Welcome to the backpacking diaries, where I’ll be updating you weekly on where I’ve been, what I’ve been getting up to, and most importantly, how I’m really feeling about this insane decision I’ve made.
As you probably know, I’m currently backpacking through Asia after quitting my job and leaving London for good.
I want to remember every moment of this experience, and document as much of it as I can, just like I’ve documented everything else in my life post-18 on this website.
You can keep up to date with my travels on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube but for now, enjoy week eight of the travel diaries!
If you missed the first seven weeks of backpacking diaries, you can catch up here.
Top tip: for mobile data around Asia, we used the Airalo eSim which was super handy and easily installed onto our phones as soon as we landed in Thailand!
Day 50: Monday 6th May 2024
Location: Koh Tao, Thailand
Dear travel diary,
Our last full day on Koh Tao was spent working on our laptops. We headed to a new cafe that was air-conditioned and had good WiFi, called Blue Shark.
We sat here for a few hours and then the strangest thing happened. I was typing out a blog post when three people that I used to go to school with walked in.
Don’t forget, I’m on a random island off the coast of Thailand. And of all the coffee shops, cafes and restaurants on the island (of which there are many), they happened to walk into the one that I was in.
The world is so small when you’re from Ireland and especially the town I come from, I swear.
We spend the rest of the day working here before catching the afternoon sun on a walk around the beach area.
For dinner, we wanted to try the popular 995 Duck restaurant for some noodles and duck, before heading back to the pizza place we ate on our first night. They serve pizza here with Thai curry on top.
It sounds bizarre, but it’s incredible.
We really don’t want to leave Koh Tao tomorrow, but who knows? Koh Phangan might be as good or even better!
Day 51: Tuesday 7th May 2024
Location: Koh Tao & Koh Phangan, Thailand
Dear travel diary,
We booked the latest ferry we could as we didn’t want to leave Koh Tao.
We spent another morning working in Blue Shark cafe and had breakfast here, before having to collect our bags and heading to the pier for our 5pm ferry to Koh Phangan.
It only took an hour or so to get to Koh Phangan, and once we arrived, we were whisked to the opposite side of the island to our hotel.
We seemed to be staying in a very quiet area that was just resorts, a few restaurants and cafes. This island wasn’t as busy as Koh Tao and you definitely needed a scooter or car to be able to get around.
We tried to rent a car for the day but they were either booked already or came with a minimum of three days rent, which we didn’t need.
We headed out for dinner across the street to a family Thai restaurant and relaxed at our hotel for the night.
Day 52: Wednesday 8th May 2024
Location: Koh Phangan, Thailand
Dear travel diary,
Koh Phangan wasn’t inspiring us too much, so we had a lie in and headed down for the hotel breakfast at 11am.
After this, we hiked (Koh Phangan is very hilly) to a coffee shop (What’s Cup) that had incredible views. When we arrived they had signs everywhere to say that laptops weren’t allowed between 11am and 1pm, so we sat with our coffees and the view for an hour before we were able to start working.
I was feeling tired and unmotivated due to sleeping in so late, so didn’t get too much done before heading back to our hotel for a lie down.
I had spotted a book by Colleen Hoover in the reception area that I hadn’t read before, so picked this up to see if I could read it in two days before we left.
It had been so long since I held a physical book in my hands! I spent the evening reading this before we headed out to a nearby restaurant for dinner.
Day 53: Thursday 9th May 2024
Location: Koh Phangan, Thailand
Dear travel diary,
We woke up very early this morning to try and get ourselves into some sort of routine and to stop living on island time, so were at breakfast for 8am.
After filling up on fried rice (yes, fried rice for breakfast is encouraged in Thailand), we headed across the street to a new coffee shop called Bubba’s and this place was stunning.
They had gorgeous merchandise and t-shirts that I wanted to buy, but my over-stuffed backpack would never allow it.
There was only one communal table that you were allowed to work on, so we stayed here until 12.30pm and then headed back up the mountain (hill) to What’s Cup for a change of scenery and to work for the afternoon.
It’s rainy season now in Thailand so we had some tropical showers while we worked. I also spent an hour reading more of the Colleen Hoover book here, which I finished this evening.
