SLIDER

5 Highlights from my recent solo adventure in Thailand

Tuesday 14 January 2020

My recent trip to Thailand was short; but very sweet. With limited days this time around, I felt like I made the most of each one where as I'll admit in the past, sometimes I took my privileged situation of long term travel for granted. Every day had something fun going on but here were some of my favourite parts.



Seeing One Of My Best Friends 

James was the first person I ever met when I went backpacking and one of the few I still speak to today,. Three years later, like me, he's been forwards and backwards all over the place but we always seem to miss each. He's currently settled in Pai, working at a hostel so I made time to go and hang out with him for a few days.



Thai Festivities

Doing this the first time around was one of my all time favourite travel highlights so having to opportunity to go back and experience it again was a blessing. It was just as magical as the first time. I wrote a whole post about it here.


Pool Day

I'm a big city girl when so I don't spend much of my time travelling, relaxing in a bikini; although a few days into my trip, I started to feel like I was doing too much and burning out a little bit so I took some time off.

I snuck into a hotel and used their gym and then their pool and honestly it was so refreshing just to pretend I was on a normal, relaxing holiday for a few hours. I had the best afternoon and went back to hostel feeling refreshed and ready for the next adventure.



Making New Friends

Meeting people is one of the best parts of backpacking and my favourite night out on this trip was with 4 total strangers who I met during my trip! Three of them I found at my hostel in Bangkok but one of them, August, I met on my first night in Pai so it was awesome to reunite before he flew home.




BMTH Live in Bangkok

Definite highlight, not just of this trip, but of my life. My favourite band, live, on the other side of the world; plus going on my own meant I made a couple of new Thai friends who I plan to see next time I'm in Bangkok.


What are some of your travel highlights?

The Bali Flower Bath: Instagram vs Reality

Monday 6 January 2020

Smoothie bowls, rice paddies scooter rides and flower baths; did you even go to Bali if you're Instagram isn't plastered with these things by the time you leave?

Flower baths seem to had blown up in 2019 and as I travel blogger, I took it upon myself to go and on a little solo adventure and indulge myself, so I could share my experience here, naturally.

Well let me tell you, they aren't all they're cracked up to be, from my experience anyway; but cute photo hey?



A lot of the little spas that line the streets of Bali offer flower baths but it wasn't what I wanted. I had a scene set in my head and I was going to chase that - for as cheap as I could. I wanted traditional Balinese, outdoors - overlooking the rice paddies and it had to be instagrammable - it's a lot harder to find that you'd expect when you're not willing to pay too much. As flower bath massages go, I went for a mid priced experience although it was the cheapest one that ticked all my boxes otherwise it was a normal bathtub in the back of a salon somewhere.

I came across Sedona spa and it seemed to have everything I was after. It was a beautiful setting, outside in the rice paddies just on the outskirts of the city and I was able to walk there from my accommodation. I also liked that you didn't need to book with them, you could just turn up and get started.

Their treatment list was great too. With a lot of places, you'd need to book a massage and the flower bath part separately and that's why it ended up costing so much. Sedona had a whole section just of these type experiences. All different smells and flavours but all basically the same thing: massage, scrub, bath. 

I went for the Green Tea Bath - RP 210.000 (£11.50)

A relaxing one hour massages using a combination of techniques. Our special body scrub with a natural “Green Tea ingredients follow a natural yogurt and honey moisturizer will refresh, soften & rejuvenate your skin cells. Green Tea contains powerful antioxidants; reduce acne, cellulite and the formation of stretch mark. Finally, you immerse yourself in a bath of exotic flowers. 



After choosing my treatment, I was lead outside to one of the rooms overlooking the rice paddies, made very private but the surrounding greenery and flowers.  

As mentioned, we started with a massage, then a body scrub and then the flower bath but I had a few issues with the experience as a whole and that's what I'm here to share. 


Firstly, I was cold. lol. Bali isn't cold and this was the last thing I thought was going to be a problem but when you're covered in warm oil and there are no walls to catch the breeze it actually gets pretty chilly. 

Secondly, they insisted on running the bath whilst I was having my massage. So for the hour, I had the noise of running a bath in my ear and honestly, it made it really, really hard to relax.

Next, and this one is for the 'grammers. Once my massage was done and she was ready to leave me with my floral bath, she casually dropped that I have 20 minutes. Twenty minutes?! It takes longer than that to set the camera up how I wanted it, let alone take a good photo.

and the last, and probably most annoying thing? The bath was literally boiling hot - like scolding but I came for an instagram photo and I wasn't going to leave without one so I sucked it up and took the plunge. My poor red feet haha


All in, I'm glad I got to do it, and honestly, it did only cost me £12 so no big loss but that being said, I wouldn't go back and do it again, not there anyway - though I am keen to experience it somewhere else and see if they're all similar.

So would I recommend? yes, If you are looking to get your photos for the gram, without spending too much then yes - but just be aware that it's not always as it seems!
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