Day 41 - Landed in the US!! ✈️🇺🇸🎉

The 5 hour layover in Seoul wasn't too bad I got a lot of sleep. The flight ended up only being 11 and a half hours which was a little better than on the way over. I watched like 5 movies haha, I didn't et much sleep so hopefully I can stay up until bedtime so the jet lag isn't as bad. 

This will be my last blog, thanks to everyone who read it! The trip was an absolute blast! I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to make the trip before starting work. Hopefully there will be many more trips to come in the future! But for now it's awesome to be back home! I don't have too much time to enjoy it since I head down to savannah this weekend to start my "real life"! 

 

Peace out! ✌️😁✌️

Day 40 - Heading Home!!

Today we slept in till check out time, around 11 am, since we didn't have anything planned. We took the free shuttle to the other airport which took about an hour to get to. My dad had booked a room at a hotel at the airport for the wrong night that he couldn't cancel so we checked into the room and left our bags. We then we to the airport rail link to go downtown. I convinced my dad to go to the huge shopping mall that I had visited while we were in Bangkok. 

The airport rail link took about 30 minutes and took us to the BTS (sky rail) which took us 10 min from there to get us to get to the siam stop. Once we got to the mall we grabbed some food at a place called mos burger, apparently it's sort of like a mc Donald's type restaurant in Japan. The food was pretty good for fast food, I had the teriyaki chicken burger. After eating we decided to catch a movie since we had a lot of time on our hands. We ended up seeing robocop which was actually better than I thought it would be. After the movie we walked around the mall some more then caught the train to get back to the hotel. 

Once we got back we showered and rested until it was time to check in for our flight. Luckily we were able to get exit row seats for both flights home! Maybe I'll actually have a chance to get some sleep now! Our first flight is to Seoul South Korea and is about 5 hours long. 

The plane ride to Korea was pretty good I tried watching a movie called "the counselor" but fell asleep watching it haha. I woke up for the meal and by that time we were about for land. Now we have a 5 hour layover in Korea before our 13 hour flight back to Chicago, yay?! Hopefully the flight will go by fast!

Day 39 - Last Day on Phi Phi, Heading back to Bangkok

Today we didn't have anything planned so we slept in and had the buffet breakfast. After we checked out we hung out at the beach in front of our hotel for one last time. The long boat took us to the pier at 1 but since the boat didn't leave till 230 we walked to a restaurant near the pier. I had phad Thai and a strawberry shake that was really good! Getting on the boat was a mess but the boat was much nicer than the one we came here on! It had a/c and tvs! I got a lot of blogging done on the boat and got to relax. The boat ride took about two hours again.

- Boat selfie (I really don't have any good pictures for this blog!)

Once we got to the pier we took a shuttle to the airport. The bus was packed! The driver had people sharing seats luckily I grabbed the the front seat next to the driver.

- Packed Bus

The ride took about an hour to get to the airport. We were originally thinking to go to the beach but since it was already 6 the sun would be down soon and it was a mile walk from the airport at least. So we decided just to chill at the airport for the 5 hours until our flight. It was a pretty boring wait, I laid on the chairs and played games on my phone. The flight was only and hour and 20 minutes so we got into Bangkok around 1230 and since we were staying at the hotel connected to the airport it only took a few minutes to get to our room. Tonight is the last night I'll probably be able to get some sleep so I'll have to make it count. Tomorrow were going downtown and then we start flying back home!

Day 38 - Koh Phi Phi Le Snorkel Trip and Trekking

Today we had to wake up around 830 in order to get ready and eat breakfast in time for our snorkel trip at 9. After breakfast we waited in the hotel lobby and got picked up by the speed boat on the beach of our hotel. The boat picked up a few more people and then we headed for Koh phi phi Le island which is around 2 miles away. The feat stop we made was at Viking cave. It was basically a small cave that a few people lived in. We weren't able to snorkel there since the water was too rough. 

- On the Speed Boat

- Viking Cave

After pausing at the cave we moved on to pi leh lagoon which was only a few minutes away from the cave. The lagoon was really cool. The water was pretty shallow and we didn't really snorkel here but we did stop and swim around. The water was really refreshing!

- Pi leh Lagoon Entrance

- Swimming in the Lagoon

After swimming in the lagoon for a bit we cruised around to the other side of the island to maya bay. Maya beach is where they filmed the movie "The Beach" with Leonardo DiCaprio, I haven't seen it yet but I'm going to watch it when I get back home. The beach was awesome! The only problem was that it was packed with tourists and boats.

- View From Maya Beach

Unfortunately I took a lot more photos with the underwater camera so look for those on Facebook. We snorkeled in the bay of maya beach for 30 minutes. The snorkeling was really cool. They threw bread into the water and the fishes were everywhere! It was really fun and the water was so clear! After we finished snorkeling we stopped at the beach to relax and explore for an hour. The beach was fairly small but it was nice, I wish I could've seen it when it wasn't as crowded though.