It’s actually her debut novel. The nerd in me found this so exciting that I was able to read the first book she ever wrote since she has such an extensive catalogue.
Day 54: Friday 10th May 2024
Location: Koh Phangan & Koh Samui, Thailand
Dear travel diary,
This was a pretty chaotic travel day.
We were up early again this morning to work from Bubba’s Coffee for a few hours before having to check out of our hotel.
Our taxi picked us up at 11.30am to take us to the other side of the island for the ferry to Koh Samui, the last island on our South Thailand trip.
Once we sat down on the speed boat that would be taking us to Koh Samui, the heavens opened. We sped across the sea in the middle of a storm with everyone on board ducking for shelter and getting soaked and tossed around the boat.
It wasn’t the most pleasant sea-crossing I’ve experienced. But it was nothing compared to the hellish speedboat experience I had in Bali, leaving Nusa Penida.
When the boat tried to dock, the waves were incredibly high and rocking the boat everywhere that everyone started to look very green while waiting to get off the boat.
Getting off the boat was a mission in itself as it was still lashing out of the heavens and windy. By the time we stepped off the boat and made it to the end of the pier we were completely soaked through.
But I was very thankful to now be on solid ground.
We waited for our shared taxi to take us to Lamai, which again seemed to be on the other side of the island. Another place where there didn’t seem to be too much happening.
We had a great coffee shop by our hotel (The Hub) that looked onto a Muay Thai gym and was busy with the athletes from there coming and going.
We ventured onto the main Lamai strip of bars and restaurants for dinner and it was very quiet. And seedy. There were a lot of old white men around with young Thai girls. Or middle aged men sitting in bars alone.
I wasn’t getting great vibes. Plus all of the restaurants were empty so we chose the one that had at least five tables occupied.
Day 55: Saturday 11th May 2024
Location: Koh Samui, Thailand
Dear travel diary,
It was another working day today and we headed back to The Hub. Making use of their good WiFi and having a very tasty brunch.
Himself went for his first haircut of the trip. I changed scenery to a gorgeous beachfront cafe called Siwa to wait for him.
The WiFi was abysmal and he was finished in about five minutes. So I didn’t have to wait long before we headed back to The Hub to work for the afternoon.
We headed back to the hotel to lounge by the pool until the sun went down and then… drum roll please… we went for a run!!
Our second jog of the backpacking trip, and it was very difficult. We only ran for 12 minutes. But there was a time when I couldn’t run for two minutes straight, never mind 12.
I am secretly looking forward to being settled somewhere so I can get back into my running and start making progress again. But until then, it will be ad-hoc runs in 28-degree heat.
Day 56: Sunday 12th May 2024
Location: Koh Samui, Thailand
Dear travel diary,
It was our final full day in Koh Samui and I was quite excited about that, I won’t lie. We headed to a new part of the island to see if it was just the area we were staying in that was quite seedy and quiet.
But no, the main area Chaweng that we spent the day in was also very quiet. It was giving Magaluf/Krabi vibes with KFCs, chain restaurants, and Thai women trying to lure you into the empty bars.
We spent the morning in a cute coffee shop called Sips Happy Coffee. They had great WiFi and served great mochas.
We headed to a bagel spot for breakfast that was down a little side street and empty, but very tasty. There was a large shopping centre that we walked around to get some steps in. And spent a while in the air-conditioned units before heading to a coffee shop a few minutes away.
We spent the afternoon here working on our laptops. Then headed to dinner at Khao Kate Restaurant in the area for some very tasty Khao Soi.
It was then back to the hotel to stay up late for the Ulster Football Final, watching Armagh vs Donegal. Given the time difference, I struggled to stay awake. The game went into extra time and then went into penalties.
All of that staying awake for Armagh to fail at the last hurdle. But there’s still the Sam Maguire to play for. Although I’m not sure if I’ll be staying up until midnight for the kick-off of their next game. In case the same things happens.
Koh Samui definitely wouldn’t be somewhere I’d highly recommend if coming to South Thailand. Part of me wishes we had spent more time in Koh Tao, but how were we meant to know?
Stay tuned for week nine of the travels! We head to Bangkok on an overnight sleeper train and leave Thailand for country number six!
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