Just a Kidd

I am currently being treated to a nice hotel because I've had food poisoning for about 5 days now, which sucks but it's also very nice to have a laundry service and a pool ;) So, now is probably a better time than ever to catch up on the ever growing list of blog topics. Headphones in, Katy Perry on, lets go. Saturday 6th May Today was the day we had re-scheduled the bike tour to. (Remember that? The first time I was ill?) Unfortunately for us, our second hostel was a lot further away from their office than our first one back in Silom. Due to this, finding transportation their proved to be difficult. The office was not close to a metro station and it was the other side of the city. We have now discovered how helpful it is to use Uber in the cities, but we were yet to discover that at this point, we walked to a taxi parked up on the side of the road and showed him the address. Something that surprised me about taxi drivers here is, if they don't think where you wan...

Friday 5th May By our 4th day in Bangkok, we were pretty ready to leave the Silom area. Bangkok is a crazy ass city, which can't really be described to people who haven't seen it for themselves. Never will you be more stressed about crossing a road. Sure, there are green men on some crossings, but it's not like that means anything to the drivers. Also, the motorbikes are just EVERYWHERE. Silom is an area right in the middle of all the action, in amongst the skyscrapers and jam packed with people. A day roaming the streets of Bangkok wears you out 10x more than expected, mainly because of how hard you're concentrating (e.g. trying to make it to the other side of the road alive), but also how hard your senses are working. There are so many crazy sights and sounds happening around you, buskers with karaoke machines and Tuk Tuk drivers constantly trying to win your attention, even after you turn them down they won't leave you alone, my main tip would be ...

We are currently on a 5 or so hour coach journey from Sukothai to Chiang Mai, so I thought I should probably try be at least a little productive. We've been in Thailand for a little over a week now, but it's proving to be difficult to find time for updates, therefore I'm going to try reminisce our first few days in Bangkok. Tues 2nd May -  Day 1 After a total of 14 and a half hours of travelling, we landed in Bangkok. It took us a while to figure out how to actually get a taxi at the airport, it turned out you had to go to a machine which would give you a number of a parking space with a taxi waiting there for you. Actually a pretty good system once figured out. We had a 40 minute taxi journey through the city before we reached Silom, the area of Bangkok where our first hostel was located. This hostel, was probably the nicest hostel we've had so far, mainly due to the fact we had our own private bathroom. We had managed to get quite a bit of sleep...

I was going to attempt to write a full 3 days of Bangkok in this post, but then I realised how much I was talking about our airport experience. So, this is the story of us leaving England for our 3 month travelling adventure. Monday 1st May Today was a long day. Our first flight wasn't until 9.45pm, which meant the day was spent at home just waiting and letting the nerves grow. My family and I went on a walk at a local National Trust reserve to see the annual bluebells and then stop at the cafe for a scone and cup of tea. Once we got home I began to pack my rucksack while my Mum made my requested last dinner (toad in the hole with roast potatoes and carrots). It was hard to say my goodbyes, it's still very difficult to think that I won't see my family for a whole 3 months. I think the hardest part is that I couldn't really explain to my younger brother and sister just how long I will be gone for, because they are so young, we just referred to it as my "l...

Our last day in Abu Dhabi was Sunday 16th April. Our flight back home was at almost 2 am the Monday morning, which is why it doesn't quite make sense this was the day we planned to wake up the earliest we had all holiday to go on a desert safari. My younger brother and I were sharing a hotel room, we got up around 7.30 am and went downstairs to meet my step-dad for one last hotel breakfast. We felt my little brother and sister were a bit too young to deal with an outing in the desert, so my mum decided she would miss out and stay with them for one last day by the pool. Swimming was their favourite thing all holiday so they were totally fine with that, it was all they ever wanted to do. Our guide picked us up at 8.30 outside the hotel, in his 4 by 4, we were introduced to an Australian couple who would be joining us. They had already sat in the middle seats, leaving my step-dad to sit in the front seat and my brother and I in the back but that was alright, the back was prob...

As I sit at my desk, wrapped up in my woollen cardigan and sipping a nice cup of tea, it seems crazy that 3 days ago I was in a 35 degree Abu Dhabi. Not that it isn't a beautiful sunny day here in London, it's just nowhere near as warm at 10 degrees. However, in less than two weeks we will be flying to Bangkok (OMG) so I really can't complain. Looking back on our holiday, one of my favourite places was definitely the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, better known as 'The Great Mosque'. It is considered the key site for worship in the UAE, not surprising considering it has a capacity of around 41,000 people. This place is absolutely HUGE and can be seen along the skyline. From our hotel window it looked very close by, even though it took about a 15 minute drive to get there. A trip to Abu Dhabi just would not be complete without a visit here, it is honestly one of the most beautiful buildings I have ever seen and I am very fortunate being able to say I have seen a lot of pl...

On Monday 10th April, my family and I set off on a 7 something hour plane journey to Abu Dhabi for a week. This holiday had been planned for a while, but I honestly had NO idea what to expect. Before this trip, I had never travelled to the Middle East and all I knew of the area is that the previously desert land is now filled with very expensive buildings and the police have sports cars. Abu Dhabi is a beautiful city with plenty activities from water-parks and Ferrari world, to more cultured outings to see such as local Mosques. A little background into the city, all I did not know before going. Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. It sits on an island in the Persian Gulf, completely unaware of this I was not expecting a beach holiday. It WAS a beach holiday, which was an incredible surprise used to its full potential in the 38 degree heat we were experiencing. Many hotels are grouped together in an area called 'Qaryat Al Beri', which is where ...