best parts of it you had to do some tandem climbing, which of course we did! At one point we climbed up part of and realized we might not be able to get back down. Moving extremely slowly, we somehow managed to climb up and down some steep hills with not much traction. I've never used so much upper-body strength before, but it was so worth it. The adrenaline and the views made it all worth it.
Our next stop on our jam-packed adventure-sight-seeing day was a waterfall. We drove up some winding dirt roads and came across a small waterfall. Two of us jumped in to cool off for a few minutes and it was so refreshing. We were starting to get on a time crunch so we didn't have long to enjoy it. Getting back on the bikes and going back along the dirt road, we found our next destination: a land crack. Hiking up a hill on the mountain again, we were able to see two natural land cracks, one from 2008, and one from 2011. It wasn't as cool as we thought, but the guy who owns the property made up for the lack of excitement from the land. He provides all guests with fresh fruits and vegetables and juice, all for a donation. He was so nice to us and sent us home with a bag of fresh bananas, but not before he insisted we try his homemade wine, which was delicious. I actually wish he had bottles for sale.
Finally, to end our day, we drove to a large temple in the hills and climbed what felt like 30 flights of stairs to watch the sun set over the horizon. I'm sure you can imagine how beautiful it was. We finally made it back to our hostel to quickly clean up before hitting the walking streets and bar once again.
Sunday was a relatively chill day as we spent a better part of it travelling back to Chiang Mai. Once we all arrived, we did another night market until we got rained out and had to take cover in a bar. There, we found some of the backpackers that we met two days before in Pai, so we spent the evening drinking beer and playing pool with them. Monday was our final day, so we visited one last temple on the outskirts of town that overlooked Chiang Mai. We then took a river boat tour of the city where we learnt lots of the history of the city and were then treated with fresh fruits and the best mango sticky rice any of us have ever tasted. Our tour guide was so energetic and enthusiastic that he automatically put us all in a good mood and made the tour so much fun. If anyone ever goes to Chiang Mai, I would highly recommend taking the river tour with Scorpion Tail cruises.
After a long weekend away, and sleeping in less than ideal beds, it was definitely nice to return back to my home away from home in Bangkok. Until next time Chiang Mai!
~Ally
We arrived in Chiang Mai Friday morning and met up with my neighbours from Nonsi, who were also in the city for the weekend. Two of us spent the day visiting temples and walking around the Old City while the guys rented scooters and headed straight for Pai, a small town about four hour north of Chiang Mai. We took the bus and met them there later Friday night. Overall Friday was fun, but we were very tired from the train ride and then the bus. So Friday night I passed out as soon as we made it to our rooms. Speaking of rooms, our guesthouse was not the nicest place I've ever stayed. But it was right off the main walking street which becomes a food and shopping market at night. I actually loved Pai, the atmosphere there is so chill and relaxed. And we met some amazing people throughout the day who we would run into on the streets at night. We made really good friends with an English guy who now has plans to visit us when he makes it to Bangkok. I even met a girl from Ottawa at this tiny little strawberry farm on the outskirts of town. This is definitely my favourite thing about travelling, meeting people from all over the world and becoming instant friends.
Saturday was such a jam packed day. We headed out on scooters and first visited a Chinese village on a mountain that overlooked Pai. As we were climbing the mountain to reach some viewpoints we got stuck in a rainstorm and took cover under this little hut. We then sat in this restaurant atop the mountain and took in the view while we made more plans for the day. We next headed about 10km away to a canyon. We read that it is the supposed Thailand version of the Grand Canyon. While it wasn't near as big and exciting as the Grand Canyon, it was still very cool and my favourite thing of the day. We hiked up to the top and had again a wonderful view of the mountains in Pai. I just loved seeing all the greenery and breathing in clean, fresh air. The canyon was fairly large, but to see the best parts of it you had to do some tandem climbing, which of course we did! At one point we climbed up part of and realized we might not be able to get back down. Moving extremely slowly, we somehow managed to climb up and down some steep hills with not much traction. I've never used so much upper-body strength before, but it was so worth it. The adrenaline and the views made it all worth it.
