January 14, 2012

Hey friends and family!
We had a lovely time on Koh Phi Phi. It was hot and beautiful and we had so much fun! We spent a lot of our nights going to a rooftop bar called Banana Bar where they showed movies every night at 7pm. When we were there we made friends with these awesome guys from Canada! It was so cool to get to hang out with fellow Canadians. We spent a lot of time on the beach there. The beach there is different because the tide goes out so far, and the water only goes up to just above the knee, so you can sit in the water and just hang out all day. I got a killer tan too!! By the time we left the island, we were covered in bug bites!! We later discovered that there was absolutely no way we got bit by that many mesquitoes and realized that we got attacked by bed bugs when we were staying at the dorm. We had bites all over our hands, arms, and legs.. I've never been so uncomfortable, to not be able to sleep because you're so itchy. We left Koh Phi Phi on January 10 in the morning to come to Phuket and meet my parents on the 11th. When we first got to Phuket, we slept the entire day and just chilled out. We stayed at a place called the Golddiggers Restort. It was actually pretty nice, the name was hilarious. We had a living room, a seperate bedroom, a kitchen, and hot water!!! We've never felt so fancy in the past 2 months as we did right then.
We checked out of our room at 12pm on the 11th to go meet my mum, dad, and Tyler at the airport when their flight got in at 3. Their flight ended up being delayed 4 hours, so we were bored to tears. Luckily, Shannon had half of a mickey of Thai brandy in her bag from when we were on Koh Phangan, so we went to subway for lunch, got fountain drinks and mixed it with them. Unfortantely, the only pop they had there was orange fanta... thai brandy doesn't go great with orange fanta and no ice. We had one drink and then went to the mini mart in the airport and bought Bacardi breezers instead so we had a good buzz on when they got there. When my parents finally got off the plane, I ran to them! It was so great to see them and Tyler, being away for so long in a foriegn country, it was nice to just have a piece of home with me. We eventually got to the resort around 9pm, because it was about an hour and half drive away from the airport. When we got here, Shannon and I were in disbelief! The place was gorgeous!!!! There are 6 swimming pools, clean everything, fresh towels every day, and HOT water in the shower!!! Oh the little things that excite you when you've been backpacking for so long. When we took showers, we both agreed that we haven't felt that clean in months! It was unreal. We sort of felt out of place being in a place like this, but as the days go on, it's getting easier to adjust.
Yesterday we went to the market in Phuket Town, which is an hour drive away from where we're staying on Katathani Beach. The market was one of the biggest markets we've been to so far, second to Chiang Mai probably. We walked around for a few hours looking at the different things and then just came back to the resort and then went for dinner. We had a relaxing movie night with some drinks to celebrate Shannon's last night with us. She left us this morning and I cried buckets! We haven't been apart for more than 12 hours in the past 2 months so it was definitely a big change.
Tomorrow we head to Koh Phi Phi for 2 nights and then we will be going to Krabi from there. Can't wait to talk to you all soon!
xoxoxoxo Love you always and forever!
A.

January 8 2012

HEY EVERYONE!!!

I know it has been forever since I have written anything on here and I am so so so so sorry for that. I have been lazy... and there hasn't honestly been much to write about.
We spent Christmas and New Years on Koh Phangan. 9 days was just too long to spend there. It was incredible and we enjoyed every minute of it, but because that island is a constant party, 9 days is very hard to keep up with. Christmas Day, all 3 of us bought presents for each other so we all had 2 presents to open on Christmas morning. We drew a Christmas tree on a piece of paper and taped it up to our mirror, and placed the presents underneath it so it was just like a real tree. We relaxed most of the day and then went for a "traditional" Christmas dinner down at our guesthouse. They made us chicken, roast beef, fish, potatoes, the works! After dinner we went over to the bar next door called "The Rock" and quickly made friends with all the lovely guys that work there. We ended up spending the start of every night there for the full 9 days. We would always be given free drinks and were treated like one of the group. They even had a little going away party for us when we left. The rest of the time on Koh Phangan was the same as every other day there... I would usually stumble home around 730am when the music on the beach would stop, and then crawl into bed and sleep until around 4 or 5. By the 6th day I could barely walk up and down the stairs leading up to our place because of all the dancing I was doing. My ankles were so swollen and had been accidentally smacked together, so were bruised, from when I was sandwiched between 2 groups of people when walking to the bathroom, my knees were unable to bend and one was completely bruised because half way through the night, my dancing would always turn into random jumping for hours on end. My thighs burned, and every other muscle. I soon learned I can't go partying for 9 straight days. I became so so sick New Years Day with a fever, sore throat, achey muscles, the works. It was horrible.
We came to Koh Phi Phi on January 3 and it's been wonderful! It's much more relaxed and such a beautiful island. We actually wake up during day light while we're here! I've been working on my tan and got a small bamboo tattoo on the inside of my elbow the other night! so exciting!!!!
Will update again soon guys! LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU SO FRICKING MUCH!!!!