Life’s too short

Koh Tao the turtle island! But ironically it’s the first time I’ve been diving and not seen a turtle for a very long time – I guess that’s just because I’ve been spoilt. Spoilt with so many good times and good experiences! But good doesn’t even begin to cover it – phenomenal – that sounds more appropriate!   
    
     
As I sit on the ferry from Koh Tao back to the mainland on my way up to Bangkok I’m pondering how quickly my year is coming to an end. I’m about to bid farewell to Thailand and see what Bali has to offer and then that’s it – I’m off to sunny (obviously actually not-so-sunny) England and it brings a tear to my eye but I’m not really sure why. I’m no longer dreading being back in England and at university for final year but instead I’m looking forward to the new challenges and to seeing what the year brings and how it will help me grow into graduate life. I’ve always said that life is what you make it and I can proudly say that I’ve always put that belief into my life too – I’ve achieved such a wide variety of things because I’ve put in the leg work! I’ve worked 5 jobs alongside university which has enabled me extend my journey home – and boy was every hour worth it! Even if despite all the worked hours I’ve still ended up in more debt, money will come and go, it always does. But you can never get the time back and you can never take away the memories!

Life is too short to be doing something you don’t absolutely love.

Drunk me > hungover me

It was a long and tiring journey across the boarder – be warned when they say it’s cheaper to change buses they don’t tell you that it is because you have to walk about an hour with all your luggage!! Okay it may not have been an hour but at 5:30 in the morning with 4 bags it sure felt like a lifetime! But it didn’t stop there – I still had to get from Bangkok down to Surathani and then over to Koh Phangan.. Luckily I’d found a fancy Bangkok hotel to allow me to store luggage and nap by the pool in between night buses.   
 Finally I got to Koh Phangan and headed straight to my bed! Luckily my roomie was hungover as hell and still in bed too! Once we’d both recovered from our opposite nights adventures we headed out to take a look around the island and grab some food. Despite booking into a 20-bed dorm there was only two of us in a 4-bed but we managed to get a good group together for dinner as my roomie had a few friends on the island and I’d bumped into a few friends I’d made on the bus down here. On the night before full moon pretty much the whole island heads over to the Jungle party – literally in the jungle! It may have just been a big ploy to get 700 baht off each and every one of us but it was a good night. Set out in festival style with the addition of the infamous Thai cocktail buckets, drunk me came out to play – and brought her (lack of) gymnastic skills to the table when asked what my party trick was. Luckily I can still do the splits although it’s never without a few scratches and very sore legs for a couple days! 

    
 I slept the majority of the next day too – still catching up on the missed sleep from two back to back night buses! I woke up with enough time to fit in a massage before heading down to the beach for a rather unimpressive sunset!  

 After dinner we all headed back to our respective hostels to get kitted out in our full moon fluorescents before meeting back up to get painted and tipsy on our way down to the beach. 

    
    
 I’ll admit I was slightly confused as to how the full moon party was going to be different to the beach parties I saw over on Phi Phi in November until I got down to the beach – although you wouldn’t realise it was a beach as you could barely even see the sand through the thousands of people around us! What we didn’t realise that as we were getting painted up during our pre-drinks the swarms of people heading past us were crowding together on the beach! It didn’t seem like a mass of people as they all came through in dribs and drabs but once all collected on the beach – just wow! Luckily the crowds began to drift off fairly quickly though!

    
   
Every bar blared their drink offers over the music of the next bar for as far as you could see! It wasn’t long before our large group got split but somehow in the masses of people my friends from the bus still managed to find me for a dance on the stage – no matter where in the world I am I will find a bar or stage to dance on! 

Drunk me even managed to have enough food on the way home to not be so hungover in the morning as well as pack and leave out water and ibuprofen for hungover me. I’m starting to learn in my old age it would seem!

Stupidly I’d only booked the two nights on Phangan and head to be up at 10 to check out and head over to Koh Samui but thankfully is booked a very large and luxurious bed to drown myself in for the next two nights before making my way onto Koh Tao!

