Koh Tao and the End of Thailand

The island of Koh Tao is the smallest island in Thailand and even though it still gets thousands of tourists a year it is the least effected by the party tourism culture which is very evident on the islands. Many people come to Koh Tao for their scuba certification since it is one of the most affordable places in the world to obtain it. I unfortunately was not able to do so but still was able to enjoy myself immensely on the island. My very first night there was for Matthias' birthday and we had a really good time celebrating. Unfortunately some asshole robbed me on the beach and I was without a phone for the entire time on the island so I do not have many pictures to show. Even though it was very unfortunate and ended up costing me quite a bit of money it actually made the time there even more peaceful as I did not have the constant draw to technology that we get nowadays. I was able to just enjoy the scenery, the peacefulness and relax.

I spent almost every day on the beach since Matthias found a very affordable place for us to stay that was less than a two minute walk to the shore. With this location and the price it was only a room with a bed and a fan but at this point Matthias and I had no problems about sharing a bed, especially to save money. The bathroom and shower were right next door to the room and since the weather was so nice on the island I did not miss the hot showers.  Almost every morning we would wake up and go to one of two places for breakfast depending on how tired we were. If we were lazy we would go just down the street but if we felt good than we would go to our favorite place that we discovered. It was just a small local restaurant owned by a Thai family called "Mama's". We ate at least one meal there almost every day. She was a very nice lady with good affordable food. We had almost everything on the entire menu by the end of our time there. Another place that we enjoyed eating at was a restaurant right off the beach that had beer for the same price as the stores (which was very nice) and some amazing pizzas that would really fill you up. We went there a few times when we wanted our western food fix.

When we were not eating I was relaxing. As I said I spent pretty much every day at the beach. Some days I would bring my hammock and just read while others we would play with the Frisbee or tennis ball in the water. The beach was pretty long and  we would switch off which area we would hang out in. The water was very warm since it was not too deep and the sand underneath would absorb the sun. You could go out about 30 ft at least and still be up to your waste. We wanted to go  further but after this point there was coral which you do not want to go walking around in! One day playing frisbee we met a french girl named Emile who we ended up spending quite a bit of time with. She was really good as frisbee since she played ultimate back home in France.  Her and Matthias were much better than I but by the end I was able to get some throws to go further along with out them curving down into t he ocean. I've always been the worst at frisbee golf when we go play, which my family can attest to.

There were beaches all over the island but for the most part we stayed on the one by our house. One day we did go to the opposite side of the island and take our scooters to another beach. This was another really nice beach with a little deeper waters, nice snorkeling, and a giant rock to jump off of! It was about a 10-12 yard jump after having to use a rope and chain to climb to the top. It was a very long and tiring swim back to the shore so I only jumped twice. Matthias on the other hand lives jumping and I don't even know how many times he went. While snorkeling around the area I unfortunately cut my foot up pretty bad on the reef and this made me unable to rock climb later in the week which I had been planning on doing since I arrived on the island. Instead there was just more laziness and relaxation. I didn't really mind though since it was the last of my time in Thailand before a crazy busy month in India.


Another part of the island that I loved was that there were dogs everywhere. Since its a small island which has many tourists and many people get stuck there for years and own dogs they were all friendly. There was one big long haired Rottweiler (I didn't even know they had long haired rots!) that was a lot of fun. She would always come try to steal the ball or frisbee when we were playing. There were a few days that we played monkey in the middle with her for a long time. She would swim so much and just be enjoying life. She did end up getting the firsbee one day though and that ended our time playing with it. She bit it right in half. She also punctured a volley ball, soccer ball, and rugby ball. I think its one of her favorite things to do! She was a real fun dog and one night she even followed me home! I had to walk her all the way back and run out of site in order for her to not follow me again. I guess she really liked me too.

Overall Koh Tao was my favorite of all the islands in southern Thailand. I get why it is one of those places that people can get stuck in. Some for many many years. It was a nice place to celebrate both Matthias and I's birthdays, relax to finish my time in South East Asia and I loved finding a local restaurant to go to all the time again. That's one of my favorite things to do when I'm in a city for awhile. Over all I was there for 11 days and was sad to go. I took a night ferry back to the mainland which was a different experience. I just barley made the boat and jumped on board right before the took off. I was very lucky! I go the last "bed" available which were just mats laid out on the floor. It took me quite some time to fall asleep but once I did I slept surprisingly well. When we got to the mainland we were dropped off at some random dock. Here I had to wait for about an hour until a truck came to take us to a restaurant where the bus to Bangkok would be picking us up. That bus ride I slept like usual and woke up once again in Bangkok where it all began. I did not do much in Bangkok as I'm not the biggest fan of the city, but I did go buy a new phone. I was suppose to take  a bus to the airport but they did not show since it was rush hour and there was so much traffic so I began to worry and aught a taxi. I was stressing the entire was there but luckily I made it to the airport on time. I even tipped the driving with almost all of my remaining Baht (Thai currency) since I was so happy and no longer had any use for it. I made my way through the airport and customs without any issues and was soon on my way to India!

