Final Day - Bangkok

From 11/22

We woke up early, as the train starts to make noise around 6am. People walk up and down the aisle offering different types of food. Some of them are passengers that brought the food with them, some are the actual train employees. I'm not sure how the rules work but nobody stops the passengers as they walk up and down the aisles yelling what they have to offer.

Anyways, we woke up and got into Bangkok at 9ish. We took a tuk tuk to our hostel and were luckily able to check in early. We put our bags down and were off!

We went around the corner to a cafe and had a mango pancakes with passion fruit sauce on top. We wanted to take advantage of the fruit while it's the freshest! Afterwards we walked to the market just down the street to look at the vendors.

Today's main focus was to get some final last items. We've seen a bunch of things (like incense, a Buddha, etc.) that we knew we wanted but didn't want to carry around for two months.

We walked down the market and found a bunch of trinkets, some that are cheap (and look and feel cheap) and some that are really nice quality. We remembered the prices and planned to go back later. Then we were off to shopping mall section.

We read about a market online that said it had Asian arts and crafts. It was a bit out of the way, but since we had all day (and we've seen Bangkok's sights at the beginning) we took a tuk tuk the 5km out to the mall. The arts and crafts market was supposedly on the 4th floor.

When we arrived we were surprised. This area is like the Mall of America but mall of Asia. It's a bunch of huge buildings connected that are all shops, most of which are name brand or well known chains. This was very different than what we're used to: old rickety markets down one street with tents set up in case it rains.

We went in and took the escalator to the fourth floor. We had already seen two Starbucks' - one on the first floor and one on the third. Why? This isn't Seattle make your own coffee companies.

When we got to the fourth floor it still look like a mall? I pictured in my head that this one floor would be a smaller area and have a market feel set up. We wandered awhile and couldn't even find artsy shops, it was all food. We ended up finding the shops and wandered around them. The quality of the products here are significantly better, or at least displayed better.

We got a couple things we wanted off our checklists and found a place to eat lunch. We were hesitant at all the shops because we wanted to end our trip with lots of Asian food. We didn't want mall food to be our last lunch!

A beef soup shop caught our eye because there were lots of people there and it was right next to us. We were getting a little grumpy (I was for sure, which made me think Alex was but that isn't always true). We ate it and it was delicious. We've had better soups, but for mall food I'll take it.

We both decided that we didn't want to try any of the "markets" in the malls surrounding so we headed back into the better part of Bangkok. Our tuk tuk driver was a schmuck on the way back. I understand that sometimes there is a lack of communication when I try to explain where we want to go. How I work around that is by showing the drivers my map, and point where I want to go. This tuk tuk driver kept saying stuff to us after I would show him the map making it seem like he knew where to go. He took us to the wrong place and I again pointed out where we needed to go. I changed the language to help if he needed to know exact street names, but that didn't even help. We directed him to where we wanted to go eventually, but he was all angry about taking us out of the way. All I said was "I didn't understand what you said, so I showed you the map. You didn't have to take us."

But whatever he got us there and we still paid the agreed upon price. We went back to the real market (in my eyes) and got the trinkets we wanted. The vendors were nice and I also got some unexpected items.

After a hot day of walking around and shopping (always a tiring activity for me) we sat down to enjoy a coconut and play some cards. The coconuts are so refreshingly cold and the chunks we scrape off are to juicy and tastey. Definitely on thing I'll miss is these fresh coconuts. I guess I'll just have to drink coconut milk to get my fix.

We headed towards dinner but meandered around Khao San Road and another street market on the way. For our last Thai meal we decided to revisit Thip Samai, the Pad Thai restaurant we ate at the first night. This place was PACKED! We got there and had to wait about ten minutes before they decided to use their outdoor seating. Everyone in line filled up the outdoor seating immediately. And the line continued to build. There was probably 30-40 people waiting in line by the time we left, the food is that good.

(Pad Thai in an omelette)

After a fairly early dinner we walked out way back and had some tea at a blues bar. If you look back to the beginning of this trip we went to this blues bar then as well. We had some tea, played cards, and reminisced while listening to live music (love it).

(Views as we walked back)

On the way back to the hostel we couldn't find and coconut ice cream, so we went up to pack and repack everything. Now that we're playing home, we have to prioritize what goes where. It took some pushing, shoving, and rearranging, but everything fit in the four bags we originally brought with us!

