LOMBOK, INDONESIA

Lombok Island is just off the coast of Bali, Indonesia. Sengiggi is one of there most popular towns. Its about an hour from the Lombok airport and close to the pier to have access to the Gili Islands.
We stayed in a gorgeous hotel by the name of  Villa Mantano in Senggigi. This hotel was by far the nicest place we stayed our whole vacation. We wanted to treat ourselves a bit & this place was defiantly the place to do so!
The hotel was newly renovated & they were still working on a few of the rooms while we were there. During our stay we had complimentary breakfast as well as snacks throughout the day! We got to enjoy a huge pool all to ourselves & soak up the sun from our own private sun bathing terrace. The room itself was outstanding! A large rainfall shower & a huge king bed! Our stay here cost us roughly $40 a night & included Wifi, A/C, TV, Breakfast + Snacks like I mentioned.
During our stay in Sengiggi we decided to rent a motorbike from our hotel for $4 a day and check out everything Lombok had to offer!
We saw the monkey forest, a few waterfalls, amazing beaches & of course went to the Gili Islands.

We also spent a full day with some locals at the beach. This day was by far one of our favorites. Although Indonesia is known for there Ultimate Frisbee the little island of Lombok is not to well known for it. While on the beach, Cameron and I noticed we were starting to have a crowd of children around us watching us play Frisbee. We tried a few times to get them involved but the children were far too shy. Soon some of the parents started to join in & ask what we were playing. We taught the parents how to play & they finally got some of the kids involved. After a few hours of tossing the Frisbee around we decided we wanted to continue on our adventure around the island so we gave our Frisbee to one of the families. The children were so excited & the parents were too!

We captured this picture of them playing right before we headed out. 

Below are a few more pictures of our time on Lombok. 

 

GILI GUIDE

 

The Gili Islands are located off Lombok Indonesia. They are 3 islands in total & they are seriously heaven on earth! Today I'm going to share my guide to Gili Trawangan Island! This small island is known for having no cops and no motorized vehicles. Everything is done by walking, biking, or taking horse drawn carriages. You can walk the whole island in about an hour and a half. If you don't want to walk it, rent a bike and bike it! Its totally worth it!

HOW TO GET TO GILLI T: 

The most common question I get from my friends who are looking to get to Gili is how to get there. There are a few ways but they all include boats! If your staying in a hotel, hostel etc ask them for legit boat companies. Usually they will book them for you & have a shuttle driver pick you up. The reason I say "legit" company is because there are a number of fake companies located at the pier itself. Also note: There are a few different boats you can take. One being a fast boat (a little more expensive, but worth it!!). The other boat being the local "faerie" boat. (I would not recommend this one, it was a pretty scary! I also heard they capsize a lot because the boat is too full)

PLACES TO STAY: 
We stayed at two different places on Gili & loved both!! There are a ton of hotels all over the island & finding one the day of is no problem!! The places we stayed were:
Thank You Bar & Restaurant - We thought this was amazing! We loved how welcoming & friendly all the staff was! The room was clean and comfy & the hostel was close to everything! It was $20 CAD a night & included Wifi, A/C, T.V & Breakfast

Ricel Homestay - We loved this place! Located at the end of the street, it was very quite and the owners were awesome! It cost us roughly $20 CAD including Wifi, A/C & Breakfast 

WHERE TO SNORKEL:

Although there are A TON of different places that offer snorkeling with sea turtles etc I highly recommend NOT to do any of those tours. They are super expensive & totally not worth it! What I recommend is going by yourself! It was SO easy to find snorkels and fins! It costs about $4 CAD for the day! The best place to find sea turtles was a spot on the island called Turtle point. Its right down the street from the main pier & in front of some cheap restaurants that will watch your stuff all day (as long as you buy something) The best time to see the turtles is 2:00pm & you don't need to go far either! They swim really close to the shore!

