Catch-Up: Ryan Arrives, Bangkok Travels and Koh Phi Phi Again

Sorry for the lack of updates since my island hopping trip. With Ryan's arrival in Thailand, I have been admittedly a tad bit preoccupied. So much anticipation had built up before his arrival, and I spent the weekend before he came hanging out with Megan, Leah and Bridget, which was wonderful. Full of infinity pools, foods and drinks, and all around good times.

Infinity Pool

Infinity Pool

Orangeness at the Infinity Pool

View from Infinity Pool

View from Infinity Pool

On May 1st, I moved into an apartment that Ryan had decided to rent for us for the month of May. And I cannot tell you how wonderful life has been since that day. Finally having my own space and not feeling the way I had been feeling the past few months has been wonderful. Then finally I met Ryan in Bangkok, where we spent time just relaxing, getting him adjusted to the time difference and buying a few things from Khao San Road, of course. Then we headed back up here to Chiang Mai to settle into the apartment and spend a day or so relaxing before I headed back to work. Thankfully, I had the Monday off due to a make up day for Coronation Day being on the Saturday. It rained quite a bit, so the most we did was relax at home and met Megan at the mall for some eats and to find Ryan a ukulele of course. To no avail though, as the guy selling ukuleles under the escalator has disappeared. But didn't stop Ryan from buying some camera gear. We eventually found a cute lil kiwi painted ukulele at the Big C super store one night.

Look who I found :)

Eaten by a shark on Khao San Road

My dessert/breakfast

View from new apartment

New Apartment

New Apartment

Cooking bacon eggs for Ryan and I in our apartment

Flying to Chiang Mai

Driving Ryan and I on my scooter

Doing what he does best

Visited this temple again so Ryan could get some pictures

My days last week were spent at work, and Ryan explored Chiang Mai only a little bit, due to his debit card being lost on the weekend and his lack of funds until a new one is sent to him. But with a little cash supplied by me, he was able to get out and take pictures and meet some new friends. He is always good at meeting new people. I envy that. One night we met up with Leah, Bridget and Megan for some Indian food. It was great but it started to pour, so we decided to wait out the storm at the pub next door. Eventually we all gave up and went home.

This past weekend, I took Monday and Tuesday off work, and Ryan and I flew down to Phuket Friday night. Stayed over in Phuket at a hotel close to the pier. In the morning, we caught a ferry over to Koh Phi Phi. We went straight to our hotel to check in. We had a great time in Phi Phi. It was a completely different experience than the first time I went, only a month ago. I mean this time was with Ryan, so obviously it was bound to be different. But it was more than that. The island itself was not as busy, as it is the start of low season now. The weather was lovely, though a few rain clouds brought brief moments of rain. But it never lasted long, so it was nothing to complain about.

Due to Ryan's nature, it was not long before we made friends with the local guys who worked at the bar across from our resort. Or I should say Ryan made friends with and I tagged along. The guys who work at the bar Carpe Diem were quite wonderful. Always striking up conversation with us whenever they saw us, getting us to come up and participate in the fire show they put on at night and hooking us up with a long tail boat driver to take us to Maya Bay for cheaper than I had paid last time around. We spent our down time hanging out with them, and our last night at another bar with Jack, who was part of the fire show there. This time we skipped with a skipping rope lit on fire and Ryan got to try a bit of the fire show action. It was a great time.

Ryan on ferry to Phi Phi

Koh Phi Phi

Fire show

Me learning to play with fire with our new friend

Jack lighting Ryan's cigarette for him

Viewpoint

Ryan playing keep ups with one of our new friends

Koh Phi Phi

Koh Phi Phi

Maya Bay was completely different as well. First of all, this time the water was a little rougher. Because of this, our driver was not able to take us around into actually Maya Bay where Maya Beach is. But he took us behind, where you can snorkel and then climb up stairs and walk through a camp ground, to get to Maya Beach. Last time we were not able to go on Maya Beach so it was nice to be able to stand on the actual beach this time. But this meant Ryan could not bring his good camera, luckily he had his Go Pro in the waterproof case so we were able to take a few pictures still. After that our driver took us to Monkey Beach, where this time we had no food to feed them, but Ryan took some pictures and we watch monkeys attack two people. They were fine. And it was funny.

Ryan on boat to Maya Bay

Me on boat to Maya Bay

Ryan and I on boat to Maya Bay

The only downside was leaving. Not just because it was a great weekend away, but because the boat ride back to Phuket was awful. The water was rough and the boat moved around so much that they had to pass out plastic bags to everyone in case of sea sickness. At first I didn't think it was necessary, but then it hit me. All of the sudden I became extremely nauseous. My body started to sweat all over, but I felt cold. My stomach was turning and I felt like I was going to be sick. Like a baby, tears came to my eyes cause I felt so ill so quickly. Ryan fished out some Gravol from the luggage, and I laid across the seats on his lap and tried to sleep it off. Eventually we got to Phuket, took the mini-bus transfer to the airport and waited for our flight (3 or so hours). We eventually got back to Chiang Mai and our apartment at 10:30pm and crashed hard. And I was back to work this morning.

All in all, my life right now could not be better. I am the happiest I have been since I got here.