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“Fantastic Thai Adventure”

written by Carlamarie on 28/04/2013

I went on the Thai adventure for 3 weeks starting on the 3rd of April 2013. It was a brilliant and life changing experience.
I flew with jet airways and booked through flight centre, it wasnt the cheapest flight ive booked and knew afterwards i can get cheaper and better.
Jet airways is an Indian airline therefore if you dont like hot food, take your own before you go on the flight because they dont cater for who dont eat what they have.
I wrote a diary of each day, one day i will look back and read it.

Day 1- A great experience meeting the group, people turn up at different times and we never knew who was there and who wasnt. In the daytime, Bangkok is nice, slightly smelly but great for shopping on the markets and really cheap. Always barter with them regarding prices. In the night, Bangkok is brilliant, loud music, loads of people, cheap drinks. Also in Bangkok on the street at night, they sell fried insects.. if your interested in trying something different, fried scorpians on a stick are actually quite nice. I ate 2 and they taste like very salty seaweed from the chinese. :-)
Day 2- You never have to get up really early, accept when your travelling via bus. Most days you have to meet at 10am. Breakfast in the first hotel is included. We went on a boat trip and see floating houses and people selling stuff on the water. Its an experience seeing how other people lives their lives. We saw 3 temples which were great to see. After we had another wild night in Bangkok.
Day 3-You get on a bus to Authuya. It only takes about 2 hours. They put a film on too. The second hotel Ayuttayathanee hotel was nice, had sauna, gym and massages. The massage there are nice and everyone are so friendly, however they dont speak much english. You then go on a nice boat trip and have dinner next to the river, the food is really nice.
day 4- You go on a great bike ride for the day, really enjoyed it. Important to eat breakfast before hand and take lots of water. The weather is so hot that many people felt so dizzy as they didnt drink and ate no sugar. You see more temples and meet monks which is great. You can get blessed to by a monk and learn about them. In the evening, you leave for the overnight bus. The bus is ok, i couldnt get comfortable. Good to wear something a bit warmer as the air conn gets cold throughout the night. Also a blanket or pillow will be better. I got bitten quite badly on the bus, which looked like flee bites all down my right leg.
Day 5- After a long bus drive, we got picked up at 8.30. You get in some jeeps and drive an hour to get to the next place. The next accomodation is brilliant. Big, comfortable and they couldnt do enough for you. We had a big group of 23 people so our group got split into 2 groups. Half did 2 day elephants first, the other half did trekking, i did the trekking. After unpacking you go straight away. You pack a day and a night bag. You drive into the jungle then start walking. It was hot but brilliant. You can swim in some nice waterfalls too. It can be quite difficult at times but well worth it. Around 4pm we arrived at camp. If people are interested in different things and cultures then the accomodation will be fine. I love learning new things. In the middle of the jungle is there own little village, you stay next to neibours in bamboo huts and they look after you. Its just mattresses on the floor with blankets. Basic shower and toilet in huts. A moscetoe net will be useful here, some are included. In the evening, they cook, drink and play games, its really nice.At night, all you hear is dogs barking and insects.
Day 6- You get up around 8 to have breakfast then you walk through the jungle again. Also you see a beautiful waterfall you just dive into. After trekking for a few hours, you get picked up and then go bamboo rafting. This was fun, they muck around and you get very wet. It was a week before Thai new year, so everyone is on the edge of the river getting you wet. They have little shops selling food and beer too. You then return to your original accomodation.
Day 7- Time for elephant training, you get to wear your own uniform. They have a photographer, you buy pictures but they also give you a cd and certificate in the end. This was one of my greatest highlights of the trip. You learn to say commands in thai, bath them and swim with them in the river. Walk on them. You go to your accomodation in the late afternoon and then have fun drinking and playing drinking games.
Day 8- Back to have fun with the elephants after a big and well fed breakfast. After the elephants your stuff is already packed and you go straight to the next place. An hour journey on a tuc tuc to a hotel called lai-thai in Chiang Mai. It has a nice swimming pool. 7 eleven is the popular shop in Thailand and the toasties are amazing. We chilling that evening and had a few drinks.
Day9- You get on a tuc tuc to the temple ontop of the mountain which was great. The mountain roads are very steep so being hungover makes you sick lol. The temple has 300 steps, after climbing them, the temple is great to see. After some of us went to Tiger Kingdom. For 600B i chose t0 see baby tigers. You get to stroke, cuddle and feed them. They are not drugged as people sometimes say, they are babys and sleep through the day. Some play with you and since birth they have been used to human contact, this is why they dont hurt you. After i saw a crocodile show for 200b, i held a baby crocodile. It was ok, but maybe not worthit, didnt last long enough. Again they are not drugged. In the evening, we swam in the pool. Its your free evening. Some went to get pampered, others watched films. Chiang mai has great nightlife. Clubs like rooftop and zoes.
Day 10- Free day so you can do what you want. We went zip wiring. Its 3000b but it is well worthit. You have 32 zip stations, including a superman one and 2 abseiling ones. This includes dinner too. then you walk to waterfall. After we went back. Its Thai new year now and the best place to be for it. They celebrate it by massive waterfights on the street, big water stations, hundreds of people, getting soaked. After 7pm it stops then another night of drinking.
Day 11- Another whole day of waterfighting, drinking beer, listening to very loud music.
Day 12- More waterfighting and relaxing by the pool. At 9pm you leave for a very long bus journey to the orphanage.
Day 13- At 10.20am you arrive. Journey was better this time. You take a nap then met for lunch. At 5pm you go to the orphanage and meet everyone for the evening. Playing and cooking and having dinner with them.
Day 14- At 7.30 you go to the orphanage, They have to move their village due to the government building a dam. So we built a toilet and learnt how to labor. It was hard work but rewarding. After we had dinner and played with the orphans again.
Day 15- You help build toilet again and spend time at the orphanage, however today is the day you say goodbye to them. We each brought them some stuff, toys etc and sang songs. It was very sad saying goodbye and alot of us cried. I have their address to stay in contact and send stuff to them.
Day 16- At 6.30 you leave to go to Koh Tao a beautiful Island. Its a long journey of bus and boat and you get there around 3pm. The island is beautiful and beach paradise.
Until the end of my trip we done many things on this island including: Sunbathing, beach and pool parties, the great pub crawl. We rented quad bikes which is a must, and rode around the whole island. Went to sharks bay which is beauitful and rode to the top of the highest mountain and saw great views. Please be careful some roads can be dangerous and dirt tracks are up and down hill and bumpy but it was a great ride. I will definately return to this island. Its slightly more expensive then other places in Thailand.
People who go into Koh Phangyang, Its a great island, again for drinking but quite quiet sometimes. Those who go to the full moon party, please be careful. Its ok . There is alot of drugs! People walk past and drop drugs in your drink and the music wasnt that good.

Things to take:
-A torch is important, definately in the jungle
-I didnt really need a sleeping bag on the trip
-Trainers, take old ones. I brought expensive new ones and now their in the bin :-)
- Dont buy the red solest suncream, its rubbish. Also suncream is very expensive out there.
- I brought 100 percent deet from amazon in a silver can, it was great. I also brought the after bite stuff from amazon too, that worked well.
Also theres no need to worry about the food out there. Everywhere washed with bottled water, not even Thai people can drink tap water. All the food is fine to eat, maybe be careful with already cook, uncovered street food

It was a brilliant trip and i didnt want to leave.. if you can.. extend your travels for even a week or two longer.