Laura's Travel Journal Welcome to my Blog! If you would like to know what i've been up to just click on My Trip Journals on the right hand side. Enjoy x

As I expected my week on Koh Phangan was extremely lazy and we spent the week by the pool, reading, wandering and partying. Being a small town designed completely for travellers, the Full Moon party and hangovers there wasn't much else to do. We weren't that lucky with the weather - it was cloudy everyday and rained for a couple of days. It reminded me of home.....just a few degrees warmer. We spent a lot of time by the pool pretending it was warm and sunny, when in fact it was windy and overcast and we were a little bit chilly in our bikini's and sundresses.

We checked out of our bungalows in Haad Yao on Monday morning and got a taxi to Haad Rin. Kat and Tom had given us the name of the place where they were staying, so we decided to try and get in there. Upon arrival it became evident that finding a place to stay that wouldn't completely empty our bank accounts was going to be harder than we'd imagined. We knew the town got busy nearer the Full Moon Party, but we had arrived with 5 days to spare, so we were shocked to find many places already nearly full and charging ridiculous prices for very basic rooms. After 2 hours of hunting Simon and Emily finally stumbled upon a hotel where rooms were 500Baht a night and had a nice swimming pool. The rooms were pretty basic for the amount of money we were paying - although you could fit 3 people in a room, which would make it really cheap but, being a loner, I had to pay the full 500 myself. It was the best of a bad lot though, so we settled on it and it turned out to be in a good location. It was on the opposite side of the small peninsular to where the Full Moon Party would be held, which meant it wasn't too noisy but it was close to lots of bars and restaurants and only a 5 minute walk to the centre of the action.

Any excuse for a party in Haad Rin - There are "Pre Full Moon" Parties everyday of the week, so we decided to pay one of these a visit on Monday night. Coral Bungalows is set in the hill about a 20minute walk from where we were staying. However, they run free taxi's there every night so you just have to hop in one of these (you can't mistake them - Coral Bungalow Pool Party written down the side and music blaring) for a free ride. The party was as you imagine - like something out of an American Teen Movie. People dancing everywhere - on the dance floor, on podiums, on tables, round the pool, in the pool....swinging buckets of cocktails and shouting at each other above the loud music. Not being a huge fan of the buckets, I had a couple of beers and then enjoyed dancing and laughing at all the chav's trying to be cool and instead slipping over or trying to chat up girls and instead slurring in their ears. The time flew by and before we knew it it was time to walk back - finding it only took 20mins along the beach instead of a huge trek round the roads, which we had expected.
Kat had some friends from uni coming to Koh Phangan on wednesday so we decided to see what was happening on the beach on Wednesday evening. We noticed that as the days went by the by, the beach and town got busier and busier as people arrived in preparation for the big party on Friday night. We had a nice evening on the beach having a couple of drinks and chatting, although I did decide that I just cant keep up with the young ones. All being 21 at the oldest Emily, Simon, Kat, Tom and all their friends seemed to be able to just keep going. It gave them some entertainment that i couldn't keep up with them and they called me their "old sister". I just need so much more sleep!
Therefore, when another night out was suggested on Thursday night I had to decline. Being the night before the Full Moon Party, i wanted to be fresh and ready to have a really good night on Friday so I went for dinner and a drink and then went home to bed, while everyone else stayed out.

I was pleased I decided not to give in to peer pressure by the time Friday evening came round. The beach was absolutely packed! Apparently over 10,000 people come to the beach in Haad Rin for this one party. Emily and Simon had a friend from Uni, who was staying in Haad Rin and had a balcony that overlooked the beach, so we went here to have drinks and get a good over view of what was going on. Different music was pumping out of different bars along the sand and people were dancing and buying buckets of drinks from the many many bucket stalls. There were also First Aid tents set up by the shore which had "sleep area's" attached to them (basically tarpaulin laid out on the sand in a fenced off area) where presumably the drunk and injured could go and sleep off some of the alcohol. I know it's bad to laugh at someone else's misfortune but i couldn't help it when I saw someone in there at 10pm. It was more than likely that it was self inflicted though, so I allowed myself a little giggle.
Although I was slightly apprehensive at first (10,000 people, one beach, lots of drinks) I ended up having a really good night. We danced and sat down, danced and sat down all night. I got followed back from a bucket stand back to where everyone was sitting at one point by an Israeli guy, who had decided he was my friend. He was harmless but pretty boring, so one of the other boys had to "save me" by taking me for a hypothetical drink!
Again, the time seemed to fly by and by the time I went home the sun was coming up. Sign of a good night!!

