Everything you need to know to have the perfect time on the idyllic island of Koh Kradan…

Koh Kradan is situated in Southern Thailand In Trang Province. It is a small island filled with white sand, coral reefs and your ultimate dream Thailand experience.

To get to this island is not always easy but its worth the adventure, depending on where you come from can make all the difference, we were coming back from Khao Sok national park at the time so it was far. We got a taxi from Khao Sok too Khuan tung Ku pier which was around 4 hours where we then got a 30-60 minute long tail/speed boat ride too which passed by another Island on the way.

I went here last year in April 2019 for 3 nights. We stayed at Coral Garden Resort the whole time while on the island which was brilliant customer service and lovely accommodation for what we needed, has the ocean two metres from the rooms and a restaurant even closer.

We ate most meals at the amazing restaurant right by it called italiano bar and restaurant Asides from the name obviously having Italian it also serves Thai food and cocktails etc.. All the food is excellent here, I love Italian food and wasn’t expecting a restraunt with completely different cuisines to taste so good.

The island itself is beyond magical, It has turquoise clear waters and pearl white sand and beneath the blue surface of the ocean there are coral reefs which was beautiful for me as i’d never seen any coral reefs before and these were filled with spectacular fish and plants. Im scared of going deep swimming and this is why the islands so perfect to see such a new world your hardly deep you feel safe but you can still see the corals.

To warn you know some days the island can come with many tourist boats as more people find out about this beauty so try to go when its no too busy (when I went in April some days were bad but week days were better and times of the day will make a difference) and please do be careful about treating the ocean well. don’t leave any rubbish or damage any corals as more people who come the more these areas are vanished.

Before you leave this island don’t forget to go to the other side of the island through the forest to the sweetest beach called ‘sunset beach’ for a swim, It feels like a whole new island there with its caved walling entrance and almost California vibe. Bring beers which you can buy from the local tiny shop or a soda and enjoy the sun turning shades. The walk back when its dark may scare you like it did me so wear plenty of insect spray and bring torches the walk is only around 15 minutes.

Overall this island was one of my favourite adventures in Thailand and is better then the pictures can even show, I’ve never seen an oceans wildlife so blooming and I cant wait too go back and hopefully it will be the same so don’t forget to bring your snorkels and if you go all the places in this guide you’ll be sure to have an amazing time.

Website links:

accommodation: coralgardenresort.com

restaurant: https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g303904-d7904948-Reviews-Italiano_Bar_Restaurant_Koh_Kradan-Ko_Kradan_Trang_Province.html

(you can also find the restaurant on the first link)

For images look below:

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Ever felt uprising guilt when you go on holiday from all the plastic bottles you have to buy because theres no tap water you can safely drink and the heat is overwhelmingly strong?

If so read this blog to find out the best ways to deal with these problems..

Packing …

Sun cream and after sun:

If its a holiday where it has to be 100ml or under for every liquid product in your bag and your going on a long holiday, get a bigger bottle when you get to your destination instead of using more plastic per each bottle you use cause you know you will need more then 100ml.

Beach and swimming equipment:

Remember to bring goggles, scuba mask and snorkel, sunglasses, flip flops etc… Because all these products are made out of plastic and material we need to be buying carefully instead of care-freely. As if you go on holiday without these things that you use every holiday and then realise there at home and buy a new one anyway we are wasting plastic all the time, so REMEBER what you need.

Random environment friendly essentials:

-Bring a water filter- bringing a water filter will make sure you don’t have to ever get a plastic water bottle as you can drink any water thanks to the water filter easy ways, here is a link to a cheap, 4 star rating BRITA Aluna water filter. But there our tons online so take your pick:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/BRITA-Aluna-water-filter-MAXTRA/dp/B01N6B2LP1/ref=asc_df_B01N6B2LP1/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=256256967002&hvpos=1o4&hvnetw=g&hvrand=4882467933798500821&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045826&hvtargid=pla-372884058914&psc=1&th=1&psc=

-eco water bottle- bringing this will be your saviour when going on long day trips and be your best friends water filter as you can bring the water filter on the go and put this into your water bottle making it easy as ever to drink fresh water without using plastic!!

Theres so many things that you need to think about carefully when packing so THINK DONT RUSH cause thats how all this guilt starts to build up.

Going out for dinner…

-If you can see around the tables everyones got a plastic straw ask for your drink without one.

-When asking for water ask for tap water or bring your water filter with you incase they have no tap water.

-Any fancy accessories on your drink ask to have it without.

