WHERE TO STAY: The Ploy Guest House Kanchanaburi

When you are in the infinity pool, this is your view. In person it is amazing and at night if you sit in the pool after dark you'll be able to see the fireflies hovering above the water.

WHERE TO STAY: The Dream Garden, Ao Nang Krabi Review

See the photos on trip advisor here:

Low season twin or double: 600bht AC (special rates if you stay longer)

Stayed: July 2014

The atmosphere at dream garden Guest house was made by the lady on reception, (who I forgot to get the name of) throughout the whole stay she was helpful, booked trips and was one of the friendliest hotel staff we met.

We changed our plans a little at the end of the trip and after a nightmare stay in one of the other guest houses we tried this one. After looking at the room it didn't take long to decide, and I booked 5 nights, at 500bht each. One thing about this place is they are always willing to give discounts! We stayed in a twin, which came with TV, rain shower, fridge, free wi-fi and a safety deposit box which was never used. The room was cleaned every day, the cleaners almost too eager to get into the room and you’ll get 2 free bottles of water per day. We did have the issue of one of the ceiling tiles int he bathroom being missing, yet nothing seemed to come through it, although you could hear everything the people next door were doing, I chose to see the funny side. It’s convenient for the town and for the beach being right where all the main shops are in the town and close enough to easily walk down to the beach. (5 min walk) It’s opposite a McDonalds and a Starbucks and near to a great indian called Taj Palace. I Will definitely be staying again if I ever need to stop over in Ao Nang, although I wasn't to impressed with actual Ao Nang, the immediate surrounding areas are stunning and it's worth staying here for your base.

WHERE TO STAY: Ao Nang Easy Rooms KRABI

Low Season: 500bht High Season: 1700bht

Stayed: July 2014

This was probably the worst place I stayed in a month in Thailand. We’d headed back to Ao Nang on a whim and ended up with nowhere to stay. We came across this place and at 500bht we couldn't say no. It’s only when you’ve been in the room a while you’ll notice the musty mould smell and immediately want to leave, I’m still blaming it for the fact I had a horrid cold for the rest of the trip. The rooms are like apartments with an all glass front with curtains for privacy. This is something I’ve noticed a lot in Thailand, this seems like a place that may have been great when it was first opened but no upkeep or maintenance had been taken out, therefore mould had set it and the air con barely worked. The rooms looked as though they hadn't been cleaned for months and smelt like it too, I thanked my lucky stars I'd brought my sleeping bag liner with me. Overall, I wouldn’t stay here ever again, there are MUCH better places to stay in the area and you’ll get a lot friendlier service. We stayed for one night before moving onto another Guest House a few doors down.

Sleeper Trains, Delays & Kanchanburi

The next few days were spent full of travelling, we left Chiang Mai at 5.30pm on Saturday 26th, and after 16 hours arrived the next morning at 10.30am in Bangkok, it had been delayed two hours. 

REVIEW: Dante Elephant Mahout Chiang Mai

Finding an Elephant trek/experience in Chiang Mai should be easy, with literally hundreds of options and everyone selling the elephant experience it's difficult to know which one to go with.

Doi Suthep & A View Over Chiang Mai

We found ourselves wandering what to do on a slow day in Chiang Mai, it had been raining for most of the morning and there was little to do. After a while in the hotel lobby we decided to take one of the red taxis up to Doi Suthep, a temple that overlooks the city. It’s about a 20minute drive up to the top from the centre of the city, we paid 300bht for the taxi there and back, after a little bit of haggling. The temple itself isn’t the most impressive I had seen, but the views from the top were spectacular. You literally had a view over the whole city and you could see everything. The temple itself was covered in more gold than you could imagine and you’ll have to pay a 30bht entrance fee if you’re not a Thailand resident. As with all temples in Thailand you have to wear a robe if you’re not in appropriate clothing and you’ll have to leave you’re shoes outside.

WHERE TO STAY: Sacha's Guest House Koh Phi Phi

Low season : 700bht AC / 400bht Fan

Stayed: July 2014

The blurry photo from inside our messy room. There's even a ladder next to the window that doesn't open or close...

Overall we stayed here for 7 nights, we’d been walking for a while and the ferry came in midday so the heat was intense. This would begin my love affair with Koh Phi Phi. The girl on reception was again, lovely and showed us the room before we booked it. As we were playing by ear we were able to go down and pay each morning before 11am for another night if we wanted so we didn’t have to pay everything in one go. The first thing you’l notice is the signs everywhere noting to keep your doors locked AT ALL TIMES, even if you’re in the room. Pretty bog standard right? Then I read this [http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g303908-i9943-k5487208-WARNING_do_not_stay_at_the_Sacha_Guesthouse-Ko_Phi_Phi_Don_Krabi_Province.html] review from a couple of years ago and it was safe to say the first night I didn’t respond well to the knocks and crashes all through the night. It was also that night i realised the window was broken and the lock on the door probably wasn’t the most stable. The room is cleaned after your third day, although we got so much sand everywhere on the first day it would have benefited from a clean then. The room was clean, the AC worked fine and there was a fan too. Simple, basic and just what we wanted. This was low season and Im told the prices go up quite a bit, but in future I’d not bother with AC, the fan was enough. This GH is opposite the rock and right in the centre of everything, so if you’re a light sleeper probably not the best place considering the window doesn’t close and remember you’re on a party island. We had people come in at 5am, throw up outside our room, shout ‘PIERRE, BEBE!’ over and over. The bathroom was clean, the toilet was in the funniest position and fairly hard to manoeuvre around, especially if you’re drunk. Overall I did enjoy staying here although I’m optimistic there are better places to stay, and might try somewhere else next time I go.

