My two-week trip to Thailand

Hey blog! I know it has been a while, but I am back and better than ever! This time last year, Maya was studying abroad in Prague and traveling all over Europe. Now it is my turn! I am studying at The University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia until May and am living on Bondi Beach. It has been an absolute dream so far and I can’t believe I’ve already been abroad for a month!

I moved into my apartment in Bondi the first week of January. It is currently summer in Australia, and I am taking one online summer class before the semester starts in February (where I will have to attend in person classes and not gallivant to another country). Since I had four weeks of online class, my good friend Paige and I decided to take this opportunity to go to Thailand. We traveled down south, to Bangkok, Krabi (Ao Nang), Khao Sok National Park and Koh Tao. Although we did not have time to explore up north, it was incredible, and I am so sad to be leaving such a wondering place. Here is a detailed itinerary of our 15-day trip, I strongly urge you to go!

BANGKOK – January 17th- January 20th

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Paige and I flew to Bangkok (DMK) at 7 a.m. and landed around 2 p.m. It took us forever to get to our hotel because of Grab issues, so we did not arrive until 5 p.m. Grab is the Asia equivalent to Uber. It was reliable for most of the trip, but at the airport it was very busy and hard to call one, so I would recommend not taking a Grab from the airport and using the Airport Rail Link instead. We took the rail link on the way to the airport when leaving Bangkok, and it was much quicker. The traffic is bad in Bangkok so do yourself a favor and take the rail link. We stayed at the Rembrandt Hotel, which was at a nice central location and very busy. By the time we were checked in, Paige and I were ravenous, so we went to Beef Boat Noodle. It was about a 20-minute walk from us and located inside a mall, but it was delicious. In the United States I would never have thought to eat at a restaurant in a mall, but the malls in Bangkok are very nice and the food was amazing.

On the walk home, we wandered inside of EmSphere Mall on complete accident. It is a massive mall with five stories, one story consisting of an IKEA and another with over 20 restaurants. Paige and I walked around with our jaws on the floor, it was one of the craziest things I’d ever seen. We walked around and got milkshakes before heading back to the hotel for bed.

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The next day we walked to Simple. Natural Kitchen for breakfast. I ordered the corn bacon hash and Paige got an acai bowl. Both were amazing. From there, we took a Grab to Wat Saket Ratchawora Mahawihan (Golden Mount Temple) and then checked out Khaosan Road. It was not super busy so I think we would have been better off going in the afternoon/ evening. We then walked to The Grand Palace and admired the temples. There are so many beautiful temples within The Grand Palace (The Temple of the Emerald Buddha was my favorite), so we spent a good two hours there. There is an entrance fee for both places, but the rich history and impressive architecture is worth every penny. There is another famous temple, Wat Arun Ratchawararam Ratchawaramahawihan (The Temple of Dawn) across the Chao Phraya River, but we did not have time to go see it. We made a friend from Israel, Rom, who accompanied us for the day. After temple hopping, we went to lunch – in another mall. The mall was ICONSIAM Mall, which was also massive, and we ate at Thipsamai Pad Thai. We did some shopping, they have a ZARA and an H&M, and headed over to Amazing Thai Relax Massage. After such a busy day a massage was needed. This place was close to the mall and was indeed amazing and relaxing. After our oil massages, we walked to Chinatown, which was crowded and busy. If you do not like big crowds, I do not recommend going, but it was still very cool. Along the road were unlimited street food stands, some with fried bugs (which we tried, not bad they tasted like chicken), some with mango sticky rice (amazing) and others with noodles and meat.  There was also a market at the end of the road that had even more food to choose from. After trying some bugs and other street food, we ate at Nai Ek Roll Noodle which was again, flavorful and delicious. We shared the crispy pork and it did not disappoint. Once we were stuffed, we took a taxi home and got ready for the next day.

