We stayed just for one short night on Koh Samui, before we took the ferry to Koh Tao, divers paradise! I know Koh Tao a little bit from last year, but was really looking forward to see Koh Tao again and to really discover this small but pretty island.
After a quick breakfast in Chiang Mai we took the tuktuk to the airport, which was -thank goodness- just 10 minutes away. My boyfriend and I both work in the airline industry and that has some pro's. For example: we fly really, really cheap all over the world. But there is this one thing about flying cheap as staff: you can only fly when there is a seat available for you.
So upon arrival at the airport we checked in for our flight to Bangkok, and in Bangkok we had to wait for 4 hours until we could catch our flight to Koh Samui. But, the boeing 747 from Chiang Mai to Bangkok was already overbooked when we arrived, and there were 30 other staff members who wanted to fly as well. And guess what: ofcourse we couldn't get on the flight, and that sucked! We never made it to Bangkok that day. Especially since all the other flights to Bangkok were overbooked as well, boo! We ended up buying a normal (expensive) ticket straight to Koh Samui.
We arrived around 2PM in the hotel, Oasis Hakuna Matata, a very nice hotel but just for one night because tomorrow morning we're going to Koh Tao! :-) But first, my pictures from Koh Samui!
And after another rollercoaster mountain ride with the minivan, we're back in Chiang Mai. We're staying again in Pat's Klang Viang where we stayed before as well. We arrived around 1 o'clock in the afternoon and went directly to the hotel. We got ourselves two bicycles for 40baht per person and we cycled around town for quite some time. But it was so bloody hot, oh my!
During the evening we had a drink and went out for dinner with Roel, one of my old friends who happend to be in Chiang Mai as well. Such a fun night out! And we went to bed a bit too late, because the next morning we had to wake up really early to catch our flight to Koh Samui
To be honest, I feel a little bit sad about leaving Pai. It's so wonderfull here. On our last full day here, we took our scooter into the mountains to visit one of the most beautiful waterfalls. Bye Pai, it was beyond amazing! We'll see you again!
In our original plan, Pai was supposed to be a day tour from Chiang Mai, but we liked it so much that we never left. It's our third day here, and in total we're going to spend 4 nights, so we leave on saturday to go back to Chiang Mai. Pai is just wonderfull. Today we went to the hotsprings. The hotsprings are pretty to see and are really nice to get in, but so warm! We hope you like our pictures.
After a fullfilling breakfast where we got some company from Jill, the house cat, we hopped on our scooter and went to the wednesday market, a tip we got from the owner of our bungalow, Noi. We bought some cheap fruit (can't remember the name but it was delicious) and walked around for a bit.
After just one short night in Chiang Mai, we decided to go even further up north. We took a minivan which we booked at our hotel in Chiang Mai to Pai. The minivan was 160 baht per person, which is app. 4 euro, very cheap for a 4 hour ride. Well, it was a ride, a three hour rollercoaster ride all the way through the mountains. We were going up and down and to the left and right almost constantly, no straight road for hours! It was terrible, took way too long but when we arrived in Pai, we knew it was worth the ride!
After a day of walking around in Chiang Mai, we hopped on a tuktuk to go to the nightmarket. Lot's of handicraft, pretty jewelry, handmade dresses and a bunch of crap as well. But it was fun, we enjoyed it and I bought some pretty bracelets and a dress as well! :)
It's our 4th day in Thailand and we arrived in Chiang Mai around 2.15PM. We left Sukothai around 9 o'clock and took a bus from the old city to chiang mai. This was 265 baht per person (app. 5 euro) and it took 5 hours. It was a long ride but we managed!
Today was finally a day with some time for ourselves, without traveling. We rented the bike at our hotel (50 baht/1,20 per day) and cycled all day. But bloody hell, it was HOT! Early in the morning the temperature was already 39* degrees celcius. The sun was burning, no clouds and no wind at all. Can you imagine? So we cycled the relaxed way: not too hard and not too fast. We saw all the beautiful temples, took tons of pictures and enjoyed our lunch AND diner at the 'Coffee Cup' restaurant, which is also in the lonely planet (our Thailand bible). Good restaurant, with meals around 1 euro, totally awesome!
After a short night in Bangkok, we took the train to Phitsanulok. This was the only option by train to go to Sukothai, our destination. A single ticket for one person from Bangkok to Phitsanulok was app. 455 baht per person, which is just a little bit more than 10 euro.
After an 11 hour flight without any sleep, we finally arrived in Bangkok. We were lucky enough to get an upgrade to economy comfort, with plenty of legspace but I still find it difficult to sleep on board an airplane.
We didn't had a lot of time during our first day in Bangkok but we made the most out of it. We took a tuktuk into town and had a lovely diner at the riverside where we also took some pictures. We went to bed early because of the jetlag and headed north the next day. Will tell you more soon, hope you enjoy my pictures!