Saturday was another dreary day so we sat around discussing the events of the previous night. Kat didn't get in until 1:30pm on Saturday afternoon. I don't know how she did it - apparently Mojito's at 10 in the morning are the way forward. Everyone was leaving on Sunday - Emily and Simon going back to Bangkok to fly home and Kat and Tom to continue their travels - so we went for a "Final Supper" on Saturday night. It was sad to say goodbye to them all. It's been nice to have someone to share my adventures with for the past few weeks and to have someone to chat to on long bus journeys, but Facebook means we can all stay in touch!

I booked my bus to Singapore for Monday, so Sunday I spent alone. Luckily it was sunny, so I managed to sit by the pool and finish my second book in 6 days. I had researched my travel options to Singapore and found that although the bus journey was an extremely long one , it would save me about 100pounds plus the cost of an extra night's accommodation. I wasn't in any particular hurry to get to Singapore (apart from having to be out of Thailand by 8th September, because that is when my Visa ran out) so decided to brave it on the bus. I was picked up from near my hotel at 6am on Monday morning and taken to get the 7am ferry to Surrat Thani - on mainland Thailand. Upon arriving at the port I was pointed in the direction of my bus. It was one of those buses that you joke that it's going to be yours but never actually think it will be. The ones with rust down the sides and all the windows open as a sign of no air conditioning. The ones with seats that are falling apart and no suspension so you feel every single bump in the road - and infrastructure in Thailand isn't their strong point. So i boarded this bus giggling to myself (otherwise i would have cried), resigning myself to being stuck on it for a good few hours. As it turned out, it was only about an hour until we arrived at a bus stop and told to get out. I then had to get on a little minibus full of people and their luggage. It wasn't as cramped as it could of been but it wasn't particularly comfortable. At least it had Air Con though and there was an extremely good looking Argentinean boy to keep me entertained.
We were on this bus for about 5hours until we arrived at a small town close to the Thailand/Malaysia border. Here we had to all get out and wait in a little travel agents to have our passports checked. Everyone, apart from me, was going to Kuala Lumper so they all piled back on to the minibus and off they went - gorgeous Argentian and all. Leaving me alone in the random travel agents. Here I sat for 45minutes wondering what was going on. Travelling in a country that speaks a completely different language is sometimes difficult. Sometimes they only know how to say "you wait here" and are not able to elaborate on how long "you wait here" or what "you wait here" for. After a while I was showed to an old man's car and told he would take me to "big Bus". The only thing you can do when you are in the middle of no where on your own is to trust these people, so i hopped in and off we went at a speed of about 5miles an hour. Bless him, the old man was really sweet and took me to "big bus" and helped me with my bag.
The "big bus" turned out to be the most luxurious bus I have been on since I've been away. Wide, reclining seats with head rests and aircon so strong I had to wear a jumper, scarf and socks! Luckily I wasn't trying to impress anyone as, as you can imagine, i looked delightful! (Obviously no one is stupid enough to catch the bus all the way from Koh Phangan to Singapore, so the bus was just full of locals) The only downfall to having reclining seats is that the person in front of you can recline their seat too. I never recline mine all the way, as I am aware of invading the space of those behind me, but the man in front of me just didn't care! He was so fully reclined after a couple of hours that his head was in my lap! Needless to say the luxurious bus became much less comfortable.
The rest of the journey almost passed without a hitch. The only time I got confused was at a border crossing from Malaysia into Singapore. Thinking it was a toilet stop (which I was absolutely desperate for) I hopped off the bus and followed everyone up some stairs. Only when i reached the top of the stairs did I see a line of desks and everyone with their passports in hand. I flew back down the stairs to discover the bus had moved, with my passport on board. Luckily, after a quick search, I managed to find it and grab my passport and run back upstairs to go through Passport control. Obviously, once back on the bus, i looked flustered (I was still wearing my jumper and scarf so was extremely hot after all the running) and confused. I explained to a man who was sitting across the aisle from me that i didn't realise I had to take my passport and after this, every time we stopped he told me what the stop was for, so I could be prepared with whatever I needed.

