Pai, Thailand

The 3 hour journey to Pai consists of 762 turns, so definitely isn't for the travel sickness prone backpackers. We got off the bus in the centre of Pai and were hit with the oven-like heat instantly. It had jumped up to a massive 41 degrees and we automatically regretted our decisions to stay in a non-air conditioned bungalow. After dropping our bags off, Jake went off to rent another motorbike as our mode of transport during our stay in Pai. It was edging on sunset time so we got google maps to navigate us to the canyon. It was busy full of travellers with the same idea as us. I sat and watched the sky turn from clear blue to rich orange while Jake had fun pretending to be bear grylls and climbed up the slippy canyon walls.

After the unsuccessful day we had trying to do our own tour of Chiang Mai, we thought it would be sensible to book a tour for Pai then the rest of the time we had could be spent chilling and revisiting anything we loved. We booked one for the following day and then strolled along the main street, treating ourselves to any street food that took our fancy.

Our first night in the bungalow wasn't exactly a cool one but it definitely drops down a few degrees overnight and we managed to get a bit of sleep. Our stay included breakfast so Jake went and got bananas and Nutella on toast for us to enjoy in our hammock before we made our way into town for our tour. The first stop of the day was Thom Lod Caves. The journey was another windy whindy one again, I was glad we had chose to sit in the comfort of the air conditioned back instead of the pick up truck style seating. We wandered around the caves with the guides as they gave us a running commentary of what all the rocks looked like 'looks like curtain' and 'looks like popcorn' were some of the faves. We boarded the bamboo rafts as we floated around to the outside of the caves. The next stop was the hot springs - we all wondered why we would want to sit in boiling water when it was so hot anyway. Our guide ensured us that the springs were about 30 degrees and were like a warm bath. It was lovely to chill in the natural hot springs as we got to know the others travellers in our group. Skimming stones soon became a competition - Jake with 25 years of practice living by the sea side, clearly came first. Second to last stop was a waterfall, we were happy to get there and actually see water after the Chiang Mai one. Jake and one of the lads from our group joined forces to come up with the least safe ways to slide down into the natural pool of the waterfall. The final stop of the tour was back to the canyon for sunset viewings. 

With the Thai New Year fast approaching we were preparing ourselves for the 3 day national water fight. We got a couple of water pistols, left our electronics at the hotel and head into Pai town to experience the festivities. It started pretty tame with a few kids with Hello Kitty water guns heading our way. But it soon turned into ice cold buckets being thrown from passing trucks with up to 20 people in the back. It was definitely a refreshing way to cool down in the 40 degree weather. It quietened down in the evening and you could enjoy a meal without getting soaked. 

The following day we went back to Chiang Mai in the morning and tried to avoid the Songkran water buckets as we strolled to the bus station with our backpacks in tow. Luckily we had our rain covers on for anyone feeling mean enough to soak a traveller and all their luggage. Someone threw a bucket on me but only on my dress, saving my bag from getting damp. We were a bit more worried about the water once we arrived in Chiang Mai as we had heard this was the place to be for Songkran. We jumped in an open tuk tuk (not a great idea) and drove back to Battery Park to drop off our bags. The driver was giggling to himself as he saw groups of people with buckets on the side of the road. He would slow down and then beep to let them know to drench us. We didn't bother drying off before we head out again to meet some friends at a pool party. The centre square of Chiang Mai was gridlocked with cars and bikes and you couldn't see from the amount of water flying about. We stopped to refill, and managed to grab ourselves some ice water. This was the best weapon, someone would point their gun on us and once we got them with a nice lashing of artic water, they soon backed off mwahaha. Once we arrived to the pool party at deejai backpackers, it was safe to say we weren't exactly bone dry, but nor was anyone else. After a few hours of solid water fights we all wandered over to a nearby restaurant and got ourselves a delicious Thai feast for only £2 per head (this is including beer.) The pals we had met up said that we had to experience Zoe's corner - a cluster of bars where everyone pretty much partys in the street. It was SO busy because of Songkran but once it started getting lary we decided it was time to make a move and head back to our hotel before our flight to Phuket in the morning.

Pav & Jake

xxx

Chiang Mai, Thailand

The 10 hour bus journey up from Bangkok to Chaing Mai actually went pretty smoothly. The overnight buses have super reclining seats and we even got blankets and snacks. We were glad we managed slept pretty much the whole way but still got in a little nap upon arrival to our boutique budget hotel, Battery Park. We had a lovely stay there, it was clean, modern and located in a perfect location right off the old town square.

Chiang Mai is a great place for travellers to rent motorbikes and explore around the city - something Jake was super excited about. After our power nap we did a bit of googling and found a lovely restaurant a short bike ride away for an early dinner.

