Sunsets, Fire Shows, Fish Death Matches and Injuries...

The adventures on Koh Tao in Thailand continued for another week for me as new people came and went from the hostel. In the mornings I'd be sprinting with a 20lb medicine ball in the blazing sun, in the afternoons we'd go snorkelling, explore the rest of the island or I'd hold craft sessions at the hostel and in the evenings we watch the fire dancers on the beach or swim in the sea and look out for bio luminescence in the water. There's a tiny collection of islands near Koh Tao called Nuang Yuan which are connected by a sand bank and it is deemed one of the most beautiful islands in the world; we had to get a boat out to this island and we spent the day snorkelling around the underwater 'Japanese gardens' (a collection of oriental looking coral) and trekking up to the view point.

Fire show on the beach.

This is the pool at Sunset bar where they let people use the diving board at night - I heard that a drunk guy missed the pool and landed on the concrete the other day!!

Nuang Yuan is technically two islands connected by a sand bank.

Learning underwater hand signals.

There's a bar crawl on Koh Tao that costs around £7 but instead of paying for this I organised several nights out/bar crawls with the people staying with me at Spicy Tao hostel, sometimes it would be fancy dress and it was so successful that at one point people from the official bar crawl were following us! At the end of the road our hostel is on there are a group of Thai men that can provide a taxi service to our favourite spot on the island, High Bar, where the sunset views are out of this world! The taxi men sit there all day and watch tanks of fish...after seeing this happen every day for several weeks I finally asked them what they were doing; the fish are given HongThong (Thai whiskey) and they watch them fight to the death! Gambling is illegal in Thailand, this means no casinos or betting shops, so the locals find their own ways of betting for fun and unfortunately this is often at the expense of fish, poultry or other animals where they're forced to participate in a cruel death match.

Fancy dress bar crawl. Admittance:free!! 

Spicy Family.

Pick-up truck taxi to High Bar.

High Bar views.

During one of my Crossfit sessions I had to complete 100 box jumps and I lost my balance and my shin went crashing into the box and split open down to the bone; I've also aggravated an old back injury so after three and a half weeks on Koh Tao I feel like it's time to move on before I sustain any more injuries! I have met such fantastic people and have the best memories of this island but now I need to do a cheeky two week visa trip to Malaysia so I can get another 30 day visa for Thailand over Christmas and New Year.

I went for my first Thai massage to recuperate after Crossfit-it only costs around £6 an hour!

Attempting to jump over fire - not the best idea when you've hurt your leg!

Sunset at Sairee beach.

Sunset at Freedom beach.

Spicy Family

Once I'd got off the ferry and on to Koh Tao island I hired a motorbike taxi to get to SpicyTao hostel; I'd researched it before arriving and found it to be the cheapest one on the island and very close to where I plan to work out. I'll be staying here for three weeks, which will be the longest time I've been anywhere by far, as I plan to learn Crossfit - a high intensity, constantly varied fitness training because after three and a half months of travelling I'm starting to miss a regular exercise routine (however I've always been active on my trip with treks, swimming and lugging a backpack the size of a small elephant around with me in 40 degree heat). As soon as I arrived I got talking to several people as there are many outside communal areas in the centre of the hostel complex including an outside (but covered) TV area with hundreds of movies downloaded on to it and cushions to lounge on, a large table for meals and a massive, empty stone hot tub. I'm staying 5 mins walk from one of the beaches and on my first night a group of us went down to the bars there to meet a Dutch girl I'd got talking to on the ferry. That was the beginning of many, many SpicyTao 'excursions' that I've taken it upon myself to arrange with whoever is around at the hostel - because of this they call me the SpicyMum and although I've only been here for two weeks I feel like I live here now!

The stone hot tub is perfect for sitting in to play drinking games!

Here we have people from England, France, Argentina, Holland and USA.

Paradise.

One of the adventure days I planned was to go rock jumping and snorkelling on the other side of the island, there's a bay there that I'd heard was perfect for this however there'd been a storm and the sea was far too violent. Once we'd realised this after the arduous hour and a half slog uphill through boiling jungle we decided to scale some giant rocks instead; this was so dangerous that I had adrenaline pumping through my veins and blood on my clothes however I couldn't work out where it had come from until I later realised I was bleeding in seven different places! A Cambodian who works at the hostel showed us an abandoned resort he used to work at and we were looking through the ruins of all the old rooms and kitchens - it was like the set of a horror film!

Freestyle rock climbing.

We also took a swim in the sea and then it started violently raining and thundering - personally I find this more fun than when it's sunny!

Spooky abandoned hotel in the middle of nowhere.

