Thailand: Koh Phi Phi

Next on our Thailand Island hopping tour was the ever popular Ko Phi Phi. This involved a 14 hour overnight journey from Koh Tao consisting of a 9 hour night ferry, 2 hour bus journey then another 2 hour ferry, with a little waiting in between. With Bethan very prone to sea sickness, she quickly fell asleep after taking medication. The others however passed away the time playing a game where you make up a story with each person only adding five words at a time - lets just say things got hilarious when Barney the Dinosaur got a mention!

Ko Phi Phi is a very small island so we didn't think it necessary to book our accommodation in advance, as we have found that sometimes the best deals can be found by just walking into a few places. This way you still have the chance to bargain down the price a little. After visiting a handful of places, we decided on Centrepoint Hostel, which offered a reasonable priced dorm room in the center of everything. After dropping off our bags it was time to explore the island and take a look at some of the activities on offer. Sarah and Sophie decided on a boat tour of the surrounding area and Bethan, Sam and Rebecca thought a couple more scuba dives would be good.

Sarah and Sophie went off on their long tail boat trip for the day where they would explore the surrounding area of Ko Phi Phi. First stop was Monkey Beach where they hopped off the side of the boat into the crystal blue seas  to watch the tourists feed the many monkeys! They had mixed feelings about this as people who had paid more money for their tour turned up in bigger boats and were throwing lots of bread and bananas from the boat which eventually found its way into the sea. Needless to say, it quickly ruined the look of the beautiful sea so they swiftly stopped floating in the water and climbed aboard the boat. Next stop was Maya y which they were very impressed with! If you know anything about this place, you know it's most famous for it's peaceful white sand beach and amazing scenery of the surround cliffs. However, we were in Thailand during peak season which meant the beach was filled with people and boats again! No matter where they tried to swim in the sea, they'd eventually get moved by a boat looking for a space to park and bring even more people to the bay. They still thoroughly enjoyed the views of the bay and the clear waters, I guess we can always go back another day when it's quieter :P We also stopped in the middle of the sea about 5 minutes away from the bay to let people hop off and do some snorkeling to see the fish who live on the reefs. The visibility of the water that day wasn't the best but it was still fun to see, it's got nothing on scuba diving though haha! We were also given our meal for the day which consisted of some fruit, a sandwich and plenty of drinks before heading to the best point to watch the sunset over the water.. so pretty! The trip back to the mainland was interesting as suddenly the sea became really rough with huge waves which were throwing the boat around. It wasn't long before the waves started being bigger than the boat resulting in everyone becoming soaked as we sped through them.. it sounds a lot more scary than it actually was, it was absolutely hilarious!! The rest of the girls had a shock when Sarah and Sophie eventually found their way back to the hostel as they were dripping from head to toe!

Sam, Bethan and Rebecca booked 2 fun dives with The Adventure Club as these had been recommended to them from our previous dive instructor. We were a little nervous at first because these were our first dives as qualified divers. So our guide would literally be just that, obviously there for any emergency situation but we were ultimately to take care of ourselves. The company were having some trouble with their boat, so after a good half an hour delay we were told that we were to swap onto another companies boat which would take us to the dive sites. Now that this boat had twice the number of expected people it really was feeling a little crowded. This didn't matter to us though, we got a good lunch included and unlimited tea and coffee. First we headed out to a location called Bida Nok. This dive lasted 50 minutes and we saw loads of cool things such as, Scorpion Fish, Puffer Fish, Banner Fish and Clown Fish. Next was a place called Maya Corner which is close to the very famous Maya Bay. Here we saw Hermit Crabs, Sea Snakes, Moray Eels, Angel Fish and a 'Marie Antoinette' Lobster (the lobster was missing its head). As we were waiting on the surface for the boat to come and pick us up it was clear that Bethan was having some problems with her BCD. The air was leaking out which meant that she was sinking beneath the surface again. She informed our dive master who gave her a buoyancy aid to help keep her afloat. As the boat was nearing she must have signaled for help because they threw out a ring to hold on to and the next thing she knew she was being towed back onto the boat. This was going to continue as a little joke between the girls - "Oh Bethan, remember that time you had to get rescued and towed back to the boat?" haha!  

