This morning we woke up early in order to check out, say some sad goodbyes to Phi Phi and get the 11.30am ferry to Koh Lanta.
The ferry didn’t take long at all, with us all sleeping through it and also the distance between the islands being relatively short.
Everything was going well, we arrived in Koh Lanta and were met by someone from the hotel who was going to take us there. With our bags piled high on the top of the truck, a whole group of us from the hotel squeezed in. A Thai man sat on the boot door for the journey, clearly not 100% sober, mumbling and talking to himself in Thai – I was by the door and so I was right next to him. Then he picked up a beer that had been rolling around the floor and opened it above me – of course the shaken up beer exploded going all over me! I pushed the beer in his hand away saying “woaah” hoping he’d realise what he was doing and maybe hold the beer outside the truck or out the window or anything but instead he put the foaming beer to his mouth, took a big gulp and starting angrily speaking in Thai directly at me. Then he switched to English telling me he’d never been so angry and that I’d brought all my horrible (sorry for swearing) shit from England and I was already dirty so how could I complain about having beer split on me. He kept saying how dirty I was and how he’d never been so angry – he was a scary looking Thai man anyways and when Thai men have a reputation of being aggressive, I did not feel comfortable for the rest of the journey, to say the least.
Obviously the journey from then on was very awkward and practically silent except for the Thai man still chanting under his breath. It got even worse when he stormed into the reception on arrival (not getting our bags from the roof like his job tells him to) and started yelling in Thai whilst lounging over the chairs at the check in desk where we were meant to go.
Finally once we had checked in and refused any help with our bags we had a very nice Thai man take us to our room – which made a lovely change. The room is massive with aircon, wifi and two double beds so everyone’s happy (no more three in a bed!)
At lunch there was definitely a soured atmosphere with none of us really knowing what to say about the taxi episode. It was windy, cloudy and the beach by the hotel didn’t look like the white sandy beaches we’d been promised when visiting Koh Lanta. So all in all it was not a good start.

After eating a surprisingly nice lunch, we were feeling a little but more settled, we got a map of the island and found out where we were in relation to the famous Long Beach and what other attractions there are on the Island. We found out that there’s a few things we’d love to do here – number one being find the white sandy beaches – and set off to explore.

Firstly, the hotel pool is actually really lovely with cobbled tiles, a pool seat that goes all the way round the edge and a big waterfall at the end. Then, when we stepped down onto the beach, just as the sun came out, we realised that even though it isn’t our promised white sand beach, it is actually a very pretty and peaceful beach.
After walking down our beach we came across a pathway that headed into the forrest, so we took the path and ended up in heaven… Yes we found our first WHITE SAND BEACH!

A log beautiful beach with absolutely nobody on it! We’d walked through the jungle for a good fifteen mins and so it seemed appropriate to have a celebration swim here, in our new private beach.

Then we carried on our travels, down the beach, back up into the forrest, this time for longer and on a more overgrown pathway than before!

Finally we came out at another white opening, another private beach! This time it wasn’t quite as private as before as there were two naked French people swimming with their baby and also lots of what looked like small camps or beach tents, built along the sand.

Next we came across what seemed like a hippy beach with different wooden huts, hammocks and loads of signs for magic mushroom shakes and happy shakes (I have no idea what they are!)

However we swiftly moved on, eager to get to Long Beach.

Our very helpful jungle path stopped at this point and after believing we could rock climb all the way to long beach and then getting stuck half way and realising we couldn’t go back or forward and we’d never get there, we hiked in our flip flops up through the jungle and came out at a hotel – thank god. We walked through the hotel and finally came out at long beach (ATLAST) and what a magnificent beach it was! It’s probably the longest beach I’ve ever seen and although it’s a huge tourist attraction and is very famous the beach seemed practically empty and we had a whole section of it for ourselves for sunbathing, swimming and even just sitting on fold up chairs watching the waves come in and out.

After a very needed relaxing and beautiful afternoon on an amazing beach, we found a super cute beach restaurant and bar. With happy hour, free popcorn as nibbles and a gorgeous view, we were sold, and we stayed here for the rest of the evening to watch the sunset.

Even though today started quite sour… LIFE IS SWEET

This morning we had the biggest lie in that I’ve had since being in Thailand! At around 11.30 we finally got out of bed and decided to skip breakfast, get ready and head straight to lunch.
We headed to Banana Sombrero bar as the night before we’d seen the Mexican menu and had decided we definitely needed to eat fajitas before we left phi phi! For desert we had the craziest ice cream ever, you pick your flavour of ice cream and two toppings and they pour the liquid ice cream into a frozen base and mash it up with the toppings (I had vanilla with m&ms and Oreos) and once it’s all mashed they roll it into pancake rolls and add your sauce of choice!