That evening I organised a group night out on the south of Koh Tao and somehow we ended up getting seventeen people on the back of a small pick up truck! There was a fire show at one of the beach bars and in the distance we spotted a lump near the water in a dark part of the beach, when we went to investigate it turned out to be a passed out drunk person and the water was starting to lap around him so we woke him up and very possibly saved his life. Later on we saw him chatting someone up in the bar and he was so paralytic that he didn't realise that it was a very obvious lady boy! We then made it our mission to swim in as many hotel swimming pools as possible before night security came and chucked us out!

Jammed into the back of a truck.

Beach excursion.

Insane sunsets!!

There are eight strangers packed into each dorm, no hot water and a diet of toast and packet noodles so life here is pretty basic however I don't think I've ever stayed in such a fun place before because there's always people around and stuff to do plus I'm on a tropical island - what more could I wish for?! I go to Crossfit training six mornings a week and after four learning sessions I now participate in the intense workouts of the day (WODs). The heat makes running outside and all gym activities much more of a challenge however I'm really enjoying it and whilst I'm already seeing improvements in my fitness levels I can't remember what it feels like to not wake up and feel like I've been hit by a bus!

Sunset in the Sea

We were desperate to see the beaches in Myanmar before we left the country so we embarked on a 24 hour journey that involved travelling in the back of pick up truck, an overnight bus, two taxis, a very cramped local bus and the back of a motor bike! We were sweaty and exhausted by the time we got to Ngwe Saung beach and Paula and I were pleased to find some reasonably priced beach huts to stay in. We arrived just in time for sunset so we chucked our stuff in the room, grabbed beers and ran into the sea in all our clothes and watched the sun go down whilst bobbing about in the warm, calm water.

The most luxurious bus I've ever been in - it had air con, blankets, comfy seats and even a waitress who gave out free coffee and snacks.

We couldn't believe how many people they'd crammed into this tin can of a bus, they also decided to stop at a petrol station for an hour for no reason - it was sweltering!

Our view when we arrived.

Sunset in the sea.

Whilst we were in the sea some people came and told us there was a fire show in a Japanese restaurant on a hill and whilst we were there we met a local band and some other travellers so we ended up having a lock-in after the bar closed. The party later moved on to the beach by our hotel and, whilst the Myanmar guys were playing their guitars and singing, we all danced on the sand and in the sea. Jagged streaks of lightening peppered the horizon in the distance creating dramatic reflections on the water. Myanmar music is adorable and they often cover western songs in their language; when we got a taxi to the airport I was singing along to the driver's music so much that he gave me the CD as a souvenir!

Fire show.

Gathering on the beach.

Ngwe Saung beach.

After leaving Myanmar and flying to Thailand Paula and parted ways as we both had different plans so I stayed in a hostel in Bangkok and got a bus and a boat to Koh Tao (an island off the south east coast of Thailand) the next evening. Bangkok tuk tuks are quite pricey compared to what I've been used to in India so I wanted to save myself the money by walking to the bus stop; what I didn't realise is that it would take me an hour an a half because of my heavy backpack, the evening humidity and all the people in the way buying street food - it felt like some kind of army bootcamp! I'd left myself a lot of time so when I got there I grabbed a Chang beer and got a foot massage on the street next to the meeting point and I still hadn't spent even half as much as I would have on a taxi there!

Beer and a massage!

My first glimpse of Thailand's islands as the sun rose.

After getting the overnight bus we arrived at the ferry port at 5am in the dark. I sat on a deck chair and fell asleep by the sea and when I woke up it was daylight! I was so worried that I'd missed my ferry as half the people had gone but luckily mine hadn't arrived yet. The ferry passed loads of mini islands as the sun was rising and I was getting really excited about my first visit to a paradise island in Thailand!!

Hot Air Balloon Festival

After three days on the trek we were very tired when we reached the jetty at Inle Lake. The lake is nestled amongst mountains and it's one of the most famous sights in Myanmar because the houses are built on stilts and the traditional fisherman balance on one foot whilst holding their net with the other.

This is the local post office!

Mountain views. 

Exhausted after the trek.

I had a mammoth hot shower after wearing the same clothes for three days. We found this traditional hat on a tree in the town.

We spent the next two nights recovering and went to a restaurant that served only one set Shan meal (Inle is in the Shan state of Myanmar) which was homecooked by the most friendly and smiley lady; it was a Myanmar beef curry, my favourite, as well as cookies and toffees that are commonly eaten here - it was one of the best meals I've had in Asia so far. The lady told us there was a hot air balloon festival happening in a nearby town called Taunggyi so we booked a taxi there for the next evening. Our 'taxi' picked us up (it was actually a pick up truck with fifteen people crammed into the back) and we could see the bright lights of the festival for miles as we approached - there was a fun fair, music rigs with dance floors and many beer and food stalls. We jumped off the truck and ran to get a well earned beer. I thought the hot air balloons would be the type people are carried in but they were more like giant floating lanterns that were carried into the crowded fields and lit in processions with massive fire sticks. Everyone screamed and cheered as they floated off into the starry sky and then fireworks would explode out the bottom of them and into the crowds.

