A Taste of Thailand

The Full Moon Party flaming skipping rope!

Stewy and I riding an elephant on Koh Phangan

The Full Moon Party sunrise on Haad Rin Nok beach

 The famous bucket drinks on Koh Tao: full mickey of rum, diet coke and red bull which we opted out of after the effects of the full moon party

The Grand Palace in Bangkok, absolutely breathtaking

Muay Tai boxing match! Posing with the winner of the night!

Stewy and Curtis before the hair cuts in the jungle

Stew's new do...no more bradley cooper locks

Surathani first night's accommodation for $11

Soi Cowboy road, famous for ladyboys, hookers and bad decisions

Stewy, Rory, Curt, Travis and i with some fellow travelers in Bangkok

Hanging out on the beach on Koh Tao :)

Jasmine Gardens--Koh Tao where we scuba dived

Sunset on Koh Tao, absolute paradise

The night ferry aka refugee boat, horrible!

Happy hour drinks on Ko San road in Bangkok

Our accommodation in Bangkok for 400baht

 The boys ready for scuba diving on Koh Tao: Stew, Curt, Travis and Rory

 Some of the bugs we ate in Bangkok

This is Thailand mannnn you can do whatever you want!

Greetings from Thailand!! I am writing from an island called Ko Chang where we are staying on Lonely Beach, a small beach with bungalows shacks to stay in for 100baht/night. We got here yesterday and spent our first night here with a gigantic rain storm I thought was going to destroy our shack since it was physically shaking.

We've been in Thailand for a couple weeks nearly now and I am officially in love with this place. People were not kidding about the heat and humidity and we experienced this to the extreme while in Bangkok where the city somehow traps all heat in and you really just never stop sweating. Its at the point where you want accommodation with no hot water--even the option makes me sweat haha. We were in Surathani for a night and got a true taste of Thailand walking around the markets and seeing locals slice and dice fish on big planks right before our eyes. A lot of the food we werent sure exactly what it was but the smells and looks of many things were quite interesting. We headed to Ko Phangan the next day for a bunch of days to experience the full moon party. We rented a scooter to get around the island and ended up staying in EasyLife Bungalows in the northern part of the island. The full moon party was pretty wild but so were the days before and after which included beach parties, music, fire twirling, skipping ropes dipped in kerosine and lit on fire to skip, foam baths, body paint and even a waterslide from a roof. Our friends were right when they said you can do anything you want on the islands which means if the place your at charges too much for booze, you just go to 7eleven and buy some and bring it back into the bar. you can also leave bars with your booze and roam the streets. We got to try these infamous buckets which consist of a mickey of booze, illegal rebull and one can of pop. Strong and lethal needless to say. the redbull was the danger which had us all feeling shakey and sick the next day so we are off the redbull for good. The party was awesome and we made it right through to sunrise. These beach parties are not doing well for my sandal situation as we've been in Thailand for 2 weeks and I've gone through about 5 pairs of flip flops. Lucky for me flip flops are like 80baht or $2 so its not too devastating.

We spent a good time on Ko Phangan and got to ride an elephant which was awesome. I ran a couple times there but have to watch timing as when the mosquitoes come out its like a death sentence for me. We headed to Ko Tao after which was an even more amazing island where we got beautiful accommodation just steps from teh beach. We all went for a scuba dive the one day and saw so many beautiful fish, coral and even some black tipped sharks! I am travelling with Stew, Curt and 2 guys from Canada that Curt picked up in Europe named Rory and Travis.Curt's brother has goen home early after a mo-ped accident that cost him 4 stitches and the inability to walk comfortably. We were sad to see him go but know that he's better off. We had a grea time on Ko Tao and fell in love with the beach front restaurants. We got to see a real muay tai boxing match and even meet the champion of the night.

After Ko Tao we spent a couple nights in Bangkok which was amazing. The journey there was a little rough which required a night boat aka  refugee boat that was filthy with bunk beds and caused me to get a little sea sick followed by an 8 hour bus ride where the ac stopped workng and took everything in me not to projectile vommit in but was so thankful to get to the city. The city is booming with street vendors, shops and lights everywhere. It is very much lik ehow you see in the movies and we had to be cautious of pick pocketing and ruthless tuk tuk drivers who will take you almost anywhere but where you actually ask to go. We stayed on Ko San Road, a famous street for vendors and tourism. We checked out Soi Cowboy known for the scenes in teh hangover 2 and the ladyboys/hookers that are everywhere and not shy to come up and grab the boys. A sight you definitely will never forget. We went to the bars and 1 strip club and tried fried bugs on the street one night which consisted of grubs, crickets, cockroaches and grasshoppers. Disgusting yes but not AS bad as I anticipated. The food is generally amazing and we got pad thai for 50 cents on teh street. The people are outrageous in Bangkok and the city attracts some interesting characters. I stuck close to the boys and felt safe most of the time but realized how true it was that if you were to go missing in Bangkok you would then belong to the city. We saw the grand palace temple and Sucumvit (sp?) another hustle bustle places with bars and shops which can also be seen in the movie the beach.

