So I have finally made it home...(can't say I was elated on landing).
The past 10 months have been absolutely, incredibly, awesomely amazing!!! I have met some great people and seen some wonderful places...coming back home a week ago today was a bit of a shock - the weather was awful (and of course it has improved just in time for me to go back to work) but now I'm settled in and looking forward to properly catching up with everyone, including all of my new travelling chums! :)
Final photos completes my round the world set...next challenge to sort out all 8,500 and get some printed!
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150844453061491.403065.516011490&type=3&l=0afa28273f
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150924967631491.411757.516011490&type=3&l=cf59984eb0
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150924979401491.411759.516011490&type=3&l=a60a0af4ef
Thanks for reading
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Monday, 23 July 2012
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
The end is near...
So this is likely to be my final post until I'm back in England seeing as I now have 13 days of my travels left, and very mixed emotions! I'm excited to be coming home and seeing everyone again but I'm also going to miss travelling from country to another on a new adventure everyday. I'm also going to miss the heat of Asia...just not the humidity! I doubt I've had a day below 30 degrees C in since I flew into Singapore back on 31st March. It's going to be tough.
Anyways, going on from my last post - the elephant riding in Luang Prabang was great fun. Before going to see the elephants we got up at 5am that morning to go and see alms being given to the monks...not quite what I was expecting really - monks just lined up walking along the street. But it was good to see. We then got picked up and driven into the jungle before getting on a boat to travel 15 mins down river to where we would be begin the half hour walk to the elephants. They were pretty tucked away and we all got eaten by flies along the journey!! There were loads of elephants when we did eventually find them, most seemed to be in ok condition but not quite as happy as I would have expected...either way we'd trekked that far and it was time to get into the wooden seats on their backs. The ride lasted for just over an hour (we were bitten alive by flies) but it was really great fun, especially when I got to ride on the neck of mine and Jenny's elephant for half of the journey. Attempting to direct it with my feet...not that it listened to anything I said! They showed us how they could knock down huge trees that stood in their paths which was pretty impressive and overall it was good fun. The following day, and the one after that, were spent travelling down the Mekong River into Thailand. In between we stayed in a tiny village in Laos beside the river. The scenery was amazing but by the second day we started to get bored so livened things up with a bottle of vodka that Kim (our guide) kindly bought us. We played cards and drank shots of vodka (for the losers) before arriving in Chiang Kong late in the afternoon. Chiang Kong was a bit of a stopover on the way to Chiang Mai so we didn't really get up to much but on the afternoon of arriving in Chiang Mai we went to Tiger Kingdom. Tiger Kingdom was brilliant, we chose to go in with the largest (adult), small (7-10 months) and smallest tigers (1-2 months). The smallest were by far my favourite, they were so cuddly and playful and just adorable. The adult tigers were pretty scary to be honest but it was a great experience and I really enjoyed it!! That evening we went for a few drinks in one of the very few places in Chiang Mai with a late licence, 'Spicy'. The next day I found out that my flight with Air Asia to Sri Lanka had been cancelled so spent most of the day sorting that out and arranging a new flight. That evening we got the final sleeper train of the tour to Bangkok - 15 hours. The train was actually really nice and Kim had bought more alcohol, rum this time which we got halfway through before bed. The next morning we arrived in Bangkok and after showering, Hannah, Elody, Joel and I headed to the station to arrange our trains down to the islands. We decided to go to Koh Samui first and work up to Koh Tao.