Lighting the balloon.

Many of the balloons were intricately decorated.

I heard that people have sadly been killed by the balloons in the past.

There weren't many tourists there and so everybody was staring at us, I felt like I was back in India! At one rig we found a small group of tourists dancing like mad to loud music whilst the locals crowded round and watched - naturally we joined in, as did one fun loving Myanmar lady! Before we left Paula spotted our driver guzzling whiskey and, thankfully, persuaded him to change to Red Bull.

The locals were filming all the tourists dancing.

Fancy a snack of fried chicken feet?

Crazy Myanmar lady!

A Pregnant Dragon

Not long after the monkey poo soup incident our bus arrived at a town called Kalaw which is a lot colder than the rest of the country because of its high altitude. We'd come here to trek - my last trek was three months ago in the Indian Himalayas and I was ready for another one despite the tough conditions and not being able to wash for many days! We spent one night in a guesthouse in the town (with holes in the walls for windows but no glass? It was a chilly night!) and embarked on our trek the next morning with very small bags whilst, thankfully, our guesthouse transported our big backpacks to our next destination; the trek was for three days and two nights and would eventually take us to Inle Lake where we'd collect our bags and continue with our travels around Myanmar. 

This is our 20yr old local guide, Yelay. He told us our fans are actually meant to be given out at funerals but we'd been fanning ourselves with them in the street blissfully unaware!

The countryside in Myanmar is stunning! 

We'd often pass little farms and villages.

We walked past crops of cauliflower, ginger, chili peppers, potatoes, tea, rice, corn, peas and many more...the smells were amazing!

The first day was mainly uphill but it was the most rewarding for views! On one side we could see an endless cloak of multi coloured crops dotted with bamboo huts and buffalo and on the other side was a valley within which you could see the giant ripples in the earth where the mountains had formed all covered in trees in umpteen different shades of green. We got talking to our guide Yelay who was so friendly and funny, he really made the trip for us because he was always making little jokes and pointing out interesting things along the way such as shrines, crops and explaining village traditions. One of these explanations was about why the remote village people wear bright orange turbans...now, I didn't completely follow the story but it had something to do with a forest, a pregnant dragon and two eggs with humans inside!! We stayed in a tiny village that night and we were the only foreigners for miles; our beds were blankets on the first floor of a farmhouse with the family sleeping on the other side of the room. The villagers speak a different language to the rest of the Myanmar people so we couldn't communicate with them very well however they were all very curious to see who the new strangers were! Yelay cooked us dinner - we were ravenous after walking for seven hours - so we sat cross legged at the low table and he wouldn't let us start until he'd delivered all ten platefuls of different vegetable curries, rice, stir fried veg and noodles. He was an incredible cook (cooking is his "number three hobby after roller skating and photography") and I particularly loved the pumpkin curry.

Eating chili pepppers as I trek!

Often Myanmar people will carry umbrellas to protect themselves from the sun.

There were locals at work in the fields, sometimes you could only see their pointy, conical hats or their turbans sticking out of the crops.

Under the dinner table lived a family of cats, one little scruffy kitten would not leave me alone and refused to get off my lap for hours.

We woke up as the sun was rising, had rice and mandarin oranges for breakfast and had a 'wash' in the ice cold, murky water in the bucket next to the squat toilet at the end of the garden; this water is meant for chucking down the hole to 'flush' it but we had no other option - how the locals wash remains a mystery to us! Our journey that day began with a descent into a valley, the morning mist had gathered in between the mountains and as we walked down it felt like we were walking into clouds, it was breathtaking!

Descending into the clouds!!

Chilies are laid out in villages to dry in the sun.

Exerting ourselves all day in the sun was hot work so we had a bath in a river!

Strong as an Ox! 

We stayed in another village on the second night and there were quite a few other people on treks staying there from all around the world, some of them we'd bumped in to along the way. We had another feast cooked for us and stayed up chatting for hours enjoying Myanmar beers from the tiny local shop. Our sleeping arrangements that night were quite unconventional...we slept in a monastery! It was a large, wooden building with just one massive room inside housing a shrine and numerous Buddha statutes - the girls slept on the floor of one side of the room and the males and monks slept on the other! Yelay told us we weren't allowed to wear shoes inside, walk fast or talk loud however we were woken up at 4am by a load of monks running around, shouting and chanting at the top of their voices!! On the third day we finally reached the lake, this was by far the hottest day and we were disgustingly sweaty, muddy, tired and stinky when we arrived at the jetty.

Outside the monastery you can see the monks' burgundy robes drying on washing lines.

The interior of the creepy monastery we slept in - it also had many windows with no glass or curtains!

Two friendly Czech girls tagged along with us during the last day.

Once we had clambered in to a long boat the driver took us on the hour-long journey up the lake to a town full of guesthouses.