Pretty english girl living the french dream. Meet Sarah, owner of The Vintage Magpies, a beautiful and cheap online vintage shop. Sarah moved to France a while ago and is now bringing us the best vintage from the most stylish people of the planet. I love the french style (and am the proud owner of the book 'parisian chic' and 'paris streetstyle') so I immediately fell in love with her webshop and already own two dresses from her shop!
.jpg)
This afternoon I'm flying to Bangkok, Thailand. I've been there last year as well, but at that time it was an organized trip, not backpacking like we're going to do now.
Between the hectic schedule of packing my bag and cleaning my room I found some time to take outfit pictures. This time in front of a deserted old factory. I decided to go for a comfortable outfit: easy peasy shorts with a white tee and my favorite ankle boots from zara. What do you think?
I just came back from my last flight, a geneva up and down, and now it's time for three full weeks of annual leave! This past week, I was lucky enough to fly with my boyfriend. He is a first officer and every now and then, luck is on our side and we can fly together! We've already been to Stuttgart (first time we met), Munich, Bologna, Trondheim (twice) and Torp-Sandefjord. And this week we can add Lyon to our list!
We woke up really early to enjoy a quick breakfast and went to town by taxi. Usually the hotel offers us several bicycles, but they got stolen?! Anyway, the taxi was also absolutely fine! We walked around on place bellecour (the main square) and took the tram upstairs to the basilique.
I really like Lyon but it was even more amazing to spend the day together with my boyfriend! Unfortunately I had to be back at the hotel at 12.00PM because of my pick up time (his pick up time to go to the aircraft was at 16.00pm, mine at 12.40pm). And when arriving at the airplane, it turned out to be 'technical' and so I had to wait till 17.30pm before we flew back to Amsterdam. And today I just had to do a Geneva up and down, and now it's time for my holiday!!!!!
One of my favorite and most easy-peasy pasta dishes! This tagliatelle is great for a dinner, easy to prepare and delicious to eat!
Right now I'm writing from Brussels, Belgium. Slightly bored but relaxed, I've got a day over. Which means, more than 24 hours of Belgium fun here in the hotel. I did a little bit of walking, photographing, exercising but mostly relaxing. It's pretty comfortable here, a good hotel with good food and a very relaxed bed!
I do apologize for my two days of absence. I'm really busy lately. I do the best I can, but blogging is slightly more on the background nowadays. I'm spending more time with friends, family and my boyfriend and time managment is not my thing I think. But I'll be back soon with more recipes, fashion and fun! For now, enjoy my greyish brussels pictures.
Ten more days, I'm counting them for two weeks now. In ten days, I hop on a plane and fly 11 hours straight to Bangkok, Thailand. For three weeks of fun, traveling, sun and relaxing. I'm so looking forward to it! I'm going together with my boyfriend and I'll make an extra blogpost about our Thailand tour. Right now I'm also packing my backpack, so much fun to do!
And only six more days of flying until my annual leave! I'm going to brussels on thursday and will have a very luxurious 'day over', plenty of time! Big fat LIKE! And I'm also going to fly with the BF as well, we're going to Lyon next week! Really like that! :-)
Just a quickie from Sandefjord, Norway. It was a windy and grey day, perfect to stay inside. So that's what I did most of my time. I went to the gym (dreaming of a bikini body) and had a very healthy norwegian breakfast. I just went outside to take some pictures, so I hope you like them. No beautiful sceneries today, just a simple outfitpost of what I wear on a nightstop. Enjoy!
No more queensday, it (the 30th of april 2013) was the very last one. Because from now on we have a king instead of a queen in the Netherlands, and we will celebrate 'kingsday' on the 26th of april.
The 30th of april 2013 was magical, unbelievable pretty and crazy at the same time. I was off, watched the television all morning because of the crowning and went to Utrecht later during the day to celebrate it with my boyfriend. The crowning was so beautiful to see. Our former prince, now king and his wife Maxima, the new queen, both looked amazing. Maxima wore a dress by a dutch designer and her look was absolutely breathtaking.
Anyway, I spend the afternoon and evening in Utrecht where the party still went on. Everybody wore orange and was selling stuff. Utrecht felt like one big fleamarket (and guess what I like the most!). We strolled around, had a few beers and enjoyed the afternoon sun. Afterwards we baked very dutch pancakes and had a nice evening together. Yeah, this queensday was one not to forget.
I really wanted to celebrate my birthday in the city I love the most: Bologna. But it was the day after my birthday (25th of april) when we arrived in Italy. So after changing into our summer outfits really quickly (it was 26 degrees!) we went to Drogheria Della Rossa for my birthday lunch.
It's my favorite place to be, Italy and especially Bologna and specifically Drogheria Della Rossa. :) The food is great and the wine is amazing. Thanks to Emanuelle, the owner, my birthday was amazing! And the crew ofcourse, without them it was just a normal day. So thanks again!
.jpg)
