Setting off for my travels from Finland, I had only vague images and memories of travel documentaries to relate to, so it was all relatively new for us. I had traveled some countries before (Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Estonia), but nothing of this magnitude. I took the train from Jyväskylä, Finland and before that, said goodbye to all my friends, my girlfriend-to-be (more about this later, maybe ;)) and also to the familiar hoods I had been around for the last few five years, on my studies. After a 4 hour train ride I arrived to Turku, stepped off and met with my traveling partner Christian, who I would be spending the next year with. We crashed a friend's place for the night, and the next morning, were off to the ferry, which would take us to Stockholm.
After an early wakeup and a cab ride, we entered the ferry terminal and soon entered the ship. As conscious budget travellers, we of course didn't pay for a cabin, but spent the day roaming the hallways instead :P A good 12 euros to be spent later, a good start. When our (somewhat arduous) ferry ride was over, we arrived into Stockholm and hooked up with my friend Luke, who promised us a place to sleep for the night and wait for the day, when our first flight was taking off. And what a great host he was... a huge bed, some evening beers and a meal, everything you could wish for. Next day it was time to go our separate ways, and we continued to spend the day in Stockholm, particularly the old city which we found very appealing :)
The flight time came and we headed for the airport. Check-in, get into the plane, and after 50 minutes we were in Finland again, Helsinki though. The reason for this excursion simply involved money... I'll give you one hint: currency rates. Let's leave it at that :) In Helsinki airport we met our friend Jussi, who was joining us for the first 3 weeks, two in Thailand and one in Japan. We headed off, and after a long, long flight... arrival in Bangkok :)
In Bangkok we took a cab and headed off to meet the fourth member of our party, Jouko, who was going to have the Finnish "midsummer's eve" celebrations with us in Koh Tao, Thailand. We met him at the train station (easily recognized the guy who looked like a wannabe-Buddha ;))
Jussi @ Bangkok train station
Christian @ Bangkok train station
We took our train towards the state of Chumphon, from where we would take the ferry and head off to the small island of Koh Tao. The trainride was pleasant with nature's own aircon, e.g. no windows on the train ;) We switched from the train to a bus after long hours of travel, and after a 30 minute bus ride, we were on the ferry and off to Koh Tao.
After arriving to Koh Tao, Jussi and Christian stayed to watch our backpacks while me and Jouko went on to find our accommodation, and after a few hour expedition, we found a neat little place on the mountainside, with only one crazy enough cab driver to take us there with his 4WD. A perfect place to relax after 5 years of study, work, more study and more work. Chilling time.
Our private beach @ Koh Tao
After negotiating the price to the right level, we settled in and the next few days involved mostly moving between the hammock and the guesthouse's small restaurant, where everything was fresh. Sometimes they didn't have all the ingredients to make everything on the menu, since it was low season, but the food was nevertheless one of the best I've had so far :) Then came the midsummer's eve, and there's not that much I remember from the whole night, so I'll just leave it at that ;)
After a week in Koh Tao, it was time to say goodbye to Jouko who went back to Bangkok and headed off to Cambodia. We continued to Koh Phangan with a ferry, and found a nice place to stay at just by the beach.
Koh Phangan sunset... ah the memories :)
In Koh Phangan we attended the Black Moon party, which was completely insane and perfectly relaxing at the same time :) Chilling the little hours away with trance music in the beach, with the sound of the sea on the background... Perfect.
After Koh Phangan it was time to head off back to Bangkok, where we stayed a few days in Khao San Road, for solely the reason of gearing up a bit before going on our travels. Amidst all the chaos and commercialism of that place, we did find one place worth to mention: check out the bar called Roof Top, it has nice live music and a cool atmosphere. Next it was time to head off to the Land of The Rising Sun :)
Travel Days: 14
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