Travel Destination Of The Week: Phuket,Thailand

Heyyyyy Wanderlust Family, I hope y'all are having a great week! I am kicking off this section called 'Travel Destination of the week' where we'll be exploring different parts of the world from the comfort of our homes and gadgets lol oh well it's a preparation for the future travel and i am a strong believer of imaginations as a propelling factor for achieving dreams.


So beautiful people get your imaginary bags and beach wears ready, we are going to Phuket,Thailand!!! If you don't already know, Phuket is pronounced as 'Pooket' not 'Fuket'😁which actually means Mountain Jewel It is a rain-forested, mountainous island in the Andaman Sea, with a population of 386,605 (2015) where about 35% of the population is Thai Chinese, with an area coverage of 576 km². The main source of income for the province is tourism, but tin mining put Phuket on the world map from the 16th century. Latex, Pineapples, frozen fish, Cashew nuts and palm oil are also main source of revenue. ENOUGH of the history already 😴, lets get to the fun part! 

InPhuket is particularly known for its gorgeous beaches but the Patong beach is one of the biggest tourist attractions for the beautiful Island. The gods blessed them with 36 beaches spanning the island in total! Awesome, right. For my beloved vegetarians, this place is heaven for you; the island has a vegetarian festival every year called thetsakan kin che, lasting about 8 days. The festival is to celebrate the Chinese community's belief that abstinence from meat during the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar will help them obtain good health and peace of mind  🙏 (This year's festival will hold from October 20 to 28, 2017)

In accordance with the traditions, religious devotees perform ritualized mutilation upon themselves with the consent and understanding of all involved while under a trance-like state. The mutilations include: impaling through cheeks, arms, face, legs backs etc. with different objects like swords, axes, knives and the likes. I would say it is kinda bizarre but who am i to judge the traditions of the people.

By the way this is done without anesthetics, the ritual is performed inside or near the temples surrounded by other devotees with only iodine, petroleum jelly and surgical gloves as precautionary measures. wow guysss

If you ever find yourself in this province, you should probably check out these amazing tourist attractions i looked up: 

1. Phang Nga Bay: A distinctive feature of the bay is the limestone cliffs vertically out of the emerald green water
   
2. The Old Phuket Town: This place is beyond dreamy, it has a unique blend of Colonial and Chinese architecture. A town of colors for picture lovers 
   
3.  Bangla Road Nightlife: Bangla road is notorious for its sensational nightlife experience and the battle for night supremacy is raging between beer bars, live music, night clubs and go go bars                                                                                                                  
4. Wat Chalong and Phuket Temples: One of Phuket's most important temples, it is visited by thousands of people each year. it is beautifully decorated with hundreds of tiny glittering glass pieces. Wat chalong has an interesting history and is Phuket's island spiritual center                                                                             
5. Simon Cabaret Show: This show features a spectacular breathtaking musical floor performed by the world's famous ladyboy cast. The costumes and stage play in general is to die for! and it is a transvestite show (men dressed up in women costumes)                                                                                                                           

It goes on and on and onnnnn, the fun is never ending..... In general guys Thailand is a beautiful place and has definitely won a spot for dream travel location, I'm indeed thrilled by all the amazing things to do and see in the province and i hope to visit someday! Let me know what you think about Phuket, remain blessed.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

                             

Wanderlust Anne. 

Photo Credits: Google 

Tell It On The Mountain Top!

Life is indeed delightful; we may not have it all sorted out and rosy but at the end of the day we have sooooo much to be thankful for! There's a prevalent saying by Eleonora Duse "If the sight of the blue skies fills you with joy, if a blade of grass springing up in the fields has power to move you, if the simple things of nature have a message that you understand, rejoice, for your soul is alive"

New day, New adventure...The weather was pleasant! For some reason we thought it would rain but regardless we carried on (Hiking after it rains or when it rains is not advisable at all, mother nature saw our determination and held it up for us lol). At 6:45 Am we set out to meet at the rendezvous point, we were going to hike in the ever gorgeous district of  Maitama. Maitama is such a beautiful place between; some people define it as the citadel of power in Abuja, apparently a large number of our leaders/wealthy people in general reside there😉

So back to the matter, we started out and boy oh boy it wasn't exactly easy because the mountain was rather steep. The trail wasn't particularly bare, we were surrounded with bushes, trees, rocks and elevated grounds, we went across a valley with a stream and oh my daysss it was so beautiful but on the other hand we had to be super careful with our steps. There was this point where we had to jump down a pile of rocks, everybody on the team was good to go and then the hard part came lurking, well it wasn't exactly hard but we had to use a different approach. Okay let me speak for myself lol I  crawled up like a baby because i couldn't think of any other way to get up but it was fun in general, clearing paths and overcoming the challenges. OMG who remembers karara??? The worrisome plant in secondary school! If someone wants to do you strong thing they'll lace your water with it and it itches so bad! Seniors would legit beg you not to put it in their water, i like that it was humbling haha so yes we saw that along the way and it brought back so many memories 🙊🙈🙉

Getting better at dem poses!

It took approximately 1 hour to get to the top and the view lawd! the view was definitely worth it. We set out to have fun, take pictures and enjoy nature, there was a variety of outdoor games to play and yoga for the soul. We played the popular game concentration concentration and oh boy tension is a bad thing ooo lol someone actually called a phone brand ''SamsungSony'' 😰

The losers had to sit for the champions haha 💪

Coming back down was great, another different experience entirely, i actually feel like coming down could be more difficult because of the sloppy nature of most hills but if you can have a good grip of yourself and your movement it would probably be beans. We had to jump, run and glide through but in summary it was a fun experience, we created pleasant memories and I'll definitely do it again. Another mountain conquered whoop! 🙅 If you ever want to hike on the Maitama hill, I'll advice good footwear, you do not want to have a slippery sole on there. (I have a post up pointing out general tips for beginners, be sure to check it out!)

