Thailand

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Trip start
January 29, 2018
Thailand Traveler
Bangkok
January 30, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
And so it begins! After months of planning and researching; our trip of a lifetime starts here in Bangkok Thailand. Una, Caoimhe and I finally arrived to our hostel called Natee Hostel and after all the travelling we were very happy to have air conditioning, a glass of water and a comfy bed. The next morning, once we figured out Bangkok's local bus system, we headed towards the tourist attractions and explored the main temples Wat Arun, Wat Pho and the Grand Palace. The Grand Palace was the most impressive in my opinion with big buildings, murals and Buddha structures all made from gold. The murals on the walls of the temples had some amazing art work on them. Bangkok was a very busy city with plenty if tuk-tuks driving by in the heavy traffic. We were persauded to go on a short river cruise along the canals of Bangkok by a local man on the street but I think we actually got ripped off as the cruise involved meeting the one man floating markets. At least know we know to be weary of locals selling us things.Read more
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Thailand Traveler
Koh Tao
February 6, 2018 in Thailand
We decided to get the tourist overnight train and ferry to Koh Tao to begin our four day PADI open water scuba diving course with Crystal diving. We spent the first day learning the theory of scuba diving by watching videos of diving and looking at equipment. The second day was the hardest day as it involved learning the scuba diving techniques in the pool. We had to learn the proper breathing technique, ascending and descending techniques and also what the recovery techniques are if something goes wrong with our masks or the air pressure while under water. Over the third and fourth day we got to do four open water dives in the sea where we gradually built up our descending depth to a maximum depth of 18 metres. The breathing and bouyancy techniques were slightly easier to do in the sea compared to the pool and as we got better at those techniques we we're able to be more aware of our surroundings. We were able to observe coral and fish swimming around us which was why we wanted to scuba dive.

When we returned to the beach and finished the paperwork required to officially qualify us as open water scuba divers our instructor Andrea started talking about further progression in scuba diving. She highly recommended that we do a further course to learn to dive deeper in order to explore better diving sites around the world especially as we are continuing to travel for the next few months. After a discussion we decided to do the deep dive the following morning which was the best decision I could ever have imagined. We got to do two dives, the first one was 30 metres deep where there were tons of beautiful schools of fish to see and the second dive was to a ship wreck. We didn't get to go inside the ship wreck as you have to be an experienced diver however visiting the ship wreck alone was amazing. We got to look inside the doors and see schools of fish inside which was very cool. I didn't think that I would really enjoy scuba diving however now I am so glad to have done the course. The three of us have already started to look at other potential scuba diving locations around the world for the rest of the trip.Read more
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Thailand Traveler
Koh Samui
February 7, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
We arrived to Koh Samui for some relaxation and beach time and it didn't fail to impress. It was slightly more touristy and expensive compared to Koh Tao however it certainly had some beautiful beaches to enjoy.Read more
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Thailand Traveler
Chiang Mai
February 11, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
After a journey involving a taxi, a ferry, a bus, a plane and a red truck we finally arrived at out hostel in Chiang Mai. We were staying at the Hug Hostel located beside the North Gate of the Old City. Chiang Mai was more spacious than Bangkok so the air didn't feel as muggy or sticky which was nice. It was quite a pretty city with multiple fountains and lots of flowers in the city too.

We met up with my cousin Kevin who is currently teaching English in Chiang Mai and he brought us to our first food market. He showed us some different Thai fruit and dishes before suggesting we get Khao Soi for our dinner. It was a type of curry soup with noodles and was actually very tasty. Afterwards we went to a beer bar to meet some of his friends who gave us some good tips about exploring Chiang Mai and places to go.

The following day we headed to the main temple in Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep. This temple sits in the mountains overlooking the city so we had to get a red truck to drive us up the very steep winding road, which was an experience in itself as I'm not sure the driver understood speed limits. Eventually when we got to the temple alive and climbed up the final few flights of steps to reach the top. I didn't think that the temple was as spectacular as the Grand Palace in Bangkok but it did have some very nice views over the city. It also had a pretty flower garden however we were less impressed and disappointed when we realised all of the flowers were fake flowers.

That evening we did the Baan Thai Cooking Course. We were picked up from our hostel and brought to a market where our instructor Gon showed us the different vegetables and herbs used in Thai cooking. Once we got back to the kitchen we started cooking with some of the vegetables and herbs bought from the market. Everyone picked four dishes to cook from the twelve dishes available. I chose chicken egg fried rice, spring rolls, chicken in a coconut soup and green Thai curry. We were shown how to make each dish and then had to cook them ourselves. The dishes were quite simple to make and tasted delicious too. It was definitely a enjoyable evening as the instructors were very funny, the food was great and everyone was stuffed by the end.

The following day we headed to the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Camp. This camp rescues elephants and cares for them. The elephants are allowed to roam around the small village and go wherever they wanted. It was a very cool experience. We were allowed to feed the elephants with bananas and I learned that elephants have no stomachs so they continue to eat all day. It was funny to watch the three elephants devour a trailer load of bananas so quickly. Next we walked down to the mud pond where a few of the elephants were rolling around in. The elephants skin gets very dry so the mud is like a moisturiser for them. We were allowed to rub loads of mud on to their back which was fun before bringing them to the river to wash it all off again. It was such a fun afternoon and the elephants looked very happy there.

I really enjoyed Chiang Mai, I thought that it was quite a pretty city and the Thai cooking class and the elephant sanctuary visit were lots of fun.Read more
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Thailand Traveler
Pai
February 12, 2018 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Pai was not on our itinerary when we first planned our trip however when talking to other travellers lots of people recommended visiting Pai while we were in North Thailand. We got picked up from our hostel in Chiang Mai by a minibus and drove the three hours along a very windy road to reach Pai. Pai is a town up in the mountains and everyone rents scooters to get around as all of the touristy locations are outside of the town. We got a lesson on how to use the scooters when we hired them before going exploring (although Una had a little accident on the bike later that we won't mention). We first went to a small waterfall in a canyon and then to a bamboo bridge. The bamboo bridge was built for the monks to travel from their village to their temple. It was very impressive.

The next day we rode up the mountain to the Buddha statue overlooking the town and countryside which was very pretty and peaceful. We then went to a hot springs river to lie and relax in. The water got hotter as we moved up the river to a maximum of 80 degree Celsius however our Irish skin could only deal with the 35 degree pool as it was hot enough for us. The hottest part of the river was not suitable for people however some people used the water to boil eggs which was funny. It was certainly a nice way to spend the afternoon relaxing.

I am glad that we decided to visit Pai, it's a really nice town in the country and I would recommend others to visit it too. Riding our scooters was also very fun and it was a very handy way to get to the tourist attractions. Pai is also our last location to visit in Thailand before we head to Laos. I enjoyed Thailand as we had great food, great weather and some great adventures, it was certainly the perfect country to start our trip in.Read more
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Trip end
February 12, 2018

Bangkok

Koh Tao

Koh Samui

Chiang Mai

Pai