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The morning started off with a Thai cooking class, which was awesome. We did it through House of Taste Thai Cooking School, and we made four dishes. We made Pad See Ew, Tom Yum Soup, Mango Sticky Rice, and Panang Curry. It lasted a few hours but felt like the perfect amount of time, and every dish was so fun to make and so delicious. Everyone had their own individual stove and nothing was overly complicated, which was good for people like me who aren’t the best at cooking. If you have the time I highly recommend this activity. After the cooking class we walked around some more, and then spent the afternoon sunbathing at our hotel pool. We needed a few hours to recharge and get ready for our move to Krabi the next day. We ate dinner at The Spotted Pig and played some cards while admiring the city before calling it a night. We wanted to go see a Muy Thai fight but ran out of time, but I would check it out if you can, it’s a huge part of the culture in Thailand.

Tips for Bangkok

-       Do not take a Grab from the airport, take the train or taxi

-       If you can, bring cash to exchange at the airport. We did not do this and had to take cash out of an ATM, which was okay but there was a 220-baht fee each time we did. If you can come with cash to exchange or get baht ahead of time, you will be in a better spot. I used cash pretty much the whole trip. Don’t forget it for entrance fees to certain temples

-       There is a strict dress code for women in the temples. You must be covering your knees and your shoulders, so I wore a long skirt and a t-shirt. It is hot, so I recommend a skirt or flowy pants. For the Grand Palace, they also wanted men to cover their knees so bring pants, or else they’ll make you buy a pricey pair of pants

-       Bangkok is not very walkable. We walked a lot, but the roads are busy, and people do not seem to care about pedestrians. We waited at the crosswalks, but even when we had the go ahead, motorcycles and cars would not stop. If you do walk around, just be aware of your surroundings and precede with caution

-       Along with the walking, use Google Maps instead of Apple Maps. Even then, don’t be surprised if Google Maps leads you to somewhere that does not exist. This happened to us many times when trying to find specific restaurants, but we would just end up finding a new place and it was still great

-       Depending on what you’re into, I think we could have done two full days of Bangkok instead of three. Bangkok is iconic, but it was a little too crowded for Paige and I. If you love big cities then disregard this, but if not and you have limited time then I would consider this option

-       For all of Thailand – get big water at 7/11. Never buy bottled water at a restaurant or a store, they are smaller and more expensive. At 7/11 you can get a large water for 25 baht and it will last longer. There are 7/11’s everywhere so if you need water it is easy to get

Restaurants

-       Beef Boat Noodle, Simple. Natural Kitchen, Thipsamai Pad Thai, The Spotted Pig

Tours

-       House of Taste Thai Cooking School- https://www.houseoftastecooking.com

 AO NANG, KRABI – January 20th- January 23rd

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The next day we flew to Krabi, which was about an hour and a half flight. We took a 30-minute Grab to our hostel in Ao Nang. If you come to Krabi, stay in Ao Nang instead of Krabi Town. It is a cute beach town that is beautiful and buzzing and was my favorite place we went.

We stayed at KoKo Party Hostel, which was right by the beach. It was nice, but was a party hostel with a bar downstairs, so there was loud music playing until 2 a.m. We were aware of this going into it and thought we wanted a party hostel because it would help us meet more people, but we ented up meeting friends in other places and did not depend on it as much as we thought we would. Looking back, we probably would have stayed somewhere more mellow, but again, depends on what you prefer. We still had a great time. We ate lunch at Mañana Mexican Food and then took a boat to Railay Beach and spent the afternoon there, which was lovely and beautiful. We watched the sunset on the beach, and it was perfect. For dinner, we ate at Family Thaifood & Seafood, which was AMAZING. It was the best seafood of my life and if you are in Krabi you must go. We met a few guys from New York, Jacob, Sam, and Matthew, who helped us order because they had already been to the restaurant the night before. That’s how good it is. Our waiter asked us if we would be okay if someone else joined us to save space in the restaurant, and obviously we said yes. We were joined by Prathibaa, a teacher from India who was the wisest and kindest person I had ever met. By the end of our two-hour dinner, we had an invitation to India, and we will 100% be taking her up on that offer soon. We said goodbye and Paige and I walked around some more. There was live music at Prime Burger and we ended our night there.

