Koh Samui - Lamphu Thai Botanicals

We finally found a natural products shop that stocks our new found love for Hom-Nin Black Purple Rice Shampoo by ByNature Organics and Bamboo Charcoal Detoxifying Hair Conditioner by Myth...It's called Lamphu! Live Simply Live Naturally! 

        

Upon opening the door we were in heaven. We had a good look around this wonderful shop that was full of scented oils, spa products, natural beauty products, health foods and so much coconut oil!!

We knew our wallet was going to take a beating from this trip. 

There was a whole shelf stacked full of the products we had been searching for, along with other lines in the range. 

They also had a clothing range full of beautiful items from a local designer and information about local classes for Yoga and Meditation, handy right? 

To top this place off they also have a healthy living cafe towards the back! 

We unfortunately didn't get to try it this time round as we were in a bit of a rush, however the menu looked awesome. 

Very fresh, healthy looking meals that not only looked like they would fill you, but are also good for you! Yay! 

During our extensive look around the store the staff were very helpful giving us information on products. 

But not in the sense of where you don't feel as inclined to look around, we all know that feeling, as if you're being stalked. Not in this shop! 

They could clearly see we were spoilt for choice and gave us a hand. Even when our hands were full they brought us a basket.

So we now have a stock of the products in which we love to use.

We have been using these products for over a couple of weeks and already the quality and difference we are seeing in our hair is incredible. 

Hair is growing faster. 

Baby hair is appearing. 

Also it smells and feels incredible.

We also have purchased a couple of products on their recommendation by the same brands. 

We would love to recommend this store to yourselves if your a lover of natural products or if you just want to free your inner hippy.

Right lets talk about these products! 

Hom-Nin Black Purple Rice Shampoo by ByNature Organics

And 

Bamboo Charcoal Detoxifying Hair Conditioner by Myth (don't let the brand name fool you)

After first finding these two exceptional products in Pai at Earth tone (see our "Top 5 places to eat in Pai" blog for more details) we have been hooked. 

Both products have not only completely changed the look and feel of our hair, the growth that has come with it has just been extraordinary! 

We realise that there are a lot of these products on the market and that drinking a lot of water and being in the sun has helped. However we have both been on trips before in similar climates without the use of these products and not had the same results. 

The Hom-Nin shampoo not only smells incredible, the way it works into you hair without causing knots and tangles, for Suze in particular, is a life saver. 

By leaving the shampoo in for about 5minutes to work its magic is essential. 

Then rinse thoroughly, if needed repeat. 

       

Then apply the Bamboo Charcoal Conditioner. This product doesn't feel like your standard conditioner. It's a lot thinner, darker in colour and trust us when we say a little goes a long way. 

Leave this detoxifying miracle worker in your hair for about 10mins, then again rinse thoroughly. 

      

    

Your hair will feel instantly transformed and will smell fantastic! 

The other products the lovely staff at Lamphu recommended are 

▪️Bamboo Charcoal Shampoo 

     

▪️Hom-Nin Black Purple Rice Hair Treatment 

      

We will give you a review once we have tried and tested them. 

      

Top Tips

▪️They have a small shop opposite MoonStone, but an even bigger shop opposite Tescos. 

▪️ Don't be afraid to ask questions. You will see some odd products in here but the staff are awesome and are very knowledgable on all their stock. So ask away! 

▪️If you fall in love with a product like ourselves, be sure to get yourself a stock! As you may not know the next time you will find it.

▪️Website www.samuihealthshop.com

▪️For more pictures and updates on where we are in the World check out both our Instagrams @beardyandsuze and @suzeandthebeard 

If you have any questions feel free to comment below on the blog, on our Instagrams or drop us an email at suzeandthebeard@gmail.com

We will do our best to answer all of them for you guys. 

Koh Samui - Thailand

We travelled to Koh Samui due to a mutual friends recommendation. They had worked out in KS for a couple of months as a teacher, so had a lot of tips as to where to go. Always handy to have friends in the know. 

Our first couple of nights here were spent in Bophut, which is better known as the Fishermans Village.

This area is beautiful yet simple. 

