Travel Diary Days 21 - 25: Koh Samui, Thailand & Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Hey there! We spent a fabulous 5 days on the beautiful island of Koh Samui in Thailand. After that, we flew from Koh Samui to Bangkok and then to Phnom Penh, Cambodia to get ready for our next adventure! Before I get too ahead of myself, let's check out some of the Koh Samui highlights!
Travel Diary Days 12 - 20: Koh Phangan, Thailand
We spent a lovely couple of weeks on the island of Koh Phangan, Thailand. We were able to recover from the rush of island hopping. We went to the Full Moon Party (I covered the party on my blog and talked about the intense trash problem, so if you missed that, make sure to check it out and sign my petition to the Thailand government to deal with this issue!). My parents joined us for a period of time. I celebrated my 29th birthday. We enjoyed a few different vegan restaurants. I did some yoga. Pete and I experienced an amazing Theta healing session. That's how we spent our time on the island in a nutshell! Now let's get into some details.
Koh Phangan's Destructive & Debaucherous Full Moon Party
I figured the full moon would be towards the end of January, and researched exactly when the party would be. I don't like to do too much on-line research about the places I'm going to visit, as I don't like expectations. If I'm guided somewhere, I go there and let myself experience it in the moment - simple as that. I found that the party would be close to when we would be visiting the island of Koh Phangan. I put that down on the calendar and started planning our trip around the Full Moon Party that was to happen January 23rd, 2016. Naturally, I wanted to go to the party, envisioning in to be a spiritual and enlightening experience.
Not to spoil the story, but spiritual and enlightening it definitely was not...
Travel Diary Days 7 - 11: Phuket, Lanta, Phi Phi, Tao - Thailand Island Hopping
After close to a week of hard volunteer work at Eco-Logic Yoga Retreat Center, Pete and I were ready for some R&R! Due to the scheduling of our trip (the dates we were at the center and the Full Moon party in Koh Phangan on 1/23 that I wanted to go to), we only had a few days in between to explore the various islands. My parents are coming soon so we will be with them in Koh Phangan and Koh Samui for longer periods of time. Prior to the trip, we deliberated with either choosing 1 - 2 islands for the 5 day stretch or trying to see a few of them and hopping around. We chose the latter because we weren't able to decide what to nix out, and we really wanted to experience all of the popular islands. A few people told us that we were doing it too fast, and in hindsight, I have to agree.
Travel Diary Days 3 - 6: Volunteering at TCDF Eco-Logic Yoga Retreat
Eco-Logic Yoga Retreat and TCDF (Thai Child Development Foundation) are located in Pak Song, near Ranong in Thailand. Their tag line is "Yoga for Charity" because the retreat center is set up to support the projects of the Thai Child Development Foundation. Each stay supports the foundation and their efforts directly.
Travel Diary Days 1 & 2: Bangkok, Thailand
We arrived late to The Yard Hostel at 3 am (or really early, depending on how you look at it). Pete (the hubs) and I hit the sack, both extremely jet lagged yet anxious and wired! We woke around 8:30 and headed down for breakfast and lots of coffee.