Full Moon: Koh Samui and Koh Phangan

After my family left I spent one final night in Krabi before heading off to the airport and catching a flight to Koh Samui to meet up with Matthias and make it to the infamous Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan that night. I arrived to the island and caught a taxi to my hostel. It was a very strange hostel and one that I will never go back to. There was only one other guest with me in the entire hostel, a girl from the UK. The staff was in and out of the hostel and they had self check-in with a sign that read something like "sorry that we are not here to welcome you. Please grab a key and check yourself into room 8." It was quite odd, at least they were there for me when I checked in. They left right after though so I was uncertain about how the rest of my night and getting to the next island for Full Moon was going to work. So with me not knowing anything I figured I should at least go buy some refreshments for the evening and some food. The walk to the Family Mart (like 711 but not 711 thankfully) was easy and it was just down the road. On my way back I stopped at a place to eat off the side of the road with this little Thai lady. I'm sorry to say that the food was horrible. I don't even remember what it was but I ate as much of it as I could in order to not be disrespectful and told her I liked it when she asked. Once I couldn't handle any more I paid and walked out leaving a lot of the soup and whatever kind of bony meat was in there on the table. I tried to get out of sight before she saw how much I left and could tell that I really did not like it.

I made it back to the hostel and met my one and only roommate in the entire hostel. She was also planning on going to the Full Moon Party and once the hostess finally made her way back to the hostel we booked a speedboat and taxi ticket which would get us to and from the party. This turned out to be a very good decision and one I'm glad I made. I was able to leave anytime up until 6 AM with the speed boat and if not I would've had to take the first ferry out in the morning at 9 AM! That would've been such a long night. Since the Full Moon Party is a huge party there is no need to go into much detail but it was a fun time. It was not as great as everyone hyped it up to be but I still enjoyed myself. There were so many people though and the beach was PACKED! It took forever to find Matthias and it was so hard to keep track of him. I believe it would've been a lot more fun with DJ's directly on the beach and not a bunch of bars along the beach playing music and trying to get people to come inside. Long story short I got tired and sick of looking for friends after repeatedly loosing and finding them so I just went back to the hostel and called it an early night. I would not have had the energy to go till sunrise like many did. Too much of a party for me I guess....I must be getting old or something. 

When I awoke in the morning the hostel was completely empty. Not a soul was there besides me as the girl from the UK had checked out. The host was gone doing whatever it was she always went away to do and I just laid around in the dorm room watching tv and movies all day. It was quite odd being alone in a dorm room but was also kind of nice at the same time. I was able to get some alone time after being with my family and before heading to Koh Tao to meet up with Matthias for the rest of my time in Thailand. After my lazy day was when I finally got on the ferry to Koh Tao to meet up with Matthias for his birthday. Unfortunately the ferry I tried to catch was fully booked and they told me the later ferry was also so I was a little upset and was about to tell Matthias we have to celebrate his birthday tomorrow instead but luckily a lady in the back of the ticket office yelled to the girl at the counter saying they could get me on board. And with that I was off to the final island of my journey which I enjoyed so much that I will be stopping here so it can have its own post! 

Thailand Family Time: Coconut Island, Koh Phi Phi, and Krabi

After Cambodia I got to get a nice break from the poor backpacker lifestyle; staying in and out of hostel dorms. With my family coming out to visit for our first family vacation in 10 years I got a nice taste of the resort life.  

View of the resort from the ferry

It was really nice to see my family and be able to spend some time with them. I wasn't aware just how much I missed them until I saw them walk up to the resort. I ended up flying into Phuket the day before my family and spent one final night in a dorm. The next morning I made my way to the resort. Not knowing exactly how to get there I looked at a map and found the way that made the most sense to me and made my way to the ferry that is very close to the resort. Apparently this is not how the guests get to the resort. It was how the employees make it to the island. Coming this way I met a guy name King that was very nice and took quite a liking to me (I believe a big part of it was the fact that I came to them like a humble traveler not someone just in vacation to their resort). Luckily they let me check in for my family though I could not enter the room for some time so I bought some beer and sat down by the pool waiting for the family to come. The ferry for the guest is in view from the pool so I kept my eyes open for them. Shortly before they arrived I made my way a little closer and read and waited for them to arrive, my excitement growing. Once they stepped off the ferry and made their way to me my smile just grew along with all of theirs. They got driven up to check in but I refused to get on the cart for a ride to the desk that took the same amount of time for me to walk there. I'm really not too set up for the resort life, I couldn't stand them all trying to wait on me, I kept saying repeatedly "I'm used to dorms"and "I'm not a sir". It was such a big change in the style of travel. We had a 4 person flat in the resort which was amazing, we just had to share a bed or sleep on the couch from time to time. Occasionally I took mom and dad's bed once they woke up. We had a private pool, a nice kitchen and the master bathroom was wonderful. Overall it was a beautiful room in a beautiful resort.