Shopping …

When going out to shop buy from local friendly shops instead of fast-fashion brands such as zara,topshop,primark and many more.

Fast fashion is one of the biggest contributors to climate change, so don’t buy from big brands and also think ‘do i need it?’ before consuming things you don’t need (I know we are all guilty of this but try more often).

Bags: Ask for no bag at all and if you have to a paper one.

Going out for the day…

Think what do i need before leaving your accommodation.

Bring:

-Water equipment:filter,bottle and paper straws (if a definite need). -Swimming stuth: Sunglasses,swimming costume, towel,umberella,suncream,water bottle,snorkle stuth and a change of clothes. -Food equipment:Need money for food out or bring the food from your accommodation.

What to do: -Pick up rubbish and put it in a bin: Take rubbish out of the sea, beaches,roads and any places you see it as it is probably destroying habitats and even worse OUR world.

What not to do:

-Don’t get inflatables unless your planning to bring home and use more then once. -Don’t get snorkelling equipment (see if you can rent it or even if your accommodation has it you might be surprised). -Don’t buy loads of plastic water bottles that you will consume and never use again.

Theres so many things people don’t think about when enjoying your break but your break won’t be the same if you keep consuming plastic and other materials so easily. Your break won’t be the beautiful ocean it will be the disgusting ocean full of plastic which is already happening, make your next break beautiful not horrific.

Thankyou for reading, have a look at my other blog posts and feel free to comment or email me any questions, islawilliamss@yahoo.com

Hi guys today i wanted to post something a bit different, I wanted to share with you some photos from a shoot a while ago in February because i wanted to show you guys some more of my photography as i haven’t even motioned that it is one of my favourite hobbies. I am studying a GCSE in it now and wanted to show some photos of my work hope you enjoy and will be showing some more soon….

The topic for the 2015-2019 has been non stop how to get bigger butts .. how to get an hourglass figure thanks to the new stereotypically dream figure portrayed by models and instagram influencers all over the world.

First of all if you want to grow glutes and want to have hips you need to be: patient,hardworking and willing to try any strange exercise when going to the gym.

If you haven’t been put of yet and ready to feel burning then here is a 1o minute circuit. Use a timer on your phone and don’t stop until you have reached 10 minutes. If you have access to resistance band or weights use a 4kg-8kg wait depending on strength :

-Pulse lunge on left (30 seconds)- if have use a 4kg-7kg weight on lunges and squats.

-Pulse lunge on right (30 seconds)

-Lunge with leg raise left (30 seconds)

-Lunge with leg raise right (30 seconds)

-Sumo squat (30 seconds)

-Side squat steps (3o seconds)

-Abductor squat (30 seconds)

-Donkey kicks left (30 seconds)- If have use a resistance band on donkey kicks, fire hydrants and frog legs)

-Donkey kicks right (30 seconds)

-Fire hydrants left (30 seconds)

-Fire hydrants right (30 seconds)

-Alternate frog legs (30 seconds)

-Frog legs (30 seconds)

-Glute bridge (30 seconds)- If have use a 6kg-10kg wait on glue bridges and frog pumps.

-Glute bridge narrow stance (30 seconds)

-Glute bridge on left leg (30 seconds)

-Glute bridge on right leg (30 seconds)

-Glute bridge alternating leg raise (30 seconds)

-Glute bridge hold (30 seconds)

-Frog pumps (30 seconds)

What should you eat?

A lot of people say to build glutes you need too gain weight, However i do not think you need too you should still maintain a healthy diet but eat the right foods and always eat a post workout protein snack before or after as it will help to achieve that dream figure.

Good food to eat…..

-quinoa

-brown rice

-eggs

-fish

-chicken

-oatmeal

-spinach

-avocados

-sweet potatoes

-chia seeds

-beans such as black beans and kidney beans.

-lentils

-chickpeas

-cottage cheese

-greek yogurt

-hemp seeds

-flax seed

-all seeds are good

-almond butter

Growing your glutes does not happen over night and takes months even years to see improvement so be patient, the best way is weight training so either buy or go to the gym to really grow the glutes with weights.

I hope this helped to make you want to start the hard working journey of growing a butt if any of you find it hard to think of recipes with these products feel free to comment or email me and i will post some meals that you can make with will help grow your glutes.

Be sure to have a look at some of my other posts about workouts, travel and fashion tips.

Many thanks Isla.

Guide from Chania airport …

Once you arrive at Chania airport get your mode of transport, we went with a car hire there is a range of companies easy to get too from Chania airport.