The next day we went over to Doi Suthep Pui National Park as Jake was keen on visiting the waterfall. We got there and there was no water, dry season doesn't cater for backpackers. We then decided to head up to the mountain, it was a pretty long windy whindy road to the top. Once we reached the point of no more bikes, we went on foot for what we hoped was an amazing view. It was a bit of a trek and when we reached the summit, we were just surrounded by trees and a sign. So we had a waterfall with no water, and a mountain with no view, successful day all in all. On the way back down we did see a sign for the view point and headed over to see what we were missing. Turns out it wasn't much, the view was okay but definitely not worth the mission. We made our way back down and we're hoping to go over to the Grand Canyon, a massive canyon filled with water - perfect for cliff jumping. But it was getting a bit late and we would have got there in the dark which we figured wasn't such a great idea.

I did a bit of pinteresting and we made our way over to Dash for dinner. A really lovely restaurant located just off the square with delicious Thai food and live music. On our way back we stumbled across the Sunday market, full of traditional Thai street vendors, and dressed up dogs to draw in the travellers. It was a great alternative to the overly tourist Koh San Road of Bangkok and we spent a bit of time just browsing the street before we made our way back to our hotel, to get a good nights sleep before our next journey further up north to Pai.

Pav & Jake

xxx

Bangkok, Thailand

I'd heard so many bad things before we visited Bangkok - 'it's mental - fly in and then get out!' they said. But we were pleasantly surprised when we were met with a busy buzz mixed with interesting culture and by the end of our stay in Thailand's capital, we actually had a bit of a crush on the city. 

We booked our hotel in what we thought was  central Bangkok. Our taxi driver greeted us with 'Why you stay in Bang Na?' which is when we realised we were on the outskirts on the city. We dropped off our bags and went straight down to the cafe below to get some food. After all the Sri Lankan rice & curry you could dream of, we were happy to welcome some new flavours. We both went for the classic Thai green curry with a ice juice on the side. I can handle my spice but my god, am I glad I got that ice juice, my mouth was literally on fire. Jake said the chillies must have been grown in a volcano to be that hot! 

The following day we used google translate to ask the receptionist how to get to the Sky Train. We quickly realised that not everyone can speak fluent English - we were spoilt with easy translation in Sri Lanka. It was about a 20 minute walk to Bang Na station and we had no idea where we were going from there so just headed to the station that looked central on the map, Siam. The train was pretty cool and felt like a futuristic version of the tube, flying through the sky whilst everyone was glued to their phones. Once we got to Siam, we figured we were in the perfect spot for shopping, with 2 big malls located right next to each other. We had a wander round and got tempted by the westernised feel of it all. We treated ourselves to a few updates to our backpack wardrobes and then finished it off with what was labelled 'the best chicken in the Thailand'. 

We decided to move hotels on our third day, as Bang Na was proving to be a bit too far out of the city. Our taxi took about an hour and a half as there was SO much traffic, and we had to change cars as the first one broke down due to the overwhelming heat! Once we settled in, we head out to China town, and being the sensible pair that we are we thought it would be a good idea to walk there - a 20 minute walk in Bangkok heat is just unbearable. We managed to find our way there and directed ourselves down the windy whindy streets. Trying to make your way through whilst dodging the bikes and vendors bringing stock through the thin roads is a difficult task. We decided to stop for a drink in a lovely air conditioned bar to cool down and we chose not to head back into the madness. 

The following day we made our way over to the Grand Palace, another 20 minute walk away. Again being super sensible, we went at midday - it was swarmed with people and I don't think I've ever been so hot in my life. It was a really beautiful place, but I couldn't help thinking how much nicer it would be if there wasn't so many tourists there. They should have a capacity limit. The heat got too much and we decided to chill in the afternoon and visit the famous Koh San Road in the evening. We had heard a bit about it through friends and blogs, and the general consensus was that it was pretty crazy. We got there around 8pm and it seemed quite tame. It has that 18-30s European holiday type feel, (aka Magaluf) but still was quite cool to visit with scorpions and spiders on sticks and all the elephant printed clothes you could dream of. We had a wander round and as my feet were killing I treated myself to a foot massage while Jake got a back and shoulder massage. I didn't know so much force could come from a little, petite Thai girl - she literally beat me up, slapping and punching my legs and feet. At one point she had this stick she was jabbing into the bottom of my feet and when she asked if it hurt and I replied yeah, she just laughed and continued. After the 30 minutes of abuse was up, I was glad to hear I wasn't the only one who experienced the violence. Jake's massage sounded much worse than mine and he explained it as 'I think she thought she was doing origami and trying to turn me into a swan!' 

We packed our bags and made our way to our overnight 10 hour bus up to north to Chiang Mai.