After our ginormous lunch we went off on a Phi Phi Sunset Cruise boat tour. Our first destination on the cruise was monkey island, we took a speed boat to the island and once we were off we could see how crowded the beach was with not only monkeys but tourists and loads of litter that people had left when trying to feed the them! The worst of which was water bottles as people give (or try to feed) the monkeys water from their water bottles but obviously when they’re empty they leave them there. Anyways, Juliet and I were not impressed by the monkeys, in actual fact we were very scared of them after seeing them attack a girls leg by clinging onto it and refusing to let go, while hissing violently at her. That’s why my photos are a bit blurry as we spent most of the time running away from them, scared of their anger and also scared by the fact we haven’t had all of our rabies jabs!

Next en route was a cave that has forbidden entry to anyone who isn’t the national park conservatives or the tribes who live inside. Apparently there are tribes who live in the cave and make money out of selling the swallows nest from inside of the cave as swallows nests (yes the actual nest) are a delicacy for desert for the Thais.
The cave is also famous for it’s incredible cave drawings inside, but ofcourse we didn’t see these as we’re not allowed past the initial ladders and ropes.

Next on our trip was snorkeling and kayaking and ofcourse being the adventurous girls we are, we chose kayaking and after about half an hour to forty five mins of kayaking in the wrong direction and going round in circles, we finally made it to the glowing lagoon with crystal clear blue waters in the sun. Safe to say we did not want to kayak all the way back and so we attached our canoe to a visiting long tail boat and let him pull us back as far as we wanted to go!

After this we headed to Ma Ya beach, the destination and home to the setting of the Leonardo Dicaprio film,
The Beach. It is a gorgeous beach voted one of the most beautiful in the world.

After a fab afternoon cruising round Phi Phi, the boat crew made us some fried rice and we all sat on the boat and ate it while we watched the sun set behind the ocean. As a last memory for the boat trip we held hands and jumped right off the top of it – (this is surprisingly exhilarating!)

After a night out tonight we’re off to Koh Lanta in the morning! Apparently it’s very chilled and even more beautiful… Well we’ll see won’t we! Nevertheless I’m so excited to chill, sunbathe, relax and just be really calm before flying to Sydney at the end of the week.

On waking up this morning, we looked through pictures and talked about the pervious night. It’s fun when there’s three, the dynamics change and we definitely found things a lot funnier seeing three different sides to a story.
Yesterday afternoon we’d found a nice spot on the beach on some comfy green sun loungers and relaxed. Later on that evening we went into town to have an explore, buy a drink and lots of water and grab a bite to eat.
After coming back to the hotel we all got ready to go out (we have a hair dryer at last!! Thanks normy) and at nine because of our fab room with a view, we watched the famous fire show from our window. Unfortunately my shampoo had decided to explore again on the way here, but thankfully I learnt my lesson and it was inside a plastic bag this time and so my clothes are not stained herbal essences blue again. (Note to travellers, do not buy herbal essences, it has a habit of exploding…)
In town we met up with our Canadian friends and had a fun night drinking strawberry daiquiri buckets, dancing in the Irish bar, catching up in dojos and then ending up at he dance clubs on the beach. After a great night out we were all exhausted and starving and so we bought some street pizza (best pizza ever) and headed back to our one double bed to sleep, or try seeing as there is three of us.

This morning I woke up upside down in the bed, I think because it meant I had a lot more room in the bed and was so thankful for the water we’d bought the night before (great idea for future travelers/partygoers). After a yummy breakfast of fresh fruit, yoghurt and muesli, we found our same green loungers and have spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. It was amazing waking up this morning as the tide was all the way back and so all the long boats were resting on shore, not floating! And then gradually as the day has gone on, they’ve each one by one come afloat again.

^^^ The two pictures of the beach are taken from the same spot!!

Off to browse the shops and markets in town now as we all feel we’ve had enough sun. As of my feelings on Koh Phi Phi – so far I like it!