The beach is wonderfully quiet, and as we arrived just before the wet season, most of the hotels that are joined onto this beach were pretty much empty! Result! 

The only down side to this area is, from what we found, there weren't many restaurants...well, that were open anyway. This meant we had to eat at our hotel. Now this wasn't a problem as the food was lovely, but still, we wanted a little variation when it came to dinner. 

To top it off you can see the Big Gold Buddha sitting proudly on the rocks over the other side of the island which is really worth seeing around sunset.

        

After being pretty secluded for a couple of days we decided to move to Chaweng. Due to check in times being around 2pm we thought we would see the big Buddha up close. 

We didn't feel up to the challenge of the stairs with our rucksacks but it was definitely worth a visit. There is also a selection of shops around here, some very different to what you normally see around attraction areas. Keep an eye out for alien and predator.

After this brief checkpoint and a couple of Changs to past the time we headed to our new accommodation.

        

We stayed at a hostel called Behind the Scene. 

We were fortunate enough to get a room on the top floor which, much to Suze's excitement, came with a huge bathtub! That's right a bathtub in a hostel! We realise some of you might be thinking ewww, but we were in a private room, so no shared bath tub.

The only downside is the noise. You are directly on the party strip and this hostel is next door to the famous Cabaret Club and a Muay Thai boxing arena. Don't be surprised if you hear 'Let's get ready to Rumble' every now and then. 

Even on the top floor it's very much a headphones in, pillow over the head situation, but for the price, the location and the cleanliness of this place it's worth the extra noise. 

http://www.behindthescenehotels.co

        

There is a tasty coffee shop on the other side called the Coffee Club. They do amazing experimental coffee drinks hot and cold with loads of different flavours. The food here is also of a really high standard in price and portion. We recommend the Prawn Won Ton Soup and Classic Coffee Club Sandwich.

       

Hopefully if you pop in you'll get the waiter called 'Friend', he's lovely, helpful and made our several visits here awesome. They also have an amazing breakfast menu! So if you are recovering from a night out be sure to go try it. 

       

Being on the strip is fantastic if you are up for the party lifestyle. This area is full of bars, good music and restaurants. However if you are looking for a slightly more chilled out vibe but still with a party twist head towards the beach. There are lots of little cut throughs so it's easy to find. 

We loved this side. Chilled beach bars with pillows and beanbag chairs playing awesome music with great entertainment. 

       

LipSmackers was a personal favourite of ours before the night life fully kicked in! 

On the beach you see all the talented thrill seeking fire dancers. They look awesome but for goodness sake be careful! We don't want any burns now do we?!

        

If you are like us and love a party but sometimes you just want to explore we would recommend getting a moped. 

Mopeds here are around 150-250THB per day. This is pretty standard, so if the sales guy pushes you to pay more either use those haggling skills or just go else where.

Also ordering a moped through a hotel will be more expensive, so might be worth looking independently unless you've got the extra cash for the convenience.

Now for that price it won't be the greatest bike in the world but it's far cheaper and gives you a sense of freedom compared to the extortionate taxi prices. Just be careful and wear those helmets! 

       

We decided to take a tour of the island as we had the moped. 

It's a very simple place to drive around and almost impossible to get lost.

Have somewhere in mind when you are heading out, but just remember if something catches your eye on route it's definitely worth pulling over and checking it out.

We saw a beautiful temple very different from the others we have seen in the past which was called Wat Sila Ngu. So we recommend taking a look around here.

       

Our aim was to reach the secret Buddha garden which turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip here, however we didn't realise that you have to ascend to the peak of a mountain to gain access to it. 

So having two of us on a little moped with what looked like bicycle wheels wasn't the quickest of journeys, but we made it.

After walking down a flight of stone steps you are suddenly transported into this magical overgrown garden. 

       

The gardens are a creation of an old Samui fruit farmer, Nim Thongsuk, who in 1976 began carving several statues and temples around his family's land.

A waterfall runs right the way through which is surrounded by incredible stone carvings, some are hidden and others are in a spectacular display. 

       

So keep those eyes peeled for the ones hiding.

Nim continued to work developing his garden until his death at the age of 91.

