Thailand with Contiki

I travelled with Contiki to Thailand in 2018 in an attempt to jump on board the hype. Four years prior to that I had spent around a month galavanting around the country ( which to be honest sounds like a fucking dream right now) and I just couldn’t see the fascination that everyone else had.. what magic was I missing? It was time to find out.

A Night in Bangkok

I don’t know about you but I honestly love arriving at a hotel after a long haul flight ( I mean, who doesn’t) But honestly, I get so excited that I even make myself one of those God awful coffees from the machine in the room, take two sips, realise that, yes… it’s disgusting and put it down, knowing that I am still loving life. Arriving at the Nouvo Hotel was no different. To start off with I had an upgrade and there was a cute little elephant towel greeting me when I got into the room.
Click here to have a look at Nouvo!

I was actually staying in Bangkok for two nights and I had arrived the day before my tour was due to start.
The next morning I was keen for a chilled one, so naturally after breakfast I hit the gym ( first and last time of the trip) before heading directly to the pool. Weather could have been sunnier, but hey, what can you do. Its Thailand in July. It will rain.

I actually stayed in a Halal Hotel so for lunch, fancying a beer, I had a quick look on google and headed 5 steps out of the hotel door and into the first bar/ food eatery I could stumble across. When in Thailand it has to be Chang. I further treated myself to two of my favourite asian dishes..spring Rolls and Tom Yum soup. They did not disappoint.

Later, back in the room ( by this point I had moved rooms, my second night in Bangkok was technically part of the tour) I met my roommate for the next two weeks, Megan. After a little polite chat we went down to the lobby to meet everyone else. As usual on Contikis there was a good mix of Australians, Canadians and Americans. We met our tour manager and hit the town. We were on a treasure hunt around Khao San Road, which as you can see involved a Pad Thai and a very snazzy bucket!

We also sampled scorpion, bought matching bracelets off a street vendor and ended up in numerous bars and eventually a ping pong show. (somethings you cannot forget.)
We also returned to a bar I had been at in 2014 and it brought back the fuzziest and warmest memories ( something I didn’t believe was necessarily possible for a place I felt had had little impact at the time. )
The next day we had some more time in Bangkok.. I wasn’t feeling the best, so I opted for a pool day ( I have previously spent a week in the city so I didn’t feel like I was missing out on too much )

The Overnight Train

Bangkok to Surat Thani

Thank God! bottom bunk! I know exactly what this means, more room, a space for my backpack and a glorious view at sunrise. ( Yes, I’ve been on the trains before, except this time it was in a completely different direction.)
It was raining when we arrived, hence sunrise didn’t quite happen.
From a rainy Surat Thani we made our way to rainy Khao Sok National Park.
Our first stop in the park was a night in a tree top hut, which, I can’t even express the beauty of so I am going to put a picture right here now instead.

Unfortunately it was still raining, but that didn’t stop us dropping off our bags and heading out on a canoe adventure, fortunately enough not rowed by myself. Not going to lie, it was absolutely freezing and I could have passed on this inclusion. After returning back to the huts we headed into the small town in hope of having a massage, we were successful and before leaving the town I picked up two new pairs of pants.
Later that night we had dinner in the town, washed down by beers and probably too many drinks.

Breakfast was a buffet which included all kids of curries, noodles, rice, vegetables and spring rolls and I ate as much as possible before heading out further into the national park and onto our next location.
Our next night’s stay was on floating huts on Cheow Lan Lake.

Weather still not being the best we had a chilled day, some others did take a hike but I didn’t quite fancy it in the rain/ slippy mud.
After a swim in the lake and a bit of a canoe both lunch and dinner were included. I will say that this accommodation did not go without fault. The huts were simple and made from wood, the problem with wood is that it attracts cockroaches. ( and I mean lots) I have a major fear of these small world end surviving creatures and could not sleep in the hut. Luckily my roommate Megan wasn’t a fan either. We spent the night 2am-6am sat at the outdoor dining tables we had previously had dinner on. (Dying :’) :’) )

Thankfully our final stop in Thailand didn’t have any bugs, spiders or cockroaches. We were off to Krabi, to stay in a hotel not made out of wood lol.
Our first day in Krabi allowed me to sleep on a comfy bed for the first time in three nights and then hit the beach. Unfortunately, the weather was still not on our side, but not letting that get too much in the way we grabbed some lunch and headed down to the beach only to get caught in a legit 5 seconds dry to wet rain shower. We retreated to a beachside bar for beers.
That evening we went with all the tour group for dinner, drinks and dancing Krabi Style.
We woke up the next morning to a blue bird day ( finally ) which was good as we had a whole day on the ocean planned and were heading to Koh PiPi to see monkeys and crystal waters.

We lazed around on the boat, floated in lifejackets, drank too many beers and quite frankly had a bloody good time. (lunch and drinks were both included on this day)
Later that evening Megan and I went for a quiet dinner and a glorious sleep! The next day we were off to Malaysia!