The crab city

The first night we decided to just keep it simple and eat at the buffet in one of the resort's restaurants. This was ridiculously expensive and was a big reminder that we are at a fancy ass resort. So in order to continue to afford to stay at the resort, which we got a huge deal on to originally stay in, we went shopping. It was a very long and very fun trip to the mall. I was able to show my family a little bit cheaper side of Thailand as we had a nice lunch in the food court for all 5 of us which was less than the cost of one plate at the resort's buffet the night before. After is when we went to the grocery store. We didn't treat it as a grocery trip to have some snacks and food to eat from time to time but a full grocery trip to feed us all week. We paid for a place with a kitchen and we planned to use it. After a few hours in the store wandering around trying to find things, interpret signs and get the best price (just like at home) we got back into the taxis (we had to take 2) and we stocked up with food. Oh yeah, and beer. That was a must. We made burritos that first night and they were oh so good. Mexican food has been and still is one of the things I miss most. I did just make burritos again this past weekend and I must say they were amazing it's nice having a kitchen again but that's talk for later.

Besides having great food cooked by Mama once again we were able to spent a lot of time as a family and enjoyed the pool and slides at the resort, relaxed on the beach at a nearby island, collected crabs all night long on the beach one day and made them their own city, and we're really able to enjoy ourselves. Mom and Dad even gave themselves a spa day. My good friend Matthias (the German if you've forgotten) actually came and visited us at the resort for a few nights and as always we had a good time. My family enjoyed meeting the guy I spent pretty much every day with for about 2.5 months. His first night there he brought us some beef and we were able to make Skyline chili (another one of my food cravings) and like the Mexican it was oh so delicious. When we talked to people at the resort they were always so shocked when we told them we've been cooking, it was always funny to see their reactions. That's just our family though, we all like to save money and we all like to cook. Eventually it became time to leave the resort and we headed to the island of Koh Phi Phi (Pee-pee).

Koh Phi Phi sunset

Mom got to stay in a stilt house which she was very excited about. We saw one of the best sunsets I've seen in Asia and enjoyed the local area on a snorkeling tour. It was a lot more of a tour than snorkeling though but we still had fun.  Unfortunately the island has become a huge tourist and party destination so it was a lot more touristy and crowded than expected and luckily we did not stay there too long. The next and final stop was Krabi, Thailand. We only had two days in this city and I wish we had more. It is definitely a place I could spend a lot more time at. The city was small but still a nice sized city with a good night food market. There was a nice temple and my family got to see their first temple in Thailand. The first day there we went to a beautiful beach called Railay Beach. There were giant cliffs filled with climbing routes that I was very upset I didn't have the time to climb, multiple beaches with great water, and monkeys everywhere. We all enjoyed our day thoroughly and that evening is when we celebrated my birthday since they would be leaving just a week before it.

The final morning of their visit we went on a hike up to a temple on a hill that gave an overlook around the entire area. It was a 30 min hike for Chris and I (about 40 mins for Jesse and an hour for my parents) up many many steep stairs. But the view up top was worth it. After the hike down there were monkeys all over the temple area and there we people selling bananas to feed them. Of course we did. I was real fun seeing them all, feeding them, and having them climb on us, grab the bananas and quickly run away after. We got tons of pictures and laughs out of them.





After this though it was time to say goodbye. Looking back on this all I am very glad that they came. It was great to see my family and get a taste of home. I loved every moment with them and enjoyed creating all of the memories. I hope that they can come visit me once again during my travels but I know it is expensive making your way across the world.  So, thank you Mom and Dad for getting our family out to me and showing your love as you do all the time.

