Wildlife encounters without the crowds in Southeast Asia
If you follow my blog, you’ll know that I absolutely love Southeast asia, It’s probably my favourite region on the planet. Not only because of the incredible food and rich cultures, but also because of the stunning nature and wildlife experiences. From lush forests to vibrant coral reefs, Southeast Asia boasts an amazing variety of…
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Sunsets in Koh Lipe
After a few days snorkelling in Koh Tao, we were enjoying the sea, but wanted to try somewhere different, so decided to change coastlines, from the eastern Gulf of Thailand, to the west Andaman sea. We got a boat to Surat Thani and then a minivan to Hat Yai, where we stayed for one night…
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Snorkelling in Koh Tao
After travelling through India and Thailand, we really missed the underwater world. Both of us love the sea, Dave is a big swimmer and just enjoys being in the sea all the time, mask or no mask, but I love watching the underwater world. But, I think I’ve also converted Dave into a snorkeller now…
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Prachuap’s perfection revisited
10 years ago solo backpacking through South East Asia, the town of Prachuap Khiri Khan, in the state of the same name, was one of my favourite towns that I visited. The town is on a beach flanked by green hills, beautiful beaches and at the weekend, has the most amazing authentic night market. There…
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Thailand train travel
We were loving getting the train so far in Thailand, it was reliable, clean and incredibly cheap. Especially for the ordinary 3rd class fan seating. But we were starting to feel the pull of the ocean, since we haven’t worn any of our snorkelling gear, rash vests or swimwear for about 6 weeks now (not…
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Floating in Amphawa
In previous visits to Thailand, I had heard about the floating markets in and around Bangkok, but I had also heard that they were very touristy and not really authentic, just tourist attractions. However on our trip south from Bangkok, I decided to give one a go, it’s low season after all, and even if…
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Baking in Ayutthaya
Ten years ago I went solo backpacking through South East Asia. Although I was solo, I made many friends along the way, and was even joined by some friends from home… I came to Ayutthaya with Dan, who was visiting from the UEA at the time. We got the train from Bangkok to Ayutthaya and…
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Wildlife spotting in Khao Yai
Last time I came to Thailand I had a second hand pair of mini binoculars I’d bought off eBay for 99p haha, and I went to countless national parks across Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia hoping to see a hornbill, which is one of my favourite birds. In 8 months, I didn’t see a single one 😞…
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Bagless in Bangkok
We flew from Leh back to Delhi to spend one night near the airport before our onward flight to Bangkok, and unfortunately our Indigo Flight didn’t put ANY baggage on the plane at all… So we all arrived in Delhi with delayed bags. Since we were flying out the next day, it seemed unlikely we…
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Motorbiking in Chiang Mai
Stage 3 of our big Easter adventure! After driving around Northen Thailand for the past 5 days, we decided to change things up a little and hire a moped for our final 2 days in Chiang Mai. If you’ve read previous posts of my travels you’ll know that one of my absolute favourite things to…
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Driving the Mae Hong Son Loop
Stage 2 of our Easter Adventure We left Chiang Mai on Tuesday morning after picking up our little jeep. We decided to drive the loop in a clockwise direction, heading first to Mae Chaem via Doi Inthanon; Thailands tallest peak. We set off and instantly discovered how uncomfortable our little jeep was, bouncing all over…
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Cycling around Chiang Mai
We arrived at the airport nice and early and took our time eating some lunch and doing a bit of shopping before the first 16 hour flight to Bangkok. The flight was uneventful and we landed around midday the next day in Thailand. We’ve been here before, so we calmly made our way down to…
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New in Nakhon Si Thammarat
After a boat and taxi to Krabi bus depot, we boarded a local bus to Nakhon Si Thammarat City which took about 2 hours. I booked somewhere again on the way, but as soon as we arrived a huge thunderstorm began and we waited at the bus terminal for a while for things to calm…
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New Roads in Railay
From Koh Phangan, we decided to head to somewhere new for both Pete and I, since last time I travelled through Thailand I essentially ‘got stuck’ on Koh Phangan and couldn’t bring myself to leave. I never visited anywhere further South, places said to be amongst the most beautiful in Thailand. So we got the…
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Motorbiking on Koh Phangan
After a noisy and bumpy overnight train to Surat Thani, we woke with the sun about 30 minutes from our destination. Tired Pete after only a few hours sleep Surat Thani is the city closest to Don Sak pier where you can get the regular boats and catamarans to and from the island Koh Samui…
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Playing in Kanchanaburi
We woke up at 7am the next day to pack up and get the first train out to Kanchanaburi. However, the train station we needed was across town. Anyone who knows me, knows I’m not the best at being on time and about 5 minutes into our taxi ride to the station I declared to…
