I’m not exactly au fait with spas of any sort, but a chicken coop sauna certainly wasn’t something I ever expected to see. In the Chong Changtune community in Thailand’s Trat province, they’ve invented a new kind of sauna experience, simply involving a traditional style chicken coop ideas, a rice cooker and some local herbs.
Are you as intrigued as I was?
Wondering where to stay in Bangkok without breaking your budget? Well, so were we.
While the cost of travel in Thailand can easily be kept on the cheap side, Bangkok is unsurprisingly the most expensive city. The majority of travellers to Thailand will arrive or depart from Bangkok and spend a few days in the city at least. Backpackers can grab a dorm bed for a little as £3 and double rooms in hostels can go for as low as £10 near Khaosan Road.
For the budget conscious traveller who doesn’t want the loud party scene that dominates the Khaosan Road area, finding budget accommodation in a more desirable location takes a bit more hard work. Luke and I set an accommodation budget of £20 per night for two, which is really the upper end of budget for Thailand, and went from there.
With a couple of days to spare in between traversing the neon lit expanse of Bangkok and heading to the green mountain city of Chiang Mai in the north, we pulled out a map to locate an island not too far from Bangkok.
After some flash research, we ended up opting for Koh Samet, an island known for it’s close proximity to Bangkok, it’s silky white beaches and clear waters, and it’s – as we discovered – dubious National Park status.
We only had three days on Koh Samet, and though we prefer to travel slowly as often as possible, I’ve got to say that unless you’re keen to just kick back on a white sand beach for a week, then Koh Samet can be easily covered in that time.
If you spend any time at all in Thailand, or any Asian country, you’ll immediately notice that rice is essential to the local diet. Many people, especially from the older generations and in the countryside, eat some form of rice three times a day. Having spent so much time in Asia, Charlie and I have also become a little bit addicted to rice, and quite happily eat it seven days a week, and sometimes for breakfast too!
So naturally I was keen to visit Phu Ruea Ruean Mai resort, an organic rice farm, and learn more about how some Thai people are trying their hand at ecotourism. The rice farm is run by Nu Dee, a young, well-educated woman from Bangkok, and her mother. Nu Dee is one of a small handful of people bucking the urban migration trend, and she argues that there’s more to life than sitting at a standstill in Bangkok’s notorious traffic jams.
When I started Charlie on Travel, like many other travel bloggers I really just wanted to reach an audience who appreciated my writing and connect with like-minded travellers, bloggers and readers. As time went on, my niche as a sustainable and slow travel blog really started to come out and my readership began to grow much more than I had ever expected.
My travel blog was becoming more than just a bit of writing on the side for me. It wasn’t just a journal about my travels – it was my portfolio for finding freelance work, a kind of profile for homeowners interested in our house sitting services, a way for me to connect with other travellers and travel-related businesses, and a talking point when we’re on the road.
If like me you are feverish with wanderlust but also keen to be as eco-friendly as possible while travelling, then you might want to look into making eco-friendly accommodation choices. You don’t need to spend a fortune to be an eco-friendly traveller, but making eco-conscious choices often takes a reasonable amount of research.
Unfortunately, it can be all too easy to end up staying in a hotel or resort that has a negative impact on the environment without even realising it. Collectively, hotels are guilty of excessive energy consumption, unnecessary overuse of water and poor waste management. From bigger issues like building in areas where construction ruins the environment down to the little things like pumping out air conditioning and washing bed linen daily, hotels can leave a huge carbon footprint.
This is is going to sound like madness.
When I hiked up Volcan Concepcion on Ometepe Island under the hot Nicaraguan sun, not only had I just got food poisoning from eating some bad black beans but I also wasn’t wearing a proper bra. I wasn’t even wearing a real bra at all. Instead I’d cut an old, bedraggled vest top in half with straps that were wearing thin and was wearing that under my t-shirt. Let me tell you, that is not a good idea.
Those who haven’t visited Thailand, and even some of those who have, might think of its tourism industry as being synonymous with full moon parties and massage parlours, but there’s another kind of tourism which is all about exploring the real Thailand. It’s about meeting communities of Thai people, learning about their life and culture, and respecting the environment.
Community based tourism, which is often described as “travelling like a local,” has been going on in Thailand for decades, but is still not as well known as it should be. Community based tourism seeks to uplift local communities by providing them with a sustainable way to support themselves while providing a rich, cultural experience for travellers.
Teaching in Taiwan is something I often get asked about by people who are thinking about making the move and starting a new career on the island. What I always emphasise is that everyone’s experience of teaching in Taiwan is different – variables such as school and branch, workload, location, personality and whether you’re going solo or as a couple can be make or break. I’m interviewing different teachers in Taiwan to find out their thoughts on island life, ESL teaching and travelling. This interview is part of the Teaching in Taiwan series.
Out of all the places that we travelled in Central America, Guatemala stole my heart. Though admittedly Nicaragua was a close second. This vibrant country hasn’t let anything get it down. Despite being notorious for gang activity, bus drivers being held up at gun point more frequently than is comfortable and many communities living in poverty, the Guatemalan locals still have a smile on their face. The challenges of everyday life mean that local communities and families are tight-knit, and work together to get by.
We’re Charlie and Luke — UK travel bloggers, adventurers and storytellers. We travel slow and write about sustainable travel. We want to make responsible travel choices and help you do the same. Get to know us.
