The Wild Side of Bangkok

My mother and I arrived in Bangkok a little after 4am and since public buses were miraculously still running we avoided the dreaded tuktuk/taxi dilemma and within no time had arrived back at The Overstay where we had left some lugofgage. We hung out there a bit before doing some sightseeing and I was again struck with the sentiment that I wish I could have spent more time at that hostel. Our day of sightseeing began with visiting the Grand Palace, then deciding it was too hot and crowded and giving up on the palace, taking a picture in front of it instead so we could claim we were there. We visited Terminal 21, a bizarre mall with a different country theme on each floor, made even more bizarre by the fact we were there - the jury is still out on which of us hates malls more, and later a walk through Chinatown. I seemingly blinked and found myself standing at the ARL station hugging my mother goodbye.

The first time I was in Bangkok I had taken it easy, nerding out with boardgames and night markets, this time I was meeting up with my Dutch friend Freddy who I'd met in Chiang Mai and we were staying at a hostel on Khaosan Rd so there was no mistaking that this time would be different. My suspicions were proven when I met up with him and within moments we were on Khaosan Rd having what would be the first of many drinks that night. Having been in Bangkok multiple times Freddy was the perfect tour guide into the hedonistic wild side of Bangkok.

Drinking & Laughing Gas
On Khaosan Rd you can find a myriad of things, which we sampled ranging from cold beers and buckets of booze to laughing gas. The buckets I've grown used to but the laughing gas was a first. We sat down at one table to share a bucket and next to us was a Thai woman selling balloons of laughing gas that tourists would buy, inhale and exhale almost instantly  experiencing a laughing gas high. A truly bizarre experience.

Ping Pong Show
Yes I saw one. It could be worse, that was Freddys second time seeing one in two days. I'd been torn about wanting to see one since it sounds terrible but weird enough to be intriguing. Which is exactly how it was. Getting there is a bit of a scam with the tuk tuk drivers and negotiating the prices (we agreed on 700bht for 2 then once we were there it became 800bht) but soon enough we had our free drinks and were inside. Sure enough we saw the girl who was able to bounce multiple ping pong balls into a bucket at the other side of the stage which left me wondering how you discover such a talent and also wondering how I can be so terrible at beer pong when that lady on stage can aim so well with her "no hands" version. There were a few other acts as well each weird in its own unique way and while it was an incredibly bizarre experience the earlier drinks and the good company dulled the weirdness somewhat.

Freddy forcing me to try a scorpion

Freaky Street Food
Normally street food is something I am wild for but on Khaosan Rd there are a few street food additions I didn't care too much for.  As it would get later, the scorpion vendors would come out to play and I may have even glimpsed a few giant spider dealers but I was excellent at ignoring those. My first night Freddy kept threatening that he would get me to eat a scorpion. I successfully avoided it the first night but was less lucky on night two. Freddy stopped one of the vendors and bought two scorpions as we tried to convince the lady that we wanted the teeny tiny ones not the jumbo ones she tried passing us. We counted to 3, he succeeded at eating his and after a false start I managed to get mine down in one gulp. The taste itself wasn't so bad but I could feel legs and pincers and other unsavoury bits that were impossible to chew and swallow. It made me wish for more silkworms and crickets.

My second stay in Bangkok was short but jam packed with weird adventures and as I was leaving for Myanmar I knew I was in for a drastically different experience.

The Chiang Mai Lantern Festival

On treacherous roads some pray to god, for me on the road from Pai to Chiang Mai I prayed to Gravol. I'd slept through the entire drive to Pai so I'd been blissfully unaware that there were 762 curves in the road however this time I was awake and feeling it...until the Gravol gods heard my prayers and the drowsy anti-nauseant kicked in. Praise Gravol! At the bus statiom we caught a songtheow and I felt proud that I had kicked ass at bargaining - something that fills me with dread and anxiety - and had properly conveyed our destination. The trouble came afterwards when we were on the right street and couldn't find the Mojo Guesthouse that we'd booked on Air BnB. Nobody on the street knew of it and even more perplexingly nobody knew the street name despite living on working on the street. We finally asked Baan Thai Resort for directions and discovered they'd renamed themselves ages ago and had forgotten to delete their old AirBnB account.

My mother bailed on the Sunday night market so I met up with Carlota and we made our way over to the giant, crowded street full of trinkets and food - which we thoroughly enjoyed. On top of the food and sights we ended up at one closed interection where a group of guys were jamming on didjeridoos and drums, so of course we pushed past the crowd and sat on the asphalt at the front of the circle. Then, because a night out with Carlota never ends early we found ourselves making our way to the Reggar Bar, something I found hilarious since Carlota had just bought a new 85L backpack so it came with us to the club. In Thailand the bars close at midnight so afterwards we were mingling outside with some others when a motorbike with a thai guy and Carlota stop in front of me and she shouts "Get on! We're going to a secret after hours club" which led to another Carlota-esque night where I found myself returning as the sun was rising.

The morning after I still luckily made it to the Myanmar embassy where the line was non existent, the staff were super friendly, and the application was easy despite a few odd questions (i.e. What is your skin colour?). Somehow the ride there was 40bht but coming back the cheapeast was 150bht so out of stubborness I walked back in the blazing sun, arriving just in time for my mother and I to sign up for a cooking class for later that evening. The class started with a tour of the market where we learned about some thai ingredients and then we drove out to the countryside to a farmhouse where we would learn several dishes. The entire course was so much fun and the instructor Richie was great, when teaching us how to make the chicken cashew nut dish he impressively set the wok on fire, then told us we would be doing the same trick,  starting with yours truly. He got me to tilt the pan, pour the mix in and leap back as a fireball seemingly erupted in my pan. The best part of course was eating what we'd made which consisted of papaya salad, mango sticky rice, curry paste, green curry, pad thai wrapped in an omelette, chicken cashew nut, and chicken coconut soup and every single dish was unbelievably good.