WHERE TO EAT: 
We loved the food at our hostel & it was super cheap!! I highly recommend going to Thank You Bar & Restaurant. The food is fantastic & the service is outstanding! P.S If you order a pizza here they will ask you Magic? That is because they are asking if you want magic mushrooms on it! Be careful!
Another great place if your craving pizza is Regina Pizza! Its delicious!!!

Those are two of our favorite spots but there are also tons of places to eat around the island!

BEST SUNSET SPOT: 

The best sunset on the island is by far the Sunset Bar which is on the West side of the island! Anywhere that you can see the volcano is perfect!!

Here is a map of Gili & where the best spots are! 

TRAVELING THAILAND - MY TIPS

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog. Cameron and I are currently in Singapore on our way to Bali & while sitting in the airport I decided to write down and few tips I thought I would pass along to anyone traveling Thailand. So far, Cameron and I have only visited the south end of Thailand. So these tricks will include Bangkok and the islands! After we visit Chang Mai & the northern side of Thailand I will definitely update this! 

So here goes! 

• When arriving in Bangkok, we found there were numerous places to exchange money into Thai Baht, however, most of these places have a high exchange rate. A nice flight attendant told us that the best place to exchange in the airport was on the bottom level at one of the purple banks. We found there exchange rate to be much better than all the others on the main floor 
• Since on the topic of money and exchanging money, if possible, wait to exchange any money until you are out of the airport. The best bank to go to is SCB & it's bright purple! Also, take out enough money to last you the week, you'll pay less in service charges! & remember, always go to the purple banks! 
• Taxis are easy to find in Bangkok but they will all try and rip you off! Stick to the pink taxis or the blue and yellow ones & ask them to use their meter!! If you don't ask them to use the meter they will charge you way more! 
• Never use Tuk Tuks, it's a great experience to try once but from our experience they never take you where you want & always end up charging you more than what you bargained for! (This point is really only for Bangkok, we found all other Tuk Tuks around Thailand to be great!!) 
• Bargain! All of the shop owners will charge you triple the price the item is actually worth unless you haggle them! A great tip we learned from Cameron's sister was to tell them no & say the other shop owner told you half the price they are offering, if that doesn't work simply start walking away and in no time they will run after you and agree to the price you offered. 
• Most shop owners while bargaining will show you their calculator and say "how much you pay" ALWAYS low ball it!! My trick was to always say 150 baht unless the item was super cheap! 
• Bargain for anything! Even hotels! We would 95% of the time end up saving atleast 200 baht on a hotel by just asking "is that best price?" 
• Use Agoda! It's a great way to book hotels and save a little money here and there. It was a great tool to see if hotels were actually giving you a fair price in person as to what they were quoting online, just keep in mind not all hotels are as they seem online, read the reviews! People from all over the world rate hotels on Agoda and give you awesome advice! 
• Less is more! Pack as little clothing as possible! I over packed & I hardly brought anything. There is so much shopping here it's crazy! & everything is super cheap! 
• Pack conditioner, extra sunscreen and aloe!!! 3 things I wish I had packed more of because in Thailand they are either non existent or extremely expensive!! 
• Keep in mind that you cannot drink the water in Thailand so buying water is necessary, the Family Marts (similar to a 7-11) gives you the best price on water and always have promotions!! 
• To stick with the tip above, we almost always shopped at the Family Marts over the 7-11. This was because the prices were much better and we found them to be less busy! 
• This is a tip from Cameron for anyone who will be buying beers.. Buy the Big Chang beers that come in the 2 or 3 packs, you'll get more beer & pay less!! & for my lady drinkers, try the pink Spy's!! There wine coolers! Super yummy and the cheapest drink you'll find! (both always cheapest at the Family Marts) 

& those are all the tips I could think of right now! If I think of anymore I will definitely update this post!! 

I hope some of these tips helped you out on your trip to Thailand! 

xoxo Alicia 

10 THINGS TO DO IN KRABI, THAILAND

Krabi Thailand was by far the highlight of our trip thus far. The province has so much to offer and many of the top things to do here are absolutely FREE!
After arriving in Phuket, I looked back on our time in Krabi and thought I would throw together our 10 favorite things to do in Krabi Province!
Here is goes...