The entrance fee is only 80THB per person so it's well worth hunting this place out.

It's truly extraordinary and breathtaking here.

      

On our route back to the hostel we saw this awesome reggae bar called Moon Stone. 

We had an extremely warm welcome from the owner who was covered head to toe in tattoos. We took a seat, which our bums desperately needed after a long period of time on the moped, and instantly felt at home with the sounds of reggae playing.

Offering reasonably priced food and drinks in such a cool layout you can't really go wrong. 

We should have guessed from the intricate detail of the owners tattoos that this place also doubled up as a tattoo shop. We politely declined this offer but seeing the detail and skill that had gone into his work if you are in the market for one, maybe check MoonStone out. 

      

As awesome as this place was, what really topped it off for us were their pets. 

A scruffy little brown puppy with a blonde tuft and a Great British Bulldog called Bob Marley! 

They were so cute that we couldn't help but love them. Bob in particular was a right little host. Anyone that came in he felt the need to go up and greet in a friendly manner by rolling over onto his back to get a tummy rub. They are two very well trained, very loving animals and to be honest we have seen so many dog whilst in Thailand, but never a Bulldog! 

     

Koh Samui is beautiful and it's the first beach we've seen in a long time, and it didn't disappoint. 

Top Tips

▪️ Shop around when it comes to hostels! Some are right hidden gems others......well are inhabitable! So be reading those reviews, checking places out and find the right deals. www.agoda.com have saved us lots of money and haven't let us down yet! 

▪️The strip was very much like Khao San road. Markets trying to sell you all sorts of bits and bobs that you have no need for. There's no way to avoid them, so you can either ignore them, or be stern and firmly say No! They'll start to get the hint. 

▪️Get some photocopies of your passport. Do NOT leave your passport with a rental company!!

Always leave a deposit rather than a legal document as it's illegal for them to hold this.

▪️For more pictures and updates on where we are in the World check out both our Instagrams @beardyandsuze and @suzeandthebeard 

If you have any questions feel free to comment below on the blog, on our Instagrams or drop us an email at suzeandthebeard@gmail.com

We will do our best to answer all of them for you guys. 

Chiang Mai - Maya Shopping Mall

Now we know that if you're off travelling then it's probably not your intention to be going to a shopping plaza, and to be honest, it wasn't ours either. 

However, after purchasing a few products from the market, which had worn out rather quickly, and as we were running low on toiletries we were in need of a handy little shopping trip. 

We had also bought day to day items with us from home which have been used endlessly now for around 3 months, and sadly wear and tear had taken its toll on some beloved items aka The Dunlop bag. 

As awesome and as cheap as the markets are, some times that old saying 'you get what you pay for' kicks in.

So if your in desperate need of supplies and a 7 Eleven hasn't got what you need or you're just missing some home comforts, this is definitely the place to come.

We came across Maya by chance on the moped one day.

Now if your getting around by bike in Chiang Mai the parking here is FREE so it's definitely worth a look around.

Maya was only completed in 2014 so it's all brand new! You will find food courts, coffee shops, fashion and electronics, basically everything you could ever need all under one roof.

To top it off there is also a cinema!! Now when you haven't seen English television in such a long time it's kind of a must! Then on top you clock the price of 150THB per person (around £3 June 2015) and you are just like 'Hells Yeah'!! 

So we will share with you our experience of Maya and what we found. 

Starting with what has broken and needed replacing. 

Broken

The trusty Dunlop bag.

This bag has travelled around with Beardy almost everywhere for the last couple of years, mostly back in London, however it has not coped well with months of being used and abused everyday. 

Sadly the zip had started to come apart and large holes had started to appear within the bottom. So we decided to call it a day as we didn't want to risk losing any of our items.

On one of the floors there was a vast arrangement of pop up shops in which we shopped around to find a new travel/flight bag.

We found one which was exactly what we were looking for! 

Big but not too big. 

Strong material for all weathers.

Adjustable strap. 

Lots of pockets 

And it even has the option to be sewn if the same faults were to occur as the previous bag. YAY! 

