April Rose

31 May, 2018

Thailand: Day 12 (Farm. Promthep Cape)

31 May, 2018

We then head off to Sam’s friends farm. We get into Sam’s car and he takes us to a look out. We meet his friend there and hop into the back of his ute while Sarah gets inside.

It's so cool, I didn't think I'd be doing this! We drive off and I'm so giddy! I can't believe we're doing this. He drives onto some dirt roads and it gets real bumpy. We all stand up, this is proper off roading!

Thailand: Day 12 (Scooter)

Today we hired a scooter and headed out to monkey hill. It was quite scary at first as I adjusted to holding on and getting used to being on the roads. I couldn't believe how some people could sit without holding onto anything.

We found our way okay and started up the hill. It was nice driving up the hill because it was shady with trees surrounding us and there were hardly any other vehicles on the road. We spot a monkey or two sitting by the roadside and then there's so many of them. The more you look the more you see. We see a pack of dogs of around 8-10 just lounging around. The viewpoint is pretty cool, you can see so much.

30 May, 2018

Thailand: Day 11 (Elephant Retirement Park - Bath)

30 May, 2018

After we all sat around and watched while baby elephant and mum had a mud bath. Baby elephant loved being in the mud. And mother would squirt water at all of us! It was cool to see them enjoy it. Next we got to go in with the three older elephants. We grabbed mud and covered them in it. The staff helped getting us dirty as well. Right before they took a photo of us one of them covered my face with mud! The elephants loved a good scrub down and the locals made a ball of mud with a few little stones in it to give them a good scrub down. The elephant used their trunks to cover themselves in mud also and they'd get us too!

Thailand: Day 11 (Elephant Retirement Park - Feeding)

We had breakfast at a place down the road. It was a really good breakfast but I ordered too much! The guy was so kind and gave me juice and mango free.

We then headed off to the Elephant Park. We were a bit late but thank goodness the guy came back around to get us. The van quickly filled up and there were two American couples sitting behind us. The drive was cool, mostly along the coastline. The beach looked heavenly, it was such a hot day! When we reached the park we saw elephants, they looked so big! We hopped out, put on one of their singlet’s and went to say hi to the elephants. One of them was so big!

29 May, 2018

Thailand: Day 10 (Tour James Bond - Kayaking)

29 May, 2018

Kayaking though the caves was awesome. There were lots of boats out and the locals paddled us around. Something you'd never see in NZ.

Thailand: Day 10 (Tour James Bond + Floating Market)

Today we're heading out on the James Bond Tour. I'm excited about this one, I've read up about it and it seems really cool.

We drive past the impressive limestone cliffs.

28 May, 2018

Thailand: Day 9 (Travel to Phuket. Swim at Kata Bay)

28 May, 2018

We have brekkie at a new place, grab some lotion for sun burn and head back home to pack our stuff for the trip to Phuket.

Driving in Thailand isn't as bad as I thought it would be. They seem to drive orderly, even though the rules aren't as strict as NZ. Some people don't bother indicating. Overtaking is common, it works because next to each road they have excess road, about 3/4 of one lane. People overtake even when there are cars on the other side, they just move over. Motorbikes drive on the side of roads letting cars pass by. Sometimes you'll see a motorbike driving on the side of the road on the wrong side. Anything goes in Thailand. If a car wants to get in they'll usually stick their nose out and people will let them in. I didn't once see a police car. Dogs roam around freely and you'll sometimes see them lazing in the middle of the road, not a care in the world.

27 May, 2018

Thailand: Day 8 (Phi Phi - Snorkelling)

27 May, 2018

We then go snorkelling. You can see the fish from the boat. Snorkelling was a bit harder than I thought because you couldn't touch the bottom and if you did the coral was spiky which I learnt the hard way! It was so cool seeing the fish. Amazing experience.

While I went onboard some Asian threw up!

Thailand: Day 8 (Phi Phi islands - Maya)

Maya Bay

They weren't too sure if we'd make it here because the weather had not been good for it for the last few days and for the last few days they hadn't made it there because of the big waves.

Thank goodness this wasn't the case. Maya Bay is closing next week so that they can keep it healthy.

Maya Bay is also seen on the movie 'The Beach'. It's a beautiful bay, but then again, everything here is gorgeous.

Thailand: Day 8 (Phi Phi islands - Bamboo)

April

We walk up to the ladies restaurant and have breakfast there. As always, we're the only ones eating in the restaurant. Eggs on toast and muesli. The lady takes a picture of us before we leave! She's so sweet!

We head down to the Pak Up Hostel, where we organised to get picked up because it's more central and closer to all of the cafes and restaurants. The tour drivers are already there and we hop into the back of the ute and wait for them to grab more people. They end up being the Canadians that took the Tiger Cave Temple tour with us! It's so funny when you bump into other tourists you've seen before.

26 May, 2018

Thailand: Day 7 (Railay West)

26 May, 2018

Railay West

We then take the next street to the main beach. It was beautiful, but we kind of expected more. We hopped into the water, it wasn't that warm and was murky but we enjoyed being in the water. We sunbathed and it felt great - could have easily fallen asleep if I wasn't getting burned by the sun.

Thailand: Day 7 (Railay East)

We walk the short walk to town. There are guys at street corners saying "Railay! Railay!"

We buy some Thai touristy ones for 300 baht each - it's quite expensive!