Proudest moment for a long time

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…. I AM OFFICIALLY DIVE CERTIFIED!!!

It was touch and go at many times and I definitely wondered whether I would complete it or not after the first day in the ‘pool’ but the minute I was actually diving and skills sets were out of the way I went back to being the natural I knew I was.

I spent the two days with Darius, a fantastic instructor – also from Melbourne and he expertly gave me the confidence to remove the full mask, alone, without any panicking by the 4th dive. Check me out…!

On the 2nd dive we watched a tranquil turtle cruise past us and on the 3rd dive we found another who I managed to high five (definite bucket list item).

The struggle goes on

Why I thought I could handle a heavy night on Phi Phi before hours of diving theory at 7am I do not know – it was one stupid decision!

Luckily I made it through the mornings theory without suffering too much pain but when it came to the afternoon skills session in the ‘pool’ it was a whole different story… First up was our 200 metres swim, definitely making me realise I need to get a gym membership next semester then a ten minute floatation. All in all it wouldn’t have been too bad if I hadn’t have had a massive lunch about 20 minutes before getting into the water. I had to get out and cool off before I could even think about starting to conquer the mask fear.

Eventually I made it back into the water but not for long… I attempted the “full skill set” but soon had to sit down again feeling ill. I can retrieve my regulator just fine, apparently I have more control over what I swallow than what I breathe which is pretty much the same on land too. It’s also the fact that it doesn’t hurt if you swallow sea water, no it doesn’t taste great but that’s the only discomfort whereas when water goes up your nose and is breathed in it can cause a lot of discomfort!

During one of my breaks on the surface I contemplated with the idea of not bothering again, thinking if I still can’t do it now I never will but thankfully I gave it one last shot…

By the end of a very long skills session in the pool I had managed to complete the full skills set once and celebrated with an underwater hug from my instructor, Nelly.

Finally I can retire to my bed for a well deserved nap!

Conquerring fears….. On a hangover

If I was asked what is the main thing I have learnt at university it would not be differential equations, the capital asset pricing model or even the marketing mix. It would be something far simpler than that – in a nutshell it extends from problem solving. But not in any form of plans or methods, instead simply in the way you view or approach a problem.

I have learnt that by viewing something as a ‘problem’ or inability instantly creates a bubble of negativity around it. If instead you view the supposed obstacle as a challenge, or something that needs to be fixed or achieved I find it can often give me the courage or motivation to succeed.

Now what does any of this have to do with Koh Phi Phi?
On the first day we arrived I wanted to make the most of being here so I booked myself on a afternoon to sunset trip which took us around the different bays of the Phi Phi islands (including the infamous Maya Beach) and after watching the sunset we went swimming with the illuminous night plankton. Well this was the plan.

Despite the fact we went to the islands currently in dry season it rained after a while for almost the whole afternoon. And when I say rained I mean hailed, with a bit of lightening towards the end. But we didn’t let that dampen our spirits.

First up was a jump off of a cliff similar to this, although I didn’t realised we’d have to pull ourselves up the cliff first. The guys seemed to get up there much faster and which much less whimpering but almost all of the girls gave a little squeal in panic of not knowing where to put your foot/hand next. When it came to my turn I thought – SHIT! I cannot do this, it was pretty much completely vertical with very few ledges or handles but I kept saying to myself if someone else has done it so can I and that is when I told myself to stop thinking ‘I can’t do this’ and instead think ‘how am I going to do this’.

Luckily I am more flexible than I realise (now I’ve recovered from the elephant riding) ad I made it to the top – now I just had to jump.

But again, if I managed to climb all the way up I HAVE to be able to jump (also not sure if there was even another way down!) so 3…2….1 and off I went! In the momentum of jumping I managed to stop filming on my gopro so unfortunately didn’t get any good footage but I have a nasty bruise on the thigh from a funny landing to mark my achievement.

