Originally posted on angelicalaviajera.com
One dreary day during my very last year of university, my friend Julia (you know her) and I met up at UTS library to work on one of our very last group assignments and study for end of semester exams. We were tired, unmotivated and very easily distracted.
So much so that instead of walking away from the library feeling more informed about our subjects at hand and more confident about taking on our exams, we walked away with a 7-night getaway to Phuket, Thailand. One year later, we finally went on that completely spontaneous trip (and you guys know very well that I am not the spontaneous type! I’m learning!).
Now, I think it’s safe to say that Jules and I are somewhat “seasoned” travellers. This trip, however, didn’t represent this very well… from forgetting to withdraw AUD before actually leaving Sydney to exchange once arriving in Thailand, to opting for packet instant noodles from 7-eleven instead of cup noodles, only to come to the realisation that there obviously wasn’t cutlery and bowls in our hotel room to cook in*. Idiots. This trip was full of stupid mistakes and endless laughs.
Thailand is a beautiful country with beautiful, friendly people. Patong is nasty though. Nasty, but one of those ‘gotta check it out’ nasty places. It’s exactly how you would imagine an Asian tourist party destination – dirty, filled with Caucasian people, overpriced.. dirty. But this does not take away from its entertainment factor to say the least. Let’s just say.. ping. pong.
To explore, Jules and I hired a cab for a couple of days to drive us to all the typical attractions like the temples, the giant Buddha and the cape. The gem ended up as our personal driver for the entire trip.
To escape the craziness of Phuket, we ended up booking a spontaneous 2 night stay at Ko Phi Phi Islands which was the best decision we made. Gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous. We stayed in a super romantic private villa for 2, which we obviously snapchatted to our boyfriends back home (soz boys). Lucked out on weather, we sunbathed, drank cocktails by the infinity pool, overlooking the stunning blue bay (and got day-time drunk). And of course, we snorkelled, spotted Nemo and Dory, (Julia) jumped off boats, saw monkeys trying to catch bananas and ordered way too much room service .. twice. We wandered the little local village, stocked up on A-grade mosquito repellant and fell in love with the hospitality of the Thai people.
Although it was only a week, it was the perfect little getaway from the stresses of work and grown-up responsibilities. If you’re needing a little break yourself and want somewhere relaxing and affordable, I would recommend Thailand. Not too far from Australia (but far enough), oozing with culture, boasting delicious food and unapologetically beautiful, why wouldn’t you?
*We managed though, don’t fret. The Mi Goreng was not wasted.