Once the train was booked Elody, Hannah and I went to MBK Shopping Centre to see if I could find a hygrometer for the family I was going to stay with in Sri Lanka. They needed it for an incubator to hatch eggs. Unfortunately no matter how hard I tried to act out a hygrometer, the Thai people just didn't understand and so we had to give up on that one! That evening we had the final group meal of the tour which was quite sad. We gave Kim a tooth necklace that we had picked out and a card that we'd made out of my very useful coloured paper - it's been a really handy item in my backpack on this trip as it turns out :) After dinner we went to a Pingpong show and this was quite an experience to say the least...After that we headed back to the Khao San Road, finally stumbling home at 6am just as it was getting light. We managed to get a bit of sleep before checking out at 12pm where we went back to the Khao San for lunch and a wander around before the night train at 7:30pm that evening. The night train to Chumphon was a bit more basic than the previous one, we arrived at 4:30am and had to wait until 6am for the giant tuktuk to take us to the port. At the port we got on a 2 hour ferry to Koh Tao which then went another 2 hours to Koh Phangan where we had to change boats to do the final 45 mins to Koh Samui. When we arrived on Koh SamuiElody...it was actually pretty comfy, apart from the issue that by morning it would always be pretty flat. After checking in we sat on the beach for a bit to recover from the night and day of travelling. I got a gecko henna'd onto my foot and then we had dinner on the beach. Along the beach there would be several men with monkeys walking around and when they got near they'd put them on you. They were ADORABLE (one kept sucking it's thumb!) so I eventually caved in and paid 100 baht for 3 photos with one. The next day was spent on the beach and in the clear blue sea which was lovely and that evening we went out for drinks which turned out to be a pretty fun night and we finally got back at around 4:30am. The following day we had to check out at 9:30am to get on the boat to Koh Phangan. Not ideal with a hangover and not much sleep and it was really not a fun journey for any of us! We checked into Coral Bungalows on Haad Rin beach once we arrived and went for lunch. Koh Phangan was really pretty and that evening we walked into town for dinner before heading back to our accommodation where there was a pool party. This was the build up to the 'blackmoon party' the following night. After moaning at how typical it was that we had missed both full and half moon it turns out we got a party of somesort.
We didn't last long at the pool party though due to the hangover from the previous night and by 11pm headed to bed. The next day was spent on the fullmoon party beach, 'Sunrise' beach, in Haad Rin which is really, really nice! Then that afternoon we met up with Jay and her boyfriend, Ross, who had just arrived from Bangkok. We made plans to meet later for dinner and drinks before the blackmoon party that evening. The evening turned out to be really great fun, and we ended up covered in neon paint (which still stains my clothes now!) and had great fun partying on the beach. Hannah and I headed back to our hotel room at around 5am to find out that reception was shut and they don't leave keys out. We banged on reception for a bit until a girl walked past and said the same thing happened to her recently. Fortunately for us she was really lovely and let us share her room until we could get our key at 7am. At 7am we ran down to reception, grabbed some water to nurse the hangovers and went to our own beds before having to check out at 11am. We then had to get on a boat (hungover again, clearly didn't learn from the last time...) and travel 2 hours to Koh Tao. When we finally arrived we found accommodation at a dive centre. Koh Tao is much more chilled out than the other islands and we instantly fell in love with it. That evening we had an early night but I signed up to go diving at 6:30am the next morning, which also meant that our accommodation was cheaper on days that I dived.
In the morning I got up and got my equipment ready in the dive centre before we headed out 40 mins on the boat to Chumphon dive site. I was buddied with the dive master and we dived with a couple from canada. The first dive had amazing visibility and we saw lots of moray eels,a puffer fish plus loads of fish - it was great! The second dive was at Hin Pee Wee site which has a shipwreck, only being open water certified we were not meant to go to the depth to be able to see the wreck. Luckily the dive master let us sneak down to just over 20 metres where we got a glimpse of it in the distance - amazing! Wreck dives are pretty much the main reason why I want to do the advanced course...but I'd need more time and money for that which I unfortunately didn't have. The next day Jay and Ross arrived from Koh Phangan and I spent the afternoon by their lovely pool at their hotel (which was much nicer than ours, but guess we can't complain at £2 each a night...even if we didn't get a toilet seat on the toilet.) The following evening we sat out on Jay and Ross' veranda with a few drinks before going to see a ladyboy show 'The Queens Caberet' which was pretty interesting. There were a couple of dancers that were so good we had to go up and ask at the end if they were actually women. They weren't.
The next day Jay and Ross left for China and Hannah and I enjoyed our last day on Koh Tao in the sun before sitting outside our bungalow. We moved from Big Blue Dive Centre because we realised we could get better accommodation for the same price elsewhere. The next morning we had to check out at 11am but our boat didn't leave until 2pm so we sat in a restaurant before getting the boat, giant tuktuk, and night train back to Bangkok. We arrived at 5:10am and my flight to Sri Lanka was not until 5pm that evening. Luckily Hannah was staying an extra night in Bangkok so I could shower in her room but spent the day sitting in yet another restaurant (my favourite, near the Khao San Road - Serwanee's - or something like that). Finally it was time for me to head to the airport for the rather long journey to Sri Lanka (via Kuala Lumpur)...yet another night with no sleep. Funfun.