Our next stop on our jam-packed adventure-sight-seeing day was a waterfall. We drove up some winding dirt roads and came across a small waterfall. Two of us jumped in to cool off for a few minutes and it was so refreshing. We were starting to get on a time crunch so we didn't have long to enjoy it. Getting back on the bikes and going back along the dirt road, we found our next destination: a land crack. Hiking up a hill on the mountain again, we were able to see two natural land cracks, one from 2008, and one from 2011. It wasn't as cool as we thought, but the guy who owns the property made up for the lack of excitement from the land. He provides all guests with fresh fruits and vegetables and juice, all for a donation. He was so nice to us and sent us home with a bag of fresh bananas, but not before he insisted we try his homemade wine, which was delicious. I actually wish he had bottles for sale.
Finally, to end our day, we drove to a large temple in the hills and climbed what felt like 30 flights of stairs to watch the sun set over the horizon. I'm sure you can imagine how beautiful it was. We finally made it back to our hostel to quickly clean up before hitting the walking streets and bar once again.
Sunday was a relatively chill day as we spent a better part of it travelling back to Chiang Mai. Once we all arrived, we did another night market until we got rained out and had to take cover in a bar. There, we found some of the backpackers that we met two days before in Pai, so we spent the evening drinking beer and playing pool with them. Monday was our final day, so we visited one last temple on the outskirts of town that overlooked Chiang Mai. We then took a river boat tour of the city where we learnt lots of the history of the city and were then treated with fresh fruits and the best mango sticky rice any of us have ever tasted. Our tour guide was so energetic and enthusiastic that he automatically put us all in a good mood and made the tour so much fun. If anyone ever goes to Chiang Mai, I would highly recommend taking the river tour with Scorpion Tail cruises.
After a long weekend away, and sleeping in less than ideal beds, it was definitely nice to return back to my home away from home in Bangkok. Until next time Chiang Mai!
~Ally
Monday, 24 August 2015
Trouble in Paradise
This weekend was my first trip away from my new home in Bangkok. It was a well anticipated trip as about 30-40 exchange students all decided to go for the weekend. I left Friday morning with four other friends at 10am. The bus ride itself was a little over three hours, and the ferry boa ride was about 40 minutes. The ferry there was so much fun, even though we stepped aboard a creaky old wooden boat that didn't look like it might pass any safety regulations as a mode of public transportation in Canada. Regardless, we all arrived safely on the island of Koh Samet. So far, everything looked like paradise and we couldn't wait to have a few relaxing days on white sandy beaches and swimming in the warm waters of the Gulf of Thailand.
Our first day at the beach was great. I do believe the water was warmer than the air outside, and the beach itself looked like we were on some desktop computer background. This couldn't be real is all I kept thinking. But it was. I was on one of the prettiest little islands I've ever seen. We quickly ran into all the other exchange students at this beach bar called Naga. I went back into the water with a few and this is where my luck started to change, just ever so slightly. I swam out farther than maybe I should have and got stung by a jellyfish on my upper arm. And it hurt. Very bad. Good news, however, the pain did cease by that night, but still, it was slightly traumatising for a few moments. That first night was absolutely amazing though. My roommates and I went for massages in the early evening, and it was the best massage I have had to date. We opted for oil massages instead of Thai ones, and it was the most relaxing and gentle massage I have ever had. We then went to this beautiful restuarant right on the beach. There is something so soothing about being just mere feet away from the sea. Listening to the waves roll in just might be my favourite sound. And the food was amazing too, just to make the whole experience even better than it already was. After supper was party time! We headed back down the beach to Naga again where we found all the exchange students and many other tourists. At night time, Naga turns into a neon paint party. They have cans of paint all over the place so you can paint your body and face, and even the walls. Between dancing, being painted, and sitting on the beach watching the waves come, it was one of my favourite nights since being in Thailand.
Saturday was very fun as well, but my luck continued to decline. I fell early on in the day and scraped up my leg pretty bad, so the salt water made it too painful to be in the water for long. It didn't bother me much, as I had an incredible beach to relax on all day, and I even got a nice tan. (For anyone who thought I would remain Casper the ghost while here, I'm happy to announce that I'm finally tan!) Saturday night was much like our first, but we had more friends who joined us on the island! We started the night back at Naga, but it was a little slow. So we wandered down to the beach to another bar called Ploy. It was just as fun, and it had paint too! It's a fair assumption to say that I love paint parties, although I would recommend buying cheap clothes to wear to them, because the paint will not come out of your clothes unfortunately. After god knows how long, we moved back to Naga and had another great night there. I even managed to win myself two free buckets of drinks, so we all know that means I had a great time. Until of course I lost my phone... After that happened I was a sad allycat. There was no cheering me up. Even though everybody tried to, and I thank everyone deeply for caring so much about me, even though a lot of us only just met. But not worry, my phone was located the next morning, so everything is good again!!
