Thailand

23 days of sun, sand & fun! I have decided to just do some highlights to the best of my memory...

Who Went? Myself, Dave, Ryan, Adam (little brother Sale) & Kelso

Phuket: We finally arrived after about 23 hours of flying and wow were we happy to see the final airportJ. It took us about 45 minutes from the airport to get into town and the cab ride was somewhere around $20 Canadian (a steal of a deal). We checked into a great little hotel that was just being built but was delightfully clean and the staffs were wonderfully warm and welcoming. Adam arrived a couple hours later checked into his hostel and then we all checked out the town for dinner/ drinks all the red bull) and street food of course! The other two boys weren’t set to arrive until about midnight. We all lasted until about 11pm even with the Thai red bull and so we headed back to our hotel. And we fell right asleep. If you know us you also know the story that transpired after the first hour of sleep and how it turned out to be a rough night for all of us where literally nobody slept (except Adam who was in his hostel and had no idea what went on until the next morning) – I would love to share the story however its classified for only those we know personally. – Just know it was a nightmare that involved Dave being the star character, red bull, Thai jail, police, and none of got to bed until about 6am.

Needless to say the next day we all dragged our bones to breakfast in an effort to get on the right time zone. Then we wandered the streets of Phuket for quite some time enjoying the markets, stunning ocean and amazing food. This was a much quieter day for us then the first and we eventually boarded a ferry to Koh Phi Phi with delicious fruit smoothies made by a local – they were simply to die for!

Phi Phi Island: What an absolutely stunning ferry ride I couldn’t help but take a million pictures the little island just rose out of the water like they were on stilts (the ferry took about 2.5 hours) and I’m pretty sure it was only $3 Canadian dollars each. – When we stepped onto Koh Phi Phi we knew paradise had been found. This island was exactly what you think of from a magazine or for your computer screen background in the dead of Calgary winters that you put up in hopes of travelling to. The beaches were beautiful white sand and as we stepped off the ferry a wonderful man was waiting for us with my name on a sign to lead us to our hotel for the next 3 nights. It’s a good thing he came to grab us because the little town was a bit of a maze and we were getting a little worried about the hotel being what it looked like in the pictures. However when they showed us to our rooms they were stunning all the way up 4 flights of steps and we reached the top floor which opened up into beautiful rooms that looked out on paradise. The bathrooms were fabulous and impeccable as well. I would highly recommend staying here the name of it is “JJ Residence” absolutely lovely.

We went out for a beautiful dinner that night right along the water and ate so much seafood are bellies were near to exploding by the end but wow was it amazing! I think it ended up being around $100 Canadian for all of us including drinks (that’s 4 large men and one women) – not too bad at all. Then we explored our way through the city before finally crashing in bed.

Over the next three days and nights we checked out the following things

The Beach took a long tail boat ride and enjoyed the beautiful island as well as snorkelling and monkeys.

Muay Thai – Koh Phi Phi have some of the best island fighters and we watched a few as well as watched some tourists get into it which was hilarious along with betting and drinks it made for a great evening of fun.

Thai Buckets – we had our first Thai buckets of the trip (rum, red bull & coke) so good and a great way to stay up all night long combined with Kelso’s blue juice and you are ready to get your party on

Beach party – Koh Phi Phi had the best beach parties a great vibe and amazing people and all of us agreed this was our favourite place we partied the whole trip. It was organic and one of those nights you never forget. From fire dancing, pole climbing, moon light swims and a whole bunch of Thai buckets we were a happy clan walking home around 3am.

Look Out Hike – it only took us about an hour to scramble up and I’m sure if it was cooler we could have been faster but it was well worth the little trek and you sure do need it after all that Thai food (pad thai for every meal).

Overall this island was in the top two places that we visited and we left it a little fatter, happier along with fabulous memories.

Koh Samui: An hour ferry ride to the town of Krabi and a quick 45 minute plane ride brought us to the island of Koh Samui. We deemed this island to be the most touristy by far and essentially what you might say is the Cancun of Thailand. The hotel we had was right downtown. Very simple and clean but it did the trick. Somewhat Americanised which worked out for Dave as he was able to have some French fries and a burger which helped his stomach out for a few days (poor guy). We of course had to check out a lady boy cabaret and so after a delicious dinner with our three new Brazilian friends (the boys were all very excited to have the girls) we all headed in a big crew to the show. It was awesome and Ryan was scared to the max so of course we told the organizers it was his birthday and got him on stage. I’m pretty sure I have never seen him so embarrassed or awkward in his life (totally worth it) and Adam was given a lap dance by one of the lady boys as well. Overall an awesome show and we got pictures with them at the end. Then it was back to our hotel for an amazing beach party and danced the night away with our new found friends. The next day we explored the city, bought a few shirts and water guns for the next island – We knew the water festival was just about upon us (Songkran). Then we headed back to the pool and enjoyed the beautiful sun and water before retiring for the evening.