When we walk along the river we get stopped by a few guys seeing if we'd like to go to Railay. We grab a long tail boat shared with three others and head over. It was an half an hour ride. I sit up the front, feeling like a Viking from the Vikings show we're currently watching.

25 May, 2018

Thailand: Day 6 (Longtail)

25 May, 2018

We return home, shower, then head back out again and look for a long tail boat driver. So many come up to you and ask if you'd like a ride. If you're looking, it's great, but if you're not, not so great and really, just disruptive and you try to take different footpaths to bypass them.

Thailand: Day 6 (Tiger Cave Temple)

Tiger Cave Temple

I was wearing shorts and a singlet and had to cover up. I thought I'd only have to do it at the top!! It was a ridiculously hot day! We arrive at the bottom and there are monkeys everywhere.

Apparently the Canadians brought some ice cream and all of the monkeys climbed on top of them and snatched it away! They said it was quite frightening but an experience. The monkeys are very cute.

Thailand: Day 6 (Pools)

We had a tour booked to see some pools and the tiger cave. We walked to a cafe and had breakfast, then walked back to our hotel. The walk is always nice, it's right by the river. I got something like Eggs Benedict but with a cheesy sauce (I'm not sure if it went well together) and Sam got a omelette.

24 May, 2018

Thailand: Day 5 (Phi Phi islands cancelled. Massage. Shopping)

24 May, 2018

We're super excited to finally go to the islands , something we've been waiting for for a very long time.time to relax. A driver picks us up and the vehicle is a ute with seats and a roof for the canopy. There are two other couples there. It's a half an hour drive.

23 May, 2018

Thailand: Day 4 (Scammers. Jim Thompson. China town. Getting lost. Flight to Krabi. Up to you too restaurant)

23 May, 2018

It's our last day in Bangkok. Sarah and Troy have decided to have a lazy one and we check out jim Thompson. It's our first time out without sarah and Troy who have done most of the negotiating and navigating. We grab a tuk tuk and that goes fine, we get it for just 100 baht! He drops us off and I can't see Jim Thompson anywhere. Sam thinks it's one way so we head off in that direction. Within seconds a local asks where we are going. He says that it won't open til 930. He's very friendly and asks where we're from. He tells us that we can go shopping while we wait and that there's a mall nearby. He starts walking the other way, telling us to come. He leads us to another guy and he immediately starts talking to us, asking where we're from and showing us a photo of some NZ coins on his phone, then telling us he has a friend in New Zealand and giving us a business card with a New Zealand address written on the back, then showing us a photo of his New Zealand friend.

22 May, 2018

Thailand: Day 3 (Night markets)

22 May, 2018

We arrive pretty late. There's so much to see and interesting food to look at. I liked the chicken kebabs and fried corn but everything else didn't look too appealing. Sam gets a green curry that had lots of bones in it and something that looked like liver or kidney. Ew! We head back on the train.

Thailand: Day 3 (Mall. Art. Train)

The next day we have a big sleep in. We then head to an art place, not really knowing what they offer. We take the underground train. We get there and it's this amazing 3D art place. It's so cool. We take lots of pictures, totally amazed by it all.

We browse the mall, it has water features everywhere and it's nice and soothing, every mall needs this! We then head back on the train, it's pretty packed this time.

21 May, 2018

Thailand: Day 2 (Medical Museum)

21 May, 2018

Housed in the oldest hospital - it’s where the King of Thailand goes when he is ill - and medical school in Thailand, est. 1886, the Siriraj Medical Museum abounds with medical curiosities. The Siriraj is actually comprised of six different museums: a museum of pathology, a forensics museum, a museum of the history of Thai medicine, a parasitology museum, an anatomical museum, and a prehistoric museum.
The Siriraj’s incredible holdings include: bones, preserved organs, pathological fetuses, the mummified corpse of a notorious serial killer, a traditional Thai medicine shop, parasitic worms, a two-and-a-half-foot-wide scrotum removed from a man afflicted with elephantiasis, preserved sections of human skin bearing tattoos, poisonous snakes and tarantulas, rows of skulls, the standing wax-filled remains of a cannibal, a delicately dissected nervous system, and the skeleton of the museum’s founder.
A strong stomach is recommended.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/siriraj-medical-museum

Thailand: Day 2 (Grand palace. MBK. Night life)

We head over to the palace just to realize we're not covered up enough - the guys need to wear pants and the girls need to cover up their shoulders. We head back outside and decide what to do.

A tour guide comes up to us and tells us that he can give provide us clothes and a tour guide. We discuss to go along with him and love visiting the grand palace. It was super hot! We learned lots of things we wouldn't have without a tour guide and I'm glad we went with him!

20 May, 2018

Thailand: Day 1 (Arriving in Bangkok, Thailand)

20 May, 2018

The flights have been long and it's been hard to sleep on a plane so last nights sleep was well appreciated.

We're staying in a hostel and both of our rooms are on the top floor, there's only one other room but it's vacant so it's like we have the whole place to ourselves. There's a lounge outside of our rooms and if you go a floor up there's a kitchen and amazing views of the city. You can see you much. I'm amazed by how people live here and definitely appreciate what we have at home.

10 May, 2018

Fireplace

10 May, 2018

Ashton

04 May, 2018

Rough and Tumble

04 May, 2018

Ashton

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