Then we read and fell asleep so we could wake up for our 7am breakfast. We have a taxi picking us up at 9am and we'll go straight to the airport. Crazy!

So many things have happened in the last 8 weeks it's insane. It's going to take some time to decompress and really realize how amazing the trip was and how it has affected me. Tomorrows our last day, but really a majority travel day back to the states. A couple flights and I'll be seeing some of your shining faces! Can't wait and hope you didn't miss us too much.

“Nothing can be compared to the new life that the discovery of another country provides for a thoughtful person. Although I am still the same I believe to have changed to the bones.”
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Koh Lanta day one

From 11/19

We woke up to the sun heating up the room, as we were placed into the sunrise room. It's like they knew we were early risers. We had breakfast at our hostel and played a game of cribbage. Now that we're in Thailand again, we went to get Thai Massages on the beach after breakfast.

I've only had two or three Thai massages now but this one was definitely the most painful. You would think since it's right on the beach you would be more relaxed but she killed my muscles. When I stood up I was actually sore, like the feeling of actual bruised muscles. Also when she was using her feet she literally kicked me in the nuts (they use their feet to massage your inner leg and hamstring. I thought she was a professional. All she did was make an "oops" noises and continue. 

It was a good massage and I felt really loose later on but it was painful. That being said I would do it again. After the massages we walked to lunch at a place called Irie (place we listened to music last night). We shared a large salad and a brown rice chicken dish. It was amazing. They also had coconut shakes that were pretty good, but not as good as the Koh Rong shakes. 

We wandered back to the beach and swam and read for a bit. The water isn't as beautiful as Phuket, but it feels just as nice to jump into when it's so hot out. 

(Views)

And then this came rolling in. 

(A storm - we could see the rain come in from up the beach)

We beat the rain and went to a beachside bar to grab a coffee/beer to wait out the rain. After our hang up with the rain we went for one more swim and then headed back to the hostel to relax before dinner. That's when I wrote this and when we planned or next day and a half in Koh Lanta. 

After enjoying the hammocks and lounge couches we made moves to get dinner. On the way we stopped at Irie and Alex picked out a bag she wanted. All the bags are handmade and they can make custom changes for you as you wish (same with their jewelry). The bag hung a bit low and didn't have any zip pockets inside so they offered to shorten the strap and add in a zipper pocket by tomorrow night. 

We continued down the street and found a dinner spot to grab some red curry. Everything on Long Beach (area in Koh Lanta we're staying at) is walking distance away, probably maximum one kilometer away. 

Afterwards we went back to Irie for some tea and played word games. I'm a fan of the "first word that comes to mind" game. I say a word, cheese for example, and Alex says whatever comes first to her mind, like "Packers". Then I respond by taking that word and saying my first word, like "amazing" (although recently they haven't been amazing at all, quite the opposite...). 

We headed back to the hostel to shower and read before calling it a night. Tomorrow's our last full day in Lanta before traveling back to Bangkok! Ah, what's happening? 

"Traveling-to-a-place energy and living-in-a-place energy are two fundamentally different energies."

- Elizabeth Gilbert

Travel Day To Koh Lanta

From 11/18

We woke up quickly at 8am to get one last swim in before leaving Phuket. The water here was our favorite so far. It was the bluest and most fun to swim in because of the crazy waves. It's amazing how clean the beach and water have stayed because Phuket is a very visited destination.

We swam and reluctantly went back to the condo to pack up. As we were packing Alex discovered about one million ants crawling in her running shoes and all around her bag. It was not a good scene. We took it outside and shook out as many ants as we could. There were lots of signs of a colony inside her bag and we aren't sure where this all started. 

Once everything was cleared out of her bag we packed up and Alex ran to get lunch. I waited for our Airbnb host to show up so I could check out and pay for electricity. Alex grabbed our favorite Pad Thai to go and we got in the shuttle to the ferry. 

This ferry went to Ko Phi Phi before we had to transfer to another ferry. The first ferry wasn't bad, air conditioned and standard western ferry. 

(View from our seats)

They were playing some weird opera on the tv while we ate our take away pad Thai. 

(It didn't last long, but it stayed hot in the banana leaf)

The transfer in Ko Phi Phi was a joke, and we were already a bit late for our ferry to Ko Lanta. Once we got our bags onto the new ferry we enjoyed the views from the top of the boat. 