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The next day we did a guided jungle tour to the Emerald Pool, Krabi Hot Spring and Tiger Cave Temple. A bus took us to each place and lunch was included, but you needed to pay an entrance fee for both swimming spots. We met a friend, Orion, and all spent the day together. Overall tour was great, but I would have cut out the pools and hot springs section and only go to the tiger cave. I felt very touristy and thought there was a lot of waiting around at those areas, but the hike was awesome. It was 1,200 stairs leading to a temple on top of a mountain, surrounded by breathtaking views. There were monkeys everywhere which were very cute but also menaces, so I kept my distance. It was beautiful and made the tour worth it.

Once we returned, we met Sam, Jacob, and Matthew for dinner, back at Family Thaifood & Seafood. We had a lovely dinner together and then hopped around to a few bars. We also watched a free fire show on the beach. On the street I ran into one of my good friends who I worked with the summer before, Sebastian, which was a crazy interaction. I had not seen him in six months and had no idea he was in Thailand, and then I bumped into him on the street! He spent the rest of the night with us exploring and it was awesome.

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Early the next day I went climbing. I signed up through Get Your Guide and climbed with the local King Climbers. They picked me up from the hostel and dropped me back off and provided me with all the gear I needed to climb. We climbed at Railay Beach, and it was a 10/10 experience. All the guides were helpful and fun, and there were a great variety of pitches that met anyone and everyone’s skill level. We climbed for about four hours, and the pitches I did were challenging but so much fun. I love to climb but don’t do it very often, so I was having a great time. The rocks were crowded with other climbing groups, but it never felt like I was wasting my time or waiting around. I made a lot of climbing friends, Ivan in particular from China, which was really cool because I had never met anyone from China before. The rocks are super cool with a lot of great holds, so if you like to climb you should definitely go.

After climbing I met up with Paige and we spent the afternoon at the beach. We watched the sunset and swam around, and it was a really beautiful and special moment. It was the “Wow I can’t believe I am in Thailand” moment. We swam until the sun disappeared and then walked about a mile to the Ao Nang Landmark Night Market. There was so much yummy food, get the coconut ice cream. It was the perfect end to a perfect time in Ao Nang.

Tips for Ao Nang

-       Get bugs spray

Restaurants

-       Mañana Mexican Food

-       Family Thaifood & Seafood

-       Night Market

Tours

-       Jungle Tour - https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/AttractionProductReview-g1507054-d15665342-Jungle_Tour_to_Emerald_Pool_Krabi_Hot_Spring_and_Tiger_Cave_Temple-Ao_Nang_Krabi_.html

-       Climbing - https://www.getyourguide.com/krabi-l2174/krabi-half-day-rock-climbing-introduction-at-railay-beach-t473078/?ranking_uuid=9c9bb162-e0f6-4b3a-9838-8a9de9a582d9

KHAO SOK NATOINAL PARK – January 23rd- January 25th

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We said goodbye to Krabi and headed to Khao Sok National Park. The drive was around 2 ½ hours and we had scheduled a Grab the day before, but it canceled on us last minute. We tried to get another Grab, but no one would commit to driving us that far or would ask us for more money, which we declined. Luckily, our hostel had a shuttle that could take us to Khao Sok, and we were on our way by 3 p.m. The shuttle was nice but stopped frequently at the beginning for no apparent reason, but Paige and I were just happy that we found a ride so we did not mind. It took us about 4 hours to get there, and we arrived at the Khaosok Secret Hostel around 8 p.m. It was a quiet hostel, which was a nice change from KoKo. We got dinner at Pawn’s Restaurant, and then played cards with people from our hostel. It was so much fun and was a lovely evening.

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Through the hostel, we booked an overnight lake trip in the national park. We were up early, took an hour bus ride to the lake and then an hour boat ride to the bungalows. They gave us lunch, pad Thai, and we had the afternoon to swim. The bungalows were right on the water, fitting three people each, with green mountains all around us. The group was small, about 20 of us from all over the world which was a lot of fun. We did a waterfall hike and got to walk around the jungle, which was pretty but sadly we saw no elephants. We cruised some more and saw a few monkeys and birds. Later we swam some more, ate dinner, and played more card games. Michele tried to teach everyone the game werewolf, and then Paige and I taught Harry, Will, Michele, and others how to play ERS and Kemps. We’ve been spreading our American card games to everyone we have met which has been awesome. After the games, a few of us sat by the water and told tales of donkeys (shoutout Roei) and other life stories. This was one of the several moments on the trip where I was in awe of the fact that I was meeting so many people from all over the world. It is such a special thing to become friends with people whose backgrounds are so different from yours, yet we all became amazing friends and had a blast together. When I traveled previously I had only met Americans, so being able to meet people from all over the place has been one of the best and coolest parts of Thailand. We were all laughing together and chatting like we’d known each other for years, and it was really special.

