The only way to travel...is together :)

March - Group Outings

March was a very, very full month with an adventure in each of its’ FIVE weekends. So, I am splitting my March blog in two, and in this first one reliving all of the amazing teacher group trips that we experienced. The first one actually comes in on my top five list of Thailand; Ratchaprapa Dam in the Khao Sok National Park.

The Dam was one of the trips we had been planning on and looking forward too from our very arrival in Thailand. Previous teachers had mentioned how amazingly beautiful it was, so we decided we had to go. But of course, it was one of those trips that was put-off until the last minute. Literally, the last month that everyone was here we made an executive decision we NEEDED to go. (Luckily for the cancellation of a Bangkok music fest, everyone was able to adventure.)

The Dam takes about an hour to get to by mini bus, and then it was another hour or so on a longtail boat to our floating bungalows. It is the most immensely beautiful place I've been too yet. It somewhat reminded me of our lake house in the North Woods of Wisconsin, but with the exception of gargantuan mountains surrounding every corner and smaller bungalows, not secured on land, but floating on the water. We could literally wake up, open our door and dive into the lake. AMAZING! The weekend was full of boating/hiking/kayaking/swimming adventures and, of course, some drinks, music, and a little night swimming as well. :) I really wish we would have made this trip sooner in the year, because then I would have most defiantly returned for another visit. If only there was more time! Maybe on another trip in the future.

The following two weekends we stayed around Surat and had adventures close to home (and on a budget). First, was our Language excursion around Surat. We had a day filled with longtail boats, mangroves, and coconuts....LOTS of coconuts. We learned how coconut oil was made, how to husk a coconut, how to eat a coconut, how to make vinegar and sweetener from coconuts, etc....It was a lot of 'learning' especially because most of us hadn't had our coffee yet. After boating around, we were treated to a BBQ lunch at a nearby resort. It turned out to be a really fun day (and I'm not saying that mostly because we had unlimited drinks and a pool to swim in). Later that night we attended the Surat Bike Show. Yet, another great cultural experience in Thailand. Harley's and biker chicks! Hanging around Surat has its advantages and this weekend did fall short.

Another interesting fact about Surat is that there is a Monkey Training college just outside of town. FUN! We have to see monkeys before we go. It didn't end up being exactly what we had expected, but we ended up having a lot of fun learning about the monkeys' training, riding around on bikes and letting the monkeys jump all over us. Another successful Surat experience.

St. Patrick's Day fell on a Monday here in Thailand. So, there wasn't an extensive celebration, but Annika, our resident Irish lady, taught us a thing or two about the holiday. She made, a surprisingly, good punch, did brilliant Irish themed face paintings and we played Kings Cup with Irish accents. 

On of the last weekends of March was our Un-Official last weekend in Khanom. Annika, Maggie and I had been wanting to make the trip on our motorbikes, so we decided this would be the perfect weekend for it. It was quite and adventure, not one that I would do again, but something that I am glad I was able to experience. Khanom is always great for relaxing weekends, and that's just how this one went. We ended a perfect day of soaking up the sun with an amazing dinner at the Dusty Geiko and drinks and jam sessions at Jam Bay. It was a great weekend with great friends and a great way to end our time all-together in Thailand.

XoXo :)

Peace, Love and a FULL MOON

February Part 2

For Valentine’s Day this year I was lucky enough to spend it with a handful of teachers and about another thousand handfuls of partying tourists. Koh Phangan was one spot I actually didn’t see myself visiting, but with a long weekend and a full moon that fell on a Saturday night, what better way to celebrate Valentine’s. It was also planned to be a huge teacher trip, and if I didn't go, well I knew I would have been missin’ out. So, we bought our tickets, boarded the bus, hopped on the day boat, and headed to Haad Rin beach for a weekend full of neon shirts, face paint, special balloons, crazy boat rides, Eden, and lots of LOVE!! <3

We stayed in BT Hostel, which is right in the middle of all the action. It’s not a good spot if you want peace and quiet, but it’s a great spot if you want a quick drunk walk home at night and a safe place to stay. Teacher Emily’s friend owned the hostel and gave us a nice deal, and her restaurant was right across the street from the hostel and they had the most amazing breakfast food and yogurt smoothies!! My favorite was the strawberry-banana one! :) 

We arrived Friday afternoon, on Valentine’s Day, and had the best breakfast by the pier at Nira's Bakery. After hailing a taxi, we made it to BT Hostel, dropped our stuff and went straight to the beach for lying out and sunset. We had a nice Valentine’s Dinner at an Italian joint. The food was great and HUGE might I add. I ate a calzone that was the size of my right leg. Emily’s boyfriend was our suga-daddy for the night and treated all of us girls to dinner. Thanks Tam!!