        

Also for all you Ginger Beer lovers out there, you may not realise but it's very hard to find it in Thailand! However if you go into the supermarket on the ground floor you can find the best brand of ginger beer ever...Old Jamaica Ginger Beer! Let's just say Beardy was beyond excited when I spotted it in the fridge! 

Broken 

The Samsung NX3000

Now we will be writing a full review on the Samsung as we have had difficulties with the camera, the customer service and the warranty but this will come at a later date.

So anyway due to a lens fault we were struggling on almost every outing to get high quality pictures. So much so that we had to use the go pro for most of our trip at the elephant nature park (see our Walking With Elephants blog). Not that this was a problem as the go pro is awesome, but still, extremely frustrating. 

The main camera shop in Maya is called 'Big Camera'. Now we went in a couple of times to check out prices and to have a play on a few different models to see what took our fancy. 

The members of staff weren't weren't knowledgeable on the product, so we said 'we need to think about it' then quickly scuttled off.

After much discussion, over several coffees, and over a week of researching various different cameras we had come to a mutual decision. 

We went with the Nikon D5300 a DSLR camera. 

Luckily on the day we popped into Big Camera to make our, quite hefty purchase, the shop assistant was awesome! Very helpful, very chatty and had fantastic knowledge of the product. So I guess it's luck of the draw when you go in. If you don't like the service you are given, just walk away! Never feel pressured to part with your money if the service isn't amazing! 

We will review our new Camera for you at a later date, but to be honest we are still getting our heads round all the features and modes. By doing this we can fully learn its design and specifications and also give you feedback ensuring its reliability.

        

        

Post Office 

Now we, mostly Suze, over packed massively! So we did the sensible thing and had a huge rummage through our bags. We were ruthless! 

If we hadn't worn it, send it back. 

If we hadn't worn it within a month, send it back.

If travel books were no longer needed, well...you get the idea. 

So we boxed it all up and took a trip to the post office which is on the ground floor at Maya. 

The lady behind the counter weighed both boxes and gave us a pretty costly, but as always, trying to send anything to the UK wasn't going to be cheap. But the free space we now have in our backpacks and the extra weight that is now off our shoulders, it was well worth the money! 

Restock

We had stocked up when we were back in the UK on toiletries. 

We were able to do this on the cheap as when we had our vaccinations we earned so many Boots points we were pretty much getting everything for free. 

However after months of travelling our supplies had started to diminish! So where did we go?That's right Boots! Which if we are honest, is an awful lot cheaper than your local convenience store. Also grab one of the Thai Boots reward cards if you are here for the long haul. You'll save a lot of money using up those points. 

Now onto the food

Our favourite place to eat in Chiang Mai when at the mall was a restaurant called Miyazaki.

Now this place is awesome! 

We have seen similar places popping up around London, however the prices are through the roof, so when we saw this place we leaped at the chance to give it a try. 

You are greeted at the door and sat at your table which curves around an open plan kitchen and a huge hot plate.

The menu here is very simple, which as we've said before, is very rare in Thailand. 

You pick your chosen meat, either chicken, beef, pork, fish or shellfish and with this you get a choice of flavoured rice, sautéed vegetables and a cup of miso soup. 

Once your dish has been selected your chef will come out to meet and greet you. 

The food in which you've ordered will be cooked fresh in front of you and served to you as and when it is ready.

The skill and speed that these guys cook at is just mesmerising! It's wonderful to watch, and also you get to pick up a few tips and tricks along the way! Result! 

Everything is either steamed or quickly fried (fresh, not deep for all you healthy people out there)  so all the ingredients remain tasty and juicy! We would say the 'M' word, but as Suze can't stand it we won't, but you all know what we mean. 

Honestly the food here is mouth watering and the portions are of a size that you won't be disappointed.

It is a must in Chiang Mai! 

        

        

        

        

        

        

Top Tips

▪️Try the Chicken and the Fillet Steak set meals with Garlic Rice at Miyazaki! Just trust us! 

▪️Don't be afraid to ask for a better deal at the pop up shops. They might give you some form of discount. You never know. If you don't ask, you don't get.