Until next time, ❤

Ho Chi Minh City

The final drive into Ho Chi Minh was fun and sad. The drive itself was so exciting as we had been watching the number of kms to HCMC slowly declining all month and with each road sign we knew how close we were to completing our goal. The rain didn't matter, we'd faced worse and we knew this was our last and had to be enjoyed no matter what. Upon arrival we found a place to stay and parked my bike for the last time. In Ho chi Minh our main activities were viewing the Vietnam War Museum and selling our bikes. Luckily for me the sale of my.scooter was quite easy (though so sad to give up). The War Museum was not so easy. It's hard being an American traveling through SE Asia. We went to war with Vietnam and brought war to Lao and Cambodia when so. I've seen and heard so much about the war from this side and understand why the Vietnam War is not the best taught of subjects in our schools. The museum had 4 floors with many different rooms. Each room focusing on part/topic of the war. It was hard to read and see much of what was written and pictured in front of me. I was close to tears multiple times and if it wasn't for Dóra (my Hungarian friend) I wouldn't haven even been able to go into the Agent Orange room. Though it was hard I did enjoy the museum and get why it is a top attraction the city has to offer. Since I was able to sell my scooter quickly I was able to join my Hungarian friends on a trip down south to the Mekong Delta. Long story short, it sucked. Was very very tourist catered, I witnessed very horrible treatment of horses used by the tour, and it made a place I had heard was so beautiful turn to shit for me. That was pretty disappointing.  After just a few days in the city and 2664 km of total driving it was time to say goodbye to Vietnam. I hopped on my first bus in a month and we made.our way to Cambodia.

Mui Ne

Mui Ne was a nice town but with shitty rainy weather there was not too much to do. It is a great spot for water activities' mainly different type of surfing. Besides the beach they have sand dune though was very surprising for me. It was a fun time going to the dunes for sunrise (though there were too many clouds and we did not get a sunrise). We rented four wheeler and drove all over the dunes. it was such a great time. I did flip mine over though at one point from trying too hard to get up a steep hill. Luckily the machine and myself were alright. They were't the best of 4 wheelers so we had to push them to their limits. The next set of dunes we went to had sand sledding and we gave that a try but failed pretty epically. The locals had it down though. Guess it takes a lot of practice.  Also included in the sand dune tour was a walk down a nice calm river which had some very interesting rock formations with contrasting red and white color. After that we ended with a visit to a fishing village. IT was crazy to see how many fish, crabs, shrimp, and clams were caught and this is repeated every day! there were so many fishing boats, so many people, and so many smells!

Besides this there was not much else we did in Mui Ne except for hang out with new friends, play some cards, watch the European Championship ("football") and swim at the pool. I did get to eat the best burger I've had in Asia though. It was a giant burger named the All American. Some of the people I was with couldn't believe that I finished it and still wanted more! Unfortunately the Hungarian girl (Dora)  that took care of me when I got sick in Cat Ba Island got food poisoning from her burger so we did not go back for another meal. It did though give me the chance to repay her kindness and take care of her the way she did for me.

                                        

Dalat

Dalat was a very different place unlike no other in Vietnam. The city was located higher up in the mountains and the weather actually felt like home. It was a little colder and a jacket was needed at night. It was not too humid, yet unfortunately it did rain quite a bit. Damn rainy season. While in Dalat, Matthias and I drove around and explored the area and took in some sights. We visited waterfalls, went down this interesting roller coaster type of ride/slide down the mountain, and took a gondola ride up the mountain to a temple with some beautiful flower gardens. The gondola ride offered some amazing views of the city and the surrounding area/forests. It was a beautiful sight to take in and unfortunately my phone died! That night we were introduced to this crazy bar that is unlike any other I have set eyes on or been inside. There is no way to truly describe it and unfortunately they do not have any videos going through it online. It was a maze with so many different staircases, hidden passages, holes, secret rooms, created by a "tree" carved within a giant cave. That's the best I can give you. The rest is up to your imagination. Its called the 100 Rooftops bar in Dalat.

We met some very nice people at the hostel we were staying at and went on a canyoning trip with them the second day in the city. This included belaying down a cliff, down a waterfall, cliff jumping, zip lining and getting my first leech! It was a very fun day and I would love to go down more waterfalls once again. That night we went to a karaoke bar and got a private room with a lot of people form the hostel as well as one of our hosts. This was my first time going to one ever and everyone has heard about Asians and their karaoke. It was a really fun time actually and I was not expecting to have as much fun as I did.

That night we went back to the bar mentioned above (we went there every night, it was just so amazing). Day 3 a few more friends were made and a few older friends came to meet up with me. I showed them around the city, relaxed, and spent the night at the karaoke bar and the rooftop bar once again. It was a nice city and the people there were very memorable. Every hostel does a family dinner every night to bring everyone together and it was such a great environment. I would love to visit again.

I was a little sad to go but knew I had to continue on my journey. The ride back down the mountains was fun and beautiful eve though I had to stop for the rain three times. My next stop was a beach town called Mui Ne.