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Songkran in Bangkok
The flight to Bangkok was fairly uneventful; my Grandad dropped us at the airport and we had a slight delay before boarding our 7.5-hour flight to Abu Dhabi. Pete was very impressed though as I prebooked him a vegan meal for the flight and we also found a vegan coffee (almond milk) shop at the airport.…
Keep readingThailand Planning and Preparation
Ever since I got home from my 8 month trip in South East Asia in 2014 I have been dreaming of returning. It’s usually tough to choose to revisit places I’ve been before over visiting new and unexplored places, but with Thailand, it wasn’t… It was a country and culture I had fallen in love…
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‘Living’ on Koh Phangan
I left Chumphon early with the intention of catching a train to Surat Thani and a boat to the Islands North of there, Koh Phangan. However, I missed the train and so caught a minibus instead! I arrived in Surat Thani and waited for an hour to catch the last boat to the Island. Watching…
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Bike riding in Chumphon
I left Prachuap on a local train, the journey was 3 hours and cost roughly 80p. I was sat next to a couple of elderly women, with bright red teeth stained with betel nut. They each had a handbag with a plastic bag liner and were spitting their red as saliva into it every few…
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Perfection in Prachuap
I left Phetchaburi for Prachuap via minibus and had the intention of blogging on my journey, however I quickly realised that I had left my notebooks back at Mayom hostel. I messaged Roong on Facebook and amazingly she was able to ‘post’ them to me on the next minibus leaving Phetchaburi. After arriving I checked…
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Wildlife spotting in Phetchaburi
Steve and I left Bangkok on a minibus to Phetburi where we checked into Mayom hostel. The owner there, Roong, was a lovely person. The hostel was new and really pretty, we were almost the first people to stay here! We rented a scooter and drove to the national monument on top of a hill…
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Bangkok with Ben
Steve and I flew back to Bangkok. And with Steve staying only a few days before going to Indonesia, Paul going to Chiang Mai before home and Steffi staying in Yangon for his Chinese visa, it was to be the end of the gang… I planned to be in Bangkok on these dates to coincide…
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Feeling at home in Bangkok
We arrived in Bangkok from Siem Reap. Everyone in the group had been to Bangkok before, but stayed in a different district, AND… they all hated the city. So my mission, as the designated tour guide, was to change all their opinions!! I took them to all my favourite restaurants and bars from previous visits,…
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Hitch hiking in Tha Ton
The bus from Chiang Dao to Tha Ton was… interesting! The bus was a local one full of Thais, and of brown paper wrapped parcels. The bus was the size of a standard coach, and was definitely going too fast for the winding roads! We would stop every now and again (or at least slow…
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The only farang in Chiang Dao
After an amazing time in Chiang mai, I decided to begin my journey into Laos and China. On my last day in Chiang mai I visited the Chinese embassy with a visa application form I had completed at home. I found the embassy easily and got my ticket for a queue position. Are an hour…
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Songkran and Chiang Mai
From Sukhothai I caught a direct bus to chiang mai. Although this wasn’t quite as VIP at my one from bangkok, it was still a double decker coach with comfortable seats. On the way there I began to experience what songkran is; the world’s biggest water fight to celebrate the Thai (and Lao) New year.…
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Thailand’s Golden Age History
After returning to Bangkok briefly from Kanchanaburi, Dan and I then headed out to Ayutthaya; one of Thailand’s ancient cities. We stayed at a place I booked from home, Baan Are Gong guesthouse. A house made purely from teak wood, styled like a boat we think, with cabin style rooms, it was beautiful. Ayutthaya is…
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Kanchanaburi and Erawan Falls
After waking at 6am, we got a taxi across town to Bangkok Thonburi train station. There was a huge food market here as well as a few food vendors and after a noodle soup breakfast we boarded a train to Kanchanaburi. Once there a minivan and bus took us to Erawan national park, where we…
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Exploring Bangkok
On Saturday Ben and I decided to visit the weekend market at Chatuchak park, about an hour’s bus away. The market was so vast, with most parts inside purpose built buildings. There were a range of shops mostly selling really cool clothes, homeware, accessories as well as food outlets and souvenir type shops. It was…
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What Wat?!
So after a dreadful nights’ sleep due to jet lag I decided to move to my next hostel – Hi Mid Bangkok – via taxi. I hailed one from outside link corner and it took me right there, only it dropped me off on the wrong side of a very busy road! Instead of running…
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So this is it… I’m finally here!
So apparently you need proof of onward travel to enter bangkok… seems obvious, but as I spent the last 3 months planning whether or not to buy a microfibre towel, I neglected to fully research this problem. I was under the impression that all you need to get a travellers visa for Thailand was 6…
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Travel Alchemist 