The day after our cooking adventure we decided to embark on an elephant adventure. I was dead set against elephant riding and wanted an elephant sanctuary whereas my mother desperately wanted a picture with an elephant and wasn't too picky where she got it. Luckily we found a place that was not just an elephant sanctuary but a BABY elephant sanctuary, for young elephants rescued from the circus. Kid, our fantastic guide, picked us and two other girls up and once we were at the sanctuary and had changed into our very flattering mahout attire we got to meet the 3 babies (more like toddlers).

The three girls were Nathalie, Bplaifun, and one with a name impossible to remember with the youngest, Bplaifun, being 2 years old and about a head shorter than me. It was actually intimidating at first meeting such a large foreign animal that had a trunk moving all over the place but we fed them an absurd amount of bananas, moved past the intimidation stage and into the stage of awe and admiration at these beautiful creatures. We led them up the hill for a walk, joking with the mahouts, one per elephant, and feeding the girls the entire way.

After the walk we ended up at a small pond where we waded in, fully clothed, to swim with and wash the elephants, which of course was just another excuse to joke around with the others while the elephants shot trunkfulls of water at us. My mother refused to go in the water because she heard the elephants pooped in the pond but so far on this trip I've been covered in worm poo (vermicasting at Layog Country Farm in the Philippines), chicken poo (cleaning the chicken shelf at Clayzy House Koh Lanta), bat poo (stupidly posing for a picture in a cave in Pai not realizing that was not dirt...), so whats a little sketchy pond water? Besides, we had a great time in the water with the elephants and I would not have traded that, not even for perceived cleanliness. Saying goodbye to the elephants was sad but it was a great adventure at the Elephant Park Rescue.

Part of the reason why we had chosen to be in Chiang Mai for those for those dates was because of the Li Peng and Loi Krathong festivals. We had watched some of the Li Peng  festival the night earlier where we'd watch them put floating lanterns down the river however as cool as that was, the main event would be the floating lanterns the next day. The only problem was that the festival was so disorganized. We finally discovered that there was the main event that you had to pay 100USD for and book a year in advance, and a free event that had been cancelled that year but was somehow still running anyways outside the wall of the main event. Another confusing option was that people were letting lanterns float up within the city walls however that option was an unofficial one and technically illegal. With the first two options we were able to watch the lanterns being set off by the unofficial event and then at 9pm the official release would happen. All this information we learned while picking up my visa at the Burmese embassy when we asked Kenny the super helpful employee there.  We found out the events were held near the Mae Jo University which was about an hour drive north and then as luck would have it, Kenny said he lived near it and if we could wait 40 minutes till his shift ended he would drive us there. Embassy hitchhiking, best way of getting around! For two hours we watched lanterns being released next to the river and even released one ourselves but the truly amazing moment came after 9pm when the official event was allowed to release their lanterns. Before the sky had been dotted with hundreds of lanterns but when the official release happened it was like a swarm of thousands of lanterns blocking out the night sky and full moon and was only made more impressive by the fireworks that were let off slightly afterwards.

Lesson learned:Cooking Thai food isnt that difficult and I fully intend to cook it frequently when I have a kitchen again (whenever that may be).

Bangkok and Pai with my Mother

The only thing that pried me away from the amazing place I'd found with Wanderlust Hostel in Koh Phangan was the prospect of meeting my mother in Bangkok. I've met travelers who have not been home or seen family in years and they seem fine with that but that is not me! Back home my sister is my best friend and I'm extremely close with my mother and father and stepmother so being away for so long has been tough. I'm not sure how I succeeded but I managed to convince my mother to join me for two weeks in Thailand and as her visit approached I was more and more excited. Does it make me a terrible daughter if I was also really excited to see how she handled the crowds, the language and lack of any english on signs, the first time when  a Thai person would tell her some food was not spicy when it was and the bathrooms with bumguns and no toilet paper? Probably.

I got to Bangkok a few nights before her and I walked around a lot, went to the nearby night market every night but I barely did any sightseeing. The nerd that I am, the highlight of my days alone in Bangkok were when I found an online meetup for boardgaming and spent 11 hours playing games with locals and boardgame cafe hopping with them. After 6 months I was pretty deprived of gaming and I can even try and claim it as a cultural experience too because by the end of the night I had learned numbers in Thai. My lameness may have also been a good thing because the others at the hostel seemed to have suffered from the infamous Khaosan Rd. One guy had his passport stolen, another had his passport, wallet, phone and likely dignity stolen and the biggest tragedy of all was one poor girl who had lost her phone, her money, then missed her non refundable flight back to London, then while spending a few more days in Bangkok she was robbed twice more and for a second time drunkenly missed her flight back to London.