In this new frame of mind and with adrenaline running high I’ve decided to tackle my scuba diving qualification again. I first attempted it when I was about 18 after diving once or twice before. Ever since I can remember I have really struggled with holding my breathe underwater, resulting in not being able to stay underwater without holding my nose. Back then I didn’t have the motivation I needed to overcome my fear at that point. But today is a different story. I have completed many dives since then and I know the certification is worth it, I also now know that any ‘problem’ is just a challenge really. And this is a challenge I am attempting to achieve over the next three days. Wish me luck!

All aboard!

Thailand had been wonderful to us so far and it just keeps continuing!

I am currently sat on the ferry to Koh Phi Phi with my playlist blaring in my ears, the sun on my back and the sea breeze in my face. I close my eyes and remember similar times in Ibiza, Fiji and various other places around the world and am very thankful for how lucky I am in life. All my worries in the world are gone because yes, things will go wrong, but equally yes – they always work themselves out in the end. And often for the better!

I’m looking forward to a relaxing day on the beach and hopefully some scuba diving tomorrow!

Holaaaa! City of squallaaaaa

After a veryyy long journey we have arrived in Hangover capital! Bangkok!

The overnight bus was surprisingly pleasant despite having to sleep uncomfortably rotating sides every hour or so but the excitement of Bangkok makes up for it. We managed to find an Internet cafe at the bus station to research a fairly decent hostel close enough to Khoa San road and luckily managed to find it despite not many people recognising the address.

Showered and refreshed we set off to check out the Grand Palace and within about two minutes of getting inside I lost Helen… Not a great start but I continued to wonder around and admire the beautiful sites before making my way round to the exit and beginning to panic – still hadn’t found Helen…. Deciding to take a rest in the shade and people watch for a while who would be sat right in my eye line of all the people… You guessed it – Helen!

We had a little more of a stroll around before going outside to cool off in the shade with a (very expensive but totally worth it) ice cream.

Back to the hostel again to shower and spruce ourselves up for the Banyan Tree rooftop bar for sunset, only we forgot to factor in rush hour of Bangkok (an extremely densely populated city!!!) so ended up watching the sunset from the Tuk Tul – very a la Thailand I think!
The Banyan Tree rooftop bar did not disappoint with Helens steaming melon cocktail and my classic Sex on the Beach (I’m so adventurous, I know) however if you’re going to go be cautious of the additional, and hidden, service charge and tax! 600 Baht for a cocktail which is fairly reasonable in English terms but a lot more than your average Thai drink.

We called it a night here, exhausted from the night before and up early to see the floating markets – not to mention around 1,000 Baht down for one evening!

A sad farewell to Tao

The second day with the elephants was so much harder for so many reasons.

It was our final day with them and only half a day at that, we had almost zero sleep thanks to the numerous wild dog fights and the cockerel who didn’t realise it was only meant to sing at sunrise and oh my god….. The pain!
I felt like I have had a full body work out! Everything attached to me aches, inner thighs particularly!

But we powered through, woke up early to collect the elephants from the forest, bathed them twice and took part in another show. At the end of the morning we said farewell to our elephants (mine was called Tao) and Mahouts and were presented with a beautiful certificate of achievement for our brief time at camp.

We managed to flag a bus down eventually to make our way back to Chiang Mai and spent some time wondering the city and night markets again. We got back to the hostel where we stored luggage around 9pm and told them of our intentions to just make our way to the train station to catch the next night train but boy were we wrong.

Our casual attitude was laughed at as for starters you are meant to boon in advance and secondly the last one leaves Chiang Mai at 5:30pm. Oops.
We rushed to the bus station in time to catch the last bus and luckily made our way to Bangkok.

And so the journey continues…

What dreams are made of…

For those of you that don’t know me…. I am an animal fanatic to say the least! From household pets to jungle cats I love them all! (Maybe not those rats, spiders and insects in-between but it’s mostly the same)

I don’t know if it’s from a history of pets being there to comfort me whenever I’m upset or the fact I’ve been very lucky with my pets and animal experiences to date but a very strong love and bond has been created and today has been a lifelong dream of mine for many, many years.

