That little piece of heaven named Koh Tao

So after left Pai my visa was rapidly running out and I was going through all the options for extending it. All came to the conclusion that I'd only be able to extend or another 14 day period. SHIT. I'd stupidly crossed the border to start with hence only getting 14 days and now I could only get 14 more days! There was only one thing or it. Get to Bangkok, fly out and fly back in. That way I would get 30 days. But OF COURSE the cheapest bloody place to fly to was Vietnam. Saigon in fact. Of course only me would end up flying to where I left 3 weeks before!

That journey was horrific.

27th August: 6 pm

Bus from Chiang Mai - Bangkok. (12 hours)

Bus from Bangkok - Airport. (1 hour)

Wait for my flight. (6 hours)

Fly to Vietnam. (1 hour)

Wait for my flight back. (5 hours)

28th August: 1 am

Arrive at Bangkok Airport

Sleep in the Airport. ( 6 hours)

Train from Airport to Bangkok. (30 mins)

Taxi from Train Station to Khao San Road (20 mins)

Sleep in a room for half a day (9 hours)

Bus from Bangkok - Chumpon (10 hours)

August 29th: 3am

Sleep at Chumpon Dock (4 hours)

Boat from Chumpon - Koh Tao (3 hours)

I think in all I was in transit for approx 48 hours. All for 16 more days on my visa. And MY GOD IT WAS WORTH IT! Getting to the beach was SO worth it. In fact it was so good I laid there all day and burnt myself! :) I was happy.

On the first day a group was created. Jose, Becci, Jess, Luke, Dom,Timor and Chris who I had met in Chiang Mai. We were unstoppable. I thought I had had my fair amount of buckets in Siem Reap, Pai and Chiang Mai, but what I did not realise is that the southern islands of Thailand also has other name. I believe it's 'THE PLACE WITH MILLIONS OF FUCKING STRONG BUCKETS'. Ok maybe this name isn't official but it should be.

I had buckets coming out of every pore.

Jose, Chris and I decided to get a bungalow together. It was conveniently located right next to The Chicken Baguette Lady. How didn't vomit up chicken baguette from over indulgence I'll never know!

We hired bikes one day and drove to the other side of the island. We arrived at a beach called Tanote Bay. I put on my snorkel and dived into the water and the sight I saw was breath taking. It was the exact replica of a scene from Finding Nemo! We spent hours just following fish around, mesmerized by their beautiful colours. We also visited the next beach along called Shark Bay. This was due to the small sharks that would come into feed (not on people) at dawn and dusk. However I didn't see any sharks, which upset me somewhat. Especially when the boys came back boasting they'd seen two AND a turtle. I just kept seeing lots of poo like objects resting on the seabed. They were slimy and squidgy! This I found out after Jose had thrown two at me!

That night I drowned my non-shark-seeing sorrows with 4 buckets (between 3 of us mum!) and ended up dancing on the bar until early hours of the morning. I had also fallen in love with one of the fire poi dancers and shortly after decided that fire poi/stick dancing was the sexiest talent EVER!

After a few nights of partying on Koh Tao we all decided to leave to find the real party on Koh Phangan. Whilst on the boat we met up with 3 Canadian guys I had met in Pai. They are the coolest guys ever so I was happy that we were going to party Koh Phangan styleeeee together.

Candy for the eyes. Click here.

I gots nothing but ❤ for Pai

Place: Pai

Date: 20th August - 26th August

One thing we need to get clear. Every body NEEDS to visit Pai in their life. It's one of the most magical places I have ever been.

I'm totally in love with this town. The photo's describe the scenery better than me!

I arrived at the bus stop not knowing where to stay, when a lovely Thai guy named Tor asked me if I had anywhere to stay. I was totally wary at first. I had my 'I'm not getting ripped off' cap on. I kind of ignored him and left. He pulled up next to me in his ride, which was a scooter with a metal cage attached to one side. This later turned out to be home to the most amazing drunk taxi rides. It's truly and amazing piece of machinery.

Eventually I was persuaded to look at the room and I'm so glad I did. As soon as I arrived at Happy House I immediately felt a vibe. A good, homely vibe. I then met Fritz who was the hostel owner. He is an amazing, crazy, gay, Dutch/Australian old man, who had done just about everything in his life - including Kangaroo Boxing, having his own book, owning a Zoo...I could go on. He had retired to Pai and is just basically living the dream!

So back to the Happy House Taxi. Whilst I was there is was rolled, crashed, got stuck in mud and it still lived on. One guy was telling me they got 16 people into it one night and Fritz, in his pissed state, crashed the thing. Everyone was cool because in Pai you drive about 5 mph. And as if nothing had happened, Fritz just shouts 'right we're here'. No rules in this town.

The rest of my visit was very interesting. I made some amazing friends, who I partied with on Koh Phangan later on. I had visited caves, mountains, waterfalls and swam in some amazing swimming pools with fantastic views. I also rented a motorbike every day as it was only 600baht for the 6 days. That's £3 for 6 days by the way. Insurance was an added 50p. CRAZY.

When they all left I decided to stay one more day and Luke, a guy who lived in Happy House and worked in one of the bars, decided I should go promote his School Disco Night. Dressed in his manager's daughter's school uniform I made my way up town looking like a complete idiot, drunk as anything!

At the end of the night I decided to dress in my normal clothes again and walk home. On the way I saw Tor and he was chatting to some girls. I spoke to the girls, tried to make some more friends, but they just looked at me totally weird and walked off. I couldn't believe how rude they were!

15 minutes later I got home and happened to look in the mirror. SHIT I had the word 'Virgin' scrawled across my forehead. No wonder the girls had given me such a weird look!

The time had come to leave Pai. I was only meant to visit for 2 days. I ended up staying 6. Yes, I love Pai.

WARNING: Clicking here may seriously push you into visiting on hell of a place. I take no responsibility for any missing persons.