So after the boat, giant tuktuk, night train, sitting around all day on the Khao San Road, sitting at the airport, flying to Kuala Lumpur, sitting at KL airport for 3 hours, flying to Sri Lanka and travelling 8 hours to get to the village where was staying - I made it to Sri Lanka. Firdouse (the father of the family I'm staying with) , his 5 year old son, and one of the students met me at the airport to show me the way to their village. 4 buses and 8 hours later we arrived and it was morning. I was pretty exhausted after two nights with no sleep but didn't want to be rude by going straight to bed so spent the morning playing with their 5 children - a 1 months old baby, a 3.5 year old, a 5 year old, an 8 year old and a 10 year old. They were all adorable and most of them were at school when I arrived so it was pretty quiet. I stayed in a tiny village called Mi Ella just outside of Hakmana on the west coast, it was very pretty and there were no tourists at all. In the whole week I only saw 5 white people and they were all in one town which had a beach and was a tourist place, it was surreal and pretty incredible. As I walked down the street in the village everyone would come out of their houses and children would chase me down the road practising their english. Families would also randomly invite me in if they saw me for a coconut to drink or a chat in very broken english - it was awesome and such an experience. The only downside I had at the beginning of the week was the amount of free time I had. I taught from 4 til 5pm and again from 7 to 8pm and the rest of the day was free. There wasn't much to do in the adorable but tiny village and most of the family's children were at school until lunch time. However, the 3.5 year old was around and she was so cute and very entertaining. I'd also forgotten to buy conditioner and a new deodorant at the airport and they are not things I could find in the village...along with bottled water! Luckily Firdouse brought me back a big bottle from Hakmana but as for conditioner I had to go without and managed to find a random spray deodorant in my bag to get by on. It was an experience.
On my third day in Sri Lanka I did get to watch three chicks hatch out of eggs in an incubator. I was mesmerised for hours watching them struggle out of their eggs and sit cheeping away all naked and ugly. They soon dried out and became adorable fluffy chicks which we transferred to a box. On the morning before they left to go to their new home (a poor family who rely on the eggs for income and food who had been bought the eggs by two other people who stayed with Firdouse and his family: http://www.thekindnessofstrangers.net/index.cfm?Content=3). That morning I sat with one of the chicks who had a broken leg (possibly because the children had been playing with them) whilst he fell asleep in my hand. It was love at first sight :) A few days later I got to go and visit the family and the three chicks which was brilliant and again I spent the whole time nursing them in my pocket. During my time with the family Firdouse took me to see Hakmana and the other nearby town Wallasmulla, where we travelled on the back of his vehicle. A motorbike pulling a trailer pretty much, it was awesome! Before I flew out on the monday I had a weekend free of teaching so Firdouse drove me and his eldest daughter in the trailer down to see the wild elephants, we stayed overnight with a poor family whose house barely had walls let alone windows and the kitchen was a mud shack. They were very hospitable and the two teenage daughters spent the evening mesmerised by my blonde hair, putting it into all sorts of styles. They also cooked an amazing meal. The next morning we were up at 5:45am to see the elephants, they are kept out of the village by an electric fence due to the problems they used to cause which resulted in villagers killing them. We saw 8 in total and it was amazing!! After that we drove 250km all round the south western parts of Sri Lanka where I got to see Mirissa beach and a fort plus loads of stunning scenery. It started to rain at one point and we had to pull in to shelter into a driveway. The owners of the drive invited us into their house for tea - everyone was fascinated by me and wanted to know my story. Including all the traffic police that stop the traffic in Sri Lanka. After that it was pretty late and we popped in to see Shihama's (firdouses' wife) family. Her brother-in-law's father had passed away and it is tradition for them to hold a family gathering to celebrate the persons life 40 days after their death. That day was the 40th day and all the family were there. The women all gathered around me practising their english and wanting to know about my life and family etc. After that they piled tonnes of amazing curry and rice onto my plate before ensuring I ate dessert too. I was SO full but it was really good and they were incredibly friendly. We had to leave in order to make the 2 hour drive back at a reasonable hour but I could have stayed much longer chatting away. The kids adored my camera! We got back at around 10pm and it was pretty much time for bed ready to get up the next day to pack and head to the airport. Firdouse escorted me back to the airport, we left at 1:30pm and finally made it by 9:30pm, 5 buses later. I then had to wait at the airport for my 1am flight to Kuala Lumpur, followed by an hour wait in KL and then my flight to Bangkok. I arrived at 10:45am this morning and checked back into the hotel just off the Khao San Road that I stayed in previously. That's the third night in just over a week without sleep! I restocked on conditioner and deodorant back on the Khao San Road before reading by the pool (I'm on the last Hunger Games book now and its getting pretty good!!) then going to get some dinner, enjoying my last evening travelling by myself.