(Koh Phi Phi from the second ferry)

(Fighting the wind on the top of the boat)

(View of the Thailand coast from the ferry)

(View behind us as we arrived in Lanta)

Once we got to Lanta we showed our prepaid ticket to the hostel to some guys and we hopped in the back of a truck. They literally just say "come with me" and you follow them and trust that they're taking you to the right place. The Galileo Maps app helps me know, but we just hopped into a random guys truck bed and he took us to the hostel. 

(Trucks passing by behind me)

We got to the hostel called "Chill Out House" and checked in. The place is all open air and has a hippie vibe fer sure. It's super chill and is a fun area. It's a basic accommodation but has bug nets and incense to rid the mosquitos. 

We were walking to dinner when we saw this orange/red light coming through the trees. We had to walk to the beach to see the remainders of the sunset. And it was well worth it. 

(The Reds and oranges aren't quite captured in the picture)

Afterwards we got some bug spray and headed to get some massaman curry. It was delicious but nothing crazy special. On the way home we stopped at a shop that caught our eyes (mainly because of the dresses and purses) so we stopped in. It ended up being an awesome shop with a restaurant that had live music. We ended up staying for an hour or so to listen to the music and enjoy some tea. 

I was beat, after not sleeping well thinking about jobs and stupid real life stuff, and having traveled. I'm doing my best to keep that stuff for when I get home, but it's hard not to think about. At any rate, we just set up the bug net and called it a night. We have two full days here and have no serious plans so it will be filled with chillin around the chill out house and eating good Thai food. 

I'm going to miss these beaches and especially not wearing socks or shoes! More tomorrow. 

"We travel, initially, to lose ourselves; and we travel, next to find ourselves. We travel to open our hearts and eyes and learn more about the world than our newspapers will accommodate. We travel to bring what little we can, in our ignorance and knowledge, to those parts of the globe whose riches are differently dispersed. And we travel, in essence, to become young fools again- to slow time down and get taken in, and fall in love once more."

- Pico Iyer

Final Full Phuket Day

We woke up casually today but feeling back to our usual selves. We had a quick breakfast in the condo and headed down to the pool to hang until lunch. We tried to print out ferry tickets for the trip to Koh Lanta but the main office here is weird. Since it's a condo association (or whatever it's called) they aren't as helpful as in a hotel. She tried to explain to me why she couldn't print it for me, but I was standing there looking at their giant copier (it was a Ricoh). 

Anyways, I figured it out by messaging to our Airbnb host. After that fiasco we went to lunch for more pad Thai and then down to the beach. It was much calmer today wave wise, but just as blue and beautiful. 

(Beach pics)

(The other side)

We noticed there are a lot of Russians here, or the Slovakian type of people. I guess it's kind of like their Carribean or Mexico or whatever but it's different - we don't see to many Russians in Mexico (or wherever you take your tropical vacations). 

We chilled for awhile and I made some good progress in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I didn't see myself being big into mystery books but I'm into this one. And will probably read the other ones at this point because why not. 

After beaching we headed back, drank some prosecco while playing a round of cribbage. We stopped keeping track of the score because I started to win more than Alex. Kidding, but I think we stopped to prevent arguments over cribbage because it can definitely get heated (especially when Alex or I are hungry). 

We headed out to dinner and ice cream and wandered the night market. The ice cream was the best we've had so far. Nami'a Homemade ice cream. She literally has you try every flavor. If you stand there for a second to think she'll scoop another taster for you before you can make a decision - it's amazing. I got dark chocolate (I've never had this dark of chocolate ice cream before) and popcorn. I was expecting the popcorn to taste like the jelly bean flavor but it was surprisingly delicious. That's probably why she forces samples upon you so you actually try a bunch of flavors. 

We talked about how weird it is that this trip is coming to a close. It's going to be weird the first couple days of not being with each other every single moment. Literally for the last eight weeks we've been together the entire time. What's going to happen?

The market we went to was average, more of your fake name brand stuff and low quality trinkets. We didn't last long and took a tuk tuk back to the condo. The sun is amazing but it really is tiring. I know, listen to me, "vacation is tiring" it's terrible. I don't know what's going to happen when I have to actually work during the day. 

