kylie morgan: Thailand || Phuket, Phi Phi, Koh Lanta + More

With some saving and some planning, October 23-November 1, 2015, I had the opportunity to travel across the world to Thailand!

The most incredible experience I've yet to have!!

My (now) fiance and I, flew across the ocean to meet up with my brother and sister-in-law in Thailand for a week, and it definitely wasn't long enough.

Everybody always assumes and expects that traveling is so expensive so they could never do it,

but I for one can say it's not nearly as much as the memories and experiences you receive from it.

I wish I could do it more!

And plan to!

Budgeting, spending your money on the right things while you're there, researching, and planning planning planning,

will make the trip cheaper and almost always full of more adventure.

I will say, we "splurged" a little while over there (nicer hotels, more meals, a tour, etc) since we were only there for a week! Had we planned a little and budgeted a little more, we wouldn't have spent over $200-300 between the two of us, food, taxis, ferries, stay, everything included.

Thats about $2500 for two people to travel across the world to explore whatever they want for a week with included airfare. Airfare even could have been cheaper, my brother and sister in law got theres for about $400 a piece cheaper than we did, we just did it at the wrong time.

But either way,

seems pretty cheap and worth it to me!

1000 Baht (Thai money), is equivalent to about $30 USD.

The average stay in just a hostel or decent hotel, was around $15 USD a night.

And a meal could range from $2-$5 USD on average. And a 170 Baht meal, was a really decent meal (5 USD).

Transportation is what got us.

It still wasn't THAT bad, we just weren't expecting it!

They definitely know that you have to get around, and a taxi is the most efficient way when you're on a time crunch.

They do have public bus transportation for super cheap, but we didn't even try.

Sidenote. Talking about this makes me wish I was back there and even would have budgeted more to save a couple hundred! But one hundred percent worth it the way we did it.

Nonetheless, the journey begins.

We flew out of Seattle, with a 15 hour flight ahead of us.

But it wasn't too bad, we were equipped with endless movies and airplane food which honestly wasn't the worst thing I've eaten!

We flew out Friday at 2pm, and arrived in Phuket around 11:30 pm Saturday evening. There is a 13-14 hour time difference!

The airport was insane, even at 11:30 at night. We went through passport control, switched our currency, and immediately started being asked if we needed a taxi. We got one, and driving on the opposite side of the road in a foreign country for the first time is always interesting!

We got to the quaint little hotel for the night, Phuket Center Apartments--one of my favorite places we stayed! Super cheap and pretty perfect for the price.

And they were so cool! Colorful and lights strung everywhere.

Sunday, was meant for exploring Old Town Phuket :)

We ate the BEST $2 soup, got $7 Thai massages (the best thing OF MY LIFE), and went to Big Buddha. Which was crazy loud, because unbeknownst to us, it is also a Temple! Where they chant hymns all day long. It was under construction, so it would be neat to see when its all finished! Its pretty neat to see different cultures. The people in Phuket honestly were some of the nicest people I've met! The language barrier was tough, but it all worked out!

ps. Phuket is extremely HOT, HUMID, and just hot and humid. note to self. drink lots of water. you'll see why.

These are the telephone wires, EVERYWHERE.

And then we could never forget, the Sunday Night Street Market. Over the weekends, there are street markets everywhere! This was the one we decided to go to, right around the corner from our hotel. And I wish I was there now! So much food, and so much culture.

Monday:

We took a ferry from Phuket to Phi Phi--one of my favorite places for multiple reasons! You'll be able to tell due to the increase of photos...

We spent the day exploring a little island with no streets for cars, only streets for walking. This island is full of markets, and a crazy night life. The markets don't even open until around 12, and once the sun goes down, there were dance floors all along the beach, with loud music, flame throwers, strobe lights, and so much more. Crazy that they do that every night! I swear we could see it from the island we went to the next day.

The mountains were enormous, and stunning to say the least.

Viking's Cave

We stayed in a little cozy beach cottage overlooking the ocean and island, with the friendliest people!

We took a long tail boat to Bamboo Island...where they got us with a park entrance fee...a hefty one at that.

And so begins what marks the best day of my life thus far:)

Yes, yes, I had an IDEA it was coming...we designed the ring together. oops. Not many people know that. now everybody does. HOWEVER.

Chase did play it off SO well.

Of course I expected it to happen in Thailand.

Who could pass up that opportunity???

Knowing Chase, I knew he couldn't!

It would kill him!

And boy did he get me!

He showed me an email that the jewelers sent, saying the ring wouldn't be finished until October 30, mid thailand trip.

So, Chase walked in beside himself, upset to the fullest, explaining to me that of course he did plan it for thailand, and he knew I knew, so in order to not disappoint me further and have me expect something that wouldn't be happening, he showed me the email, and continually talked about how upset he was that that happened. And now he had to come up with another plan.

He played it off so well to the point that I believed him one hundred percent.

It did cross my mind that MAYBE he had the jewelers send him the email to play it off so I wouldn't expect it...but....sorry Chase, you're not much of a planner.....

don't hate me.

And. He would have had to take the ring with him on the flight in a carry on and keep it with him throughout the trip.

He wasn't attached to his carry on.

We shared a carry on.

