The Girl Without An Address

Current Location: Phang Nga, Thailand "Do not cease to drink beer, to eat, to intoxicate thyself, to make love, and to celebrate the good days." - Egyptian Proverbs Follow along on my adventures! Click below for my additional social media accounts!

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

Reading to the Kindergarten class at the local school. They loved my pirate voice... ARRRRR...

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

Friday Project!

At GVI, every other Friday is marked by a thing we like to call Friday Project! This is a way for us to branch outside of our normal day to day projects and tackle something we think the community could benefit from.

This Friday project, we started a garden at the local school with plans to build upon it and supplement it with agricultural classes!

Rach and I planting a tree in 90 degree weather with 100% humidity! And loving  every minute of it!

This was very hard work and I might have blisters on my hands from the combination of sweat and not wearing gloves (while throwing a shovel/hoe around like I knew what I was doing). But also very rewarding. I got to help Bob out with an agriculture class a few weeks later and the kids definitely love learning all about the plants. And watering them too haha

Project complete! Probably one of my favorite projects that I’ve participated in to date!

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

Green Sea Turtle being cleaned and treated for any disease with gentian violet at the Sea Turtle Conservation Center of the Royal Thai Navy Base

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

Vacay Over... Back to Work...

IN KOH RA!

As soon as Taylor left, I packed my bag and headed to Koh Phra Thong and Koh Ra with GVI’s conservation team!

After a nice long boat ride to this very remote island, we took a tractor ride through the grasslands of Koh Phra Thong to set up camera traps to catch the very illusive pengolin!

When I say tractor, I mean tractor. Imagine this pulling 8 people through 1-2 feet of standing water... Yeah, we had to jump out and push multiple times...

After the camera traps were placed (and the spiders were knocked off my legs - I repressed the memory, I’d rather not talk about it...), we headed back to our homestays for the night and got some sleep! Tomorrow would be a long day of hiking...

A Hornbill! That tried to attack anyone who walked to the bathroom at our lunch spot! 

After another boat ride early that morning, we arrived in Koh Ra! The beautiful, untouched, jungle paradise that it is. After an amazing 4 course #vegan lunch, we set out hiking to find our three camera traps on the island and gather the memory card from them while replacing the batteries.

Halfway through our hike! #views

With the help of a walking stick and our excellent guide, Ed, we navigated the jungle and hiked about 5 miles to reach this gorgeous, literally untouched, beach.

After a little bit of splashing around and a round of reapplying sunscreen, we made our way back to the boat. Luckily, we didn’t have to take the same route back - everyone was very fatigued. After the mile hike back, another boat ride, we all huddled in our homestay and ate some amazing Thai Spaghetti!

Not a bad start to the work week... Not a bad start at all!

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

SUP at sunset in Railay Beach, Thailand

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

Rock Climbing in Railay

Railay is a rock climbing mecca for all of you #climbers out there! So, naturally, Taylor and I had to cross this one off our bucket list!

The day before we wanted to rock climb, we set out walking around Railay to find a place we liked. Then we paid a deposit and were told to be back there at 8am, ready to go! 

The day started off very casual, without a lot of instruction. As someone who (use to) climb pretty regularly, this didn’t bother me because climbing is like riding a bike... Right? 

This was the first course of the day, and you can feel how hot and sweaty it (and I) was already. It was also the busiest course, a lot of beginners starting out here at the wall right behind the shop.

After climbing this course a few times and realizing neither of us were in climbing shape (I’m a runner, after all), we asked our guide if there were anymore challenging courses...

Our guide was pretty hilarious and had us laughing through our English - Thai communication fails. He’s pictured above, setting up the ropes for us.

Our guide quickly took us on this little hike through the jungle for a more secluded spot in the shade (yassss) where we climbed a few more times. I feel like it is important to note that after he set up the ropes for us, he asked us if we minded if he smoked. Of course, we said no. He didn’t mean smoke a cigarette...

My final belay after only 4 climbs. I need to do this more often...

Overall, we had a great time and shared a lot of laughs during and after the activity. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Kevin Hart, our guide reminded us of this sketch where he says, “Okay, OKAY, OKAY! Climb right, like that. Right arm, twice, like that. ALRIGHT LETS CLIMB.” [Warning: Lots of cursing in that sketch!]

10/10, would definitely do again!

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

East Railay!

Get ready for the overload of gorgeous sunset/beach pictures because here they come...

I have ridden many long boats in my day, they make for the best and most popular Thailand photos :)

As someone who loves the beach AND the mountains, Thailand is a great place to visit! Look at that vertical!!!

This view (to me) is the #dream <3

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

Phi Phi Island, Thailand

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

Scuba Diving!

I did it! I went scuba diving!*

There are a bunch of dive shops on Phi Phi Island, but we went with Island Divers and I was more than impressed by the way our dive instructor handled us. I do not have my certification, so I just did a day discovery dive. Working in conservation, I was worried about the coral but everyone did a great job avoiding to step or hit it with our fins!