I met, stroked, cuddled, sat on, bathed and even got snotted on by many Asian Elephants today. And boy it didn’t disappoint!

They are very, very large creatures that live up to 70/80 years of age and can be quite intimidating to many (as we saw today – grown men refusing to get close!! Haha) however not to me!

Within ten minutes of getting up close I was petting, stroking and cooing into it’s face/ear/trunk – basically anything within reach whilst my friend stood on the sidelines weary at first. Before we knew it we were mounting the elephants (mine the largest and definitely the most difficult!) and I like to think I have kept a few of the qualities gymnastics at a young age does for you but it was not easy to balance on these!

To get on and off my elephant would kindly sit down and allow my to climb onto his leg and neck. I was weary at first but they definitely seem to enjoy the extra attention – particularly the 16 month pregnant one (she will not give birth until 20-22 months the poor thing!)

First is bathing the elephants (whilst their pooing in the river might I add) to cool them down then taking part on the elephant show where they do a whole host of tricks for the audience such as throwing balls, painting pictures and playing windchimes.

Before lunch we were able to meet the elephants in the hospital for recovery and medicines and the baby elephants which stay in the pen with their mothers until they are three.

After lunch (and even the food here did not disappoint) we did another round of bathing and the show before taking the elephants into the forest to retire for the night in their natural habitat.

Tomorrow we have another fun-packed morning with the elephants and leave at lunch time. I’ll try my hardest to keep in the tears but theirs no promises!

These majestic creatures are amazing! Very intelligent and intuitive and extremely friendly towards all visitors – especially those who feed them well!

The Thailand Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang cares for these animals as if they were their own children. Each elephant has a dedicated Mahot (trainer) who helps to train, bathe, feed and exercise the elephant as well as ensuring the elephants health and safety is secured. I would recommend this centre to anybody remotely interested in animals – and even if you aren’t, you will be after one visit!
Note: we booked a 2-day home stay program

Northern heights

Today was a multi-stop extravaganza!

First stop was the White Temple, built for Thai people to worship in. The design is beyond phenomenal – I don’t even know how else to describe it! The design and detail out into every last corner is amazing and the inside is even more spectacular, it was being hand painted whilst we were inside but unfortunately you cannot take pictures. There was also a (what I presume) wax work of a Buddhist monk inside, it looked a lot like Gandhi however whether this was intentional or coincidence I didn’t find out.

The next stop was the golden triangle, a river which connects Thailand, Laos and Myanmar (or Burma). There is an island in the middle referred to as ‘No Mans Land’ or ‘Black Market’ as it has no governing body or population however has been used in the past to grow, buy and sell opium.
We made a quick stop off to Laos where we were offered the local whiskey which had a variety of dead animals (snakes, scorpions – even a turtle!) however I couldn’t stomach that and went for the safer option of a coke instead – not very adventurous of me but, well, I’m a wuss!

We then visited a city which hosts the border between Myanmar and Thailand and I made the obligatory mask purchase for my wall at home.
This city was beautifully decorated with lanterns hanging all the way down the streets.

Our final stop was the village of the Long Neck tribe. Our tour guide told us how the men of the village used to go hunting for tigers but the women and children stayed home, afraid of a tiger attack. By means of protection the women and children covered their necks with steal (I think) rings to avoid being bitten. Children from the age of 5 start off with 5 rings and the eldest of the village had a whopping 32!!! And I held them – they are not light!

On our way out of the village I overheard another tour guide saying how the villagers were ashamed of their long necks which is why they covered them with gold plated rings however in more recent years doctors have studied their bone structure and informed them that they are not born with any different neck size however by wearing these rings their whole life their shoulders are pushed down forcing their neck to elongate – how the two stories fit together or which the truth lies within I am not sure but along the way they have managed to make it into a tourist attraction for many to see.

Now for an attempt to sleep on the three hour journey back to Chiang Mai!