With only a week left of Thailand it’s crazy how fast this month has gone! Last night Julie and I travelled from the East to the West side of the Island, getting a night ferry from Koh Tao to Surat Thani (we were so sad to leave), a bus from Surat Thani to Krabi and then another ferry from Krabi to Koh Phi Phi. The night ferry was actually very cool with wooden bunks and a no shoe rule so it was clean and comfy – I even heard someone say “this is nicer than our hostel!” Even though the sleep wasn’t too good, on a rocking boat sitting in a sea storm, it was a cool experience.
On our second ferry we bumped into Normie! A friend from our junior school who we’d planned to meet on the pier as we thought we were on different ferries. It’s so nice to see a friendly face and she’s been to Koh Phi Phi before so had booked us into a cool, very clean aircon hotel/hostel and even requested the room with the view that will overlook the fire dancers as we’re getting ready to go out tonight! It’s also great to be on such a relaxing island by day and crazy island by night with someone who knows the ropes.
I’ll keep you updated with my thoughts on Koh Phi Phi after tonight but for now… So far so good!!

This morning once we’d packed, got breakfast and had a stretch seeing as we were both so stiff from the Muay Thai boxing, we headed into town to rent a quad bike.

When we’d learnt how to drive it, reverse it and park it, we headed off to find Mango Bay, a beautiful beach and Bay at the top of the island. After about half an hour driving on dirt tracks and bumpy roads we got to a sign for the Mango Bay viewpoint, and here we took a left turn, parked the quad bike and climbed up the rocks to see the magnificent view. Beneath the mango trees and Forrest you could see the small beach, some scuba boats and beneath all that… The ocean.

We got back on our quad bike and drove to the beach after this, thinking we knew the way we didn’t bother to look at the map and ended up at a completely different beach (after driving down so,me very steep rocky paths) without an actual beach and nothing around apart from a small broken down restaurant. As I’d been driving for quite some time and there was a flat rock perfect for sitting on, Juliet and I had our lunch stop here or packed sandwiches we’d bought that morning. Then we switched places and I became designated map reader while Julie drove… And we ended up and Mango Bay, FINALLY! Mango Bay is only accessible by foot so after parking our quad bike and walking down about a hundred steps we realised that we were at a quay about a five minute swim from the beach, but not actually on the beach.. (Why does this always happen to us!!) when we’d finally decided there was no way to the beach except via the water, we hailed a ‘water taxi’ a long boat with the words TAXI printed on it and sailed to the beach.
AT LAST we’re where we want to be and we can now relax a little before heading back later tonight and getting on the night ferry (not before we have a last meal of sushi though!)

The afternoon actually went swiftly down hill from there as Juliet started to feel very I’ll and so we went inside to the restaurant with aircon, but there was no aircon. Then it started to pour with rain and we had to get a taxi boat over to the other section of the bay where the quad bike was, but there was no taxi boat! So we started to rock climb then saw a boat pull in so ran to get it and after walking up about a million steps we got to the quad bike. I tried to drive back as fast as a could for Julie’s sake but slow enough that it wasn’t too rocky on the dirt track and that it was safe! We’re finally back at the hotel and after a dramatic adventurous day, someone moved our backpacks out of the rain so atleast they’re dry and we’re both fine!

When you come out of a gym looking like you’ve had a bucket of water chucked over your head there’s got to be a good reason… Mine and Juliet’s was a Muay Thai Boxing class. A lady Juliet knows from Spain does a lot of Muay Thai boxing and introduced us to her friends who are professionals and we went to their gym to join their morning training session! It was literally the biggest workout I’ve ever done, with kicking and punching and kneeing and elbowing aaaand with Thai men with pads screaming “hup” “hup” “hup” which we translated as ‘again’ ‘again’ ‘again’. It was never ending, even on our breaks we were actually just kicking punchbags instead of the men. And even though we were drenched in sweat, looking like drowned pigs, it was such a great morning and I’ve never said that about 8am exercise before! We even talked about taking up Muay Thai when we are back in England (this was discussed over a well deserved massive English breakfast, not sure whether the dream of becoming Muay Thai boxers will be short lived…) either way, it was a great morning’s work out and a once in a life time experience being trained by professionals and watching them train! It also left us truly exhausted for an afternoon of lying in the sun followed by some shopping and a savoury pancake.

