It's all about Bangkok!

Writing this post on the night train from Bangkok to Surat Thani: it’s going to take approx. 11 hours, we’ll be arriving around 4.50 am, then taking bus + ferry to Koh Phangan Island – To give you an idea of the price, we paid the equivalent of 25 euros for a package deal (train/bus/ferry) at Hua Lamphong station. Pretty reasonable… Still can’t get over how cheap life is over here!!! I must admit I’m quite happy: despite the last-minute flights I paid for Thailand, I’m still going to stay within my budget - life is so much cheaper here than in Bali!! I reckon we'll stay on the same island for the rest of the holiday - Doro will stay in the South and I’ll take the train back to Bangkok (from Chumphon station) on the 12th in order to catch my flight to Denpasar on the 13th. Can’t wait to be on the beach and finally make the most of the sunshine!!!

Little summary of our stay in Bangkok:
We stayed two nights in the Sri-Yuttayah Guesthouse (close to the National Library) recommended by one of Doro’s backpacker friends - 500 BAT/night (fan but no AC, shared bathroom)

I definitely recommend this place – very basic, yet pretty and clean, close to the Khao San area, but not noisy and touristy like some of the other hostels there! It’s quite difficult for taxis to find though, so take a map with you to show its location – I was told most drivers come from the rural areas so don’t actually know Bangkok that well…we once had to tell the guy he was actually going the opposite way and we’d only just arrived in the city!! One thing I’ve noticed in Thailand is that local taxi drivers don’t like tourists AT ALL. How many times have taxi drivers just sniffed at us or waved us away when we asked for the meter or tried negotiating the prices…Quite comical at times, less funny when you’ve been trying to catch a cab for over half an hour!! It’s crazy when you think that some tourists agree to pay 300 BAT for a tuk-tuk ride…

Our flight arrived quite late but we still took the time to explore Khao San by night – that place is crazy!!! Loved the atmosphere, so busy and lively…It’s like landing on another planet! We had dinner there (which was unfortunately not very well tolerated by our stomachs lol), got another manicure at midnight and walked around the streets til 2 am…

The following day we visited Wat Pho, the oldest and largest temple in Bangkok – so beautiful and colorful. I was amazed by the Buddha sculpture – the biggest in the country. We then walked along the river to China Town where we spent the rest of the afternoon/evening just wandering around the flower market and the busy shopping streets…Paris just seems so boring and dull compared to all these places!!!

We then went up the Baiyoke Tower (the tallest building in Thailand) to enjoy the view of the city by night – 400 BAT to go up to the 84th floor + one free drink at the Skybar :) definitely worth the price!!!

We visited the Grand Palace (former royal residence) the following morning – also worth the 500 BAT entry fee. We walked back to Khao San for a bit of shopping before heading to the train station (yes, no need to ask…of course we bought the “Same, Same…But Different” tops ;)) photo coming soon!

I think 2 days are enough to visit Bangkok, although I’d love to come back with a bunch of friends to enjoy the party scene – there are so many bars, cheap drinks, cheap food everywhere, it’s ideal! Would also have liked to check out the floating markets but time is lacking – next time I guess ;)

Love,

Laura xxx

Expect the Unexpected!

After our post-NYE relaxation day, we spent 2 nights in Sanur:

Yulia 1 Homestay and Jepun Bali Homestay on Jalan Danau Tumblingan (both 200,000 IDR/night including breakfast)

Meditation session on Sanur Beach

Yulia 1 Homestay

We met up both nights with my friend Wira who I met in Nottingham during my Masters’ degree – So nice to see him again after 5 years!!! He took us to a really nice bar on the first night, Linga Longa Bar, a divers’ hangout which I highly recommend for people who want a chill night out in Sanur: live music, pool table, cheap drinks and shisha!

Thanks again for everything Wira, we will definitely come back soon for our diving lesson in Tulamben :)

Bilal, Alex, Flo, get your asses out here!!!!!

We had planned to go to the Gili Islands, up North to Ubud and then to Amed/Tulamben on the East coast – but it had been pouring down tropical-storm-style since January 1^st and the weather forecast was not looking very good for the coming week, so we had to take a big decision…

We basically didn’t want to stay locked inside a hotel room for the rest of our holiday and end up hating Bali…We knew it was a risk to come here during the monsoon season but we decided we’d rather come back another time during the summer and discover Bali at its best…

We first wanted to change our flights to go to Australia earlier and go on a roadtrip to Melbourne together, but quickly figured out that this was going to be way too expensive for both of us…We then realized it would be much cheaper to simply book a return flight to a sunny destination, i.e. Thailand…

It’s great travelling with Doro because we think the same and are both quite impulsive and spontaneous…We didn’t think twice and immediately booked our flights for the next day. Doro will be travelling there for a month, and then head to Perth or Sydney depending on the “circumstances” ;) So the new plan is to spend a few days in Bangkok and then go down South to Koh Tao etc. and see what happens :)

I am SO excited – never thought I would be going to Thailand this year!!!