Sunday was our last day in paradise, at least for this weekend. We had a great brunch at this little cafe and then browsed cute shops along the streets. We went to the beach for one last time until it was time to go back to reality. The ferryboat ride on the was home was not near as enjoyable as getting there. Most likely because everyone was still feeling the effects of the weekend. I swear to you though, the ride home felt like the never-ending carnival ride from hell. It was horrible. And so slow. When we finally stepped onto the mainland, we went to get on the bus, which we already had tickets for, only to find out all busses for that day were full. Our only option was to rent a minibus to take us back to Bangkok. It only cost 60 Baht extra, so we had no problem with that option. We loaded up, and took off. We thought it would be better actually, we would get home faster this way. But no.... Our driver was the worst ever. He kept making random stops on the sides of roads to pick up more passengers, until eventually we had more people than seats. And we had absolutely no room for any of our backpacks. And he was super rude to us the entire ride. Safe to say, if tipping was customary in Thailand, he would not having been getting a tip from me. At one point he pulled over and left us on the bus so he could go smoke and talk with friends for more than 20 minutes!! So unprofessional. And it didn't help that we were all exhausted, and cramped up, and just wanted to go home. We did eventually make it back though, so I'll cease my complaining here. Overall, my weekend was so much fun. The locals on Koh Samet are some of the nicest people I've ever met, and I truly cannot wait to go back for more fun in paradise.
~Ally
Our first day at the beach was great. I do believe the water was warmer than the air outside, and the beach itself looked like we were on some desktop computer background. This couldn't be real is all I kept thinking. But it was. I was on one of the prettiest little islands I've ever seen. We quickly ran into all the other exchange students at this beach bar called Naga. I went back into the water with a few and this is where my luck started to change, just ever so slightly. I swam out farther than maybe I should have and got stung by a jellyfish on my upper arm. And it hurt. Very bad. Good news, however, the pain did cease by that night, but still, it was slightly traumatising for a few moments. That first night was absolutely amazing though. My roommates and I went for massages in the early evening, and it was the best massage I have had to date. We opted for oil massages instead of Thai ones, and it was the most relaxing and gentle massage I have ever had. We then went to this beautiful restuarant right on the beach. There is something so soothing about being just mere feet away from the sea. Listening to the waves roll in just might be my favourite sound. And the food was amazing too, just to make the whole experience even better than it already was. After supper was party time! We headed back down the beach to Naga again where we found all the exchange students and many other tourists. At night time, Naga turns into a neon paint party. They have cans of paint all over the place so you can paint your body and face, and even the walls. Between dancing, being painted, and sitting on the beach watching the waves come, it was one of my favourite nights since being in Thailand.
Saturday was very fun as well, but my luck continued to decline. I fell early on in the day and scraped up my leg pretty bad, so the salt water made it too painful to be in the water for long. It didn't bother me much, as I had an incredible beach to relax on all day, and I even got a nice tan. (For anyone who thought I would remain Casper the ghost while here, I'm happy to announce that I'm finally tan!) Saturday night was much like our first, but we had more friends who joined us on the island! We started the night back at Naga, but it was a little slow. So we wandered down to the beach to another bar called Ploy. It was just as fun, and it had paint too! It's a fair assumption to say that I love paint parties, although I would recommend buying cheap clothes to wear to them, because the paint will not come out of your clothes unfortunately. After god knows how long, we moved back to Naga and had another great night there. I even managed to win myself two free buckets of drinks, so we all know that means I had a great time. Until of course I lost my phone... After that happened I was a sad allycat. There was no cheering me up. Even though everybody tried to, and I thank everyone deeply for caring so much about me, even though a lot of us only just met. But not worry, my phone was located the next morning, so everything is good again!!