My mother arrived on November 16th and since it had been so long since we'd seen each other I was not sure I'd be recognized so I made sure to stand next to the taxi drivers holding a sign that read "Mom". She claimed to have recognized me but I'm pretty sure it was the sign that did it. It was amazing and surreal seeing my mom standing there in Bangkok and I was so glad to have her there but her first 24 (36?) hours there were rough. We exited the airport and she was crushed by the heat, then since the Airport Rail Link that I  had now mastered was closed, she was subjected to the joys of catching an airport taxi in Asia which took several tries. I had given my mother a few options of places we could stay and instead she sent me a link of the exact hostel I would have loved to stay at but had assumed she would hate. We booked it, checked into the hostel and as I had expected I loved it. Also as expected, the hated it. The Overstay is this fantastic hostel that may be a bit grungy but has a great vibe and collection of people and is the kind of place that would be great to just hang out. Unless you are looking for a perfectly clean place that has a/c blasting everywhere and is quiet, then like my mother you would be complaining and miserable to. The daughter laughing and saying I told you so probably didn't help her mood. The next day we wandered around Bangkok and Khaosan Rd but she was so miserable in Bangkok that when we checked the bus prices to Pai for the next day she asked if it was possible to leave that night. We got tickets, sped back to the hostel, furiously packed and somehow made it back in time to catch the overnight bus which was 12+ hours of solid sleep for me and another 12 hours of miserableness and carsickness for her.

Just in case

Getting our feet eaten at a fish spa. 

Once we arrived in Pai the culture shock and not so fun experiences stopped for my mother because we were finally in beautiful Pai. After the heat and crowds and concrete jungle in Bangkok, Pai was like a paradise for us since it was so tiny you could walk everywhere in town, it was cooler or at night even cold, and there was beautiful scenery and views everywhere. Our first two nights were at the Pai Circus school where I learned a bit more Poi and some firestaff (still no fire) and not only did my mum stay at the Circus school too but she even tried a few of the activities, slacklined, and one night she hung out late with all the young hippies and held her own. My mother and I really wanted to see the surrounding area but the fact that every person at the hostel was covered in bandages from motorbikes wasnt making us feel too confident. Somehow miraculously we found a taxi that would take us around for 1000bht, then 2 french girls overheard us and asked to join in. Then a third girl, Vie, overheard us and also joined in bringing the cost to 200bht per person. The hilarious part was Vie had rented a bike that morning and we had seen her driving and that had been the final straw in our decision to not to drive a bike. A minute after she passed us she crashed and turned around. That day we saw the Pai Grand Canyon, we visited thw land split (not too impressive), saw the waterfall which was beautiful and swam in its icy waters, and ended the day at the sai ngam/secret hot springs which at 20bht entry was much more preferable to the slightly better one that was 300bht! The entire ride I sat in the back of the pickup truck with Vie and the views were beautiful but the steep ups and downs of the roads would have been terrifying on a bike.

My mother rocking at the slackline

When we got back to the Circus I was greeted by the pleasant surprise that my friend Tyer had now checked in. To me the Circus School was a fun and funky place but for Tyer it seemed he had found the spot he belonged the most in the world. I've never had that but seeing Tyer experience it I hope to god I do someday. The 3 of us ventured out to the main street to see the daily night market and it was a colourful mixture of artisan handicrafts and more importantly, delicious foods. Tyer would see a colourful sweater, I would see khaosoi salad, he would see a gem necklace, I would see bacon wrapped mushrooms. The only thing I wish I hadn't seen was the bug stall. I've avoided trying them so far because I didn't want to buy a whole bowl of them but then as we're watching some poor tourist who is about to try them he offers me some. So I pick up a silkworm, we cheers, then down it. He offered me a fat beetle which I said hell no to so we settled on trying crickets together. The silkworm was okay (can't believe I can say that) but the cricket was all legs and crunch and felt like it never left my teeth. To rid myself of the terrible cricket taste I treated myself to even more street food.

Pai Grand Canyon

Stunning view from te Pai Circus School

Yeah...I ate that

After 2 days of being a trooper and putting up with staying at the circus my mother opted for getting our own cute little bungalow away from the crazyness. We spent the rest of our time there getting thai massages and one night we even searched out the Purple Monkey hostel when we heard they had poutine and caesars. Sadly the poutine stops after 5 but that was the best damn caesar ever.

Our last day in Pai we decided to have a nice lazy day tubing down the river. We get in the tubes and then are immediately separated, then launched into the rocks, escape the rocks, then were launched into spiky bushes and spent the next five minutes de-thorning everything. It was chaotic but hilarious, especially when you add in my mothers reactions. The group eventually became myself, my mother, Luke, and Connor and miles back were the rest. While talking together Luke, the super sweet South African guy found out I wanted to learn to ride a motorbike but was too scared so after tubing he made it his goal to teach me. After tubing he drove around a bit and we visited the waterslide waterfall where you climb up, look down and go "Oh crap I have to slide down THAT?" but it was actually a blast to go down it. The water in the shallow pool below was Canadian cold so I was okay but poor Luke being from South Africa was shivering to death and I swear he was turning blue. Despite seeming nearly hypothermic and me being fine he still insisted I be the first to use his towel. Then the scary part comes. He pulls the bike over and says 'Your turn'. It was terrifying to me but he was an awesome teacher and sat on the back so if I messed anything up he could adjust it. When I think of how many tourists are thrown on a bike by the bike shops and are told 'this is gas, this is brake' and then start driving I can't help but feel incredibly lucky that I had Luke to teach me. The hills in Pai are insane so I wasn't up for braving it all the way so we thankfully switched after a while and drove to the white buddha to watch the sunset. Then my mother and I ended the day yet again at the night market. I think night markets are like sunsets, you can never see too many.

Lesson learned: If you are a terrible and nervous driver like myself but you still stupidly want to try riding a bike 1) have someone actually properly teach you, 2) do it before your medical insurance expires! (Dec 20th - Happy Birthday to me!)