After maya beach we stopped at another spot just off the coast of the island to do some more snorkeling. There were tons of fish and huge rocks under the water that made for an interesting landscape on the ocean floor. We saw some scuba divers there as well, I don't think the water was quite as clear as racha Noi/Yai but it was still pretty clear. 

- Snorkeling!

The last stop we made was back at Koh phi phi don at monkey beach. Monkey beach was exactly what you'd expect, a beach with monkeys! It was fun to see them again. I almost got peed on by a monkey in the tree above me that I didn't see!

- Monkey Selfie!

After monkey beach we got dropped back off at the hotel where we grabbed some lunch. I had the phad Thai which was yummy as usual. The we went to the pool to check it out. I ended up trying a Mai Thai at the pool bar, it was really sweet but overall pretty good. I stayed at the pool for around an hour then went back to the room to shower and change. 

I decided I wanted to hike to the viewpoint on the mountain of the island, of course my dad didn't want to so he got a massage instead haha. I left around three, getting to the viewpoint wasn't really that back, it took about a half hour to get all the way too the top and the view was awesome! You could see almost the whole island!

- The View (You had to be there)

- Pronounced "pee pee" in case anyone was wondering 🙊

If you look at the picture our beach was the one on the left, but as you can see the beaches are super close to each other. The viewpoint  gave me a much better perspective of the island. I rested for about 20 minutes enjoying the view then figured I would try to make it towards the tip of the island. If your looking at the picture you can't see it since it's directly behind me. 

Little did I know there are no real roads to get to the other part of the island only dirt paths that have no markings or signs to direct you! At one point on the trail a pack of at least 10 monkeys ran across the trail! I freaked out because at first all I heard was a loud rustling in the bushes, I was the only one on the trail with literally no sign of civilization so I thought for sure I was about to get attacked! Luckily the monkeys just startled me and quickly made their way through the woods. 

After about 30 minutes of hiking with no end in sight I finally came across a building! The trail literally let me out behind a shed in a mechanic area where a few people were cutting metal and doing other mechanical type things. I walked past them looking totally out of place coming from behind their shed. I finally found a road! The bad news was it was all down hill to the beach, which meant I would have to climb it on the way back! I hiked down and explored then beach for about 15 minutes. There were quite a few private villas and resorts (I think most of the time people get there by taxi boat). 

- Made it to the Beach!

After hanging out for about 15 minutes I decided I better start hiking back since I didn't want it to get dark while I was in the middle of the forest on then mountain. The hike back was rough, I ran most of the way just to get it over with quicker! I finally made it back to the hotel after an hour of hiking back. I ended up napping until dinner. We ended up going to a nearby restaurant where I tried suck! It was pretty good! The restaurant also had a fire show that was really cool!

- The Fire show

After the show we made our way back to the hotel for some rest. Tomorrow we leave phi phi island :( and start to make our way home flying to Bangkok! I'm excited to finally get back home!

Day 37 - Koh Phi Phi Island

Today we got up around 8 to eat breakfast and get packed up so we could check out. A minibus picked us up and drove us to the pier the trip took about an hour and we arrived at the pier around 1030. The boat was pretty big, if I had to guess there was around 200 people or so. We left the pier at 11:00 and the trip took about two hours to get there. Once we disembarked the boat we  got on a long boat that took us across the bay to our hotel. 

- The Pier

- On the long Boat

Our hotel was literally right on the beach you actually had to go in the water to get off the long boat and walk about 20 feet to the lobby. Once we checked in we were driven to our room wich was up the hill. The resort was huge with tons of bungalows all over the hill/mountain. Once we got our stuff settled in our room we made our way down to the hotel restaurant for some lunch. 

The food was delicious! I had grilled fish with sizzling rice. After we ate lunch we walked out to the beach which was literally right in front of the hotel. The water was super clear and shallow. We noticed that in the afternoon the water in the bay decreases tremendously like 5 ft! Anyways we stayed at the beach for a few hours and the went back to the room I relax until dinner. 

- Beach Outside the Hotel

Once it was around dinner time we went out and walked around the town and to the beach on the other side of the bay. All of it was really close together, the other beach was maybe half a mile from the bay at most. After walking around we eneded up stopping at a really cool looking restaurant called the rock. The restaurant looked like a ship on top of a rock about 2 stories above the road. Lo ended up having the shrimp fried rice which was really tasty.

After dinner we made our way back to our room. Tomorrow we are going on a snorkeling trip to phi phi Le island which should be really fun!