DON'T DATE A GIRL WHO TRAVELS

She’s the one with the messy unkempt hair colored by the sun. Her skin is now far from fair like it once was. Not even sun kissed. It’s burnt with multiple tan lines, wounds and bites here and there.  But for every flaw on her skin, she has an interesting story to tell.

A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE

Today was a nightmare day. It started with a cold and flu that wouldn't go away, a half eight start. Believe me ut was a killer after not getting up before 12 fir the past month. The bus to the pier was a cattle like truck, but for people with wooden seats. The driver didn't understand there were people sat on wooden planks in the back that could feel everything. The cold gets worse and then the rain starts, but at least were allowed to dash for cover, by this time the waves were hitting us from the ground as they were crashing over the breakers. Perhaps a foreshadow it wasn't going to be the best day to go out to sea.
The boat was parked, but in the middle of the water, we had to wade, through the water that was becoming increasingly deep and board a wonky boat that was to become the worst journey id ever been on.
The tide was choppy, if you've ever had the experience of a long boat in Thailand you'll know they aren't the most stable wooden creations yet in a storm it was something else. They are long, hence the name but also very very narrow. By this time our tour guide, lets call him spiky because i forgot his name in the commotion was yelling to the asians about balance, do not move, stay there FOR BALANCE he yelled. The asians agreed among them ot was the best thing to listen to spiky. After about ten minutes of rocking, to ab extent i genuinely thought the boat would capsize, and everyone's earlier amusement at the rocking rollercoaster ride had turned to worry and a few oh my god im about to be sick everywhere faces, spiky appeared from his perch on the end of the boat if we were happy to cancel todays and try it again tomorrow. We wouldn't be able to land the boat on the shore anyway. I nodded eagerly, By this time id made my mind up i would do anything tk get back to land and never step foot on the boat again, i would tell my travel buddy that later, i think she wanted to di the trip more than i did anyway. The engine revved again, but in a straight line, after about five minutes spiky appeared from his perch to tell us, hong island is calm. We land. We land. So trip was commencing, the island might have been calm but the sea wasn't. It was the next ten minutes i genuinely started to fear for my well being. The boat leaned against the waves at such a high angle any more and it would have tipped. No good, no giid. Says spiky. He grabs his little Nokia again and starts yelling into it. I actually became quite fond of spiky. He was just a funny person to watch, he had a little duck waddle when he walked and being very short became even more amusing. His spiky hair got even funnier when it was wet. Just imagine in your head a short Thai punk rocker. Or google it, whatever. This time he announced the trip had to be cancelled, he was expencting q more dissapointed tone than he received i think, while everyone was like okay okay. Get me back to land. The boat journey back was as hellish as the one there. To add to the storm on the seq, it had started to rain torrentially and thus is the part where everyone just threw up.
I don't think ive ever been so glad to not be on a boat before, long tails are not my favourite and if you have the option. Take a speed boat, they're faster, and if you get caught in a storm a bit less hairy. Spiky apologised, some Europeans complained about the fact we didn't go back when he first said, because they had children waiting for then at home and we had a little laugh and a joke with some Indians who were actually very lovely.
But stop and think, if that boat had tipped, where would we be. Was i sure i could have swum from under it, in the chaos and not banged my head and knocked my self out. In general i do t really think like that, or id never do anything. But when you go on an organised tour like that, you don't expect to be put in a boat you genuinely think will capsize you.
And so begins the cattle ride of a journey back to the hotel, this is where spiky left us to deal with the other half of the group. The driver seemed to have realised his earlier mistake in driving like a maniac and it was actually quite gentle for a cattle like carrier. We got back to town. It wasn't until we were in our room i noticed the power was out, unsurprisingly. The wires here are mostly bear and at any time of day and night you can hear them sparking when you walk by them, if you're lucky you get to see the blue sparks! Hence every time in rains the power goes out, and i was starving. My stomach felt like an acid bowl, i hadn't eating for a while and the boat  hadn't helped. This town turns to a ghost town when the power goes out. Everyone just stand around doing nothing, no shops, no food and no wifi, my god the horrors.

Falling in Love With Koh Phi Phi

At first glance Phi Phi is the picture of paradise, at second glance its a bit like Thailand's answer to Magaluf. When we arrived in the south we hadn't a clue where we were going and having flown to Krabi, Phi Phi was the easiest and closest option. I'd seen a couple of friends from home a few days earlier in Bangkok who'd told me I couldn't miss the island, before which I wasn't really bothered about going although I'm not sure why.

Phi Phi is truly unique, it's one of the party islands so there's always something going on, I loved the constant flow of people, by the third day I'd started to feel at home and knew when the 12.30 influx of tourists would be coming and when the boats would drop of a new load of backpackers. The island is so small you'll start to recognise people, especially those who were on the same boat as you on the way.

Going from day to night the beach clears out about 6pm  from all the sunbathers and the space transforms, the bars spill out onto the beach and the platforms for the fire shows are put in place. This was my favourite time on the island and the most relaxing, the beach became almost empty and we watched the sunset while drinking the best and the most expensive (but definitely worth it) cocktails we'd found so far in Thailand at CIAO BELLA, it's in front of the BAIA BAIA Bungalows and has a cool reggae vibe with the best soundtrack - head there if you're looking for the authentic experience. :)