Days 40-50 - Chiang Mai, Koh Samui, Koh Tao & Phuket

cameronwllloyd

Mar 16

14 min read

Chiang Mai

Day 1

After an amazing time in Bangkok, it was time to (very reluctantly) leave Bangkok. We were once again up at the crack of dawn to get our flights to Chaing Mai. We had thought about visiting Pai but the journey was too long for the time we had. We arrived at our hostel at around 11 so had to hang around for a while. We stuck a wash on, had our obligatory toasty from 7-11 and relaxed.

With our washing done we headed to a spa to get a massage. The spa was certainly the nicest we had visited so far and the massage was really good. Cam is still blown away by the fact the woman was able to massage both his shoulders at the same time balance herself/massage his glutes with her knees. Truly some spiderwoman-esque scenes in Chaing Mai.

After our massages we decided to try and get some dinner. We decided we would try a Michelin recommended spot which looked nice. On the way we spotted another couple walking in the same direction and Cam decided they took were going to the same restaurant so we needed to race them... Everything's a competition... Naturally we smoked them and left them in our dust. Unfortunately, the restaurant didn't reward our victory with a seat as it was packed.

The next half an hour was spent wandering around aimlessly trying to find somewhere to eat. We eventually settled on a restaurant that looked like a tree house and had some pad krapao and a northern pork belly curry. Both were tasty. Then it was off to bed via a 7-11 for our nightly ritual of scouring the ice-cream freezer for something tasty.

Day 2

ANOTHER early start for the gang as we were off on a half day tour.

The first stop was the sticky waterfalls. We thought this might be a bit gimmicky but it was actually well worth it. It is pretty much what it says on the tin, a sticky waterfall. But it is pretty cool to be able to walk up as the water tries in vain to wash you away. It's also in the middle of the Thai rainforest so it's very scenic. The icing on top of the cake was that our tour guide kept telling off all the slow tourists, which was nice to see. The guide was also hilarious throughout the day.

We then went and had a lovely lunch at a roadside restaurant where we a noodle dish with chicken and a pork belly dish. Both were delicious! Next stop was the "angel waterfall", which was a complete waste of time. It's basically a collection of Instagrammy places which look good when you take a photo but looks tacky when you are there. Don't bother.

Back to the hostel where we had a wee nap and then went out to the night market for some food. Cam had a spicy north Thai Sausage, which was tasty, then we shared some pork belly, some mango sticky rice and some doughnuts with pandan custard. Again, all delicious!

We spent the rest of the night sat in a nearby pub to watch the rugby. Cam tried to chat to some English people but they were having none of it. So we sat and watched Ireland annihilate England (karma?). We then watched as Scotland very narrowly beat Wales. No Thai fans this time but we did meet a guy from Dundee, so we didn't celebrate alone!

Day 3

Another early rise was made a little easier (especially for Kirstin) as we were getting up to see Elephants. We had initially decided to not do this as a lot of these Elephant tours mistreat the animals. However, we had a recommendation from our friend Stacey, for an Elephant sanctuary which was ethical. We are so glad we did this one as they clearly care really well for the elephants and you could see the love that the handlers had for the animals. It was also really cool to get so close to them. As they had previously been in tourism before being rehabilitated here, they were comfortable with humans so we were able to get very close and they did not get defensive. In the wild elephants are super aggressive when you get too close.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYAwPzY1yAc

We drive back and we're dropped at the Sunday market, which was MASSIVE and took us about 45 mins to get from one end to the other. Had we enough space in our luggage we would have bought so much of it. Should we do a return leg to the UK we will travel with an empty bag for all the wares, which will be affectionately known as "the tatt bag".

Having our restraint tested we resolved to treat ourselves to a snack. We found a Michelin rated roti stand and ordered a banana and chocolate roti. 30-45 mins later of the wee old lady diligently making hundreds of rotis we were greeted by an amazing and super tasty roti. Well worth the wait.

Having had dessert we realised we had missed dinner so we tracked down a pork belly place. We had some AMAZING pork belly here which was so tasty. We also had a leg of chicken which was unbelievably flavoured and almost as good as the pork. They also served it with a portion of soup which may have been pork but was definitely delicious.

Fed and watered it was time to get some much needed sleep.

Day 4

On day 4 in Chiang Mai, Kirstin had ANOTHER call about a job in Australia. It's looking more and more likely that Cam is gonna be a house husband when we arrive... The call was early so Kirstin went back to sleep afterwards and we relaxed at the hostel.

Once sleeping beauty had arisen we went an adventure for "the best koa soi" in Chiang Mai. We went to a spot which used to be Michelin rated. We couldn't possibly say if it was the best, but it was certainly bloody tasty. We had to wait a good 30 mins for a table as people were faffing. Once we were seated we did our part as conscientious tourists and gobbled it down (made easy by the fact it was so tasty) and gave our table back so some fresh patrons could jump in.

We had spotted a cool area the previous night so we got a grab over to explore. The exploration did not last too long however as Cam had to pay the piper for his insistence of having things "Thai spicy". We will leave it at that...