Our dive took place in Maya Bay. Here’s a picture from the boat as we were closing in on our dive spot!

We were technically diving during low/rainy season (what rain?!) so it wasn’t crowded at all! I got to swim with Blacktip Sharks, Green Sea Turtles, and way too many fish to count! Taylor and I both agree this was one of the highlights of our trip! 

There we are! I can’t wait to get certified now! :)

*All thanks to Taylor! Panic attack be damned!

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

The Beach on Phi Phi Island, Thailand

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

We Made it to Phi Phi Island!

“Ph” is pronounced as “P” in english, not “F”. The correct pronounciation is Pee Pee Island not Fee Fee Island!

As you could see from my previous post, we are highly enjoying the weather here during “rainy” season! I highly recommend the viewpoint hikes (especially during sunset), just make sure you have a fashlight or phone to give you some light on the hike down!

I also recommend walking around for snacking! Try a little bit of everything! But if you find yourself ravenous, make your way to Pa-Noi for well priced Thai food!

Lastly, if you are looking for something unique to do in Thailand... They have paint nite! Taylor and I were the first to sign up so I got to choose the painting we painted - a beautiful turtle :)

It was something that I would definitely do back home but a great souvenir, especially since we had gone scuba diving the day before... But more on that later... 

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

Sunset #Views Phi Phi Island, Thailand

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

Fishing in Chalong Bay!

So, for those of you that don’t know, Taylor is quite the fisherman. Despite my first hand knowledge of how sick I get at see (see the boat trip in Indonesia), I figured this would be an amazing trip and something we just HAD to do! And, well, I wasn’t wrong...

The view from the boat! We stopped for snorkling/swimming which definitely helped me with my sea sickness!

We could not have chosen a better day to go! It was beautifully sunny with a nice breeze. A little choppy, but I think I faired pretty well between the scopolamine patch and motion sickness pills! My only mistake - eating pineapple and sitting out in the sun... Second degree burns on my lips! Don’t make the same mistake I did! Remember to put sunscreen on your lips!

We caught a bunch of fish! (And by “we”, I mean Taylor and the crew haha) I was able to real one in and we ate it for lunch! It was delicious (- said the vegan haha). The crew cooked everything onboard for us. It was amazingggggg.

I can’t forget the sailfish! We got to see one jump out of the water (which Taylor tells me is very rare). Regardless, it was an amazing thing to see and experience. My love and appreciation for the ocean is never ending :)

I enjoyed my meal on the deck, celebrating another thing crossed off my bucket list and another successful day of Adventuring with Christi and Taylor!™ Go get out there and explore!

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

The Girl Without an Address - The Tuk Tuk Experience

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

Vacayyy

Time for a holiday for my holiday! First stop...

Kata Beach!

Taylor* and I took a nice, long walk spanning Kata and Karon beach and soaked up some rays while we caught up on life and #adulting. With many swimming breaks thrown in, of course. Despite my beautiful photos, it is still rainy season...

We got some amazing smoothies and food beach side as well! Well worth the few hours of walking :) Passion fruit and mango smoothies, respectfully!

When night time arrived, we decided to head to Patong and see what all the fuss is about there... But first, I needed some dinner/dessert/more smoothies! Off to the night market we go (via Tuk Tuk)!

Peanut butter banana roti! A classic Thai dessert and one of my favorites :)

After a couple beers on the strip in Patong, we had an amazing tuk tuk ride back to our hotel in Kata. I think if I had to sum up Thailand in one picture, it would be this one:

Stay tuned for a video of our harrowing tuk tuk ride... Crikey!

*Name has not been changed for reasons of fame. Taylor deserves all the credit for the re-branding and title of my blog - The Girl Without an Address - as that is what he calls me :)

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

The flavors of chips in Asia is unparalleled... Gotta try them all?

[thegirlwithoutanaddress]

Adventure Tour - Round 2!

Yep, you read it correct! I got a chance to do the adventure tour all over again! Rather than bore you with the play-by-play, here’s the highlights of round 2!

Bamboo Rafting!

This time, I opted for coffee in my bamboo cup (and gave it to one of the volunteers for safe keeping - as mine molded before the end of the last adventure tour). My coworkers make my job the besttttt!

Despite the color of the water (just from run off) it was a glorious day! There was even a cute little snail on my raft, and way less spiders than last time! It’s the little things in life :)

Khao Sok!

Still one of my favorite places in Thailand that I’ve been to thus far. So breathtakingly beautiful...

I did try to do some free climbing on these rocks, very jagged and crumbly... I do not recommend.

I do recommend the morning safari with a nice, strong cup of coffee in hand!

Promthep Cape!

I’m back with another wonderful photo, this time a jumping shot! Don’t miss out on this picturesque place if you are ever in Phuket.