This island was beautiful but a little to touristy for our taste however it was made up for through the lady boy show and the wonderful Brazilian gals we met.

Koh Pha Ngan: 2 ½ hours on a ferry and we were on the shores of beautiful Koh Pha Ngang. The weather was incredibly hot at around 37 we had are water guns loaded and it’s a good thing because Songkran was already underway in the city. We jumped into an open truck bed/ taxi and found our little family owned hotel (The Nhidra Boutique Resort) on the outskirts of town complete with its own little mini restaurant. The Tom Yum soup was absolutely to die for hear and the pad Thai as well. It was run mostly by a mother and her son and the son spoke amazing English and was wonderfully accommodating. The first thing we did was ask for scooters for all of us so we could explore the island. He had them delivered to the hotel within the next hour for a more then reasonable price and we were really happy with his accommodation for our request.

That night we enjoyed dinner at a beautiful restaurant about 15 minutes down the road and everything was amazing minus the fact that they were having a huge huge issue with bugs. Unfortunate but we survived and then headed home but stopped at the big market grabbed some drinks and stopped quickly in at a corner store (it was filled with all things full moon party) I grabbed a white pair of shorts and BODY PAINT – here comes creative Jess.

We were told about some jungle party that was apparently just the bomb. Around 11Pm we rolled into trucks along with bunches of other tourists and headed about 30 minutes into the jungles of the island. Not going to lie it had us all a little worried but hey, when in Thailand you might as well try it out. They dropped us off on the side of a road packed with vehicles from scooters to bikes, trucks you name it. We weren’t quite sure where to go in the pitch black but essentially followed the crowd into the forest… seemed a little weird but we did it anyway. Finally we reached the gates paid about $5 per person to get in and found our way in. the place was packed and talk about hard to get a drink. In fact so ridiculous I wasn’t really into it and the rest of us joined into that tune about hour two.

Side Note- I found a little puppy around 5 weeks old getting nearly trampled by the crowd and had clearly been separated from his family some British girl who was high out her mind was telling me she was taking it home with her. I promptly took it out of her hands and sais I would take care of it ha ha (most responsible partier around ) I spent the rest of the time at the party with the puppy in hand and I did finally find his mother and all was good.

We all eventually got bored and headed home. Besides Songkran was the next day!!!

Songkran – Basically the best party ever created the Thai people really know how to celebrate. (The whole country becomes one massive water fight and no one is spared from the youngest to the oldest). We walked into town water guns in hand and it began we had trucks with huge water buckets/ balloons and armies of troops loaded with gun hitting you from everywhere. We were drenched in the first moments/ water hoses were held hostage and buckets all over the city were complete war zones and ammunition stations abounded. Even those on scooters weren’t spared. We played like kids for at least 5 hours straight. We finally made it to the town square and fed all of us for about $4 with delicious street food. Not even sure what we ate but we weren’t hungry anymore. By the end of all that we were pretty tired and headed back to the hotel for a little nap. We went to a sushi restaurant for supper that was pretty good and Kelso was smitten with the gal that owned it named (Sarah) however he quickly learned she had a boyfriend which allowed us to tease him profusely for the rest of the trip J after supper we returned to the hotel in preparation for the FULL MOON PARTY. A bunch of drinks (blue & red juice) some artwork from jess for everyone (Ryan had Clash of clans on his back, Dave had 7-11 and I had flowers everywhere and we were on our way to one of the best parties in the world. 25 minutes later we were let out and wow were we in for it. The people moved like a sea slowly filing down through the town towards the beach gathering Thai buckets as you went and checking out crazy outfits/ body paint. Such a great place to people watch, we eventually made it down to the beach and it was full of people. Literally wall to wall, you could move your way up and down and find different bars with different music/ dancing/ drinks/ themes you name it and this party had it. We loved it and to be honest danced a ton played drank and enjoyed ourselves even found our Brazilian friends at one point during the evening. We all stayed together as losing someone in that sort of a party is not good for anyone. Around 4:30am Dave myself and Kelso were about ready to head home (especially when you start to see the search parties coming out combing the ocean for bodies– it’s a bit scary and about 3-7 people die from and overdose or drown in the water each full moon party). However Ryan was far from ready and didn’t want to go so the deal was made that Dave and I would head home and Kelso would stay behind with Ryan. Dave and I made it home in no time at all and happily crawled into bed. When Ryan found Adam about 30 minutes later, Kelso took it as his time to go home as well and the other 2 boys stayed. Turns out Ryan ended up saving a girl’s life (he actually randomly has it on video) I am not sure of all the details but it’s a good thing he stayed behind.