After some time we settled in the hostel and vegan to do some planning for the next stages of our trip, namely japan and the islands of Thailand. We stuck another wash on and then got ready for our food tour.

The food tour was really good, probably better than the one we did in Bangkok. We had the following:

Stop 1

Soup

Stop 2

Fried chicken

Friend potatoes

Soup

Stop 3

Pad Thai

Fried chicken tamarind sauce

Pork dumplings

Stop 4

Mango sticky rice

Doughnuts and pandan custard

Coconut ice-cream

We drove back and we're dropped at the Sunday market, which was MASSIVE and took us about 45 mins to get from one end to the other. Had we enough space in our luggage we would have bought so much of it. Should we do a return leg to the UK we will travel with an empty bag for all the wares, which will be affectionately known as "the tatt bag".

Koh Samui

Day 1

It was time to shake things up in Thailand so we set off for the islands. A couple flights and a ferry later we arrived in Koh Samui absolutely gubbed (we had traveled for about 14 hours). Our hostel was lovely, we sat and had something to eat and then crashed as we would have another early start the next day.

Day 2

The alarm going off this morning was super unpleasant, but we couldn't complain as we were off to see some islands! Our pick up was late due to a couple who insisted that they were told a different pick up time when they had obviously just slept in...

We jumped on a boat which looked kinda like a pirate ship and set sail for Mu Ko Ang Thong national park. We sat on the roof and basked in the sun which was lovely. We also passed judgement on some other tourists who had insisted on taking up the limited space on the sun deck only to lie under the sun lounger mat to cover themselves from the sun...

The trip took about an hour and a half before we started to see the super impressive mountains protruding from the turquoise waters. Even from a distance you could tell today was going to be a day full of stunning sights!

We jumped onto a smaller long tail boat and made our way ashore. What followed was a 45 minute climb up 500m worth of steps in the tropical heat. It was the kind of exercise that a boxer would use to make weight for a fight as we both have never sweat this much in our lives. We were rewarded at each of the resting points to progressively better sights.

After what felt like a lifetime we began to pass some excited tourists on their way back down that told us we were nearly there and that it was worth the effort. As the cloath begun to open we were treated to the most breathtaking landscape that we have ever seen.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TiNe_0MGJ2k

We stopped and took in the scenes which looked like you had stepped into a post card. You couldn't quite believe what you were seeing when you were stood there. We then had a tour guide take another massively over-the-top video which is hilarious!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/zb_oeNJ_7m4

The walk down was much easier especially given how smug we felt walking past everyone who still had the climb in front of them. We chilled in the beach at the bottom for half an hour which was super idyllic and then jumped back on the boat. They served lunch which was pretty tasty and then we moved onto the next stop which was for some snorkeling. The snorkeling was okay but the visibility wasn't great and Cam almost swam into a sea urchin so we decided to call it quits and sit on the beach.

We then had the chance to kayak around the cove which was really stunning. Naturally Cam made it a competition to beat the other kayakers but between bouts of frantic paddling it was so peaceful. We arrived at a beach that looked straight out of a film and hung out in the end of the jetty which made it feel like we had the whole park to ourselves. It was truly lovely.

We got back in the boat and headed back to Koh Samui absolutely knackered. We headed out and had a lovely dinner which was fairly western and some cocktails and then it was off to bed to rest up for yet another early morning and for our biggest challenge yet... Staying at a party hostel!!

Koh Tao

Day 1

After a couple of really early ferries we arrived at the party hostel, the reception was the bar and on it they had a bar list which had water listed as "boring stuff". We were stuck between dehydration or being called boring by some young kid. Beer it is...

We had ages until check in so we went a wander to get some lunch which was a bagel and some Thai Milk Tea. We then relaxed in the beach for a bit before heading back to the hostel to have some beers and do some planning. We got a little tipsy and then headed out for dinner at a place called 955 roasted duck (a recommendation from Fraz and a great one at that). We had an amazing meal of pork and duck with rice served with a delicious sauce.

We had a few more drinks on the beach and waited for the boat tour after party. We had missed the boat tour but thought we could meet some people at the after party. We were there for all of 5 mins before we decided that we didn't want to be there... When the choice is trying to make awkward chat with a group of people that are pissed out their minds or have some nice cocktails and play cards with your best pal... There is only one choice! I guess we are just past it! But we did have a lovely evening playing cards and watched a fire show on the beach.

Day 2

Another sign of our age was that we were still in bed way later than our younger room mates who had been on it the entire previous day and came to bed about 4 hours after us. We needed a good lie in to be fair! We had yet another amazing meal from yet another recommendation from Fraz. This time it was chicken and pork with rice. Sound simple but it was bloody delicious and up there with the best meals of the trip!

Tonight was a jungle party so we decided that we needed to make pals if we were to go... Otherwise we would just be the weird oldies in the corner, we wanted to get in about it, if we were going to go. Our plan to make pals was to go on the jungle tour organised by the hostel... And so, lead by 20 year old Reece (the hostel rep who looked like he was a stiff drink away from death) we jumped in the bed of a truck with 5 other adventurers. Everyone was really lovely on the tour. Our first stop was an incredible viewpoint which overlooked almost all of Koh Tao.