The next day was Sarah's Birthday - THE BIG 22, so obviously celebrations were in order! We were all super excited to get dressed up for the occasion! Yes, Thailand is known as a huuuge party destination but we're not really ones for going out for loads of drinks all the time. So when such an occasion arrives we tend to go all out! After more minutes than we care to admit getting ready, it was finally time to head down to the beach to begin the celebrations. Before we even arrived at the beach we spotted a small stall selling drinks for a very reasonable price, we were no doubt going to get ripped off at the bars and with the beach being a very open location it was okay to bring your own alcohol to the parties. We all decided that a bucket (yes, a bucket) each of strawberry daiquiri would be the best choice then headed down to settle at the beach to watch one of the fire shows. The fire show was really impressive with about 10 men performing all manner of dangerous tricks for our enjoyment. There was also some audience participation in the form of a burning skipping rope where you were rewarded with a shot of alcohol if you could do it for long enough. With the drinks flowing and Sam and Rebecca on their second bucket of the night we decided to take a walk along the beach to see what was going on in some of the other bars. Luckily enough it wasn't really that busy so we took a table and had plenty of room for dancing. Soon enough Sam was feeling the effects of the alcohol so decided to call it a night and it wasn't too long before everyone else was feeling the same. Rebecca however wasn't too keen on going home so proceeded to try and drag Bethan into the sea with her. After much persuading we eventually all found our way home and Rebecca found her way into Bethan's bed. It was cute because she had also brought her own pillow and her dog Barney along for the cuddles ("We do love to spoon when we're drunk don't we Beth?" hahahaa)! The next morning a couple of us were feeling a little worse for ware so a few deliveries of chicken nuggets and chips were made to our bedsides. Once we were feeling better we all heading down to the beach for some much needed relaxing to sleep off those hangovers. 

Next stop another Thai Paradise island - Koh Lanta!

Overnight ferry from Koh Tao to Koh Phi Phi

We're hereeeeeee!

Boat Trip

Birthday Celebrations

Amazing fire dance show

The Happy Wanderers

♥

Thailand: Ocean Sound Dive and Yoga, Koh Tao

If you know anything about Koh Tao you will know that it is famous for scuba diving. As a result there are countless dive schools dotted all around the island which makes choosing one a challenge in itself. A week or so before arriving we took to TripAdvisor for a list of the best schools on the island and contacted the top 5 for more information. They all got back to us with similar information and prices which again we were none the wiser as to which one to choose. After reading reviews in more detail we decided that a smaller, more intimate school would be preferred so opted for Ocean Sound Dive and Yoga (which are currently number 1 on TripAdvisor, no doubt they deserve it!). We decided to take the plunge and book to do our PADI Open Water Qualifications which would allow us to dive up to 18m all around the world - providing we passed of course! 

On arrival at Ocean Sound we were greeted by Jesper and asked to fill out a health questionnaire and pretty much sign our lives away. After a quick introduction to the schedule we would be following and most importantly locating the free tea and coffee station, we were taken to our seaside cabins. Ocean Sound are located in Chalok Bay on the south of Koh Tao, away from the madness of Saree Beach where we had stayed previously. We stayed at Tropicana Resort where we were lucky enough to secure 2 beach front cabins just a few metres from the ocean! We had a few hours to spare before we needed to head back to the dive shop to begin our course, so we took a wander around the Bay to orientate ourselves and scope out the good looking bars and restaurants. 

Now it was officially time to begin dive school! We were introduced to our dive instructor Mariana - she was so friendly and easygoing it was clear we were going to have a good time. For the rest of the afternoon we watched a few sections of a DVD and were sent away with some homework. Being the star students that we are, we brushed that off, went for dinner and then all got together at around 10pm to go over our answers (sorry Mariana if you're reading this :P). Nevertheless going over our answers the next morning we had no problems, so it was time to go for our first try in the swimming pool!  

Now at the swimming pool we first had to prove that we could swim. Yes, believe it or not there are people who think they can scuba dive without having the ability to swim! We had to swim 500m and tread water for 10 minutes. Next we learned how to properly set up the equipment and carry out our buddy checks. Then it was time to take our first breaths underwater! Some of us found it more difficult that others to get used to this sensation, as you have to completely forget you even have a nose! Once Mariana was satisfied we were all comfortable it was time to begin our mask skills - filling it with water and learning how to get rid of it, taking the mask completely off and breathing without it for a full 2 minutes - all scenarios that could potentially happen underwater. Next we moved to the deeper pool and practised our buoyancy skills, taking our equipment on and off whilst in the water and around a thousand other things. We were all feeling much more confident now that we had had a few hours in the swimming pool, getting familiar with the equipment and perfecting skills we would have to demonstrate on our dives over the next couple of days. We loved that Ocean Sound carry out this session in a swimming pool rather than in open water as this reduced any anxiety we may have had. We all felt that going straight into the sea, which happens at many dive schools would have been very overwhelming. Mariana gave us even more homework to be completed that evening so we were ready to tackle the open waters early next morning. 