1. TIGER CAVE TEMPLE 

Like I mentioned in my last post, Tiger Cave Temple was amazing!! The views from the top were breathtaking and roaming around the grounds of the temple was so much fun! Not to mention it was all FREE!

2. AO NANG BEACH & TOWN 

We LOVED Ao Nang, sure it was pretty touristy and pretty busy but we love to people watch and this was by far the best place for that! We loved walking around the town and shopping at night. It was so fun to haggle with the locals and get some great items for super cheap! Ao Nang had a great beach as well, it wasnt the nicest beach we went to but it still had some great views!

3. RAILEY BEACH
Railey Beach was a beach we were thinking of skipping because we heard it was pretty busy and not worth it. However, after running into one of our old friends in Ao Nang she convinced us to head over. After arriving we found it was super busy and packed with tourists but we made our way to Princess Cave, a cave filled with.. well.. you can look in the picture.. in the thai culture this cave is great for praying to the gods if you are looking to get pregnant or having trouble conceiving. Right in front of the cave there was an awesome beach that took us into a really cool cave! Also on Railey there is a hidden lagoon!! If you follow the signs it will lead you to an amazing lookout with a gorgeous lagoon! The hike to get there was long, steep and muddy but totally worth it! If your into rock climbing, there were a ton of great spots to climb! The boat to get from Ao Nang to Railey was only 100 baht, so pretty affordable!

4. VOGUE SHOPPING MALL 
Vogue shopping mall was so much fun! Its located in the heart of Krabi town & is 3 stories. Each level was filled with tons of shops with great deals! On the main level there was a food court where Cameron and I decided to take a night off our fried rice diets and indulge in some pizza!!! The pizza was by far the best pizza we have had!

5. NIGHT MARKETS
Night Markets were & still are our favorite things to check out in each town we go to, We love trying all the local street food and shopping! You can get some great deals if you know how to bargin!

6. DRAGON CREST MOUNTAIN 

This was one place I wanted to see so badly but we unfortunately didn't have the time, we want to do this hike so badly that we might have to make a trip back to Krabi! Dragon Crest Mountain is the highest peak in all of Krabi province. It has some amazing look out points and even a little waterfall. From what we read the hike is pretty intense and takes a total of 4 hours but the view at the top is worth it since you can see all the way to Phuket & the surrounding islands. You must also be careful because we read of a few people running into King Cobra snakes.

7. VISIT KOH LANTA

Koh Lanta was our favorite place in all of Krabi! This little island has so much to offer and had the best beaches we have seen!! The people there were amazing, they were all so kind and welcoming! The food was awesome & there was so much to do!! We loved renting motor bikes and touring the whole island finding new lookouts each time! 

8. ISLAND TOURS
Island tours are pretty popular in Krabi since there are tons that surround the province. The 4 island tour is the most popular and the best place to buy a ticket is from Koh Lanta. It costs around 800 baht each. The tour will take you island hoping and snorkeling all day! A pretty great way to see a bunch of islands in one day

 

9. RENT A MOTOR BIKE & TOUR! 
Renting motor bikes is another one of our favorite things to do! It only costs 200 baht for the whole day!! Pretty great!! We would just jump on our motor bike with no plans and end up at some amazing lookouts! A pretty awesome way to see as much of Thailand as possible for $8 a day!

10. MUAY THAI!!  

Muay Thai... what an awesome experience!! It was a little pricey but totally worth it!! We watched 9 fights and had pretty much front row. Its a definite must see if ever in Thailand!!

TIGER CAVE TEMPLE - KRABI, THAILAND

The Tiger Cave Temple was one of my favorite things we have done so far in Thailand.
It's located in Krabi town about 10 minutes outside the heart of the city.
There was so much to do at this beautiful temple it was hard to decided what to accomplish first. You could see monkey's. see beautiful temples on the grounds surrounding the cave, you could go in the actual cave, see where the monks live & of course take the hike to the top of the mountain and see the breathtaking views of all of Krabi.