Following the Moon Cycles in Koh Phangan

My plan for Koh Phangan was to volunteer at a party hostel, go to the infamous Full Moon Party and stay there for a week, what I didn't plan for was finding a group that became my family while I was there. Carlota and I arrived at Vagabond hostel which seemed fairly nice and waited around for the owner until we were told we would be volunteering at one of his other hostels that I'd never heard of called Wanderlust which had only recently opened. We arrived at this amazingly cool looking bright red hostel with dozens of creative drinking games in the common area and a wide open common area but the best part of the place hands down were the other two owners. The first guy we rarely saw but Ramona and Nenad were what breathed life and fire into the place. They are the most big hearted, generous, fun, and passionate couple I have ever met who would one moment be arguing in Italian then yelling 'Amore' to each other across the room, and their passionate nature extended to their work too where I am pretty sure they would break their back to help someone. Ramona is this absolute sweetheart with a wild side and Nenad is this crazy inventor of drinking boardgames who would often yell out "Wanderlust shot!" and proceed to pour dozens of free shots for everyone there. When I arrived there was games like the obvious beer pong but then Plinko (or Drinko), Battleshots, drinking roulette and by the time I left there seemed to be a dozen more. I had expected to party in Koh Phangan but while I was there I felt like I had a family and a home because of Ramona, Nenad, Carlota and a few other amazing people who were staying here.



Our first night at Wanderlust we were invited to a Thai birthday party at the restaurant across the street where the family who ran the restaurant was incredibly sweet and shared their food, and drink and cake with us, then became less sweet as they kicked our asses at beer pong back at the hostel! The work at the hostel varied and at times I'd be helping behind the bar and other times I could be doing anything ranging from helping make pieces for a new drinking game to cleaning bathrooms or having 4 person super secret laundry parties when the laundry lady suddenly quit leaving us with bags and bags of unwashed sheets and towels. After the Full Moon Party we ended up with an amazing group consisting of Ramona, Nenad, Carlota, Tyer - possibly the most colourful person I've ever met, Elias - the guy who is good at everything he tries, Craig - the crazy forest firefighter/my cooking buddy, and Franzi - the absolute sweetheart.  Together we would hang out, have drinks, play games, and for several nights in a row we shared big hostel dinners that fed everyone here. One night Carlota made a pasta dish, then Craig made Cajun dirty rice with seafood, Ramona made chicken schnitzel, and I made chinese sauteed greens with tofu and mushrooms. I also managed to make myself the sous-chef in every single meal, not cooking for months has been driving me crazy so chopping and stirring and all of that was such a relief and a lot of fun.

After nearly 3 weeks I had to leave the island to head up north to meet  my mother in Bangkok but leaving Wanderlust was no easy thing. By then the hostel had emptied out a bit but that just meant more time with Ramona, Tyer, and Nenad. The night before I left we headed back to the beach reggae bar for one last time and the next day the Slip n Fly had a free day so we headed there for my last day goodbye thing. We arrive an hour after opening and were the first ones there, meaning we were able to go off the giant slides first without people seeing how terrible we were at it! Eventually it filled up more and it was almost more fun watching other people shooting into the sky than it was actually going down. So as Ramona and I are sipping beers we decide to make score cards and sit at the end of the bridge and judge people as they came down. We had little paper so everyone got a 7 or higher (until the staff told us they actually had real score cards). It started off just us giggling and scoring the jumps but by the time we left nearly the entire water park had joined us on the bridge and was joining in on the scoring - everyone wanted to be the mean judge for some reason. Before leaving they finally convinced Ramona and I to go one last time so we did a double jump and fearfully looked up to see our score, at this point only the mean judges were on the bridge, one judge gave us 10 points and the other two combined theirs to give 1,010 points. Since I had a ferry to catch we had to rush off and soon I was at the pier with a belly full of pad thai from my favourite restaurant and was hugging Ramona and tearing up. On the ferry I was so sad at leaving my Koh Phangan ferry that I was trying to hold back tears and watching the island become smaller and smaller when this one guy yells out "You're on the wrong side". He thought I was looking for the sunset so I headed over and ended up talking and listening to ukulele music for the next 2 hours. Thank you Universe for the wonderful distraction!

The Parties
The main reason people seem to come to the island is partying so I definitely have to mention that! While normally I don't go out to big parties, I'm more of a house/apartment party person, I ended up going to my fair share of parties while I was there. I went to the Full Moon Party which I had had on my bucket list for ages, and then I also made it to the pool party, the pre full moon Jungle Party, the Half Moon Party and the Loi Lai Floating Boat Party which I had not even known about.

Pool Party (free) - My first party on the island, we were supposed to go to the party at Sandcastle but then a friend heard that the cover is 300bht and the club next to it was free so of course I opted to go to the Pool Party club. Glad I did because this place was basically one giant massive pool with people partying and dancing around and in the pool.

Jungle Party (500bht) - I'd head mixed reviews about whether to go, some people said it was better than the Full Moon Party, some people said not to go because people end up so destroyed from it that they miss the Full Moon Party. Personally I'm glad I went because it was pretty amazing, held in the middle of the jungle and I was still able to volunteer and make it to the Full Moon Party the next day. The place was filled with neon painted travelers, firedancers and other crazyness and it did seem to be better than the Full Moon Party. Plus afterwards on the ride home my friend Andrew and I ended up meeting up with some of my friends from Wanderlust on the songtheow ride back and once we got to Wanderlust we decided to watch the sunrise on the beach and thanks to Alicia we almost got to hitchhike to the beach on the back of a garbage truck. Almost! 