Thank you for taking out the time to read my experience, i would love you guys to share your thoughts in the comment section, have a good week and remain blessed!

Wanderlust Anne.

Photo Credit: Zitch Shots
Hike Team: Strides Adventure Club

My First Official Hike

We all have that one friend that exaggerates everything! lol Prior to trying out hiking, my friend had gone for a hike and told me it was the most horrible experience she had being through in her life, in her words I almost died!!! it got to a point where I started using my bum to come down the hill, you don't want to do this Anne''. To be honest I was scared but the competitive spirit in me was ready to take the challenge up. I started looking out for hike groups and eventually I came across Strides Adventure Club on Instagram, a friend had posted a picture of his hike and I got really interested and so my journey to hiking in the beautiful city of Abuja kicked motion .

On the beautiful set day of the hike to Arab hills I got to the rendezvous point, the weather was rather pleasant and i set out to have a good time, I called my friend and he said he wasn't coming! jeez I almost had a panic attack, I literally didn't know anyone there and I was by myself (the club members were nice, they said hello and tried to know my name but I really did not feel like socializing at that point in time oops my bad). I already started regretting till I looked and saw 2 people I knew...wheeeeew it was such a relieve fam!

My Friend is such a poser!

We started out climbing and Oh boy my legs were hurting like crazy, we had not gotten anywhere and I was already gasping plus I wasn't working out before then so I really wasn't fit but i cannot come and carry last lol i was born to conquer the climb😏. Initially, I was at the back but with time I was able to catch up with the gingerlies 🙆. We got to the top in about 50 minutes or thereabout and I was just taken away by the view💕💕 at this point I totally forgot about the pain spewing in my joints. The club was very friendly, I introduced myself along other new members and we played some games, listened to music, ate and enjoyed the scenery to the fullest.  

After we got to the top!

what could i possibly be thinking about? Lol 

Good time!

I was actually impressed by the number of youths that showed up

I did something different and i was proud of that moment! I honestly did not want to leave the hill because of how great it made me feel, it's really refreshing to be away from all the noise and chaos of normal everyday life!

Climbing all done and dusted, it was time to get back down and oh boy it was a struggle i kid you not, my footwear wasn't helping my predicament as it was kinda oversize but with the help of some gentlemen in the group i was able to conquer the struggle and i am happy to tell y'all that hiking is an added activity to my life. I am on a journey to conquer greater mountains and adventures as time goes! 😎

GENERAL TIPS FOR BEGINNERS

• Join a hiking group, saves you a lot of stress plus you get to meet people with similar adventurous interest.
• Take a water bottle, it could really get exhausting and water helps you level up 
• It is very important to get proper footwear with good soles, oversize footwear is a no no
• Do not pack in excess, take only what you need in your backpack!  
• Take along Food/snacks, you could get hungry at the top 
• It is not a competition of who gets to the top first (although it feels great to be among the first climbers 😏), take rest intervals to catch your breathe 
• Pictures are for creating wonderful memories, take along a good camera 
• It is advisable to work out before hand, you do not want to give your bones the big shock lol
• Remember hiking takes a mind set, tell yourself that you can do it! 

If you are in Abuja and looking for an amazing team of hikers to join follow @stridesng on Instagram. All the detail you need is right there plus they organize other activities like overnight camping, travels, tours, outdoor events and much more.

It would  really be nice to share your hiking experiences in the comment section, i look forward to learning from you guys as well! Thank you for reading this post, i hope you find it useful.

Not A Boring Introduction I Promise

Hey guys!!!

I am super excited about starting this new chapter of my life and sharing my adventurous journey with the world, I've wanted to do this forever! but I kept on procrastinating. I felt like I wasn't ready yet, I wanted everything to be in place (hey lil miss perfectionist). But oh well great things are created from uncertainties plus everything doesn't have to be in place now, eventually it will all make sense! So after all is said and done I'll like to introduce myself properly to you guys and tell you what this blog is really about 😎

About Me....
I'm not trying to bore y'all with tales lol so I'll just go with the popular format "10 things about me" I want my audience to of course have an idea about my person, hence the introduction.

1) My name is Anne Adams, I am a famous weirdo at heart. If I wasn't a Nigerian by categorization and birth I would have loved to be the ''Nowhere girl"
2) I have a thing against stories/movies that end with happy endings (except 50 shades of grey, that lady deserved a happy ending haha). Give me more drama! Be creative with not wasting my time 😉
3) My favorite color seems to be peach, although I have very few peach related items
4) Sometimes I think that I am a Sociopath lol for real!!! This girl could be CRAZY yo
5) I have a dream to travel round the world, it is a realistic and achievable dream for me.
6) The ideal cooling off activity for me involves a warm bath with scented candles. OMG I love candles!!
7) I believe in Horoscopes,I am a typical Libra chick
8) Loving people is a big deal for me, you have to earn it
9) I am a painter and I love the arts in general! (music, poetry, plays etc.)
10) This is one chick that comes alive in the night time, I am a midnight marauder😁

I hope that I was able to achieve the goal of not boring you *grins* Wanderlust with Anne is a personal blog for sharing my travel/adventure experience and giving you guys tips that would be useful for exploring the places I have been to. I would also have a section every week for dream travel locations and I plan to involve my readers as well! Post will be dedicated to readers for sharing their individual ideas; we can all learn and explore the world together!

Enough of the talk already, who's excited??? lets get started people!

Yours Truly,
Wanderlust Anne.