Backpacking Thailand – Coldplay, Hot Sun & a Very Cute Sheep

They say you can never have too much sky. They clearly haven’t been to the vast land of Phuket with a sky bluer than the sea and a scorching sun that is bound to give you a sunburn (no matter how much sunscreen you forget to use), but, well, I’m getting ahead of myself.

The journey started back in June 2023. When I heard Coldplay is going to play back to back in a place not more than a couple of hours flight away from my home. I had to get there, right? I lived and breathed so many fond memories of Coldplay during my teenage years that not ticking off this concert from my bucket list would be a crime.

But when I went to the website to purchase the tickets, I was already too late. The tickets got ‘scraped’ quite fast. And I didn’t want to pay double the price from the black market, afraid of getting scammed.

Well, the story probably would have ended right there had it not been for a friend who purchased the tickets and then decided not to go! I paid for the tickets at the same price he bought them for in November, and the tour was back on again.

But I had another hidden agenda in mind. I also wanted to test working remotely, nomad style for a week to check if I am built for it before committing to the lifestyle.

I booked my ticket from February 3 to 17, and I knew the Chinese new year also falls in between, so I was super excited for that as well. I only have a vacation for 1 week, and the plan was to work in Thailand for another.

And then the day came. The day of coldplay. And I can say a lot of things about the concert. I can say it was unbelievable, I can say it was nothing you’ve experienced before, the lighting was amazing but – the honest truth is, you have to be really be there to understand how a coldplay concert feels, I can say it was certainly worth every penny.

There was a lot of Bangladeshi people in the concert, many of my friends & acquaintances, so It never felt like I was alone. I even made a local friend in the concert!

I only had so many days before the vacation ended so then it was time for partying! I went to some pub crawling, watched the Arsenal vs Liverpool game, played darts with complete strangers (I lost) and danced all night in a beachside club in Pattaya.

It might come off as a bit of a shocking news, but I never hit a dance club before as they are not available in my country.

But the Pattaya beach was not to my liking, so I decided to book a hotel in Phuket, but my my, did I make a mistake. Right after my hotel booking, I found out that there are no flights available to Phuket due to the Chinese New Year. So, I had to take a different route and fly to Surat Thani instead, which was a serene city I experienced only for the night. It was a 5 hour drive to my hotel in Karon beach, but it was worth the trouble, look how beautiful!!

Swimming in the Andaman sea may not have been in my bucket list, but it was an amazing experience. Then I moved to old town where I am staying till Friday in Phuket, in fact here’s a picture of where I am writing this experience from:

If you’re wondering, yes, Thailand, especially Phuket, is definitely worth visiting!