Cameron and I decided to do the hike first to get it out of the way. The hike is just stairs and there were a total of 2063 steps to the top. Now, it might seem like that's not too many & sure, it didn't take us too long but the steps are steep!!
The hike was a great workout and once at the top the views were amazing!!!

After reaching the top we headed back down and decided to see the sights around the grounds. We watched people feed the monkeys and even got to see a few cute baby monkeys! 

We saw numerous temples and many Buddhas around the grounds. We also stumbled upon a place called Wonderland, We followed the signs and wound up inside a cave! Inside this cave was where the monks lived. They had their own private sanctuary in the heart of the jungle. 

We wondered around and climbed in and out of the paths through the cave. 

We even found a stray cat!! She was so cute and of course loved us so much she followed us around for a while. 

After playing in the caves and seeing where the monks lived, we followed the path further into the jungle where we saw some more monkeys and some amazing parts of nature. The path lead us right back to where we started and we continued exploring the grounds. 

After a long day at the Temple we headed back to our hotel and we couldn't stop talking about how much fun we had! 

If ever in Krabi the Tiger Cave Temple us a must see!!! It was gorgeous and it was free!! An entire day of exploring and all we had to pay was the taxi there and back! 

As a warning, stretch before you climb!! & bring lots of water!! The stairs really make you feel the burn the next morning. 

Here are a few more pictures from our day!  

A WEEK IN KOH LANTA, THAILAND

After a few nights in Ao Nang, Krabi, Cameron and I decided to head over to Koh Lanta.
We decided to spend a week here to really see the whole island. After getting off the fairy we took a tuk tuk to Long Beach. We had read great things about this little town and knew it was close to great beaches. Our first night we stayed in a private bungalow about a minute from the beach. Our bungalow was called Lantawade, we paid about $20 which was great! Super affordable!
The bungalow was cute and quite but wasn't exactly for us. 

The next day we took a walk & ended up finding a resort right next door called Raya Lanta Resort. The room was amazing!! It was huge and super clean! We even had air conditioning for the same price as the fan bungalow from the previous night. Not too mention free wifi in our room, something the bungalow also didn't have. We bargained with the owner of the resort and worked out a great price for the whole week. 

The first few days for us were beach days, we would wake up, have fruit for breakfast from a local vendor and then head right to the beach for a full day of soaking in the sun. After a full day in the sun, we would then head back to our resort and relax outside our room either playing cards, reading, or just chatting about life! We loved this relax lifestyle and fell in love with Long Beach and how easily accessible everything was. 

After a few days of pure relaxation we decided to rent a moped and tour the island! We toured the full island and found some amazing look out points and great restaurants! There was one restaurant that we loved so much we need to share! It's called the Panoramic. This place had the best food!! By far the best since we arrived in Thailand, everything was organic and the owner was fantastic!! Not to mention the view was phenomenal! 

We loved touring the island so much that we decided to do it a few more times that week, stopping at new beaches and view points each time. The moped was cheap too! It only cost us $9 CAD for the whole day! After a few days of scooting around the island, I ended up getting super sun burnt so our last few days ended up being relaxation days where we tried to stay out of the sun.

We were lucky to be in Koh Lanta when we were because they were having the Lanta Lanta festival! We went to the festival on our second last night and had a blast!! Tons of street food, clothing vendors and entertainment! We watched an awesome fire show & some great local Thai dancing. We even ran into and old friend, which was actually crazy because who runs into someone in the middle of a crazy festival on an island in Thailand! 
Overall out trip to Koh Lanta was fantastic!! We definitely recommend if you are ever in the area to make the trip to the beautiful island! Tons of great beaches and amazing scenery. If your budget can afford it, I would definitely recommend renting a moped and seeing the whole island! The island is small so only takes at most about an hour and a half to drive the whole thing. However! Make sure you stop at each viewpoint and make it a day trip! There is tons to see and some amazing views!Here are some more pictures of our time in Koh Lanta!