Sunday was our last day in paradise, at least for this weekend. We had a great brunch at this little cafe and then browsed cute shops along the streets. We went to the beach for one last time until it was time to go back to reality. The ferryboat ride on the was home was not near as enjoyable as getting there. Most likely because everyone was still feeling the effects of the weekend. I swear to you though, the ride home felt like the never-ending carnival ride from hell. It was horrible. And so slow. When we finally stepped onto the mainland, we went to get on the bus, which we already had tickets for, only to find out all busses for that day were full. Our only option was to rent a minibus to take us back to Bangkok. It only cost 60 Baht extra, so we had no problem with that option. We loaded up, and took off. We thought it would be better actually, we would get home faster this way. But no.... Our driver was the worst ever. He kept making random stops on the sides of roads to pick up more passengers, until eventually we had more people than seats. And we had absolutely no room for any of our backpacks. And he was super rude to us the entire ride. Safe to say, if tipping was customary in Thailand, he would not having been getting a tip from me. At one point he pulled over and left us on the bus so he could go smoke and talk with friends for more than 20 minutes!! So unprofessional. And it didn't help that we were all exhausted, and cramped up, and just wanted to go home. We did eventually make it back though, so I'll cease my complaining here. Overall, my weekend was so much fun. The locals on Koh Samet are some of the nicest people I've ever met, and I truly cannot wait to go back for more fun in paradise.
~Ally
Saturday, 15 August 2015
Week One: Temples, Thai Massages, School, and Parties
So I've now had just over a week in Thailand, and it has been amazing! I already feel like I've known some of these people for much longer than I actually have, and I continue to meet dozens more each day. Every day I say that it's been the best day of my life, and every day continues to get better and better. It really feels like I'm doing freshman year over again, or at least frosh week, because there's tons of people to meet, events to go to, and things to do! It's been an incredible week to say the least. Every night I've been meaning to do a little update about my day but by the time I get home I'm always just too tired. So I'll give a quick recap of my first ten days in Thailand.
I've been to several temples now, yet only one in Bangkok. My first day three of us went to Wat Pho Temple to do some sightseeing and to get Thai massages. Then last weekend I planned on going to Chatuchak Market with some people but instead spontaneously hoped aboard a train to Ayutthaya. It's a small city located two hours north of Bangkok, and it was beautiful. A group of seven of us went so it was a great opportunity to really get to know each other and see some amazing temples. That day might actually be one of my favourite days so far.
I've also done lots of partying during my first week, which made it feel very much like frosh week again. I love that the majority of exchange students live in the same building. I actually miss living in residence and this is exactly that. It's great being able to run to someones room, or easily meet up in the garage for supper. And the pool is probably the best part! There's always a crowd of people at the pool, either after classes during the week, or all day long when we have days off. I absolutely love it. And the water feels great after wearing a tight and uncomfortable uniform all day.
School has officially started now, but so far it's good. I actually haven't had all my classes yet because we had a holiday on our second day. But by the end of this week I will have attended all my first lectures and will need to finalize my course schedule. I'm not super happy about some of the courses I had to take, but at least it's a pass/fail so if I really truly hate my two finance courses, then I probably won't spend hours a day trying to learn it just to get an A. But so far I love both my Entrepreneurship class and International Marketing. The way the courses seem to be constructed, and also the professors, just make me want to learn everything I can about the topics. I'm sure this enthusiasm will pass when I actually have to get down to it and do some homework/projects, but for now it seems great.
I still can't believe that I'm in Thailand, and that this is my life. But somehow I got fortunate enough to have this experience. I can't wait to see what the next five months have in store for me, and I already know that I will have to come back here. There's something so magical about this place to me. The city is such chaos, but it's almost like an instrumented chaos. Like I thought driving in cities like Toronto was hard with all the traffic, but TO has nothing on Bangkok traffic. But people don't honk, they don't get road rage. They accept it, and they respect all the other drivers on the road. And seeing people selling everything imaginable on the streets at 3 or 4am after all the clubs have closed makes me have so much respect for them. A lot of people here definitely live off tourists, but they don't seem to mind. Thai people may be the most kind-hearted people I've ever met. They are all so willing to help a lost foreigner out whenever. Everything here just amazes me.
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