Tomorrow at 12pm my mum, dad, brother and sister arrive in Bangkok. EXCITED. Cannot believe i now have less than 2 weeks left. Travelling has become my way of life over the past 10 months and staying put back at home in one place is going to be weird. Lots of weekend trips need to be planned I think!! There is lots to look forward to going home to though and I'm excited about seeing everyone. Excited, nervous, and sad that my trip is coming to an end. It has truly been the BEST, most amazing 10 months of my life. EVER.
Pictures will follow soon...
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Anyways, going on from my last post - the elephant riding in Luang Prabang was great fun. Before going to see the elephants we got up at 5am that morning to go and see alms being given to the monks...not quite what I was expecting really - monks just lined up walking along the street. But it was good to see. We then got picked up and driven into the jungle before getting on a boat to travel 15 mins down river to where we would be begin the half hour walk to the elephants. They were pretty tucked away and we all got eaten by flies along the journey!! There were loads of elephants when we did eventually find them, most seemed to be in ok condition but not quite as happy as I would have expected...either way we'd trekked that far and it was time to get into the wooden seats on their backs. The ride lasted for just over an hour (we were bitten alive by flies) but it was really great fun, especially when I got to ride on the neck of mine and Jenny's elephant for half of the journey. Attempting to direct it with my feet...not that it listened to anything I said! They showed us how they could knock down huge trees that stood in their paths which was pretty impressive and overall it was good fun. The following day, and the one after that, were spent travelling down the Mekong River into Thailand. In between we stayed in a tiny village in Laos beside the river. The scenery was amazing but by the second day we started to get bored so livened things up with a bottle of vodka that Kim (our guide) kindly bought us. We played cards and drank shots of vodka (for the losers) before arriving in Chiang Kong late in the afternoon. Chiang Kong was a bit of a stopover on the way to Chiang Mai so we didn't really get up to much but on the afternoon of arriving in Chiang Mai we went to Tiger Kingdom. Tiger Kingdom was brilliant, we chose to go in with the largest (adult), small (7-10 months) and smallest tigers (1-2 months). The smallest were by far my favourite, they were so cuddly and playful and just adorable. The adult tigers were pretty scary to be honest but it was a great experience and I really enjoyed it!! That evening we went for a few drinks in one of the very few places in Chiang Mai with a late licence, 'Spicy'. The next day I found out that my flight with Air Asia to Sri Lanka had been cancelled so spent most of the day sorting that out and arranging a new flight. That evening we got the final sleeper train of the tour to Bangkok - 15 hours. The train was actually really nice and Kim had bought more alcohol, rum this time which we got halfway through before bed. The next morning we arrived in Bangkok and after showering, Hannah, Elody, Joel and I headed to the station to arrange our trains down to the islands. We decided to go to Koh Samui first and work up to Koh Tao.
Once the train was booked Elody, Hannah and I went to MBK Shopping Centre to see if I could find a hygrometer for the family I was going to stay with in Sri Lanka. They needed it for an incubator to hatch eggs. Unfortunately no matter how hard I tried to act out a hygrometer, the Thai people just didn't understand and so we had to give up on that one! That evening we had the final group meal of the tour which was quite sad. We gave Kim a tooth necklace that we had picked out and a card that we'd made out of my very useful coloured paper - it's been a really handy item in my backpack on this trip as it turns out :) After dinner we went to a Pingpong show and this was quite an experience to say the least...After that we headed back to the Khao San Road, finally stumbling home at 6am just as it was getting light. We managed to get a bit of sleep before checking out at 12pm where we went back to the Khao San for lunch and a wander around before the night train at 7:30pm that evening. The night train to Chumphon was a bit more basic than the previous one, we arrived at 4:30am and had to wait until 6am for the giant tuktuk to take us to the port. At the port we got on a 2 hour ferry to Koh Tao which then went another 2 hours to Koh Phangan where we had to change boats to do the final 45 mins to Koh Samui. When we arrived on Koh SamuiElody...it was actually pretty comfy, apart from the issue that by morning it would always be pretty flat. After checking in we sat on the beach for a bit to recover from the night and day of travelling. I got a gecko henna'd onto my foot and then we had dinner on the beach. Along the beach there would be several men with monkeys walking around and when they got near they'd put them on you. They were ADORABLE (one kept sucking it's thumb!) so I eventually caved in and paid 100 baht for 3 photos with one. The next day was spent on the beach and in the clear blue sea which was lovely and that evening we went out for drinks which turned out to be a pretty fun night and we finally got back at around 4:30am. The following day we had to check out at 9:30am to get on the boat to Koh Phangan. Not ideal with a hangover and not much sleep and it was really not a fun journey for any of us! We checked into Coral Bungalows on Haad Rin beach once we arrived and went for lunch. Koh Phangan was really pretty and that evening we walked into town for dinner before heading back to our accommodation where there was a pool party. This was the build up to the 'blackmoon party' the following night. After moaning at how typical it was that we had missed both full and half moon it turns out we got a party of somesort.