So the day was here - our first ever dive into the open water! We all had very mixed feelings, excited but also nervous as we were going into the unknown. Sophie wasn't doing any diving herself but she was allowed on the boat nonetheless which meant lots of pictures! The boat was amazing, not too crowded and we got free breakfast of eggs and toast and an endless supply of watermelon, pineapple, tea, coffee and hot chocolate. After our dive briefing and quick overview of hand signals of different type of fish we may see it was time to gear up and jump into the water. At Ocean Sound they keep the groups to a maximum of 4 students which increases safety but also makes for a better experience as we felt we really got to know Mariana. We found this first dive a little difficult as we felt like we had a million things to think about all at once. However, Mariana took it very slowly, always checking on us and it wasn't long before we were enjoying ourselves. 

From then on every dive we did got better and better. As we became more comfortable in the water we were able to focus more on the beauty that was around us rather than perfecting our buoyancy or controlling our breathing. We got to do a total of 4 dives for our PADI qualification, reaching a maximum depth of 18 metres. And within what felt like a blink of an eye we were officially qualified PADI Open Water divers! GO TEAM! We enjoyed our experience so much we were contemplating going ahead and doing our advanced course as well. However we thought we would save that for another location so we had diving experience in another part of the world. 

We all enjoyed every minute of our time with Mariana and Ocean Sound, they really are number one for a reason! 

Not a bad location

Sexy wetsuits

Learning our hand signals - awkward turtle! 

Checking we can breathe 

Nice tank ;)

All ready to go!

Heeeeey fishes! 

We survived! 

Officially PADI Open Water Qualified ! 

The Happy Wanderers

♥

Myanmar: Yangon

Once we finally got our Myanmar visas granted after a few days wait in Bangkok, we decided to take the 8 hour sleeper bus to the Mae Sot border. Luckily they have a foreigner queue so we didn't have to wait hours in line with the locals just to get our stamp into the country! However, before we arrived in the country we had heard many warnings about Myanmar using the US dollar as their currency and only accepting pristine notes for payment. So whilst we were in Bangkok, we exchanged all our money into new US dollar notes only to be told at the border that they use their own currency, not the dollar. This made it more difficult to be able to purchase a bus ticket to get us from the border to Yangon but thankfully, a member of staff exchanged our dollars into the local currency (Burmese kyat) and helped us finally book our bus.

En route to Yangon, we had to board a local bus which drove us up through the mountains that had dirt, single-lane roads. This may not sound so bad but it was extremely nail biting when you're on a big coach and a foot away from a 50 ft drop off the cliffs! We were very grateful that these roads were only an hours worth of the 8 hour bus journey and felt relieved to get back onto smooth tarmac until we arrived in Yangon early hours of the morning. We stayed at the Four Rivers Hostel which was quite pricey for our budget because hostels aren't 'a thing' in Burma yet but it was definitely worth the extra few pounds! The dorm room had the most amazing bunkbeds with the softest, fluffiest blanket and pillow we've experienced since we'd left home. It also came with breakfast included which was unlimited toast and hot drinks. 

For our first evening, we decided to visit the local lake which we were told had great views of the pagoda at sunset as it reflected in the water and the sun shone off of it's golden roof. We were slightly disappointed by the view that we got as it was mostly blocked by trees and the sky was too cloudy for an amazing sunset that we had envisioned, but the park itself was still a very pretty and peaceful place to end the day. On our way back to the hostel, we decided to stop at a Thai restaurant for dinner but were shocked at the prices on the menu. They were reasonable for people on their holidays but not cheap enough for our standards, but Sam managed to find unlimited boiled rice for 50p which we all ordered. The waiter looked at us stupid when we said that was all we wanted, and when the food was brought to us, they all gathered around to watch the poor people feast on rice, haha! It wasn't as bad as it sounds because luckily they gave us nuts, chillies, soy sauce etc to add into the dish to make it less bland but it was still a hilarious situation to find ourselves in!