▪️At the post office always ask for the cheapest option. Sounds like a silly thing to say but honestly they push for you to go for the priciest way. Now obviously it's more expensive for a reason. Your parcel will arrive within a week etc etc, but if it's stuff you know your not going to need for a few months, who cares if it gets there by next week. The companies are all safe and reliable so save some of those pennies and go cheaper. 

▪️Be sure to check out our Instagrams for more places we went to in Maya and for more updates on our travels Suze - @suzeandthebeard Matt - @beardyandsuze

Chiang Mai - Thai Cooking Farm

As you guys know we love anything food related. 

So learning and increasing our new culinary skills and gathering more delicious recipes is always a winner in our book. 

When we heard about the Thai Cooking Farm and read its 'excellent' reviews, we had to check it out! 

Let's just say those reviews weren't wrong. 

You will be collected from your hotel via minibus by your tour guide and group between 8am and 9am. 

Our guide was called MB. 

Now if you get MB you are in for a right treat! 

She was just awesome from start to finish. 

We have never met anyone so full of life and energy before, which made our cooking experience hilarious yet really easy to follow.

She speaks fantastic English, but she's always eager to learn more, especially slang phrases. 'That's what she said' seemed to be her favourite of the day. 

To make her even more fun she has a very cheeky sense of humour. A lot of innuendos and naughty comments but she's so smiley and happy it just makes the whole experience such a laugh. 

We would recommend her, if there is a way of requesting your teacher, you won't be disappointed.

Also listen out for how she says 'peanuts'! Think about it. 

She knew exactly what she was saying with a cheeky grin on her face. 

Now the drive to the farm is about an hour out of Chiang Mai.

You will select which meals you want to cook on your journey. There is a good mix of starters, soups, mains, rice/noodle and pudding dishes to choose from. Just tick the dishes you want to make on the slip of paper then hand it back to your guide. And don't worry if you pick something different on the menu to your travel buddy, they don't split you up, so do a selection so you have more to taste at lunch. 

On route you get the opportunity to stop off at a local market. This is a fantastic opportunity to see where all the locals go for their food shop. Everything looks fresh and colourful so get those cameras out. You will some interesting items, some of which we had no idea what they were, but hey, it's so fun to be nosey and have a look around. 

Your guide will also show you three different types of curry pastes and how coconut milk and cream is made. 

Just to let you know they only offer water at the cooking class, so here is a great opportunity to pick up a different beverage. 

So to begin the day of cooking we had to wear a very bright red apron and a huge rice hat.

We took a walk around the farms herb garden in which MB was showing us the ingredients we would be using throughout our day of cooking.

She made a couple of people try food from the garden, for example a few herbs and the hottest chilli she could find! You've be warned!

The cooking area is very nicely laid out. 

Each cooking station is equipped with your own gas hob, chopping area and serving area. 

As you chose your dishes in the minibus, all your ingredients are all ready prepared for you upon arrival to start cooking. 

After a couple of hours and having cooked 3 out of the 5 dishes you get to sit down and tuck into the fruits of your labour! It's so rewarding to know that the traditional Thai cuisine that sits in front of you, was not only cooked by yours truly, but it's also extremely tasty!! Brace yourself for a proud moment guys! 

After about 45minutes it's back into the kitchen to finish off your remaining 2 dishes. 

Honestly the time flies, especially if you have MB as a teacher. Before we knew it she was handing out the FREE cookbooks and sending us on our way. Obviously not before a few quick selfies (check out the pictures below, we were laughing so much we look a little nuts...enjoy). 

Top Tips 

▪️Book early!! We can't stress this enough. We tried to be clever and arrange a class a day before we intended to visit and got declined! We had to wait until the next available spot which was not until the following week! It's definitely worth the wait though! 

▪️Ask for MB! She is amazing! A fantastic cook. A fantastic teacher. And most of all a fantastic, beautiful person, which, not surprisingly, is what her name stands for, Most Beautiful! 

▪️Keep hydrated. It's very hot in the kitchen so keep a bottle of water with you. Water is provided but it's always handy to have your own. 

▪️Be adventurous! Try something different. You never know, it might become your new favourite Thai dish.