On Saturday, Maggie and I had one h-e-double hockey sticks of an adventure. Literally, we thought we weren’t going to make it at one point and another. Our mission was to take a taxi boat two beaches over and then hike back through a trail we should have easily found. It was nothing like this. We were literally traveling vertical in the taxi boats to the other beach. The waves were so huge we had to put on life vests and hold on for our dear lives. At one point I just shut my eyes because I couldn’t watch. I was mentally preparing how to escape when the waves flipped the boat over and we were trapped underneath. It was terrifying. We couldn’t pull into the beach where the trail started because the shore break was too knarly. Luckily a traveling hippie/sex instructor from South Africa knew the way to go. After visiting her commune for a half a second we ventured on.

To make a long story short, we basically spent two hours looking for the trail, another two hours hiking with two other adventurers we meet who were looking for a trail that led to a lookout point (which we thought would probably be the same trail we were looking for), and then another hour figuring out we were lost and deciding whether to put our lives in the hands of crazy truck taxi drivers or crazy taxi boat drivers with against 10 foot high waves (we were really hoping there was another option).

The taxi boat driver ended up winning and, actually, the ride back was just as terrifying, but I really enjoyed it. The Thai driver knew what he was doing and we ended up “surfing” the whole way back to Haad Rin Beach. *On a side note we saw the biggest Komodo Dragon I’ve ever seen on our “hike”. It looked like a dinosaur. It was unreal and scared the shit out of us.

After an amazing two hour nap; we put on our neon gear, painted our faces, had an amazing Mediterranean dinner (I tried falafels for the first time = DELICIOUS) and meet up with the other teachers to begin our Full Moon Partying extravaganza. I’m not really sure about the rest of the night but, I know it included hula-hooping, balloons, and lots of drinks. Surprisingly, when I woke up in the morning I didn't feel too horrible. So, cheers to our Full Moon experience, it will defiantly be a once in a lifetime kinda thang. :S

XoXo

'Phu-Ket' It's a Girls Weekend

February
 

As I’m looking back at my day planner, I am noticing that I only have two trips down for the month of February. This does not seem normal to me because we literally are traveling somewhere every month, but, February was a short month, and just like all of the others, I’m sure I was on a tight budget.

On the 1^st of February, Annika, Maggie and I traveled to Phuket. It’s not a location that we were passionate about traveling too and it wasn’t on my “travel list”, but Annika had friends who had an apartment there, so we decided to try it out. *I am so glad we did because it was one of the most memorable trips that I will have from Thailand, and it is where I saw the most beautiful sunsets one can even imagine.

We left early Saturday morning, taking a bus all the way from Surat to Phuket Town. It was a long journey and in one of Thailand’s infamous taxi buses as well. I almost lost my sh**t a few times and had to hold back from spewing all over everyone. We finally arrived to Phuket island, but were met with about an hour long wait in traffic to Phuket Town. (Honestly, I loved that the driver couldn’t go above 20 km/hr.) The apartment was in a cute little area right on the outskirts of the little old Phuket Town. It was close to dinner time when we arrived, so we decided to head straight to Patong Beach for dinner. Why Patong Beach you ask? It’s the worst beach in Thailand you've heard. Well, we were told the same, but of course, had to see it for ourselves. As it turns out, it was defiantly a complete waste of time to visit. If you’re looking for someplace where every square inch of the beach is covered by lounge chairs and umbrellas, the sea is filled with wave runners, boats, parasailers, etc… , the streets are covered with people and neon signs, then Patong is the place for you. The only good thing that came out of the venture there was our Subway dinner. Mmmmmmmm how I missed a good Subway sandwich. After sunset, we decided to head back to the apartment and call it an early night. Our focus was on the adventures we were about to have the next day.

We started by walking into the little old Phuket Town to meet a friend to rent motorbikes for the day. On the walk there we stopped to ogle over the Portuguese inspired architecture, and we found the most beautiful house, well mansion, hidden away from the street. It was amazing. As one of my favorite hobbies to house hunt, I loved our morning adventure.

Next, we found the quaintest little coffee and breakfast restaurant owned by the nicest Chinese family. We could have spent hours just sitting in the little shop. The breakfast and coffee were delicious as well.

After renting our motorbikes, we headed to the closest waterfall we could find on the map. It ended up not being much of a “waterfall” mostly because it had not rained in awhile, but it was still very beautiful and it was nice to get in a morning hike. After finding the waterfall with ease, our confidences of riding the motorbikes in an unknown town were growing stronger. Annika and Maggie manned the driving, while I recklessly, with the map blowing in different directions, kept us heading the right way. Thanks Annika for putting up with my terrible passenger riding skills.

We didn’t want to go anywhere near Patong Beach again, but as it was, we had to drive through the overpopulated area to find the nicer, more secluded beaches. I absolutely loved the drive, but I’m sure the girls were pretty drained from concentrating and the many turns and steep hills. Laem Sing Beach became our new favorite spot for laying out, swimming and watching the most vibrant and colorful sunsets. I literally snapped a picture every minute because that's how fast the colors were changing.

After sunset, we headed over to Angsana Laguna Phuket (http://www.angsana.com/en/phuket/  Check it out!!) where Annika's friend from university was staying for the Chinese New Year. It was amazing, a little community all to itself. I only wish we could have stayed longer and took advantage of the 1st class amenities. Maybe on another vacation...after I win the lottery! :)

XoXo