First Backpacking Trip to South East Asia! - Part 2

My first backpacking trip to South East Asia

This is part 2 of my first backpacking trip to South East Asia - or more specifically, Thailand! After our first week of exploring a couple of hot spots, we were definitely hooked. 🌏

After a wild night out, we spent a few more days in Krabi before organising a transfer to Koh Phangan. Back in 2015, this used to be a straightforward process and could be arranged the day before departure (this may depend on the season, so please check in advance!).

After a bumpy ride to the port and a short trip on the ferry, we arrived at Thong Sala Pier. My parents recommended a nearby hotel, so we walked over and negotiated the price for a few nights - again, I do not necessarily recommend travelling around Thailand during peak season without a reservation. 😅 We got really lucky because the Full Moon Party was just the day before and everyone was ready to leave the island again.

We spent a few days on the island, exploring the different beaches and eating our body weight in fried rice and pad thai! Honestly, the food was just amazing and I am definitely always on a hunt for a good pad thai now. 👀😋

At this point, we had passed the two-week mark of our holidays and we knew that we didn't have much time left before we needed to head back to Bangkok for our flight home. So we got tickets for the ferry to Koh Tao and spent a couple of nights in a little hut not too far away from the beach. The island had a completely different vibe than Koh Phangan and it was so much fun! We even managed to squeeze in a day trip to Koh Nang Yuan which included a lot of snorkelling. 

We were running out of time and money at this point, so instead of taking the ferry to Koh Samui and flying back to Bangkok, we booked the cheap option which included an overnight ferry back to the mainland and a long bus ride to Bangkok (not recommended for tall people, I definitely struggled 😂).

Overall, those 3 weeks went by in a heartbeat. It was the perfect destination for a long low-budget holiday in the sun! I cannot recommend Thailand enough to anyone who wants to go on their first backpacking adventure, no matter if it's solo or with your best friend/ better half. You will meet fun people along the way which will make your holidays even more memorable. ✌