We finally arrived in Singapore at 10:30am local time (Malaysia being 1hour ahead of Thailand). Luckily, I had booked myself into a hostel, so located a money machine and got a taxi directly there. Walking up 3 flights of stairs in a strange looking building, i was slightly dubious about what I had let myself in for but going through the glass doors of The Rucksack Inn, I was filled with relief. After a 28 hour journey I was pleased to find a clean, comfortable and welcoming place with big sofas, clean sheets and friendly staff. I had booked into the big dorm room, which has over 20 bunk beds, but is a good way to meet people. Being a nice place to relax you also get chatting to people around the TV or in the kitchen over tea and toast (unlimited!!). I was given a map of the city and decided to spend Tuesday afternoon exploring. Singapore, as it turns out, is a really nice city. I felt comfortable here straight away and spent a couple of hours wandering slowly through the streets and along the river, looking at the Theatres and museums (from the outside) and having some lunch in one of the many food halls (big rooms, usually under shopping malls with a huge choice of different food stalls) By the time I got back there were lots of people milling around the hostel and I got chatting to an American guy and an Irish guy. Jake (the American) had been here for a few days so said he's show us where we could eat cheaply. So the 3 of us went out for dinner and ended up having a few drinks and dancing to a live band singing covers in a pub. It was a really fun night - possibly because it was so unexpected.
The following day I decided to discover a new part of the city and walked to "china town". It's strange that you can be in a huge city full of sky scrapers and western business men and turn down one street and be somewhere completely different - Little Chinese restaurants and shops everywhere and the roads are decorated with Chinese lanterns. I had lunch here and then wandered around a small park near by.
The one thing that made me feel slightly uncomfortable in Singapore is all the rules. Chewing Gum is completely Illegal. I spoke to a Swedish girl in Bangkok who had been fined when she crossed the Singapore border just for having a packet of chewing gum in her bag. You can also get fined for "Jay Walking" - crossing the road not at a crossing. Many of the locals will wait at a crossing, even if it's late at night and there are no cars coming, until the green man shows. I've been scared of being fined so have followed suit. They also have strange rules about smoking. Whilst out having dinner at a roadside cafe on Wednesday evening, I saw a man ask if he was allowed to smoke. In reply the waitress told him No, but if he stood up and took one step to the curb, then yes he was. Having his curbside cigarette, he asked me if I knew a place where he could take his friend for a drink, which started a long conversation. His friend turned up and they invited me over to their table for a drink as there was a special deal on beer if you brought three. I accepted and sat with cigarette guy (who's name escapes me) who was from the Philippines and his friend Matt, who was from Haywards Heath of all places!! Small world. I sat with them for a while and then headed back to the hostel. They invited me to stay with them for the evening but I decided that my budget wouldn't allow me to return the favour of buying a round of drinks, so I made my excuses and left. Naughty, I know but they had jobs and money (or so it seemed!). 
Yesterday I decided to explore another part of the city - Little India. Again, it was like stepping out of Singapore into a different place. The wide, busy roads were replaced with small streets lined with small Indian restaurants and shops. After spending the morning walking around here, I headed for Orchard Road -a complete contrast to where I had been in the morning. A huge road filled with huge shopping malls. There are absolutely loads of them lining this one street, each one as big as the next. I went into couple just to have a look - unfortunately not being able to spend too much time in there, as my purse wouldn't allow me. I did go into a Body shop to smell some cocoa butter, A Dorothy Perkins to look at some non-shabby, non-musty smelling clothes and finally into a Marks and Spencer to look at some big knickers. I'm so tired of seeing tiny tiny clothes and underwear, which look like they should belong to a 7year child. It was nice to see some things that were bigger than a size six, so I could feel a little bit normal again (I also treated myself to some Percy Pigs for my flight to Australia! Strange how such little things can make you feel so happy. Good Old Percy)
After all this walking my feet were hurting and I had started to get blisters, so I caught the MRT (Singapore's Underground) back to the hostel. I booked myself onto do the Night Safari at Singapore Zoo yesterday evening, so as it turned out I only had time for a quick chat to Jake and a shower before power walking over to the Singapore flyer (Singapore's London eye). Here I got onto a bus and was taken to the Zoo with a tour guide called Dorothy (69 years old and still going strong!). Our ticket included the Tram ride around the night Safari and we could get off at certain points to see different animals. It was really good and I saw a lot of amazing creatures. There are no cages, just small moats for the slightly dangerous animals (Lions, Tigers, Hyena's etc) so we got to see many of them pretty close up. The only down side being that we couldn't take photo's because the flash could scare or anger the animals, which may end in disaster! Without a flash, my pictures were just black so I have to keep the pictures of the Giraffes, Hippo's, Rhino's, Cheeters, Leopards and many others in my head.

My flight to Australia is at 8:25 this evening. The hostel have kindly let me stay here today before I catch the MRT to the Airport later. I'm really excited about seeing Oz now and also about meeting up with Leanne. I've spent so much time on my own in the last week and although I don't mind and strolling at my own pace (generally extremely slowly) and taking in the scenery has become one of my favourite past times, I'm looking forward to having some company. Especially the company of someone who knows me well and I can be myself with from the word go.
Australia, is also going to be completely different to all the places i have visited so far, so i'm excited about seeing the sights and going to the little trips that Leanne and I have planned.
I'll be home in exactly 3 months today - half way through! I had a dream last night that I decided to stay and work in New Zealand for a year, but I also had a dream that Lauren and Leanne came to visit me at home and we went to the spar in Westdene to buy cheese. So I don't think it means anything. Im sure by the time I get to New Zealand, my dreams will only be about home......