P.S HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUMMYKINS I LOVE YOU LOTS AND LOTS ❤️☺️

This morning we woke up VERY early (5.30am) in order to get all our stuff together, have breakfast and be on the long boat out to our diving boat at 6.30am! It seemed to be quite a chilly and overcast morning but soon the sun rose, the clouds disappeared and we saw how clear the sea was!
Stats:
Dive 3
Destination: Chumphon Pinnacle
Time: 08.17
Depth: 18m
Bottom time: 33mins
Temperature: 27degrees
Suit: 3mm short
Weight: 5×0.8kg
Notes:
Today was our day to be filmed and although this wasn’t the dive to muck about as it is the best dive spot in the whole if Koh Tao, we did do a James Bond entrance into the sea, holding onto our receiver and mask and the front flipping into the water. We saw a school of Chevron barracuda, a school of smooth tailed trevally, a giant grouper (it was so so big I thought it was a rock at first!), lots of pink anemone and rainbow runners!
The sea here was amazing, so clear and bright blue and although we couldn’t see the bottom it was incredible to be in such a vast space and even watching the bubbles in the deep blue was magical.

Back on the boat we sunbathed for a bit, changed tank, all got filmed jumping off the top, third level of the boat into the water and then set up again for dive two of the day!

Dive 4
Stats:
Time: 10.20
Destination: White Rock
Depth: 14m
Temperature: 28degrees
Bottom time: 32mins
Surface interval: 1h29
Suit: 3mm short
Weight: 5×0.8kg
Notes: As this was the dive that we were being filmed on, we all made special effort to wave every time we saw the camera and look as professional as we could! We finalised the last few drills: mask removal and replacement, hovering, alternative air source accent and we even took off our fins and had a running race along the bottom of the ocean! We saw a blue spotted ribbon tail ray, a great barracuda, sergeant major fish and lots of blue spotted trout.

After getting back on the boat, we filmed the last scene of our movie and then the opening scene once we were back on the beach! This afternoon we spent the day sunbathing at a cool beach club and had the most delicious sushi dinner before heading back to Big Blue to watch our film and cried ourselves laughing as it was so hilarious!

Cheers to a incredible few days,
If you go diving in Thailand always go
To Big Blue, Koh Tao. It was a truly great experience, made even better and exciting by Chloe who always kept us feeling safe! Just wish I could do my advanced course now…

Today was our first day proper scuba diving… In the ocean! This morning we woke up early (after a lovely nights sleep in our own room) and met our instructor for some last minute revision before our exam. Needing 80% to pass meant there was little room for mistakes but thanks to thorough revision with Chloe the instructor, Juliet and I passed top!
The whole group passing meant this afternoon we could head out for our first two dives. Obviously lunch was necessary first (diving is so strenuous) and so Julie and I found a little English cafe called “through the looking glass” which we were so happy about! After eating quiche and Cornish pasty’s, we felt very British again and headed out on our boat to sea.

Once we got off our long boat and into the diving boat we kitted up, completed our buddy check and took a big step into the ocean! On our first dive it took us a long time for our ears to adjust and equalise with the pressure of going down but once we were sorted, we started diving! Unfortunately (thanks mummy and daddy) I am extremely buoyant, apparently with very light bones and chloe’s not seen many people like me. This means that I am always positively buoyant and float up to the surface, quite good for staying alive,’however when diving I actually want to be able to stay underwater and so it’s necessary for me to wear 6 or 7 big weights on my weight belt, compared to the average 3! These are the stats for our first dive…
Destination: Laem Tian Bay
Buddy: Juliet
Start time: 14.10
Waves: average
Temp under water: 29degrees
Depth: 12m
Bottom time: 34mins
Wetsuit: 3mm short
Weights: 7×0.8kg
Notes: on this dive we saw a huuuuge fish swim and gobble up a smaller one then swim away with it’s tail hanging out it’s mouth. We saw a school of Weibel’s butterflies fish, blue ringed angel fish, neon fish, loads of parrot fish and an orange spined unicorn fish which is very very rare!

After a biscuit, water and fresh fruit on the boat (enough time for the nitrogen to leave our blood) we had arrived at our next destination and completed our second dive! This time equalising was a lot easier and so our descent was more professional and quick!
Stats…
Destination: Mao Bay
Buddy: Juliet
Start time: 16.07
Waves: Calm
Temp under water: 28degrees
Depth: 12m
Bottom time: 42mins
Wetsuit: 3mm short
Weights: 5×0.8kg
Notes: As this dive was longer and in a better destination it gave us time and space to practise drills while resting on our knees at the bottom of the ocean. We completely the regulator recovery, partial flooded mask clear, full flooded mask clear, oral inflation fin pivot, and hovering. We saw a school of yellow tail barracuda (a Thai delicacy), angel fish and again lots of parrot fish. We also saw a titon triggerfish, a huge aggressive creature so we didn’t go to close and swiftly swam away. And we saw lots of Christmas tree worms that live in the coral and open and close – and when they’re open they look like Christmas trees!!