We didn't last long at the pool party though due to the hangover from the previous night and by 11pm headed to bed. The next day was spent on the fullmoon party beach, 'Sunrise' beach, in Haad Rin which is really, really nice! Then that afternoon we met up with Jay and her boyfriend, Ross, who had just arrived from Bangkok. We made plans to meet later for dinner and drinks before the blackmoon party that evening. The evening turned out to be really great fun, and we ended up covered in neon paint (which still stains my clothes now!) and had great fun partying on the beach. Hannah and I headed back to our hotel room at around 5am to find out that reception was shut and they don't leave keys out. We banged on reception for a bit until a girl walked past and said the same thing happened to her recently. Fortunately for us she was really lovely and let us share her room until we could get our key at 7am. At 7am we ran down to reception, grabbed some water to nurse the hangovers and went to our own beds before having to check out at 11am. We then had to get on a boat (hungover again, clearly didn't learn from the last time...) and travel 2 hours to Koh Tao. When we finally arrived we found accommodation at a dive centre. Koh Tao is much more chilled out than the other islands and we instantly fell in love with it. That evening we had an early night but I signed up to go diving at 6:30am the next morning, which also meant that our accommodation was cheaper on days that I dived.
In the morning I got up and got my equipment ready in the dive centre before we headed out 40 mins on the boat to Chumphon dive site. I was buddied with the dive master and we dived with a couple from canada. The first dive had amazing visibility and we saw lots of moray eels,a puffer fish plus loads of fish - it was great! The second dive was at Hin Pee Wee site which has a shipwreck, only being open water certified we were not meant to go to the depth to be able to see the wreck. Luckily the dive master let us sneak down to just over 20 metres where we got a glimpse of it in the distance - amazing! Wreck dives are pretty much the main reason why I want to do the advanced course...but I'd need more time and money for that which I unfortunately didn't have. The next day Jay and Ross arrived from Koh Phangan and I spent the afternoon by their lovely pool at their hotel (which was much nicer than ours, but guess we can't complain at £2 each a night...even if we didn't get a toilet seat on the toilet.) The following evening we sat out on Jay and Ross' veranda with a few drinks before going to see a ladyboy show 'The Queens Caberet' which was pretty interesting. There were a couple of dancers that were so good we had to go up and ask at the end if they were actually women. They weren't.
The next day Jay and Ross left for China and Hannah and I enjoyed our last day on Koh Tao in the sun before sitting outside our bungalow. We moved from Big Blue Dive Centre because we realised we could get better accommodation for the same price elsewhere. The next morning we had to check out at 11am but our boat didn't leave until 2pm so we sat in a restaurant before getting the boat, giant tuktuk, and night train back to Bangkok. We arrived at 5:10am and my flight to Sri Lanka was not until 5pm that evening. Luckily Hannah was staying an extra night in Bangkok so I could shower in her room but spent the day sitting in yet another restaurant (my favourite, near the Khao San Road - Serwanee's - or something like that). Finally it was time for me to head to the airport for the rather long journey to Sri Lanka (via Kuala Lumpur)...yet another night with no sleep. Funfun.