Then we travelled to our air bnb home. We stayed in a beautiful house in Livadia area in Elafonisos. On the way we stopped off for lunch and a quick dip in Nikiforos Fokas, Rethymno which had a cute beach bar and a quiet, relaxing beach to get you in the holiday vibe.

Our air bnb was only 5 minutes drive away from the very popular beach called Elafonissi beach which has pink sands, blue translucent sea , small yummy food shops (get the spinach and feta greek pies) and beautiful sunsets. If you are planning to stay all day be sure to get sun beds as gets very busy. This beach is great for kids and games, it has shallow waters for a long time before its gets to swimming level.

Get dressed up and go out for a traditional greek dinner we went to a restaurant near the popular beach in the village area which has a few restaurants sadly I can not remember the name but I’m sure all the restaurants along there are delicious.

The next day we travelled around 40 minutes up steep mountain edges to the Kissamos beach which has beautiful turquoise water the ocean is deeper here and more wavy. When I visited this beautiful beach I was very sunburnt so was in desperate need of shade and lying down for hours which was perfect as this beach had comfy sun beds with shade and delivered food from a restaurant near by. We treated ourselves to pizza and chips which was just perfect for the mood we were in (classic brits aboard moment).

The next day we travelled to a new air bnb. On the way we went to Stavros, La Canea which was a more peaceful sandy beach but was not my favourite compared to the others. However it had an brilliant, busy beach restaurant with yummy homemade snacks and refreshing drinks.

Once we arrived in Eparchiaki Odos Vrison-Sfakion area we settled in to our new home and had a delicious cooked dinner at home with a typical bit of love island.

The next day we enjoyed the mountain views and chilled by the infinity pool in the morning. Then we went to Seitan Limania beach which was stunning although we took the wrong walking route down and was rocky and a bit stressful (do not listen to the person selling drinks at the top) but if you go the right way its easy and finished with in 3 minutes. This beach is small and busy so its not somewhere you can buy sun beds and tan its somewhere to swim dive of the rock edges (if your brave) and enjoy the sound of goats wondering the mountain edges (there sometimes on the beach).

We then went into Chania town for lunch, (but choose your preferred option of lunch or dinner depending on what time you finish at beach). We walked through the narrow artistic streets and a yummy lunch at Tholos restaurant in the town.

On the last day we did something more special and took a ferry to Loutro which is on chania, a no car town/village, the only way to visit is by boat. We got there from Chora, Sfakia and got on a 20 minute ferry ride which was enjoyable to soak up the sun and look at the scenic views. Once we arrived at the small cute town of Loutro we sat on the sun beds for a hour and then had a enjoyable italian lunch by the sea before getting on a much smaller rented boat and travelled the Crete sea privately. This was my favourite part of all the holiday as i always feel so happy and lucky to be seeing such beautiful sea water it was emerald colours to blue with translucent sun filled parts. You can try and find somewhere to book rent a boats but it hard to book before you go, we booked one as soon as we stepped onto the town we found a women who had a boat we could rent for a great price. We found this by looking at a poster opposite the port.

That is my guide to this part of Chania I did not get to visit the whole of this beautiful island but what I did see was very beautiful my top 3 things you have to do is:

1.Go to Loutro island and hire a boat

2. Go to Seitan Liamani beach

3.Visit Elafonisi beach

Hope you enjoyed this blog of my experience of Crete, for more travel experiences read more of my blogs at fashionandgym.travel.blog …

workouts:

The first circuit is for if you want to lose weight then get ab lines:

circuit one:

-running on treadmill non stop for 5 minutes then 2 minute break of slow walking.

-cycling for high level for 5 mins non stop then 2 minutes break.

-rowing machine for 5 mins non stop 2 minutes break.

-plank for one minute (or as long as you can)

-side plank do 10 on each side

Do this circuit 2 to 3 times to really feel the burn.

The second circuit is for if your happy with your stomach weight but you want ab lines:

-20 scissors

-10 leg lifts

-10 toe touches

-10 crunches

-20 bicycle cruches

-10 side planks (on each side)

-10 in and outs

-20 Russian twists

repeat this circuit 2 to 3 times (add weights to make harder)

what to eat:

-protein products: bars, shakes,yogurt and a range of other snacks such as protein filled crisps. these are good for before or after gym to increase your protein intake.

-vegetables: edamame , spinach , kale , broccoli and other green veg.

-healthy smoothie: frozen berries, banana,protein powder, chia seeds, almond milk or coconut.

