alizroundtheworld

Here I was again..in the country that inspired my whole trip..the first door to freedom…

I got only 15 days visa but it seemed to be ok as I planned 3 countries for December. My first stop was Krabi to see my friend Cooper. I spent the first night in Krabi (Pac- up hostel..if you are up for party, this is the place to go) I wasn’t because the previous nights were hardcore..so I didn’t appreciate the shouting young English fellows in the middle of the night. Next day I went to Ao Nang, and spent the next 2 days just relaxing and catching up with Cooper…and certainly partying in the evenings….:)

I did some sightseeing, had a look at the local market in Krabi and enjoyed a couple of massage sessions too.

After Ao Nang I headed to Kao Lak, the jumping off point of my big dream..a diving cruise around the Similan islands and Richelieu Rock..

I was very optimistic going there hoping to get a space on a 4 days liveaboard ship on the night when I arrive and after a couple of hours shopping around I found a dive centre that offered an amazing last minute deal starting in a few hours.  So I didn’t even need to book accommodation or have dinner..went straight on the boat and the fun has started. It was a nice big group..mixed aged, mixed nationality..4 days on the boat, 14 dives, hundred and thousands of fishes, turtles, octopus, sea horse..loved every minute. I was hanging out most of the time with Bas from the Netherlands.

There was a Thai celebration one day when the Thai staff prepared little floating flowers with incentives and a candle on top and we all sent off our bad spirits..

After the diving adventure I went to Bangkok to submit my visa application for India..(takes 6 working days and unfortunately there were 2 bank holidays in between so I knew I would stay longer than my Thai visa. In this case you pay 500 Baht fine/day (around 10 pounds) So on the day I arrived to Bangkok I took a nightbus to Chiang Mai to meet Bas and visit the north with him. As soon as I got off the night bus I met 3 people, a honeymoon couple from Argentina and Zergio from Venezuela! Of course super amazing people..and yes again..I felt very nostalgic…

I spent one day in Chiang Mai, hired a scooter and visited an amazing temple on the hill.

In the evening we went to  place near the lake where you don’t see a single tourist.authentic thai restaurants attached one to another..Now here I had a story…lol..

I put my bike key in the helmet..then I saw the stunning evening view over the lake so I decided to take a picture..and had the glowing idea of using my helmet at a tripod….By this time I had a few beers so no wonder…I forgot about the key which landed straight in the water…classic!

Next day we took a minibus to another city about 160 km north west from Chiang Mai called Pai..Very charming little town ..however this time of the year it was packed with southern Thai people and tourists..as this is the coldest place and time in the year so Thais love it! The King’s birthday also contributed to the crowd..long weekend, everyone on holiday. Luckily we found accommodation in Mr. Jan’s Guesthouse (in the massage room only though) and for the next day we booked a 2 day rafting trip with Bas. We had 2 seriously funny guides and a group of Americans and a Dutch girl..the water on the 1st day was pretty slow as it’s dry season now so it was more like a chilled out flowing on the Pai river. When we arrived to our camp we went to a cave…we had no clue what was in the cave and what are the conditions there so it turned to be a great challenge for everyone…crawling in tiny spaces full of muddy water ..if you are claustrophobic DON”T DO IT! But the attraction in the cave was amazing…the silent waterfall as our guide called it:

On day 2 the water was around 3 so more fun…when we arrived to Pai we went out with the Amerians..had an interesting conversation with Nesh, psychiatry (by the was Bas was a psychologist too so….not only my travels make me realise things about me 😉

Few pics on Pai and surroundings that we discovered with Bas on scooter again. Pai has a lot to offer..mountains, hot springs, massage centres, cooking classes etc. The street food is amazing! Tried a lot of things and the favourite was meat ball on lemongrass stick..

After Pai it was time to go back to Bangkok to pick up visa. Bas went back to Holland and I spent a couple of nights in Bangkok..

My friend Noppadol always takes care of me..I stayed in his hotel last year, the Grand China Princess hotel in the heart of China Town and he invited me for dinner with fine Peking duck, melon crab salad and excellent whiskey..I ended up again on the stage singing just like on my farewell night last year:)

On my last day in Thailand I went to the floating market near Bangkok..it was truly amazing.

Next post soon about Cambodia.