We moved stuff in and out of the carry on.

There was no way. So I decided it definitely wasn't happening.

We were headed back to Phi Phi after Bamboo Island, and Chase asks me,

"is your dress all wet from your swimsuit?" "lets take a picture. lets take a picture with Phi Phi in the background and on the head of the long tail boat"

Silly Chase. You never ask for pictures.

So for that split second it popped into my mind and then before I could finish my thought,

my favorite person, adventure buddy, partner in crime and best friend asked me to marry him:)

And yep thats the story.

You did good babe. You really did.

Props to you, now somebody top that!

And of course, I have to give photo credit to my brother Spencer, cause being a photographer of course I wanted this moment captured, and he stepped up to the plate and I couldn't be happier!

Next up. The hike to the Phi Phi viewpoint. A super crowded, super lengthy stair cause view point, but well worth it, because it overlooks all that Phi Phi is. Ocean on one side, Bay on the other, with Phi Phi in the middle. That strip is where everything was. All markets and all places to stay.

Smoothies for life.

View from the balcony of the beach cottage. Ah.

Long tail boats and the ocean for the win.

"Kit-Kat"

Tuesday:

Koh Lanta. I would recommend a few days at the very least on Koh Lanta. It's a lot bigger than Phi Phi, with a lot more to see. We only had less than 24 hours, and it was rainy and a bit on the chilly side. But thats okay! It was still the perfect time--because we had the most amazing place. It was a splurge, for Thailand, and so worth the $37 USD. Complete with an amazing lounge, infinity pool, and a little beach sand bar, with the ocean as the foreground? Yes please.

TAKE ME BACK.

Oh, well, hello there.

Thai food >>>>

Morning beach walks are probably the best thing in the world.

Wednesday:

A three hour ferry ride all the way back to Phuket.

Then a taxi to across Phuket to Patong!

Beach days are the best days. I could use one every day.

We seriously suck at looking at the same and the right camera. No joke, out of the 7 pictures just like this, we are not looking at the camera or at the same one in any of them.

Must be siblings.

Patong Premiere Resort. Yes. It was a "splurge" as well. A whole $30 a night for the one of the best hotels I've stayed in.

Fresh Coconuts = less than a dollar? I'll take on every day please.

Pineapple fried rice...In a pinapple. drooling.

Wednesday Night.

It deserves its own paragraph.

Sort of.

We were walking around the streets of Patong,

super excited to souvenir shop and check out the night around Patong, cause we hear its pretty cool!

Andddd

Chase got food poisoning.

The worst thing.

So basically thats that.

I felt so bad! Theres literally nothing you can do for food poisoning but wait it out and drink lots of water.

So thats what we made sure of!

Looks pretty awful.

So.

Thats the night and thats Thursday as well.

Friday:

And then comes Friday.

Oh man.

We were so excited,

it was our tour day! Chase and I had a tour planned, and my brother and sister in law had their own plans for the day.

The touristy thing we had for our trip, the James Bond Tour. Visiting Monkey Caves, kayaking through limestone caves, checking out James Bond Island, going to a floating village in the middle of the ocean (Payni Island)....sounds perfect right?

And it so would have been!!

The first little bit was!

I want to take a monkey home with me for one.

It was so cool being able to see this little animals take food out of the palm of your hand!

They're pretty smart too!

And then kayaking, that was pretty neat! We sat in a little kayak with a guide, and we went through some pretty amazing caves throughout the ocean. Amazing!

And then..

I started feeling just really awful.

Real awful.

Just sick, and hot, and cold sweats, and nauseous, and anything else.

The rocky long tail boat didn't help. Neither did the heat. And neither did not having water handy.

So we go to James Bond Island.

And it gets worse.

Can hardly stand up without feeling like I'm going to throw up.

Sorry, TMI,

it gets better.

So, no, no pictures on James Bond Island.

Which, I mean it was cool, but just touristy so meh. not too bummed.

Then we go to the floating Muslim village.

Literally the coolest thing I have ever seen.

But of course. It gets worse.

And the second I smell food, to find the bathroom I go.

At this point I'm crying,

sweating,

its just hot.

My stomach just hurts. And Chase just looks panicked cause he doesn't know what to do, we are stuck on a floating village, with a boat ride back to Phuket and an hour bus ride left.

So nope. No pictures of Panyi island either. Bummer. It was pretty freaking cool.

So in a bit we get back on the boat. And it just isn't going great.

Get on the bus. The bumpy ride definitely makes it worse.

The driver takes us close to our next hotel, but not to it. So he drops us off on the side of the road by the airport.

Good luck non-speaking Thai Americans!

Hail down a taxi to your hotel with a sick girl throwing up on the side of the road in Thailand.

Yup.

That happened.

Thats all.

I felt better after that. Drank lots of water--dehydration and heat exhaustion.

Its a beautiful thing.

So that was our Wednesday night, Thursday, and Friday in a nutshell.

Pretty much we get engaged and then just...let loose.

Give it our all.

Guess we can get married now?

Anyways. Not gonna lie at this point we are about ready to go home. No more Thai food, and pizza and nice air conditioning sounds great right about now.

But. Saturday made it all the better and made us sad to leave all over again.