However, the fun didn't end there as when we got back to the hostel, Sarah decided to allow Rebecca to give her a haircut even though she is definitely not qualified to do so but desperate times call for desperate measures! It was decided that Rebecca would only cut about an inch off but soon, she lost concentration and somehow, managed to cut off around 3 inches 'on accident'. Luckily, Sam was there to guide Rebecca and ensure that she was cutting straight so it didn't turn out bad in the end. Good job ladies!

The main attraction in Yangon is the Shwedagon Pagoda as it is one of the most famous in the world. It sits atop of a hill and is 99 metres high which means it can be seen from most places in Yangon during the day and night. It's gold-plated dome is topped by a stupa containing over 7,000 diamonds, rubies, topaz and sapphires with a huge emerald positioned to reflect the sunlight which is why it can be referred to as "the crown of Burma".  The pagoda itself is said to contain eight hair of the Buddha which adds to it's prestige and is why Buddhists feel compelled to visit the site at least once in their lifetime. 

We decided it was time to leave for Bagan by train so set off to find the ticket office which apparently doesn't exist. After asking multiple people for directions who didn't speak English and being sent on a wild goose chase for over an hour around the city, we found the station only to be told we couldn't buy the tickets until the day of departure. Ideal! Next morning, we got up really early to make sure we got our tickets for the dreaded train (see next post for details) .. Onto Bagan!

Shwedagon Pagoda at sunset

Rebecca, Sam and Sarah at the lake

Welcome to Rebecca's Salon!

Arriving at Shwedagon Pagoda

Being a real tourist!

Rebecca making pagoda friends!

Burmese children attempting 'hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil'. SOOOO CUTE!

Young monks at the pagoda

The Happy Wanderers

♥

Cambodia: Sihanoukville

We got the bus from Phnom Penh down to the beaches of Sihanoukville for some well deserved beach time after all the history lessons of Cambodia. We decided to stay in Led Zephur Hostel on Serendipity Beach. We had heard that this was the more lively section of Sihanoukville and was advised to seek accommodation on a more chilled area, however we felt that a more busy location would be suitable for some party time, and we could always do a day to another more quiet area for some relaxing. On arrival at the hostel we were amazed to find a Sunday roast on the menu and quickly jumped at the chance - we were not disappointed! After months and months of seeing pictures every Sunday on Facebook and getting suuuuuuuper jealous, we finally had our own roast dinner to devour, oh god the gravy!

After stuffing ourselves silly we took a wander down the road to the beach front. We were soon ambushed by a group of small children trying to sell us string bracelets/anklets. We politely refused their offer but they proceeded to follow us anyway and it wasn't long before we had a group of them join us at our table while we ate. We didn't mind though, we had lots of fun chatting with them and taking selfies. Bethan was sporting a 'double bun' hairstyle that day which was quite the hit with the children. They kept asking why she had a hairstyle that looked like a cat - "meeeowwww" haha! It was cute to make these little friends because for the remainder of our stay they would spot us on the beach and come over for a while to sit with us. They even made us all friendship bracelets of our favourite colours for no charge whatsoever.

With everyone in high spirits we spotted a fire show going on at JJ's Playground just a few bars down, so we headed over for a closer look. We were happy to find an amazing drinks offer - buy one get three free, for a tiny 40p! We settled onto a table and were mesmerised by the skills of the fire show. It wasn't long before one of the guys, Danny, decided to join us and even convinced Rebecca to have a go herself. As you can imagine this didn't end well, Rebecca attempted to twirl the fire stick around a few times and decided it was too hot so dropped it on the floor. The table next door seemed very impressed with Rebecca's efforts and decided to leave us 2 beer towers as they were heading back home and we proceeded to dance the night away - thanks Mr Hong Kong!

After that heavy night we decided to check out the more chilled area of Sihanoukville, so asked a tuk-tuk driver to take us to Otres Beach. We were met with just a few beach shacks along the beach front but decided to take refuge on a deserted section of the beach under a palm tree. We had a wonderful day dipping in an out of the sea and sipping fresh coconut water. Soon enough the sun was setting so we went into one of the restaurants for dinner, where we were treated to one of the most beautiful sunsets we've seen to date!

So that's our Cambodian Trip all over with - now for a 20 hour bus ride back to Bangkok to apply for our Myanmar Visas!

Dinnerrrrrr!

Serendipity Beach

Drinks with Danny

Courtesy of 'Mr Hong Kong'

Otres Beach

Otres Beach

Sunset at Otres Beach

The Happy Wanderers

♥