Full Moon Party (100bht) - The day of the full moon party I was sleep deprived from the night before and that evening we spent hours preparing a hostel meal so by the time I started switching to my full moon outfit and applying body paint I was dead. This is where I made my mistake of the night, I drank many many vodka redbulls and I am not sure what was more deadly, the vodka, or the Thai redbull. Probably the amphetamine laced redbull. The prepreparty at Wanderlust and preparty at Nomad House were great and the Full Moon party was pretty amazing to see too. You enter and there's dancing everywhere, people on the beach, buckets of booze everywhere, everyone is in neon everything and most amazingly you look up and the giant full moon is looming above you. Sadly the vodka thai redbulls caught up with me and I had to leave early so no watching the sunrise for me. Even worse, my poor friend left early with me to make sure I got back okay, fantastic guy who just had the bad luck to have been around me that night.

Loi Lai Floating Boat Party (300bht*) - Once again we found ourselves having drinks at Nomad House and Carlota and I found out about a floating boat party nearby that was 300bht entry. We were debating whether to go and while at the bar I overheard some guy saying "Well I'm a cheap Canadian so...." at which point I jump in saying I'm a cheap Canadian too! *This is where we found out how to get to the party for free. Everyone said arriving before midnight was idiotic BUT arriving before 10pm meant free cover. So Carlota, Tyer, Jon (cheap Canadian buddy), and Daisy and I missioned there, got our stamps, went back to Nomad and then went back to the party - which was fantastic. It really was on the water and you had to cross a sketchy wobbly bridge to get there. I loved the music and dancing and Tyer is an inspiring person to dance near since he dances wildly and freely without any inhibitions. After a little while it was Carlota and I and we ended up meeting another group of people. While hanging out with them I pointed at their water bottle since I was dying of dehydration and asked to have some. They said of course but after I started chugging it back they all started saying "No! No! No! That's too much!". Turns out it was not water, it was mdma, so that was a bizarre first for me and taught me a lesson that even water can't be trusted. Luckily it was still a great night and we ended up at an afterparty at their house in the middle of the island in the jungle where we talked, drank, and danced barefoot in the rain and puddles as the sun rose. It wasn't until one moment I realized the time and Carlota and I hitched a ride on the back of a motorbike back to the hostel. We arrived at 3pm. Ramona said we had set the hostel record.

Half Moon Party (1,000bht) - This was a party I had planned to skip, mostly based on the price, but the crazy Carlota of course succeeded in convincing me to go...as the taxi was about to drive off. While I'm glad I went I still feel 1000bht was a steep price for the night since the jungle party was almost in the same location and was just as great I found. Still it was cool being around all the different dance floors and walking through the jungle amidst crowds of neon people.


Lesson learned: Koh Phangan is an awesome place for partying but there are so many other amazing parts to it, like the people, the waterfalls, the beaches, the treks, and it deserves more than the standard 2 nights most people seem to spend where they stay for the moon party and then leave almost immediately after.

A Lot of WTF in Phuket

There are times when traveling where I sometimes barely recognize myself as it seems my approach to life has changed in so many ways and I have become a much more laid back version of myself. Anyone who knows me back home would describe me as a crazy planner. Anyone who has traveled with me would maybe even up that to neurotic planner. I could lie and say that my past intensively planned trips were because I always had 11-14 vacation days so you want to maximize them and not waste any time but that would only be a partial truth. I like excel spreadsheets, I like researching things, and I like and am damn good at planning. Now that I have lost my excuse of 'I have to plan I'm only here for a few days' I have fully embraced not worrying if I spend multiple days in one place without seeing specific landmarks because I can just keep extending my stay and taking long transportation with no schedules is no longer an issue for me because again, I have time! I caught the 9am ferry from Phi Phi Island to Phuket and upon arrival I was very happy to see a set fare taxi stand where I could avoid the hassle of haggling and also take the shared minivan with others. Then I found out my couchsurfing host was in the middle of nowhere and I'd have to take a private taxi for 600 baht, something I was not willing to do. The lady at the counter vaguely explained another option that involved a minivan and a bus so I just said yes and paid the 100baht for the shared minivan. As I stepped outside and tried to figure out which minivan I was in I had a helpful traveler ask me what my destination was and I look at my ticket and realizing it was written in Thai I had to respond that I had no clue. She asked me what my end destination was and my response again was no clue, near Thalang? This was the moment I realized how much my approach to problems and travel had changed in the past that situation would have stressed me out however with my planning I would have never been in such a situation. In the minivan the driver ended up driving around one block for a while asking whose hotel was supposed to be there and finally I clue in and ask him if there is a bus stop near there and soon enough I'm wandering around again with no adequate answer to where I am heading other than my map and a pinpoint that is near no landmarks or major intersections. Through some magic I ended up on a random bus that was the right one, spent a few minutes laughing out loud like a crazy person, got off at roughly the right stop, and after wandering around some suburb for a while looking for the place I had made it to the house and had spent 150bht instead of the dreaded 600.

