Thailand

Below was written whilst at Ko Samui Airport, forgot to post!! (currently in Byron Bay, Aus)

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got some time at the airport in between flights so doing my first penguin of the trip!

day 1 was pretty much all travel, I left the flat in edinburgh at 2am and then didnt get to bangkok till 3pm next day after some stops in london and sweden . Immediatley felt the heat of bangkok when I arrived, and took me a bit of time to remember how everyrhing works with getting through immigration/getting sim card/cash etc. but got through

then went to see my friend's flat for a few hours before our night bus together from bangkok to Koh Samui. He has been living in bangkok for the past 6 weeks and was in chaing mai before that. He rents a really nice penthouse flat, which includes a coworking spaces, a gym and a swimming pool! And its in a rrally good area of bagkok, next to some huge parks. The rent for all this is £400 a month.. altho he is paying a bit more as he is airbnb'ing it.

Also went for dinner to a place ali recommended and had one of the best curries i have ever tasted, masaman chicken curry so peanut based. Was so good (and £5)

Night bus to bangkok was really nice and spacious with good AC so managed to get a cpuple of hours of sleep before we arroved at Ko Tao

We stayed in a really nice hostel on the island, just outside of the main area (main part is v loud in evenings cause of parties). We hired scooters which is only £4 a day. Whole island is pretty small so you can drive round in not much time which is nice, means we could explore loads of places. Some amazing beaches and crystal clear blue water, can see straight to ocean floor.

Day 2 we did a snorkelling tour which was really good, saw a load of colourful fish, baby sharks and a huge turtle which must have been a couple of metres wide. The tour went round five spots including a stop at a beach on a smaller island and lasted the whole day. I did sadly get sun burnt on my shoulders and upper back despite trying to keep reapplying my cream, was painful for a couple days but getting better now. Also went for food at a highly rated duck speciality place. I got duck and noodles and it was incredible, super flavourful and not at all fatty

Day 3 we did a muay thai class in the morning which was intense but rly fun! Ive not sweated that much in a long time, was an outdoor gym but shaded thankfully. Learned the basics of striking and kicking and how to put together combinations. Ended up being pretty much a private lesson as there were 3 trainers for 5 people. I kept getting my lefts and rights mixed up when we were doing quick combos, the coach kept slapping me with the glove when I would mess up or make me do push ups 😅! Was all in good fun though and i had it down by the end. Really enjoyed learning and would definitley go again, was a greeat workout. And made me realise how unflexible my hips are!

We also did a pub crawl which was pretty crazy, apparntlry its the biggest in thailand (tho not sure i believe that) so was very busy with people. Quite a young crowd so we were a bit of the oldies! But good fun regardless, we didnt stay for all of it but still didnt get back to hostel for 4am and i had to be up at 8am to catch my ferry to ko samui were my flight was from. Was not feeling good on the ferry as you can imagine..

But made it on time to ko samui airport. Very cool airport, basically all outside with loads of nature and trees. Theres nothing stopping you just going on to the runway and you can watch the planes taking off from close. Everyone is very relaxed and no one seems to be in a rush which is big contrast to UK airports!

Now off to Aus!

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