We’re now at Denpasar airport waiting to check-in ;)

Love,

Laura xxx

Let the holiday begin!

Paris - Taipei: 13 hours

3-hour stopover in Taipei

Taipei - Denpasar: 5 hours

Met a lovely French girl on the second flight - she quit her job in Tours earlier this year to come and live in Bali, and now works for a travel agency in Sanur. She's 26 years old, has done LEA + Tourism studies, spent one year in Alicante and then taught 5-year old kids in Hungary the year after that...Yeah, freaky how it reminds you of someone?! Anyway, I spoke to her all the way to Bali, and didn't get a wink of sleep! Really interesting conversation though, so it was definitely worth it :)

I then had to wait 3 hours for Doro to arrive from Cambodia, plus an extra hour and a half for her to actually manage to get out of the airport since there was a power cut and all the immigration counters were down...Typical! I had been awake for over 24 hours by then, so you can imagine the state I was in! It was great to finally see Doro after 6 months though, just like we'd never been apart really!

Then came the hunt for a taxi - we had organized an airport pick-up because it was super cheap and the guy from the hotel had warned me that taxis usually struggle to find the actual place (Kuta/Legian is a real maze!!) Obviously, no-one turned up so we had to negociate with people to have them phone the hotel with their Indonesian mobiles, but nobody was picking up...We finally decided to take a taxi and it took us over an hour to get there, the traffic was insane and it turned out that the address and phone number indicated on the official booking confirmation was completely wrong! The hotel manager, an Australian guy, was super apologetic about everything and told us we could stay the night for free and check out later the next day hehe :)

Really cool hotel btw: 

Kubu Kauh Beach Inn 

Lebak Bene, Legian (close to the Pullman Hotel)

300,000 IDR/ night for 2 (with AC)

The next day, we toured Kuta Beach and its surroundings, and then decided to head off to Jimbaran - we first negociated with a minibus ("bemo") who changed his mind after 15 minutes and dropped us off in the middle of traffic next to Denpasar airport - we then managed to hail a taxi and nearly got run over several times in the process, but finally reached our destination :)

Villa Puri Royan

250,000 IDR/night (no AC)

We went to Jimbaran Beach to watch the sunset and have a candle-lit dinner with our feet in the sand...It was paradise until it started pouring with rain and the parasol fell on top of Doro and broke in half right on our table!! Little note about the weather during this season: lots of sunshine in the morning, starts clouding over in the middle of the afternoon and pours with rain for an hour or two in the evening. I’d say it goes up to 35 degrees during the day. It is HOT!

We headed to Thomas Homestay (recommended in Lonely Planet) the next  afternoon.

250,000 IDR/night (with AC) 

The hostel is basically located high up on the top of a cliff and the rooms give straight on a breathtaking view of the ocean - there's a little sink and mirror on the terrasse outside the room so you're basically waking up facing the ocean, it's incredible...We went for a walk on the beach below and both fell over on the slippery rocks, that was quite painful...got a few bruises and scratches to prove it ;) In the evening, we rented a scooter from the hostel and drove to the Uluwatu temple to watch a traditional Balinese ceremony at sunset and see the monkeys there...The scooter drive was fun - wouldn't do it in Kuta but the rural roads aren't as crowded so it's easier...Encountered a few cows in the middle of the dirt road though :)

The next morning we went to Padang Padang Beach to enjoy a bit of eye-candy :) it's a beautiful beach, very popular with surfers, but I wouldn't recommend it for people wanting to go for a swim - the water is disgusting there...We just missed a traditional ceremony on the beach, but hopefully we'll see some more up North. We then took a taxi back to Kuta and managed to get into a posh hotel in Legian and enjoyed the pool there for the rest of the afternoon...Then went for a manicure to get ready for NYE!!

Gangnam style dans la piscine!

 

NYE was absolutely insane!!! We started the night on the beach and walked all the way up to Seminyak - fireworks and beach parties everywhere! We then took a motorbike back to Legian (took us quite a while because of the traffic but it was a lot of fun to discover Kuta by night :)). We went to several clubs, including Bounty which a lot of people had recommended - you're basically dancing on a pirate ship! Met a bunch of Australian guys there and partied till 5.30am - best NYE EVER!!!

Importing the T for Tune in Australia and New Zealand ;)

 

Got a full body massage this afternoon and we're now recovering in a bar by the beach...HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!! Pretty good start our end ;)

Wishing you all the best for 2013 :) 

Love,

Laura xxx