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The next morning the group took a 6 a.m. sunrise boat. Paige, Will and I decided to hang back and swim instead. We swam and watched the sunrise together and it was magical. When everyone returned, we had banana pancakes and packed up our stuff to leave. On our way back, we stopped at a cave and explored the inside which was very cool. We were visited by the one and only spiderman, who was on a mini boat selling coconut ice cream. If you would have told me I would be seeing spiderman on a little wooden boat in Thailand selling ice cream, I would have thought you made it up. But I don’t think I could have made that up even if I tried.

Tips for Khao Sok

-       BUGS SPRAY

-       Don’t pre-schedule a Grab for a long drive, although it is like Uber it is not as reliable and there are not as many drivers that are willing you take you that far

-       Do the overnight tour- some people did not book anything and wanted to go in the park, but it was closed because of elephant sightings. To ensure you can go in the park do the overnight tour, but do it because it’s fun, a good way to meet people, and pretty

-       Trust hostel transportation – we were not sure where we were going or if we were going to the right place, but the hostel helped us get exactly where we needed to be. So if they tell you to get on a random bus, just do it

Restaurant

-       Prawn’s Restaurant

KOH TAO – January 25th- January 30th

Once we got out of the park, we ate pad Thai and said goodbye to our new friends. We were headed to Koh Tao, our last stop, but had quite the journey to get there. The hostel helped us arrange transportation to Koh Tao, which consisted of us taking a van, getting dropped off to another van, and then being taken to the Mae Haad Pier. It took 2 hours to get to the pier, but we made it in time for our 3:30 speedboat ride to Koh Tao. After 4 hours on the speedboat, we arrived in Koh Tao.

We stayed at Taco Shack Hostel for the first four nights, and then at Slumber Party Hostel for the last two. Taco Shack was really nice, it had curtains and big rooms and a great hang out area. Slumber Party did not have curtains which was a little weird, but it was right by the beach which was nice.

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The next morning, I got delicious avocado toast at Munchies House before I started my PADI Open Water scuba class. I had done the pool section in North Carolina in December, but I need four open water dives to complete the certification. I was able to do a referral course with Coral Grand Divers, which was fantastic. Before we dove in the ocean, we went over skills and my guide, Jerome, was very helpful with me when I was a little rusty. We dove two times, once at Japanese Garden and once at Twins. It was so cool and so much fun, I loved the little Christmas tree worms scattered on the coral. We also saw a blue-spotted stingray which was incredible. Once diving was over, Paige and I met Sebastian (who we had convinced to come to Koh Tao with us) and his friend Aiden for sunset and watched it together by the beach. We later went to dinner at In Touch Restaurant and then went to bed to prepare for our early dive the next day.

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We met at the dive shop at 6:15 a.m. the next morning to complete our last two dives. We dove at Chumphon Pinnacle and White Rock. Once we dives were finished, we took a PADI assessment, and all received our certification. There was five of us in a group with Jerome, and I had a blast. Paige and I ate lunch at Centrico Café & Mexican Restaurant, which was incredible and so good. We joined Sebastian and Aiden later in the afternoon and walked to a jewelry shop that one of our scuba guides recommended. It is called Pranodkohtao, and the store had different gems that you can choose to be turned into a necklace. The gems were beautiful and went for a great price. The whole trip I had been looking for authentic jewelry, so I was thrilled when we found this place. It is run by these two elderly men who were very sweet, and even gave me and Paige a free good luck gem for diving. After we shopped, the four of us went to dinner and hung out there for a while since it was raining. We chatted and enjoyed each other’s company, and it was a great evening. 

