I don't want a lot for Christmas

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  Koh Tao, Thailand
Wednesday, December 28, 2011

There's just one thing I need 
I don't care about the presents 
Underneath the Christmas tree 
I just want you for my own 
More than you could ever know 
Make my wish come true 
All I want for Christmas is... 
You (Mariah Carey)

I know i'm used to celebrating christmas without my family for 8 years now, but after having said goodbye to my parents after an amazing 2 weeks stay and after my sister texting me that they had to explain to my oldest nephew, 5 years, why aunt Evy was again not there for Christmas (cause he thought i would be coming home with my parents on the 24th) and even though i did have a perfect christmas with some very nice people, i do wish that my family would have been here to celebrate with me...(or me in Belgium to celebrate with them...hum, why does that not sound really appealing to me ;)
Now before i do tell you about how amazing it was to spend christmas eve on a beach on one of the hottest spots of Thailand, i will start by telling you some more stuff...

About this blog
i'm honestly seriously considering to write in Dutch from now on, seeing the reactions i get are most of my dutch speaking friends...it would save me some thinking time (but then again, this is the only thing i have to think about lately, how to write everything down in English) so we will see...

About the last days in Laos and crossing the border to Thailand
Reading my last blog, which seems like ages ago (time really flies when you are having a good time) i realise that back then i was still in Laos, about to go on my 2 days trekking...uhu, very nice trekking, although the walking up the mountains in the middle of the jungle, was not that easy with my serious cold i had...but it was so beautiful and a really nice group so once on top of the mountain i forgot my suffering and we had a very nice 'bbq-picnic'...in the evening we had a homestay where we learned to eat duck...and the blood of the duck...with sticky rice (for a change)
The second day, the 'kayaking' day i was smart enough to go and sit with the guide, and believe me, i loved the trip...i just love North Laos in general, the nature is amazing, the people are lazy, the atmosphere is very laid back and it's just great...
Luang Namtha was the last stop in Laos before crossing to Chiang Mai in Thailand...with the 2 dutchies Lara and Fien who had been standing my company for more than 2 weeks...they must be very patient girls...:P
Crossing the border wasn't that great of an experience cause just that day i was terribly sick and at some point i thought i would never make it to Thailand...but as we say in Belgium 'onkruid vergaat niet' (literally translated it would mean 'weed does not rot') so i'm happy to tell you I'm still alive and kicking :P 
Stayed 3 days in Chiang Mai, loved it but didn't see a lot of it cause i was more in bed than out... with a promise to meet again for Christmas, me and the girls said goodbye cause we both had different plans...i made my way to Bangkok to meet my parents, an unforgettable trip both for them as for me

