New Semester
During the Chinese Winter break everyone travels, so on 18th February, my roommate and I started our own journey to Thailand. It was a case of trains, taxis, planes including an 8 hour layover in Hong Kong before catching another plane to Bangkok; another train and a 14 hour night bus to eventually make it to Krabi, Thailand. We stayed in the sister hotel to Slumber Party called K-bunks. Our time in Krabi saw us kayaking on a ‘secret’ trail, which was actually amazing, but I can’t share any pictures as we weren’t allowed to take our phones as it’s a secret.
We spent another day at Raily beach that was on accessed by a speed boat. I am not kidding when I say that it was the most beautiful beach I’ve ever been to and I’ve been to a few amazing beaches. The sand was so white, the water was so clear, it was also closed in by cliffs; spending the day there was so relaxing, but we got slightly burnt.
The next day was by far the best day in Krabi as we decided to go on an all-day excursion with activities including water rafting, which was so fun but very scary. There were so many rocks in the water and the water was so choppy we managed to get stuck at least five times. The day was already full of adventure and we then got to go on a flying fox over the forest. It was so amazing to see everything from a birds eye view. The day ended with us dirt biking and I think I’ve found my new hobby as it was so much fun, although you do get really muddy.
Krabi also has a party side and went on a few nights out meeting loads of people also travelling during their studies or taking gap years or had just finished their degree. That was really inspiring. We went on the bar crawls arranged by the hostel, they were amazing and we all bonded over the horrendous tank top you had to wear.
We left Krabi and had decided to make our way to the island called Koh Phi Phi which again needs to be reached by boat, taking about 2 hours. When we arrived on Koh Phi Phi we went to the cheapest hostel that we found on Hostel World. While travelling around Thailand we didn’t book anything in advance, we just turned up and hoped for the best. Well this hostel was the worst place we had ever seen so we made a quick exit and headed to a nearby place that most of the other Scholars were staying at. It cost roughly £7 a night to stay in Koh Phi Phi, which is actually expensive, as other places in Thailand and around Asia you can get a night for a couple of pounds.
The first thing we had to do was head to the beach; the temperatures were lovely in Thailand and a big difference to Beijing and Tianjin. It was more expensive in Koh Phi Phi for food although there were plenty of pizza stands where you can get a massive slice for around £1.
Thailand is known for Thai-Boxing. It's a huge thing here and there are bars with boxing rings for customers to experience a real live fight in a ring. As you can imagine some of the Scots just had to try it which I would not recommend but I guess it's all part of the experience. After the fight we all headed to the beach for a massive beach party with bright lights, fires, fire eaters and music. It’s a great combination of adrenaline sports, party life and great food with friends.
After a jam-packed week in Krabi we decided that we would just try and chill in Koh Phi Phi and spent days kayaking to a beach that monkeys live on, sunbathing, swimming. All good things need to come to an end and my roommate and I had to get a flight back from Bangkok to Beijing, so we headed to Bangkok on the night bus a day early so that we could explore the area a little.
We took the subway to the weekend market that had hundreds of stalls selling vintage clothes and all kinds of food stalls; I absolutely loved it and did spend the remaining baht I had on some clothes.
Our travelling came to an end with the subway to the airport for our 2am flight and after 22 hours travelling we got back to Tianjin for our new semester starting on 5th March. This is our last semester and I have moved up two classes. It’s definitely harder so I’m studying a lot more to improve my Mandarin.
I hope you are enjoying hearing about my adventures in China and Thailand as much as I have enjoyed my time. Until next time.
Cara