I arrived at Franz house and was met by my great host and his three adorable dogs and for the rest of the day we hung out in his pool (yes pool) drinking and talking. I had meant to stay three nights in Koh Phi Phi but when Franz accepted my couchsurfing request he said he was bored so why not come a day sooner, next thing I know I'm in Phuket a day early and grateful for it because I'd made a great new friend. We spent most of the day in his pool (yes pool) talking and drinking Chang until the sun was setting and we decided to go and see one of the ceremonies for the Vegetarian Festival that was held almost next to where he lived. I can easily say that the weirdest things I've seen in Asia so far have been in Phuket. During the Vegetarian Festival there is some vegetarian food, truthfully I didn't see much, but the participants also spiritually cleanse themselves by performing different painful acts. So the painful act of that night was walking on fire. We arrived to a huge crowd gathered around the fire and coals and the soon to be fire runners would shake themselves like they were having epileptic fits in order to go into a trance mode and then they would throw themselves at the fire pit running across it. As if seeing that wasn't weird enough afterwards there was this giant pole that a tiny child climbed followed shortly by another man. Once both were at the top they proceeded to do acrobatics that ended with the man hanging sideways with his hands supporting the child who stood atop them. Then the man flung the child down (just a few feet) and turned into a dragon and breathed firecrackers.

A few days later Franz asked me if I wanted to throw firecrackers at people. The closing ceremonies of the Vegetarian Festival involves a procession of the participants walking through the streets of Phuket city as onlookers throw firecrackers at them. Franz had to reassure me dozens of times that not only is it not cruel but they enjoy it because the more firecrackers that are thrown at them, the more spiritually cleansed they become. We found a prime place to watch the craziness, grabbed a few beers and some firecrackers and then the next four or so hours were non stop firecrackers being thrown in the streets. At the beginning I thought things were crazy and that there were a lot of firecrackers flying around. Then a few hours later the procession began and chaos really began. For hours it was non stop firecrackers being thrown, the air was completely white with smoke from it, the noise was unbelievably loud and it was like being in some bizarre war zone. It was crazy but amazing to see and definitely an unforgettable experience. On the way back to the car I did get hit with a firecracker and all I can say is I have no clue how the participants did it because damn that hurt!

The streets littered red from the firecrackers

The day after the closing ceremonies Carlota, the new couchsurfer arrived and I was grateful that she did because Franz ended up with a two day hangover so she was my awesome company for the next few days. We visited a nearby temple together and saw the Big Buddha statue and of course continued the drinking and hanging out in the pool theme. In no time I found myself packing up my stuff to head to my next volunteering gig in Koh Phangan and Carlota who had just started traveling had never heard of helpx. So of course I explain how it is the greatest site ever and she signed up for it and showed me one of the places she was going to apply to. It was the same hostel. She gave them a call and suddenly I had a friend heading with me to Koh Phangan, so I avoided saying goodbye to that wonderful wild woman and now had a travel buddy.

Partying (sort of) in Phi Phi

For many people Koh Phi Phi is a hedonistic party island with buckets of booze and fire dancers, for me it was an exercise in learning to love and occasionally hate solo travel. My first day there I wanderd a lot but most of my human interaction was speaking with the people at the nearby dive center who'd talk to me whenever I walked by. I felt a bit lonely while also feeling antisocial, a perplexing combination for me. I'd walk around seeing groups of non solo travelers and be jealous but then I ran into someone I'd talked with a bit on Koh Lanta and had I really desperately wanted company I could have tried to latch on to his plans but instead I said hi, made small talk, and left. I had bigger plans for that night: I was going to watch The Beach in my shitty dorm as the noise of partying tourists filled the air and then I was going to bed early. It was magical and antisocial and selfish and exactly what I wanted to do. Solid pro in the category of solo travel. Also how does The Beach make people come here and visit Maya Bay?? A movie about a crazy cult, deadly shark attacks and deadlier marijuana farmers would not pull me to this side of the world.

The next day I walked. And walked. And walked. I started by heading up to the Koh Phi Phi viewpoint that was supposed to be a grueling 30-45 minute hike and while it was steep it was by no means a difficult hike. The view at the top was stunning as you could see both beaches and the mountains on either side and I ended up sitting on a rock reading there for nearly 2 hours till hunger hit and I decided to walk to Long Beach and find some Pad Thai along the way. A decent priced pad thai is 60 baht ($2 CAD) however it is an expensive island so sometimes it'll be 150 baht. Well stupid me I trekked to Long Beach without stopping and when I got there a pad thai was 400 baht. So I starved, swam, then walked back to town and ate there.

After more beach time and having a swarm of mosquitoes fall in love with me it was time for dinner where I ate in the street at this one stall with the cheapest food I'd found on the island and damn delicious too. I met a Quebecois couple who laughed at how my response to where are you from in Canada was "OttawanearToronto" but to be fair, very very few people know Ottawa or that it's the capital. So far the frontrunner is Toronto with Montreal as a close second. I confessed that I had not yet seen the firedancers or had a bucket and they told me I could not leave the island without doing so. Then they told me that by soing so I would not be making my 9am boat the next morning. Now a heavy con of solo travel: I wanted to go out, party, see firedancers and hang out with people but I had noone on the island and after waiting for some time in the area outside the dorm and bungalows to see if I could meet people I gave up and decided to go it alone. I am fine being alone but when you want to be with people and you are surrounded by backpackers partying together it can be a pretty depressing thing. It can also be an empowering thing, that moment when you say 'I am not waiting around for people, I am going to put myself out there and make something happen'. I made my way to the beach and walked back and forth between the four fireshows that were happening. It was surprisingly hard to meet people and since people were watching the shows in rows of chairs it wasn't the easiest to approach a crowd. Again I found myself waiting for something to happen and realized I wanted a damn bucket. So I went back to the main road and for 150 baht I got a full mickey of...rum? whiskey? that came premixed in my very own blue bucket with a single can of sprite and a small bottle of sketchy thai redbull thinking that if I were anywhere else walking around drinking a bucket of booze by myself this would be a sign of alcoholism and a cry for help. Instead walking with a personal booze bucket here is just a sign that you're in the Thai islands. Back on the beach I continued watching the firedancers who seemed like fiery cheerleaders and while I was desperately wanting to learn how to do the firespinning another solo traveler Chris from Scotland approached me and for the rest of the night I had someone to hang out and drink with. Also the miraculous thing? I made my 9am boat the next morning.