About the 2 weeks holiday with my parents
I think i can tell in their name as well as in mine that we both enjoyed the days together...it was so different than any other trip they made in the past or any other time when they came to visit me on whatever destination when i was working...it was enjoying to the fullest, and that's just what we did...
Day 1 and 2 i showed them Bangkok, the city i love more and more every time i go back...truth is i hadn't seen a lot of it yet myself so it was the perfect occasion to go and visit it like all tourists do...First day, we made a boat trip on the klongs to see the 'real, poor,calm' Bangkok followed by a visit to the Sunday market...a bit too busy for us, so we ended up in the nicer big shopping malls in the center of Bangkok...Second day was my dad's birthday, hip hip hurray!!! Went to do some sightseeing in the Grand palace and the surrounding temples...impressive, even i have to admit...in the evening it was time for some Birthday drink and i had heard of the most ideal place for that :D We went to the top of the Skybar, one of the highest bars in Bangkok with a perfect view all over the big city...to give you an idea, no flipflops allowed, only nice cloths (very difficult with the outfit i have in my backpack) and the cheapest cocktail was the hangovertini (created for the crew of the hangover 2 which was filmed there), which costed 14euros...do you understand now why i waited to go there till my parents came :P??? The evening was ended with an excellent meal in a French restaurant and some ripping off by the taxi who drove us home (it can't all be perfect, can it?)
Day 3 and 4 we went east of Bangkok, to the National park of Khao Yai, a private excursion with a very nice friendly guide, miss Pep who taught me a bit more about young girls in Thailand (she was very Evy like, being single and loving my way of life...jeje glad to hear there are also girls like that in Thailand :)...was a nice 2 days, very nice nature and a surprisingly cool night safari, good food and nice 'hotel'(read villa)  in the countryside with amazing view...
Day 5 my parents went to visit the historical park of Sukhothai but as i had already seen that, i planned a day of doing nothing (read, laying at the swimming pool and literally doing nothing)...i do seem to start appreciating days like that, cause this may sound weird but travelling can sometimes be so exhausting so a day of rest is very welcome from time to time...
Day 6 we left to Chiang Mai with the public bus, and arrived to our surprise earlier than expected (after Laos this is really a surprise)...after a good late lunch we went to see the new city, went to a tailor to get a suit for my dad and did some shopping....while walking in the streets of the new part we all of a sudden were aware of no more traffic passing for more than 20 minutes...strange we thought till we found out that the queen was passing in her limousine...in front and after a big line of security cars and no other traffic (not even pedestrians) was allowed...as Thai people are very 'King and Queen' minded, i accepted it to be an honour to have witnessed this...
Day 7 we had planned a cooking class, jep i know, so totally not Evy, but may i tell you that i did very well and so you can all be very proud...but no i won't invite you for dinner cause i'm just a lazy cook :P After a visit to the market to get our ingredients we started cooking and as we had to eat everything after ourselves, i really did my best to make it to a good end and i honestly can tell you i did :D After eating and cooking we went to visit some temples but after the ones in Bangkok it's really difficult to get impressed and went to the shopping walking street...another perfect day...
Day 8 was some more 'Palace-temple-place where they make and paint paper umbrellas' visits...and after day 8, it was again time to move on...
Day 9-10-11-12 we spent in Koh Lanta, one of the islands at the west coast, there is nothing to do nor nothing to see but that was exactly what we needed....just 4 days of rest and sunbathing...very nice to end the holiday with my parents...
Unfortunately it went way too fast and before we realised we had to say goodbye again :'( thank you for everything you did for me...

About Koh Tao
They left to Bangkok to fly home, i joined Lara and Fien in Koh Tao...after a 24hours journey, a very exciting funny bus trip with some nice people, a 9hours ride on the night boat, i arrived in Koh Tao, an island on the east coast...very nice to see the girls again, i was so excited to spend Christmas together...especially when they came up with a funny Christmas poem that they had written for me and gave me another bottle of Lao Lao whiskey...now let me tell you about lao lao...it's the cheapest whiskey of Laos (1euro for a bottle), it tastes awful, but the more you drink it, the less you taste that it's bad...so since we know the existence of lao lao we use it for some very nice funny drinking games...it turned some lazy evenings in Laos into a big party, and did his job again on Christmas eve...we decided to take the bottle out for dinner in an Italian restaurant...no need to add that the day after we were embarrassed to go back to the same restaurant...playing cards the loser had to drink shots (read, Lara drinking shots and getting more and more drunk and me and Fien singing for the whole restaurant, 'shots shots shots') hilarious...to make it all a bit worse we went to buy some Christmas caps and danced the night away in Lotus bar....i really had a good Christmas EVE :D
3 days we stayed in Koh Tao and what we did those 3 days was always the same, getting out of bed at noon, going for a very late breakfast, take horizontal position somewhere where it was allowed or just walk around a bit, go for a beer around 5, go for dinner and go and look for a party...to end the night in the seven eleven (famous supermarket in Thailand) for some toasties and m&m's...
Normally i was going to go to Bangkok to meet Miek (Belgian friend) and spend New Year's EVE there, but plans changed again (really better not to make plans) so now the 4 of us will go to Koh Panghan, THE PARTY ISLAND of Thailand...leaving this afternoon and hoping to find a cheap place to stay...

About myself and this trip
I love it....lately every day is a perfect day...hard to believe but so true...so now i take some lines to thank the person whose 'yes do it' i really needed to begin my trip...and that's my dad (besides some others)...the one whose little push i needed to just tell my company i will take a year off and go travelling all by myself...without a plan...the one who believed i will do a good job and meet thousands of people and get more experience of life and many other things...Dankjewel poekie, zonder jou was ik er waarschijnlijk nooit aan begonnen

Now i almost have to go and take the boat, so only one Did you know that
- i'm over the half of my trip and i just know that from now on it will even go faster and i honestly don't like this idea (NIET LEUK!!!)

okay, to all of you, lots of love, merry Christmas and all the best in 2012
 

 

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