First Time Buyers of a Sunrise

So! School’s out for summer (and forever more in my case!) and what better way to celebrate than heading down to the south of the country for some much needed beers, sun and relaxation. We left first thing on the morning after finishing work, and anticipated getting into Bangkok around 4pm to meet with friends and start the celebrations...

....Obviously forgetting this is Thailand, and we should have made allowances for the fact that our

bus was a zillion years old, broke down another zillion times, and no one actually seemed to be able to tell us where this bus was going other than the general area of ‘Bangkok’ (e.g. London). So three buses and a taxi ride later, we finally pulled up in the ever delightful Khoa San road around 9pm.

We joined forces with Kate and Kemish who’ve come out to join us for some adventures, as well as meeting with some rugby friends who had a stopover in Bangkok before heading to Cambodia. Needless to say, rugby friends + 9 weeks without going out + cheap buckets on Khoa San Road = the messiest of nights out. A few highlights were accidentally leading a tour group round bars, joining a band on the tambourine, and stealing what can only be described as a cart and then subsequently being chased down the road by a Thai man.

The next day we cured our hangovers by going to see a different side of Bangkok - Bangkrachao a little manmade island where you can spend the day cycling round on bikes, enjoying the coffee shops and markets, and experiencing KC Gates crashing into fences. It was actually quite the mission to arrive at this little hidden gem as we needed quite a large taxi, and I somehow managed to get us all kicked out the first one we found!!! I was so excited to try out my new (and not very good) Thai on the driver, and was just asking him how we was, when he responded “where did you learn Thai?”.

I replied ”.....um, Nam Phong?”

Taxi Driver: “You all need to leave the taxi. I have a booking”.

Apparently (as Butty helpfully told me AFTER this little run in), there is some huge divide between the North and the South, so basically I was put on a Thai speaking ban for the rest of the day, which made me very sad.

It was a hilarious weekend, with the only damage being a sad wallet and one very broken fan (thanks to Ellen Tomlinson - look, even full-named you!).

From Bangkok we took the world’s coldest overnight bus to Krabi which consisted of approximately 0 hours sleep and a lady who tried to scam us for 800 baht - which to us seemed really strange as having been in Thailand for a while, and having travelled here previously, isn’t something we’ve experienced before. We were all so happy to be back near water, and obviously all got burnt - as well as Butty and I getting stung by jellyfish! On our second day in Krabi we took a (not so) leisurely stroll to the Tiger Caves which was basically a form of torture in the form of walking 6785686 (1237) steps in the hottest part of the day to see....... yep, another really big Buddha. But it was a beautiful view so all was not lost.

From Krabi we took an excruciatingly hungover boat to the beautiful, but ever-touristy, Phi Phi Islands. As it is well known for being one of the more built-up of the islands, I didn’t have particularly high expectations but, on arrival, was completely blown away with it’s natural beauty. To this day, I don’t think I have ever seen such crystal clear and calm sea water - to the point where you actually feel like you’re in a bath. And as 99% of the people are purely on Phi Phi to get travel tats, down buckets and buy their year’s worth of tie dye, the beach is actually relatively quiet in the day. In case no one knows (haha), I turned 25 on Friday and it was literally the best place to spend a birthday.... we went kayaking, snorkelling, enjoyed lunch time pints by the pier followed by many more into the evening.

The most eventful thing to have happened in this ridiculously chilled out place was during last night’s dinner. We headed out to get some street food, and saw what we assumed to be a large cat getting a weird amount of attention on the side of the road. However, under closer inspection, it transpired that this was not a cat, but a very, very large monkey. God knows how it had ended up on the island but it was definitely not tame, and definitely angry and hungry. We had just sat down to eat when the evil thing turned up again right next to where we were sitting, and it was literally running full pelt at people. Obviously there was some Thai woman chasing it away with a knife and a wok from her food stand, because that is a totally normal situation to unfold while you eat your dinner.

So Phi Phi was winning me over quite a bit, and I was surprised how much we all liked it. That was...until this morning when we decided to assemble at 5.30am to take an early morning walk up the view point for sunrise. As an avid lover of watching the sun emerge and disappear, I was looking forward to starting my day in a calm and peaceful manner. After walking up the majority of the steep steps, we were stopped by the TICKET OFFICE (yep, you heard that right), where we CHARGED 30 baht to WATCH THE SUNRISE. Outraged. But whatever, we’d got up and braved the steps so we cracked on and paid up. However, at the top it became quite clear this wasn’t going to be one of the raw and beautiful sunrises that I am a fan of. Most of the tourists actually arrived AFTER the sun had risen, which was behind another mountain anyway, and then just kind of sat round chatting and looking a bit lost. Then to top it all off, a Thai lady made her presence known by marching around the onlookers and demanding to see tickets, but obviously she couldn’t just ask quietly and had to shout like she was single handedly trying to wake the world up. Anyway - I suppose this a lesson learnt that some places are just to beautiful to remain unspoiled. You can 100% understand the reason why the island attracts so many visitors each year, and why it has had to adapt to suit their needs, but it is sad that you actually can’t even enjoy something as natural as a sunrise without the downside of commercialism seeping through.

We leave Phi Phi tomorrow in search of something a little more peaceful, and are hoping that Koh Lanta will provide just that. Butty and I are both so glad we decided to work during our travels as it has given us a new found appreciation for what a luxury travelling is, and has reminded us to make the most of everyday in paradise.

Thanks for reading!

Katie and Butty x