Day 36 - SCUBA Diving Racha Noi and Racha Yai

Today I had to wake up a little earlier around 630 to get some breakfast and get ready for SCUBA diving. The minibus picked me up around 720 from the hotel and then drive us to the pier. Once I arrived I met my instructor/guide, Sofie, and we made our way to the boat. Sofie was a freelance diver so she worked for all the different dive companies when they needed someone. None of the dive companies own their own boat so we were on the boat with a lot of other divers from different dive companies. 

- SCUBA gear on the boat

The boat was really nice, 3 stories with the gear on the first floor, a second shaded floor, and a third floor sun deck. The first stop on the trip was to the furthest island, Racha Noi. The boat ride took an hour and a half or so and along the way Sofie went over some of the basics for SCUBA diving. Since I had already gone once before in the Dominican Republic I remembered most of the stuff. The boat also had some breakfast food but since I alreadyy ate at the hotel I didn't have any. Once we arrived at Racha Noi we got geared up and ready for our first dive. 

- Dive Spot at Racha Noi

The water where we were diving was SO CLEAR! And so warm! It was already 100 times better than my dive in the Dominican. For the first dive we descended using the rope and we did some quick review of some basic skills to make sure I wouldn't drown! After that we descended to the bottom and started swimming. Unfortunately I don't have the pictures yet, Sofie took some and will send them to me by email so I'll post them to Facebook once I get them. The dive was awesome! We stayed under for 50 minutes and were about 40 feet under! There were so many cool fish we saw too! We saw puffer fish, the finding nemo fish, shrimp, and tons more that I don't remember the names of. Once the 50 minutes was up we made our way back to the surface and got back on the boat. 

We had an hour to rest until our next dive which was at the same spot. They served lunch on the boat which consisted of various Thai dishes, I'm not sure what the one was called but it was SOO GOOD! While we were waiting on the boat a huge manta ray swam by the boat! A manta ray, for those that don't know is basically a huge stingray like almost 15 feet wide! 

For the second dive we went in the same spot but this time we went a little farther out of the bay hopping to catch a glimpse of the manta. We were really lucky because at the very end of the dive it swam right past us! It was probably about 15 feet away! I wish it wouldev got a little closer but it was still awese to see such a huge creature!  The second dive was the same depth and length as the first. I also found out they te water temperature was 75 degrees and that was at 40 feet deep! 

After the second dive we got back on the boat and headed for The island Racha Yai for our third and final dive of the day. The third dive wasn't as deep as the first two but there were still tons of awesome fish. It's like a whole other world when you go below, it's so cool! I can't wait to get my certification so I can do more dives! After the third dive they had pancakes and fruit for us on the boat as we made our way back to the pier. We finally got to the pier around 5pm and then got into the minibuses to take us back to our hotels. Once I got back I met my dad back in the room and we rested for an hour or two until dinner. 

For dinner we went to a restaurant called the tiger inn. It had sort of a rainforest cafe feel to it and the food was pretty good! I had the shrimp fried rice and a banana shake. Once we finished we made our way back to the hotel to get some rest. Tomorrow we head to Koh Phi Phi island one of the best beaches in the world!

Day 35 - Beaches and Beautiful Weather

Since we had nothing planned today we slept in till around 9 then went downstairs to eat some breakfast. The hotel had a free buffet breakfast so I loaded up on pancakes and eggs, it was delicious and I was stuffed afterwards! Once we finished we hung out in the room for an hour or two. I skyped with Rach for a little then we got ready to head to the beach. 

We hung out at the beach from 11 till around 4. We had a small lunch there, I had a chicken sandwich. The weather was amazing again. This place had perfect weather all year round I wish I could live here! After the beach we went back to the pool for about an hour then relaxed until dinner. For dinner we walked down the Main Street and ate at a restaurant called Rosco's that was pretty good. I got my usual phad Thai, you can't go wrong with it! They had the Olympics on so we got to watch dorm of the curling matches haha. 

After dinner we decided to walk around some more and explore the area. There were tons of shops all over the street selling the typical touristy junk. We walked down one of the main bar streets called bangla rd. it was only 4 blocks long but it was packed with bars and people trying to sell you tickets to the "ping pong" shows. If you really want to know what that is you can google it haha. 

- Bangla street

We also made our way to the Patong mall, it was a fairly large 3 story mall with typical shops. We stopped in the food court for some ice cream and got to watch some beakdancing street performers that were actually pretty good!

- Ice Cream selfie

- Patong Beach Sign

After eating our ice cream we made our way back to the hotel to rest. We ended up watching Django on tv. Tomorrow I'm going on a scuba trip to two islands just south if Phuket called Racha Noi and Racha Yai. My dad decided he's rather stay back at the beach and relax so I'm going by myself. It should be fun! I've only scuba dived one other time in the Dominican Republic so well see how it compares.