The following day Dave and I took a morning ride around the island and wow was it amazing!!! We even saw elephants J when we got back the boys were up and jealous so we all decided to take an excursion around another part of the island. This ended up being quite the adventure. We checked out a waterfall had some awesome food, then off roading to a crazy secluded beach (Bottle Beach) It was stunning had even better food!! Onn our way up the bikes were too heavy for a couple of us and we didn’t have the skills to get up so Dave helped us out in a big way. Kelso laid his bike down and sprained his ankle but luckily the damages were only about $30 so over all good and we made it home just as the day turned to night. A fabulous day had by everyone.

This island fell into the top two favourite places on the trip from Songkran to full moon parties it had it all and we loved every minute of it!

Koh Tao: Another couple hours on a ferry and we were on the beautiful and much quieter island of Koh Tao. We arrived at our hotel about 15 minutes from the ferry dock. Situated along a beautiful beach we were in for some serious rest and relaxation. The island was beautiful and moved at a much slower pace which was wonderful after all of our partying.

Thai Massage – people clearly lie about these and these are far from down time, it felt like an intense work out by the end of it (maybe don’t do this if you want to chill out) but fun as an experience)

We had an awesome dinner along the main streets and enjoyed every bite. We found Koh Tao a little pricier then the rest of the islands but that still was severely underpriced by Canadian standards.

Scuba Diving – it was fun but extremely busy, I think we have been very lucky to have been able to dive in such beautiful places in the world. It was still beautiful just not as clear as most dives we have done. Although I did get to see a trigger fish and clown fish (2 things I have never seen before) it was a beautiful day and when we finished up we headed back to the beach to relax for the rest of the day before heading to a beautiful restaurant that was all white and right on the ocean. It was great. Then back to the beach for a little partying but to tell you the truth we were all pretty tired. Except Ryan of course he can go forever…. We drank blue & red juice but to no avail rallying was just not in us for the night. We did try Thai balloons as well on this island – weird helium thing apparently you get more than just a small voice, I’m pretty sure it’s a hoax.

One more day of rest relaxation and wandering and we were on our way to our last city of the trip.

Bangkok: What an insane city when we flew in we were not disappointed and Kelso hooked us up at the Sheraton which was amazing not to mention he gave Dave and I his suite which was insane. We were very happy J and hit up the cocktail hour while looking over the beautiful city before dining at a beautiful recommend restaurant it was delicious J

Suit Time: The boys went to a suit store and had a bunch of tailored shirts, pants and jackets made for them, on a side note Ryan had his tux/ shorts made for our wedding as he of course always has a crazy get up for everything and this was quite the order. I don’t think the suit store had seen something like it before. Dave had a tux made and some great dress shirts even a couple for stampede and Kelso a summer suit and a few shirts. The boys were super happy with their purchases and left feeling accomplished.

The next day we went to a huge and I mean absolutely huge day market which was amazing and we found our Noodle mummy t-shirts which Ryan had been searching for the entire trip – when I found them I just about lost it haha. (To long of a story) but we all bought one and still have them. After that market we went to a massive mall it was insane big and there were just wall to wall store. Dave bought me a beautiful marcasite ring and I picked up earrings that I would later wear at the wedding the following February. Then it was off to dinner and more night markets. At some point during that evening I decided a lady boy show was in order…. (bad decision but in about 20 minutes I walked out it was just too much in my opinion) after that the clubs were calling our name and it was Ryan’s last night so it was time to spend all of his remaining money in his opinion. We ended up at the one of the swankiest and beautiful clubs I have seen. I think we had 3 rounds of bottle service and the boys were really having a good time! We rolled Ryan into a cab around 3am and he needed to leave the hotel for 5am. He barely made his plane but somehow he made it and slept the whole trip home and pretty much woke up in Calgary. Dave myself and Kelso left at random times the next evening and spent the next day essentially wasting our time.