We visited another couple of really incredible views points and then relaxed at a bar on freedom beach for an hour with some beers and chatted with our new pals!

Our final stop was for dinner. We didn't know much about it other than the road to it was super steep. True to the rumours, we went up a tarmaced road which was almost too steep for the 4x4 we were in. The treacherous trail was more than worth it however, as we were greeted by an incredible viewpoint where you could see pretty much the entire island. We had a great Pad Thai and were treated to the best sunset of our lives. It was truly magical!

As it happened only one of our compatriots was attending the jungle party and we were told by a few others that it's only really worth it if you LOVE raves. Not exactly prime Kirstin and Cam, so we decided to give it a miss. Instead we opted to repeat our lovely night previously of just hanging out with each other, drinking cocktails and enjoying each others company! We finished our cocktails and went to 7/11 for a pocari sweat and a toasty before we headed to bed to prepare for yet another early rise. Tomorrow we are off to Phuket!

Koh Tao was really ace and we will definitely be back. It was quite sadly where we realised our age but we also reaffirmed that the best times are just when we are together.

Phuket

Day 1

This was mostly a travel day, we started with a 3 hour speed boat back to Surat Thani which was not that comfortable but Kirstin managed to sleep the entire way. What followed was an attempt to get a taxi to Phuket. We had many drivers accept the price on the app but the message asking for double. We had one even ask if they could bring their boyfriend along. We settled eventually for a little more than the app and had an uneventful 3 hour journey in a small car. It was again a little uncomfortable but again Kirstin slept the whole way!

We arrived at a lovely hotel which we managed to get for a great price, went a wander to find some food and eventually settled on getting a takeaway. Kirstin had some noodles with pork and Cam has some pork with rice and holy basil as well as some Chinese and Thai sausage. Then it was time to watch James bond: the man with the golden gun to prep for our island tour the next day.

Day 2

We were up early and picked up by the tour company. We had to wait in a small office to have a safety briefing in which time a group of Romanians were already 3 beers deep! Safety briefing done, it was time to take to the sea. The views progressively became more and more impressive the further we went into the bay. The ***national park was visible in the distance and as your perspective changed you saw more of what it had to offer. But first, we stopped at a stunning beach which looked like something out a movie. There were inflatables which you could jump in from. Cam was so excited, that he jumped in with his wallet in his pocket and also lost his goggles. We spotted quite a few jellyfish so thereafter decided to chill out on the beach. Cam went for a shower and left his sunglasses (only realising when we were on the boat heading for the next stop). So as beautiful as it was, it was costly for Cam...

Our next stop was a bit of a surprise as it wasn't mentioned in the programme but we stopped at the entrance of the national park and jumped on some kayaks, this time we had someone doing the paddling, which was ideal. We were paddled around the amazing structure and saw mini James bond pillar and had some photo taken by our guide which as per usual were over the top but lovely.

We then visited the "honeymoon room" which was stunning and Kirstin was made a ring by the guide.

We then saw a pillar which the guide called the big banana and third leg... We laughed but he worried that he had offended us. We assured him he was funny and his joke hadn't missed the mark. He was a really nice guy, unfortunately we didn't have any Thai money on us to tip him so we had to just give him a tenner, whether he can use it, who knows!!!

Luckily we were one of the first back on the boat so we were able to grab a spot at the front which had the best view. We seemed to have grabbed this at the best leg as it was right through the centre of the park and en route to James bond island. To say that the views were stunning would be a total understatement. It was hard to process what we were seeing as it all looked straight out of a fantasy novel. It was so incredible.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/a00_BiBycoU

James bond island was very cool, particularly given we had watched the film from which it gets it's name the night before. However it was very busy and there were tonnes of stalls selling tat (which Kirstin bought). We got some funny photos and then jumped back on the boat.

Back on the boat it was time for lunch on "the floating villiage" which is a village built on stilts in the middle of the national park. Lunch was nice and we had a wander through the village and managed to avoid getting lost. Kirstin even managed to avoid buying any more tat! So it was a nice wander.

Next stop was a hidden mangrove which was so cool. We had to walk through a tunnel which had loads of crystals and pools of water as well as monkey at the entrance. It opened up to a massive opening with mangroves in the center. There were loads of crabs and weird fish/lizard things which could neither swim nor walk on land well...

The final stop was once again another picturesque beach which was a little busy but they were playing some absolute bangers and that got us in the mood for some cocktails. So we sat in the sun and enjoyed the good vibes.

Back to the hotel we found ourselves at the hotel bar during happy hour, so we had a few more cocktails and ended up a little tipsy and had a lovely gab and watched some other guests get hammered in the pool.

We wandered for our dinner at a Michelin rated restaurant which was lovely. We got some crispy pork and some massaman curry. Both were nice, but I reckon Michelin are giving away too many awards at the moment...

After dinner we went a wander through the 7-11s to try and find a lava cake which we hadn't managed to have on our trip so far. After a while we tracked one down, it was fine. Cam made pals with a cat and then it was time to wander home for a good sleep as it was off to Singapore in the morning!