-peanut butter with apple or banana

-beans and peas: black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas and soya beans.

-drinks: loads of water, green tea , peppermint tea and almond milk.

-Oatmeal, porridge , granola.

-protein: Tofu ,fish such as salmon, sweet potatoes and hummus.

thanks for reading hope this helped and encouraged you. Check my other blogs out for more workout tips …

A guide to the most beautiful crystal water island..

Favignana is an island of Sicily easily found off a boat or cruise from the Sicilian city of Trapani.

How to get there from Trapani, Sicily:

First you will need to find a ferry company to travel with you can either find them online from http://www.direct ferries.co.uk or other websites such as eng.libertylines.it. These are the most popular well known ferry company but when you arrive to the Trapani port theres many other company’s to easily buy from. When I went there we took the chance and bought a ticket from a different company on the day, its easy to do and we got a good deal but i can’t promise you it will be like that every time.

If you have a while to wait grab a croissant filled with a almond/custard paste not sure exactly what they’re called but there delicious sprinkled with icing sugar and chocolate you can get these right opposite the port just cross the road and theres a range of cafes we went to ciuri ciuri cafe.

Once on the ferry, enjoy the relaxing breeze and the beautiful views of the ocean. The ferry ride was around an hour, bring a book or just enjoy the ride. When you’ve reached the beautiful island of Favignana find the busy shed looking information point and grab a map and hire a bike they are around 10-15 pounds a day but they may change due to tourism so bring more incase. travel through the town and stop off at the public toilets as once your out of the town theres not many toilets. Then check the map and start the ride to beauty.

First go towards the beach called lido Burrone but instead of going onto that busy beach go right and to a more rocky bit but very blue and not as busy there will be a little truck with water there grab one or two for the journey take a quick jump into the ocean and then carry on with the journey and travel to Cala Azzurra (look at the map). This beach is very busy but you will need a stop as its a ride from the last beach you went to its also beautiful and shallow so nice to hangout but very hard to lay down and get a tan as no space. After a 30 -60 minutes relax, jump back on the bikes and travel past the lighthouse to the left and go onto a more footpath type of route where you can ride uncomfortably or get off and walk with the bike (my preferred option) we got lost here as its not was to follow and thought we were going the wrong way as looks very different to the route before.

On this walk or ride you will suddenly see the most amazing turquoise caribbean style water i was in shock from the beauty as never seen such blue water. The water has patches of turquoise water to dark blue water, even though you’ll want to jump in there carry on to the beach called blue marino with will have the same amazing ocean. This beach is mostly big rocks so hard to get into but you can definitely do it if your a confident swimmer as its deep.

Before you carry on to your next beach grab a refreshing lemon drink from the lemon shaped van (if its still there) and enjoy the view with there party music. Then carry on to my favourite beach so far called Cala Rossa this beach is beautiful it has a wide display of overlapping tones of blues with crystal sparkling water. Its another rocky beach to climb down to but easier to get in and walking level so easy to swim for all swimmer types. I was amazed by this beach the water was lovely to swim in and even better to look at. When i went to Favignana the information point showed me the map and said don’t go to these beaches and pointed at Cala Rossa and blue marino because of the wind but we took the risk again and it was perfect as all the tourists had gone to the other beaches and it was the most quiet I’ve ever had to a beautiful beach like that. Stay here for as long as you want or carry on to further beaches these were my two favourite by far but i did not list all the beaches on the island as i was only there for around 4 hours and didn’t have the time.

Once you visit your favourite beaches, go and visit the small but interesting town of Favignana and grab a refreshing drink, snack or treat yourself to an ice cream. after the bicycle ride you may feel exhausted from the constant sun and peddling so its nice to relax and see some of the other beauty of this amazing island. Before you take your ferry home look around the shops and grab a tacky key ring to remember the island or a beautiful postcard of the sea you were lucky enough to swim in and write a sweet message on the ferry home to a family member or a friend to show your holiday in an more old fashioned way, this will also give you something to do on the ride home or you could keep it for yourself as a memory you will never forget. I like this idea as your helping local businesses at the same time.

That is my ultimate guide to the small but beautiful island of Favignana i was not there long so can not tell you the best places to stay but look on air bnb or any hotels but beware as not a big island and not loads of options.

I would love to visit this island again before tourism takes over this sweet island and the 2 surrounding islands called Levanzo and Marettimo.

Hoped this helped ..

Check out my page for more travel guides and all sorts …