Fiery cheerleaders

My own bucket that contains an entire mickey (375ml) of booze

Lesson learned: Okay Universe, I get it! You clearly have some magcal plan so I will stop trying to force things and make stuff happen. Instead I will sit back,  watch fireshows or whatever else you present me with and trust that good people or things will come.

Last Day in Lanta

I had one last amazing day in Koh Lanta before leaving for Koh Phi Phi. A group of 10 of us got scooters, I was paired up with Diego since I'm still too chicken shit to drive a bike, and toured around the island visiting Old Town and a cafe owned by Sal's friend who ised to work at Jackie Bamboo. At one point we lost Joy and Esteban when their tire blew but someone magically they were able to find us on the other side of the island. We ended our day with hitting up one of the markets and grabbing fish and veggies so that we could have a beach BBQ. Something that is extremely illegal and difficult to do on Lanta (several locals watned us) but we stubbornly did anyways. Armed with a metal grill, a knife, and some bottles of whiskey we made our way to the end of Long Beach and even though it was extremely late when the food was finally ready it was so worth it and was such an amazing night with a great group of people.

Joy, Herbie, Charlie, Diego, Sal, me, Ben, Esteban

 The next morning we realized multiple people had lost multiple items of clothing or other things but again, still worth it an my pack is now lighter! By 12:30 I was saying my sad rushed goodbyes with Esteban, Joy, Luisa and all the other amazing people I had met and soon I was on a ferry solo again and heading for Koh Phi Phi.

A goodbye selfie with two amazing people

Lesson learned: You can change first impressions. I arrived in Koh Lanta as a feverish hermit that people didn't see much of and probably thought was a recluse and when I left I had one friend (the wonderful Esteban) saying I was one of the craziest travelers he had met. He's been traveling 7+ months.

Tropical Diseases and Bamboo Needles

I left Langkawi sick as a dog and in complete denial about it,  convinced that the burning fever, nauseau, and aching everything would quickly pass. After a bit of googling I'd found I matched a lot of dengue symptoms but dengue is a tropical mosquito borne disease that doesn't happen in the western world. Yes four months in and my stupid brain still thinks like that. Then the missing symptoms (dengue rash and burning itchy palms and feet) appeared and my denial got a lot tougher. I barely remember my night in Trang and my first 3 nights in Koh Lanta I was miserably healing and severely antisocial. In between the endless hours of feverish resting and nappinh I unfortunately had time to think and that led to extreme bouts of homesickness for my parents and sister. I don't know how some people go for years without seeing their family...I thought I'd be immune since I've been living on my own since I was 17 but I didn't even move cities so I'm now realizing that it prepared me for nothing. Luckily the dengue did finally end, I regained strength, joined people again and the busyness pushed the homesickness down. The one saddest part was that I didn't even see the beach till my 3rd day in Koh Lanta.

My dengue rash 

In Koh Lanta I was doing another volunteer thing where this time I was working at the Clayzy House which was this funky place practically on the beach with little huts on stilts. The work for male volunteers was hard stuff but us girls definitely got the easy work there, something I was extremely grateful for my first few days of work when I was still weak. All yhe work was pretty decent except my last day of work...I had to clean the shelf the chickens have been shitting on seemingly for the past 20 years. Through helpx I have now been covered in worm poop at the Layog Country Farm and now chicken shit at Clayzy. How did I go from working a 9-5 at a desk to knowing that worm excrement smells better than chicken?

The other volunteers there are fantastic and I've spent so much time with Ben, Esteban, Luisa, Joy (who pretty much lives there) and so many other great people. Together we've taken motorbikes around the island-no still haven't worked up the courage yet to drive one myself- seen beautiful waterfalls, trekked together, drank buckets (literal buckets) of booze together at Jackie Bamboo, and sang off key karaoke with a crazy awesome girl from Alberta for free shots.

One more notable thing! I went with Esteban and 2 french girls and while they got tattoos I finally got mine retouched after saying I'd do so for 3 years. The homesickness is still there and since I was missing my sister it seemed like time to finally fix it since it was a sister tattoo. To retouch it in Canada - $100+, to retouch it here - $18. My one retouch took more time than all 3 tattoos since the guy wanted to make sure it would not fade so easily. I can now say my tattoo has been done with a tattoo gun AND bamboo and fuck does bamboo hurt! My sister and I got tattoos in Sweden and she said it was the most painful tattoo she's gotten...well I hope to god she never retouches it with bamboo!

Before it starts...

Yup. Finger tattoos and bamboo hurt.

Lesson learned: Dengue sucks. Wear mosquito repellant

Goodbye Malaysia

Nearly three weeks in Penang have flown by and while it felt like I blinked and it was gone, I'm pretty sure my waistline would beg to differ...Near the end of my stay I gave up any pretense of seeing the city and focused entirely on food and I am proud to say I ate pretty much everything from my list of places to try. There were a few times I'd walk a half hour or longer and arrive to find out they are closed on that specific day or worse they had just closed or wouldn't open for hours and hours but persistence or stubborn food obsession nearly always won out.

Clockwise: Nasi kandar (takeaway), char koay teow, nasi kandar, oh chien (oyster omelette - greasiest thing ever but damn good!)

