New Adventures...: Back in Thailand!

Phew! What a fast and amazing holiday this has been. Finally back in Thailand and hanging in Chiang Mai with GVI and Emma through the weekend and back in Mae Chan on Monday. Will be so weird to be home and unpack my bag and finally do laundry. I don't even know where to begin...I wrote in my journal and have hundreds of pages, however I started to use it more as a diary so will have to edit some things out once I type up everything with photos. I last left this blog while in Siem Reap. After Angkor Wat I took an overnight bus to Sihanoukville aka the beach of Cambodia. Took a hotel bus and ended up having to sleep next to an Asian man. Thankfully he was really nice and I can sleep anywhere so when I woke up we had just arrived in Sihanoukville. Paid $6 for a stupid taxi to my hostel and got some Internet and breakfast and relaxed a bit. My hostel had a pool which I couldn't wait to get in. It was hot! Explored a little bit and waited to meet my friends for dinner. After we decided on the islands I went back to the hostel and got caught up in a movie with some people. Then debated on going out or not and finally around 1030pm I opted to just take the plunge and went to a bar and made friends with some girls from Sweden. They were going to the beach clubs so I grabbed my drink and we headed to the ocean. And that's where it all begins...haha

In a nutshell, I spent the next two weeks on the islands in Cambodia and on the beach and met amazing people. Had the best night out in Phnom Penh with my two bestestestest friends Hannah and Bethel and we danced the night away and laughed the entire time! Literally danced the night away, Bethel and I walked out of the club and it was broad daylight...sorry mom, ignore that comment. Well we went back to the hostel and Hannah and I got our taxi to the airport and we boarded our plane on time and made it to Bangkok. After I frantically looked for the ATM that my school uses, finally was able to draw out some baht! Oh I was so happy to be back in Thailand and back to baht. Kip and Riel is the end of me! So I bought a plane ticket to Chiang Mai and was poolside by 3pm. I still haven't digested all of my travels and can't wait to start blogging about each town I went to and the amazing people I met. By chance, I decided to get off on a random part of the beach on an island and met a teacher from Vietnam. After hearing about the lifestyle and the pay, looks like after my contract is up in Thailand I will be moving to Hanoi, Vietnam! I also ended up bailing on Bali due to financial complications (Bangkok Bank atm card wouldn't work in Phnom Penh and spent too much money already) so stayed in Cambodia for a total of three weeks and would stay longer if it weren't for my teacher orientation.

Now I am in Chiang Mai with Emma and met the new teachers! They are a really fun group and happy that they will be us in Northern Thailand. I head back home on Monday and can't believe I will be able to unpack my backpack and do proper laundry and not smell like a backpacker. Back to the life of Thai clothes, makeup, hair groomed (I went a week without even using my brush, no shame), ballet flats, daily fruit consumption, and able to run on my track! Oh I can't wait to get back in shape, backpacking is fun and all, but I miss my exercise and my no carb intake. I inhaled bread on the daily in Laos and Cambodia (French influenced cuisine due to be colonized by the French) and happy to be back to my veggies and soups. Here are some photos of my trip and I'll attempt to caption them. Stay tuned for detailed entries on my travels!

Places visited: Krabi, Koh Lanta, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, Vientiene, Pakse, Siem Reap, Sihanoukville, Koh Rong, Otres Beach, Koh Rong Samloen, Phnom Penh, Bangkok again and now in Chiang Mai

Countries: Thailand, Laos, Cambodia

Friends met: countless and love every one of them!

Food consumed: way too much, but always with a smile on my face

Memories made: endless

My heart is overflowing with all the love and happiness this holiday has brought me :)

Laos:

Luang Prabang