We head out tomorrow around noon to get on a ferry to Koh Lanta. I expect it to be a little quieter there, and were also staying in a hostel, so not as fancy. But Phuket has been amazing! And I didn't think I wanted to come here - thank God Alex made sure it happened. Sorry the blogs aren't as interesting but we're really just beach hanging for the next couple days. I hope you're still enjoying the trip!

"How you live your life is up to you. You have to go out and grab the world by the horns. Rope it before it ties you down and decides for you."

- Sarah Reijonen

Phuket Hangover

From 11/16

We found out why we haven't gone out that much this trip. It was a rough morning waking up and I don't think we left until around 10:30 or 11. We didn't actually want to move but we knew it was necessary since we're in Phuket. 

We drank a bunch of water and ate some toast before heading to lunch. We needed food. We went to a place called The Pad Thai Shop because it was relatively close and was Lonely Planet recommended. And I now stand behind it. 

We thought we had the best Pad Thai in Bangkok, but this is by far the best. And not just because we were hungover. And to make it better it only costs 50 baht, which is less than $1.50. It's absurd. 

After lunch we went directly to the beach and just laid down. It was a rough day but I'll take being on the beach over being in a super touristy city that we would need to walk into temples and stuff. After a short nap we read as went for a swim. The waves were massive today - I honestly don't know if I've ever seen waves this big. There were actually waves coming from both directions because it would reverberate off the shore and go back out to sea. 

(Screen shot of a video I took - see the lady on the far right for comparison)

These waves would actually completely tackle you and grow you around. It wasn't too deep so it wasn't scary, but if I couldn't touch I would not have been in the water.

After awhile we headed back to the condo and hung out by the pool. The light isn't as direct so it's nice to just read and relax in the shade. One different thing about the pools here is they actually cool the pools, as opposed to heating the pools like we do in the US (sometimes). But it's so nice to jump into a cold pool when it's 90+ and humid out. 

It was one of those days that ordering delivery is key...but they don't do delivery here at all. There was one restaurant we wanted to go to but it was a mile away so we decided to just go to the same place we did for lunch. Everywhere around us had fine reviews, but they were all steakhouses or western food. 

We got there and all they had left was some chicken or beef soup (they're more of a lunch place than dinner). We got the chicken soup and headed back to eat at our place. When we opened the bag there were chicken feet in the soup. Like the actual foot with talons and skin and all that jazz. Not into it, especially since I was still getting over queasiness. 

We tossed that part out and the rest of the soup was good. The rest of the night we just read and downloaded some movies for the flight home (it's so close). It was a rough day, but I'm so glad we did the trip how we did it. I can do all the nightlife stuff I want in Seattle, but I can't see pagodas and other cool stuff. 

Tomorrow osmium last full day in Phuket and were determined to make the most of it by leaving the house before lunchtime. 

"I had a desire to see something besides my own shores, if only to be content to return to them someday. If I wish to live in my native land and love her, it should not be out of ignorance."

- Margaret George

Phuket day one

From 11/15

We woke up to an amazing sunrise! It was really early but who cares when you get to see this:

It turned out that it was just the reflection of the sun from the east but I couldn't tell in my half sleep state. I fell back asleep and then woke up around 9. We had yogurt and cereal for breakfast before heading out to explore the condo and the beaches. 

Our condo has a couple pools between the three buildings. One of the pools actually wraps all the way around the building and it's shaped like an arch (like Noah's Arch). We found a gym that we may pretend to use at some point, but also the bar. Once we got our barrings we headed into the town of Karon to check out the beach. 

(One of the pools)

Karon is the section on Phuket island we chose because it's the middle ground, both geographically but also party-wise. Patong is just north of us (the busiest of the three) and Kata is just south of us (quieter and smaller area). 

We got to the beach and found a spot to call our own. This beach is the best beach we've been to so far. It's the largest public beach and also the cleanest. The water is the bluest and coldest as well (this is the actual ocean, not just a bay). And by coldest it's actually warm but not bath water temperature. 

We hung out, read, and swam a lot. The waves here are a lot bigger too. The water is amazing. I'm really going to miss this water when all I have to swim in is Lake Washington or the Puget Sound.

