Bangkok, Phuket, Ko Phi Phi: THAILAND

The biggest trip of all, together with one of the best companies I could wish for, to a country everyone just starts thinking of bright times, briefly saying:

8 days of Thailand together with my family.

We left Singapore now two weeks ago and went to Bangkok City to spend the first two days of our trip there. The resume is easy: Bangkok is no city anyone of the four of us would fall in love with. The best part of it was actually our place to stay which I recommend to all visitors of Bangkok exceedingly. The hotel is called Phranakorn Nornlen, located in the north of the "old city" and voted number 3 out of all hotels in Bangkok by tripadvisor.com. I can just agree on it, it was our oasis where we could find a break from all dust and smog and dirt in Bangkok and where no stupid betrayers were running around trying to fool tourists. But have a look yourselves, it was the sweetest and nicest guesthouse (=hotel=hostel) I have stayed in so far and I would definitely go back anytime.

Phranakorn Nornlen in Bangkok

My sister stepping into our new library

It's my dad in the picture, uhm, mirror :)

We felt warmly welcomed.

And I went on a bike trip, almost :)

Anyway, for all the travelers who are planning on going to Bangkok some day, I need to mention the following: Never ever trust anyone on the street. Most of the people starting talking to you are betrayers, people who tell you that the Grand Palace is not open on Saturdays or that it is closed until 2:30 pm for tourists and only open for monks in the mornings. The only goal is to get you in a tuk-tuk which is supposed to go on an exciting sightseeing tour through Bangkok, but you will end up very likely in a big jewelry store the tuk-tuk driver gets free gasoline vouchers from for every tourist he brings, or a tailor who is trying hard to sell you a suit or a dress or whatever you like. We met so many people on the streets who told us about their bad experience and experienced part of it on our own, unfortunately. So please be aware and read the lonely planet carefully before going there, which describes exactly the case I did right now.

The sleeping Buddha in BKK City.

Bangkok was a good experience, but nonetheless after having spent a lot of time in Singapore City, all of us were looking forward to a destination on the beach. And by booking it one day before our flight went, we decided on going to Phuket, the largest island of Thailand, straight in the south, waiting for us with a bunch of beautiful islands and beaches and not to forget incredible diving spots around.

We saw James Bond Island, Hong Island, Khai Island, Ko Phi Phi, and so many more of which I just forgot the names^^ Plus, I went for diving in Racha Yai and Racha Noy, maybe someone has already seen the dive spots. They were so good, much better than in the Philippines, and I am even more falling for scuba diving now. I saw lobsters crawling on the ground, moraines looking out of their holes, a huge mackerel passing by, stone fish (I hope this is the proper name for it^^), and all the time huge fish swarms buzzing around us.

My mom holding part of the James Bond Island in her hands.

We went for canoeing through these giant islands...

...and saw amazing nature.

This was were we ended our first island hopping trip and went for swimming.

Ko Phi Phi

Monkey Beach, as you can see :)

shortly before the attack, have a closer look on its face ;)

Khai Island

National park on Ko Phi Phi

I will spare you more text to read since there is a lot of pictures to read from :) and am just adding that it might have been the last trip during my stay in Singapore. Anyway, there will be some posts coming up from TEDxWomen, as a second TEDxSingapore event during my stay (the first was TEDxYouth, and a big success), and not to forget from ZOUKout, where David Guetta is gonna be the main act, mid of December.

So, keep in touch. Until then I might just be a nice student and prepare my final exams :)

Cheers, Ju