We are now on Ko Chang after leaving bangkok. We plan to go back to bangkok eventually as the boys want to get some custom made suits and i just want to experience bangkok's madness again. We are heading to Cambodia after Ko Chang and then up to Laos. We have been doing well and despite getting a really bad case of what I am confident was bed bugs I am surviving well! I found a local shop with herbal cream for my bites and haven't gotten into any dangerous scenerios ha. I was able to get a new camera after mine died for under $100 with Stew's salesy help at a camera store and will post pictures when I can. LOVING the cheap thai food but realized I've met my match when it comes to spice and that when they say its spicy, they really mean expect to spend your meal nearly in tears and sweating. Beer and drinks are dirt cheap and we've done enough drinking for the rest of our lives ad have been on a detox the past couple days. The boys are shaving their heads today for a friend at home and though I will be sad to say goodbye to  Stew's bradley Cooper hair that i love I know its for a good cause :)
Miss everyone and think of you all often! Will update more when I can and look forward to telling you stories in person that are undescribeable online.
Love you all and cant explain enough how much I am in love with thailand!
xoxoxox

I am currently sitting in the Coolangatta airport with Stewy waiting to board our long anticipated flight to Kuala Lumpur. We have been waiting for this flight for what seems like ages but it's finally here! We left Byron Bay this past friday and took an 8 hour journey of travelling by bus and train and bus again to make our way to Mooloolaba to stay with Mick for a couple days on the Sunshine Coast. Sunshine was lacking there as we got rained on nonstop while visiting but were able to grab a few hours of dry weather thankfully. We had a great visit and Stewy was able to get out for one more surf at our old stompin grounds Alex Beach before we headed out towards Redcliffe to meet up with Rachel McKay and her boyfriend Curtis who were so kind to let us store some of our belongings are their place while we travel South East Asia.

Rachel picked us up from the train station and spoiled us with home made minestrone soup and the comfort of their gigantic home and couch and flat screen tv. ahhhh the simple luxuries of life. We had a relaxing night with Rach and Curtis and then were off with much less luggage towards the Gold Coast in the morning. We spent a night in Surfer's Paradise at the Gold Coast  International Hostel which we got for only $20/night/pp. It was a deal considering its a low season now with the cooler weather. We had dinner with Stew's friend Cale at The Avenue and spent a relaxing night in watching movies. We got up early the next day and I had my run around surfers before we packed up to move on. Got to skype both mom and dad to say goodbye before Asia and then had breakfast with Stew at Pancakes in Paradise where we had the most expensive pancakes I've ever experienced. For $17 we got 3 pancakes and a coffee....between 2 of us. ridiculous!

After Surfer's we headed to Coolangatta and stayed at Sands Hostel which was a little pricier at $29/night/pp but we got our own room like we had in Surfer's due to the lack of backpackers lately. It's been hella cold here in Australia (for australia) so we've been in hoodies and pants almost every night. Needless to say, no beach days lately. We went out for dinner last night to a sushi place where we were able to get a huge platter of various sushi pieces for $30 which was a steal. It was delicious! We had a low key night in again in the hostel and watched movies, made popcorn and had a good sleep. This morning we got free cereal at the hostel and then headed to the library to kill some time in Coolangatta before having to head to the airport. We made our way here to the airport around 6pm, had dinner, browsed the bookstore and checked in. I ended up having to pay an additional $30 to check my backpack as it was 4kg over and being as I already have packed the bare minimum there was no way to on the spot get rid of 4kg! Come on ladies, you know its not that easy!

Anyways, we fly out here in a matter of minutes and will be arriving at 4am in Kuala Lumpur. Originally we would have been taking a solid 18+ hour bus up towards Ko Phangang for the full moon party but opted to fly up to Surat Thani which is only half an hour on the plane and was a measely $70/pp. Not bad and really we can't put a price on the comfort level. This way we will make it to Ko Phangang in time for the party and to meet Curt and his brother well rested and ready to party on the 5th.

To answer your questions you may be wondering, no we will likely not have cell phone access but will update our families and friends online when possible, yes we will be careful and are aware of the dangers of the full moon party, we will be traveling from the islands to Bangkok then potentially on to Cambodia, Laos and vietnam. Nothing is set in stone yet as we will be making our arrangements once we meet up with Curt and his brother. We will be staying at Green Peace Bungalows on Ko Phangang for a few days for the full moon party and you can check it out by googling!!

I am so excited to get to Asia yet a little nervous about what to expect once we land. It will be quite the experience for both of us and likely the most foreign place we've ever landed into. Stew has his eppy pen so we're hoping for no allergy attacks while in asia and will be doing our best to say NO NUTS when ordering meals for him lol. We will update everyone as soon as we can and of course pictures to follow. Love you all and miss you tons! Can't wait to update our next big adventure :)
xxo