So after the boat, giant tuktuk, night train, sitting around all day on the Khao San Road, sitting at the airport, flying to Kuala Lumpur, sitting at KL airport for 3 hours, flying to Sri Lanka and travelling 8 hours to get to the village where was staying - I made it to Sri Lanka. Firdouse (the father of the family I'm staying with) , his 5 year old son, and one of the students met me at the airport to show me the way to their village. 4 buses and 8 hours later we arrived and it was morning. I was pretty exhausted after two nights with no sleep but didn't want to be rude by going straight to bed so spent the morning playing with their 5 children - a 1 months old baby, a 3.5 year old, a 5 year old, an 8 year old and a 10 year old. They were all adorable and most of them were at school when I arrived so it was pretty quiet. I stayed in a tiny village called Mi Ella just outside of Hakmana on the west coast, it was very pretty and there were no tourists at all. In the whole week I only saw 5 white people and they were all in one town which had a beach and was a tourist place, it was surreal and pretty incredible. As I walked down the street in the village everyone would come out of their houses and children would chase me down the road practising their english. Families would also randomly invite me in if they saw me for a coconut to drink or a chat in very broken english - it was awesome and such an experience. The only downside I had at the beginning of the week was the amount of free time I had. I taught from 4 til 5pm and again from 7 to 8pm and the rest of the day was free. There wasn't much to do in the adorable but tiny village and most of the family's children were at school until lunch time. However, the 3.5 year old was around and she was so cute and very entertaining. I'd also forgotten to buy conditioner and a new deodorant at the airport and they are not things I could find in the village...along with bottled water! Luckily Firdouse brought me back a big bottle from Hakmana but as for conditioner I had to go without and managed to find a random spray deodorant in my bag to get by on. It was an experience.
On my third day in Sri Lanka I did get to watch three chicks hatch out of eggs in an incubator. I was mesmerised for hours watching them struggle out of their eggs and sit cheeping away all naked and ugly. They soon dried out and became adorable fluffy chicks which we transferred to a box. On the morning before they left to go to their new home (a poor family who rely on the eggs for income and food who had been bought the eggs by two other people who stayed with Firdouse and his family: http://www.thekindnessofstrangers.net/index.cfm?Content=3). That morning I sat with one of the chicks who had a broken leg (possibly because the children had been playing with them) whilst he fell asleep in my hand. It was love at first sight :) A few days later I got to go and visit the family and the three chicks which was brilliant and again I spent the whole time nursing them in my pocket. During my time with the family Firdouse took me to see Hakmana and the other nearby town Wallasmulla, where we travelled on the back of his vehicle. A motorbike pulling a trailer pretty much, it was awesome! Before I flew out on the monday I had a weekend free of teaching so Firdouse drove me and his eldest daughter in the trailer down to see the wild elephants, we stayed overnight with a poor family whose house barely had walls let alone windows and the kitchen was a mud shack. They were very hospitable and the two teenage daughters spent the evening mesmerised by my blonde hair, putting it into all sorts of styles. They also cooked an amazing meal. The next morning we were up at 5:45am to see the elephants, they are kept out of the village by an electric fence due to the problems they used to cause which resulted in villagers killing them. We saw 8 in total and it was amazing!! After that we drove 250km all round the south western parts of Sri Lanka where I got to see Mirissa beach and a fort plus loads of stunning scenery. It started to rain at one point and we had to pull in to shelter into a driveway. The owners of the drive invited us into their house for tea - everyone was fascinated by me and wanted to know my story. Including all the traffic police that stop the traffic in Sri Lanka. After that it was pretty late and we popped in to see Shihama's (firdouses' wife) family. Her brother-in-law's father had passed away and it is tradition for them to hold a family gathering to celebrate the persons life 40 days after their death. That day was the 40th day and all the family were there. The women all gathered around me practising their english and wanting to know about my life and family etc. After that they piled tonnes of amazing curry and rice onto my plate before ensuring I ate dessert too. I was SO full but it was really good and they were incredibly friendly. We had to leave in order to make the 2 hour drive back at a reasonable hour but I could have stayed much longer chatting away. The kids adored my camera! We got back at around 10pm and it was pretty much time for bed ready to get up the next day to pack and head to the airport. Firdouse escorted me back to the airport, we left at 1:30pm and finally made it by 9:30pm, 5 buses later. I then had to wait at the airport for my 1am flight to Kuala Lumpur, followed by an hour wait in KL and then my flight to Bangkok. I arrived at 10:45am this morning and checked back into the hotel just off the Khao San Road that I stayed in previously. That's the third night in just over a week without sleep! I restocked on conditioner and deodorant back on the Khao San Road before reading by the pool (I'm on the last Hunger Games book now and its getting pretty good!!) then going to get some dinner, enjoying my last evening travelling by myself.
Tomorrow at 12pm my mum, dad, brother and sister arrive in Bangkok. EXCITED. Cannot believe i now have less than 2 weeks left. Travelling has become my way of life over the past 10 months and staying put back at home in one place is going to be weird. Lots of weekend trips need to be planned I think!! There is lots to look forward to going home to though and I'm excited about seeing everyone. Excited, nervous, and sad that my trip is coming to an end. It has truly been the BEST, most amazing 10 months of my life. EVER.
Pictures will follow soon...
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