By the time I left Penang I'd gotten to celebrate Mid-Autumn festival with mooncakes and lighting lanterns at a Couchsurfing BBQ hosted at the hostel, I'd somehow blinked and realized I really knew my way around and rarely needed a map and best of all I'd made an amazing friend through Asha. I still never saw Danny (the only staff!) More than a 15 minute period total but Asha will now be working at the hostel so when I come back next time it will be great.

Char koay teow, nasi lemak, char koay kak, fish head - didnt try this but only due to price 

After Penang I headed north to Langkawi island where I met my new couchsurf host who I'd be staying with for 3 days. The first day we hit up the beach and then hung out with this great Swiss couple at the guest house. Unfortunately I was a downer for the first while since I had a bit of a fever/bug. We still managed to rent a scooter and see the waterfall, northern beach, and river but sadly it was pretty cloudy and cool most of the time. My last night in Langkawi there was an awkward/uncomfortable moment with my CS host so I followed my intuition  (and my friend Amber yelling get out!!) And checked into a nearby hostel. Its odd that at times while traveling I can feel very lonely but then at moments like right now as I type this in that shitty hostel, I am in love with my antisocialness. I'm starting to think couchsurfing is like durian. People keep saying it great but when I try it it goes badly (except with my awesome filipino host), however I will stubbornly keep trying it. Thats how I've ended up trying durian, durian ice cream, durian coffee, durian chocolate....good god what is wrong with me?!

Lesson learned: Alone time is a necessity.

Eating My Way Through Penang

This post is dedicated to my friend Micah who told me to stop posting pictures of me in exotic places and to start posting pictures of food because "your face looks the same in each photo, but delicious exotic food...that's revolutionary."

Coming from Cameron Highlands with cool air and remote nature was a big change from arriving in Georgetown on Penang Island where suddenly it was boiling hot outside and city building everywhere, though not the nightmarish concrete jungle of Kuala Lumpur. I had excellent luck arriving in Penang since there was a free hop on bus that took me from the jetty to the hostel I would be volunteering at for the next 3 weeks, my luck ended there. I arrived at the hostel when the heat was at its peak, my bladder was full, my phone was at 5% and nobody was there so I ended up locked out for 2+ hours. Eventually people staying at the hostel arrived and let me in and that is how I met Asha, Valerio and reunited with my friend Sergei who I'd met in Cameron Highlands. Asha said to me "so you're running the hostel?" and I corrected her that I was volunteering, not running anything! She replied by saying she'd been there weeks and nobody worked there other than the owner who was never ever around so I would in fact be running the place. It ended up being pretty true, in the last two weeks I've probaby seen him twice for less than 30 minutes total and the only instruction I've received so far is being given the masterkey. Luckily the work is beyond laid back and it's a small hostel so I've been getting to know everyone who checks in, and I'm free to leave for food or sightseeing whenever I want.

Clockwise: Char koay kak, Murtabak, Mee goreng, PB&Banana mang chang kui

The next day Felix from Germany checked in because some people from Cameron Highlands told him to come there, then the next day those two people, Marike and Charlie checked in too so for my first week there it was like a big Cameron Highland reunion with amazing people. We'd spend the days going to the national park, trekking to Monkey Beach and eating at the nearby night market while waiting for the bus back, going to Penang Hill where the hike uphill (it's always uphill) was nearly 3 hours, celebrating Marike's birthday by smearing cake all over her lovely face, seeing the Snake Temple, touring the street art of Georgetown, and visiting the Kek Lok Si Temple. In the evenings we'd usually head to Antara Bangsa, this slightly sketchy seeming but absolutely wonderful Chinese establishment where you can find cheap beer for take away or to drink in the alley with others. I'm extremely proud to say that I found it my first night there. A can of beer at the 7/11 is around 10rm (3.30CAD) however at this magical place it was 10rm for 3 beers so it's safe to say that I've been there multiple times and introduced multiple people to the place as well.

Now for the most important part of Penang!

Nearly all the sightseeing I've done in two weeks was done in my first 3 days, since then all I've done in Penang is eat. And eat. And eat. Penang is basically the food capital of Malaysia and I am constantly surrounded by cheap and delicious street food stalls and small restaurants where I can, and have, been gorging on Malaysian/Chinese/Indian food non-stop. My food obsession has gotten so bad that I googled and read so many food blogs about the Penang food that my offline map is nothing but restaurant and street stall locations sometimes with as little information as "Char Koay Kak stall in front of school, look for green t-shirt, may run out by 8pm". I'd wake up and start thinking of my next meal and while eating lunch I'd be wondering where to eat for dinner. This became such a recurring thing that the other friends staying at the hostel would jokingly (and some slightly seriously) say they were on the Christelle food tour of Penang. My favourite foods so far have been Char Koay Teow, Char Koay Kak, Wan Tan Mee, Roti, Nasi Lemak....okay basically everything except Rojak and Chee Cheong Fun! 

Clockwise: ???, Chinese mixed rice, Duck rice, Cendol

My Rules for Finding Food

1) If there are only westerners eating there, run

2) If the place seems to be crammed with locals/Chinese, force your way in a find a spot even if its with strangers because it is delicious 100% of the time

3) If people are waiting at a tiny street stall for a half hour for a plate of noodles, it is worth it. Get your ass in line. Especially if the service is horrendous and people are still queuing up

4) Eat everything

Clockwise: Wan Tan Mee, Egg&Cheese Mang Chang Kui, Char Koay Kak, Nasi Kandar

Clockwise: Pasembur, Thosai, Chee Cheong Fun, Moocakes

Lesson learned: I repeat - eat everything.