We got a bit hungry after a small breakfast so we walked along the beach road until we found a spot that looked good. I had another curry (I'm turning into a curry person) and pineapple shake. It was kind of late in the day and we were planning on going out at night so we headed back to the condo and hung out by the pool. 

Alex wanted to workout (hardooooo) so I was peer pressured into exercising. They had a treadmill, a bike, some free weights and some machines so I just messed around with some weighs to move my body and get the heart rate up a bit. So out of shape it's not funny. 

We headed back to our room and relaxed. We made some gon and tonics, played some cribbage, and watched the sun set. 

(#nofilter)

The colors in the sky were like nothing I've ever seen. It was like an entire rainbow of colors. We enjoyed a couple more drinks and then headed down to find a tuk tuk. 

The tuk tuks here are crazy - it was like a party tuk tuk. They had huge speakers, subwoofers (probably not how you spell that), and lights in the back. It was the most unique tuk tuk ride I've taken, and it really got me pumped up to go out!

We walked around the tourist street until we found a small alley to walk down. We saw locals so we knew our dinner place wasn't far. We sat down and ordered - I didn't know what to get so I just said I'll have what she's having. 

(The lady that helped me pick my meal)

It ended up being a beef soup of some sort and was really good. She helped me pick the right condiments and told me how much of each to put in - this was all done by pointing and nodding of course because she didn't know English. 

After dinner we headed across the street to a bar with live music. It was a small band of four guys and they were playing all cover songs from the US. We had a beer or two and decided it was a good time to call it a night. 

I think it was around midnight when we got back to our place. We're glad we didn't go out like this everywhere, but we figured one night out of the trip we could get a little extra goofy and Phuket seemed like the right place. 

The tuk tuk back was just as fun and loud. We got back, chugged some water and went to bed. We're excited to have another two and a half days in Phuket to enjoy the beach and the condo. Tomorrow were planning on doing more of the same but finding somewhere more unique to eat lunch - the touristy areas are always more expensive and less tasty. 

"Traveling outgrows its motives. It soon proves sufficient in itself. You think you are making a trip, but soon it is making you - or unmaking you."

- Nicolas Bouvier

Siem Reap to Phuket

From 11/14

Today was another traveling day. We decided to do everything in our power to just make sure we had food and avoid being hungry for an entire travel day. We woke up and headed into town to a place called Joe To Go. It was a nice little cafe with AC so we hung out there for a bit after and played some cribbage. They had cool sayings all over and of course had a good cause behind their business. 

(Example of the cool sayings they have)

We weren't leaving until 1:30 to catch our flight so we had the morning to relax. We had a later start which was nice to sleep in a bit, and after breakfast we just went back to our hostel, packed up and checked out, and played cribbage for an hour or so. 

Our tuk tuk driver arrived and we hopped in. We were about halfway to the airport when we noticed a ton of HUGE puddles, but it wasn't raining. Yet. It started to monsoon (I remember my first monsoon) and the guy had to pull over to pull down the flaps. He didn't even put on a pancho or anything as he was soaked. We got fairly wet even with the flaps/walls pulled down. 

We got to the airport and it had stopped raining. We checked in and were surprised by AirAsia's terrible baggage policy. When you buy your ticket you have to say how many bags you're checking and what they will weigh. They don't give you another chance to pay for bags either - even when you check in. You have to know all this like 4 months before you even fly. Wtf? And they charged us $72 per bag. Per bag! That should be illegal. Never fly AirAsia.

At any rate, the flights were what you would expect. They don't let you bring your own food on the plane either. We got into Bangkok, ate, and then got on our other plane to Phuket. 

We got into Phuket around 9-9:30 and found our cab driver. We were able to stop at a store to get food for breakfasts. We're staying in a condo here so we have a kitchen we can use. We got some essentials and then continued on to our place. Our guy took us all the way do our door and let us in (he knows the owner of the place so it's not creepy). 

After the long day we wanted to make a toast to the trip. We got gin in the duty free store and tonic and limes at the grocery store. We had one drink and called it a night. The place were staying at is beautiful and has a view of the ocean for sunsets. I'll put some pictures in the next couple posts so you can see what it looks like. 

Looking forward to a couple days of relaxing and beaching while the trip comes to a close. 

"Travellers understand, instinctively and by experience, that travel and adventure change and elongate time, even while navigating the deadlines of airline and train departures."

- Paul Sheehan