After getting back to shore and logging our two dives of the day, we had a very needed (as usual we’re starving) BBQ on the beach.
Cheers to another great day on Koh Tao!

This morning after probably one of the worry sleeps of my life (a very big thanks to the Japanese guy who thinks it’s okay to hang wet clothes around his bed making the whole dorm damp, even wet, creating the grosses conditions to sleep) Juliet and I woke up very stressed. However all was quickly made better by the beautiful view we woke up to!

After switching rooms to our own private one (still free with the scuba course… Result!) and eating a big breakfast, we headed off down the beach to start our scuba diving course! The morning started out with a video session, learning about the dangers of the ocean and the safety precautions and then we met our instructors and split into our small groups of 6 to do some more scuba academics with her. Our instructor is a really cool French lady who moved to Koh Tao ten years ago to be a scuba diving instructor, and hasn’t left since! She absolutely loves the ocean and the island and made us so excited about it simply in our discussion session by sharing her excitement with us!

After a couple of hours lunch break, we headed back to our instructor and to the pool to start our afternoon pool session! We learnt all about the scuba equipment and how to assemble, take it apart and reassemble it. Once we were in the pool we spent about three hours doing different drills and learning about buoyancy and basically getting used to all the equipment. The drills included clearing water from goggles, taking off and putting back on the bc jacket, inflating and deflating the jacket, ascending and descending and what to do if you run out of air (this is why we have a buddy so we can use their air!). It was such a great afternoon and even though we came our looking like prunes and exhausted, we are very excited for tomorrow’s dive in the sea!

This evening we had a very much deserve Italian which was so lovely and then after picking up my newly de-shampooed laundry, we sat by the beach and watched the fire dancers with some drinks and a few friends from Coral Bungalows.
What a fab day!

Over the last week, every night the moon has become rounder and rounder and on the night of the 15th it was time for the Full Moon Party!
After dinner we all went to change into our full moon neon clothes and headed to one of the rooms in order to get painted up! I immediately became the designated artist, and ending up painting everyone’s faces, backs, legs, arms, literally any bare skin, in fluorescent swirls and flowers. After about two hours we were all painted up, with the addition of neon flowers in our hair, and we were ready to go! The party started off in the Coral Bungalows, with even more paint and lots of drinks. It was our friends birthday so all of us girls got the dj to stop playing his music, stood on the table and sung Happy Birthday to him, and everyone in Coral Bungalows joined in!
At midnight there were supposed to be taxis waiting to take us but they were no where to be seen! Soon enough though we found a taxi slash open boot truck to take us and about 15 of us piled in. Soon we were stuck behind the crowds of people walking to the full moon beach and so we jumped out and joined the walking parade. There are different entrances into the party, some of which you have to pay but you also receive a Full Moon Party wristband, as we all decided that for 100baht (£1.75) we would love a wristband and so we paid for our entrance.
On arriving onto the party beach it was nothing like I expected, I imagined a party and nothing to the scale of what was I front of me. This was a whole stretch of beach covered by thousands and thousands of people, bars, stages, stalls and huge speakers playing all different types of music. Within a 200m stretch you could walk for the house music section of the beach, crazy dancing in the sand to the drum and base section, jumping on top of a stage and dancing there! There were tables on stilts in the water, a water slide down from a rooftop bar, a giant skipping rope on fire and even a gated section in the middle for napping! Everything you can imagine and more.
We started out as a group of 8 girls and within about ten minutes we were down to 6, but us 6 managed to stay together the whole night which I thought was a great achievement! It’s easily done if you’re like us and did everything together: if someone wants to move along the beach, we all go, if someone wants to buy a drink, we all go, even if someone need to pee, we all go!
The night was filled with dancing, drinking, eating, more dancing and chatting to the most random of people about their travelling experiences and adventures. It was also boiling hot so it didn’t matter when the tide came in a bit and our shoes got wet (I had converse on) because within 5 minutes they’re dry again! It was a great night and it was easy to spot our group (newly named the a team) because of the glowing flowers and swirls all over us!
The night ended in perfectly for us travellers, as while we were busy dancing on a stage, the sun rolled up from the horizon and lit up the sea in a beautiful orange colour. Soon what had been a party beach, covered in neon lights, became a beautiful beach lit up by the rising sun.