Pav & Jake

xxx

Bentota, Sri Lanka

After a good nights sleep, I awoke to sore calves and finally understood why everyone dreads leg day. We hadn't planned where we were going for our next stop, but we decided that we wanted to head back to the beach and didn't want to be too far from the airport for our departure. Jake did a bit of research online and we chose Bentota, a coastal town about 65 kms from Colombo. We found an amazing place to stay on Airbnb but after looking on booking.com we found the exact same place much cheaper. We booked up for 5 nights and made our way over to Bentota. Once we drove up we realised we had done pretty well - the place was lovely, right on the lake with our own pool. We chilled for the rest of the day and went to check out the beach for sunset.
There's quite a bit to do in Bentota - as there is a lake there is a lot of water sports available and also water safaris. We chose to go to Lunuganga gardens, designed by British architect Geoffrey Bawa. The gardens were beautiful but we got stuck with an older couple who were looking for the underlying meaning behind the alignment of the trees - so it dragged a bit for us. We then made our way over to the Sea Turtle place. Our tuk tuk driver was the one taking us on the tour around the place and managed to make the owners son give us lots of baby turtles to let free into the deep blue sea. They were so cute flapping around making their way to their next adventure.
On the way back to our place, our tuk tuk driver recommended a restaurant, Diya Sisila . We went in to have a look at the menu and saw that they offer dinner on a catamaran on the river for a mere £7.50. We booked it up for the following night and arranged to come just before sunset. The next day we spent the day chilling at the beach and heading back about 3pm to go and get ready for our fancy meal. Our tuk tuk driver from the day before, picked us up and we headed over the restaurant. Just as we did, we heard thunder and noticed a cloud looming over. We got to the place and managed to go out on the catamaran for sunset drinks. We headed back towards the restaurant to pick up our starters and the heavens opened. It wasn't too bad as we had a cover and the wind wasn't blowing in any rain. It eventually stopped and we got to go out on the river again for our main course. We both agreed that it was one of our favourite things we had done in Sri Lanka. 
We've had such a great time in Sri Lanka and have seen and done some amazing things. Now we're off back to Colombo to make our way to our next stop - Thailand.
Pav & Jake xxx
P.S. Check out our little video below of our adventure so far. WARNING: Watching this video may make you want to book flights to Sri Lanka instantly. Keep your credit card out of reach.

Sigiriya & Dambulla, Sri Lanka

The buses in Sri Lanka are literally crazy, but as we had tried every other mode of transport we thought we best give them a go too. We were making our way about 80 kms north to Dambulla & Sigiriya. The journey there was pretty smooth and took about 2 and a half hours. We got to Sigiriya, also known as Lions Rock, at peak midday heat - not exactly the best time to climb 1200 steps. Although I was dying, once we got to the top I realised it wasn't such a bad hike. The view was good but as the top of the rock is pretty flat, it looks like you could be anywhere. The view from little Adams peak in Ella was way more worth it. After we rested, it suddenly got super windy and we saw a cloud on its way overhead so we quickly made our way back down with a few monkeys as company. Luckily it was only spitting slightly and we carried on for the next visit of the day, Dambulla Cave Temple. This one was only 364 steps up, so felt pretty easy in comparison. It wasn't as impressive as we thought it would be, and we were glad we didn't make a separate day tour just to visit the temple, but it's worth a view if you're around. There were loads of monkeys about and Jake discarded our bananas while they were around - luckily they cleared them up for him within a heartbeat.

We got the bus back to Kandy right outside the temple and just as we did, the cloud that was looming earlier made its appearance again. The heavens opened and my god did it rain. The journey back was a little more erratic than the way there and involved lots of speeding, over taking and horn beeping. Once we got near to Kandy everything seemed to slow down and the traffic was pretty bad. It took about 4 hours to get back in total, by which point I was dying of hunger. When we finally got off the bus, we went to the first restaurant we saw, which was also one I had read about on a blog - the Kandy Muslim Hotel. The food was amazing and so so cheap, it cost us about £3.50 for 2 dinners, sides and drinks. We got a tuk tuk back to our place and crashed out as soon as our head hit the pillows. We had zero plans for the next day apart from knowing we were moving on. We figured we would be spontaneous and sort it out in the morning.

Pav & Jake

xxx

Pinnawala & Royal Botanical Gardens, Sri Lanka

We were up early to make our way over to go and see the elephants. We jumped in our guesthouse owners super old car as he drove us 40 kms to Pinnawala. We initially wanted to go to the elephant orphanage there, but he took us to the millennium elephant foundation instead. Most of the elephants were in chains and a few of the keepers weren't very kind to the animals. I wish we had just stuck with our initial plan, but we couldn't do much once we were there. We got to bathe one of the older elephants in the river - he didn't have any chains as they said he'd been there most of his life and his keeper was really kind.

On the way back to Kandy we stopped off at a spice garden. You don't pay for the tour but they expect you to buy something at the end. It was fine but I wouldn't recommend it as it just seemed like a money making scheme.

We then carried on our journey and went to the Royal Botanical Gardens back in Kandy. Jake thought he was going to die at this point, as he hadn't been fed or watered for a good few hours. We had some lunch and then explored around the gardens. They were really lovely, but you could tell it hadn't rained for 3 months as everything was looking slightly wilted. When we had got our taxi into Kandy the night before, our driver had pointed out the hundreds of bats flying around over the river. We went to check them out before sunset, and there was literally so many hanging around in the trees. A couple of them starting flying and their wingspan was massive. We had a bit of dinner and then heading back as we had an even earlier start the following morning.

Pav & Jake

xxx