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The next day, Paige and I checked out of Taco Shack, walked around and went to Blue Shark Brunch for lunch. I got the asiago cheese bagel and a peanut butter smoothie and it was so good. I am still thinking about it. It was cloudy and a little rainy so we walked around some more and went to a yummy vegetarian place for lunch called VegtaBowl. After that we went to Pippin’s Gelato which is home-made gelato and hands down the best ice cream I have ever had in my life. We both got peanut butter flavor and it was so delicious. If you have not picked this up by now, the food on the whole trip was incredible. We swam in the ocean, watched another fire show, and then called it a night.

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Paige and I decided to dive again, but this time we dove with Hell Diver because they were diving at Southwest and Shark Bay. Unfortunately due to the rain, we ended up going to different diving spots, but it was still very cool. Hell Divers is a great yet younger scuba company, therefore we enjoyed our dives with Coral Grand Divers more. They were more helpful, organized, and seemed happier to be there. I had positive experiences with both companies, but I strongly recommend Coral Grand Divers. After our dives we ate at Café del Sol, which was, for the first time, just okay. We later met up with our friends at Freedom Beach. We tried to rent a motorbike because it was on the other side of the island, but we needed a passport. We started the walk there but a driver stopped by and said he could drive us for 100 baht each, so we hopped in the car with him. This is something I don't think I would ever do in the states, but Thailand felt very safe and everyone seemed super genuine, so we did not question it. Sure enough he took us to Freedom Beach where we looked for turtles but did not see any. After that we all went to Mama Tams for dinner, which was delicious and I highly recommend. We went back to the hostel and sat at the beach for a while, took a trip to get some street food and then said our goodbyes before going to bed.

Tips for Koh Tao

-       Get your scuba certification or do a test dive, it is so cheap and fun and you might get bored if you aren’t diving

-       If you want a motorbike, bring your passport. There are so many different places to rent them so ask around and find the cheapest option, don’t settle for the closest place 

-       Book your ferry tickets ahead of time- they sell out. You can take an overnight ferry, but the Lomprayah speed boat was easy and not too choppy

Restaurants

-       Munchies House

-       Blue Shark Brunch

-       Centrico Café & Mexican Restaurant Pippins

-       In Touch

-       VegtaBowl

-       Café del sol

-       Mama Tams

-       Pippin’s Gelato

Tours

-       Coral Grand Divers - https://coralgranddivers.com/?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAA-OSNOCkZLAsPAijEkHvSh1i_TYKZ&gclid=Cj0KCQiAhvK8BhDfARIsABsPy4jAvIrPRd67KS2iDYwu99beFebYK5FmJWF-C6ahsh5JUISf4liFdM8aAp58EALw_wcB

-       Hell Divers

KOH TAO – BANGKOK – SYDNEY

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The next day we took a ferry back to Surat Thani and hung out there until our flight to Bangkok. There is nothing to do in Surat Thani, it is pretty much just a layover area, so if you can avoid spending a lot of time there, I would.

In Bangkok, we stayed at Sleep Owl Hostel, which was the best hostel ever. There were little wooden pods you slept in for privacy, it was so clean, and the water pressure was fantastic. It was the cleanest I felt all trip. It was a five-minute walk to DMK which was super convenient.

Tips for Surat Thani

-       Book ferry rickets in advanced. We wanted to take a later ferry to Surat Thani when leaving but it was sold out, so just do it in advanced and don’t waste a whole day in Surat Thani.

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Back to Sydney!

That concludes our trip. It was so much fun and so very special. Thailand is a beautiful place, and I truly felt welcomed by every single person I met there. I never questioned my safety and felt that everyone had good intentions and wanted to help us when we needed it. I met so many people from all over the world, which helped broaden my perspective and ground me in a lot of ways (different blog post coming soon). It was such a memorable trip, and I feel so lucky to have been able to go at all and experience it with Paige alongside me. Before we left I told her this would be the trip I would tell my kids about, and I was right! No words can began to describe it. Overall, it was amazing and unforgettable, and if you have the chance to go to Thailand, go!

- Ellie 02/02/2025