Thailand

I'm going to try to keep this a bit shorter than the last post....

Willy and I flew into Bangkok and took a few days to recover from Siem Reap. Our journey from the airport to the hotel was a rough introduction to the city - as our cab driver couldn't find our hotel. After about an hour in the cab he tried to make us get out and walk down a dark alley, assuring us that was where the hotel was (it wasn't) but we refused. Rather focusing on finding the hotel he proceeded to yell at us (more like scream at us) which was a bit frightening. We found it eventually, but it was a stressful situation. He also completely ripped us off but at that point it didn't matter, it was so late and we just wanted to go to bed. We spent the next few days in Bangkok just resting up really, we knew we'd be back through so there was no rush to see the touristy things. We went to a movie and right before it started everyone stood up in silence "to pay respect to the king". Willy was in the bathroom and I was completely caught off guard. I stood up with everyone else, paying my respect, for about three minutes while they played a cheesy montage of the king doing various notable things. It was so weird.

From there we went north to Chiang Mai. We took an overnight train in a sleeper car which was actually pretty comfortable. Chiang Mai is packed with temples and was a very nice place to visit. One night we met some Australian girls and decided to catch a muay thai match (Thai boxing). I wasn't expecting to, but I loved it! It really wasn't that violent (which was oddly a little disappointing) and when we started betting with the people around us I enjoyed it even more. We spent one day doing "The Flight of The Gibbons" where we ziplined through the treetops of the jungle for a few hours. It was a lot of fun, but I was sort of expecting to also SEE some gibbons (which I did not).

From Chiang Mai we caught an overnight bus back to Bangkok just for the day to apply for our Indian Visas. We sat outside the building for about two hours waiting for it to open, filled out our forms, rushed to the airport and were lucky to catch an earlier flight than we had originally booked down south to the islands. Had we taken our scheduled flight, we would have missed the last ferry from Koh Samui to Koh Phanang (where we heading and had a hotel booked). Someone told us there was a midnight fishing boat we could probably get to take us, or hang around the pier and see if anyone was headed that way..... so we were quite happy to make the earlier flight.

Koh Phanang is the original site of the infamous "full moon party" - which occurs every month (clearly, on the night of the full moon). On this night around 20,000 travelers gather on Had Rin beach for the craziest party I have ever attended. There were so many people that it was a bit stressful, we ended up all getting separated because the crowd was just so intense. I enjoyed the nights leading up to the full moon much more - all of the same crazy stuff was there, but only a few thousand people. We made some friends at the hotel and on the beach and had a few really fun nights. We avoided all of the really dangerous activities such as the fire jump-rope (I watched sooo many people get burned) but on our last night decided we could try a tame one. We started with the fire limbo which was fine, just hot and sweaty. Then we decided we might as well try jumping over the limbo pole, which was of course flaming. Willy was the first (and ended up being the only) one of us to try this, and as she was leaping they raised the pole and added more kerosene. Sooo she tripped on it and burnt the front of one of her knees and the back of the other. We went to a clinic immediately and they took care of her, but she was in a lot of pain and couldn't get her legs wet for the next week. Unfortunately this was our last week in the islands and she couldn't swim.... or move very well. In all Koh Phanang was a fun experience, but exhausting, and I could have dealt with a few less days there.

From Koh Phanang we went to Koh Tao which was very mellow and relaxed. It was lovely. Most of the bartenders on the island seemed to be travelers who were planning on visiting the island for a week and ended up staying for years. It was the kind of place that just drew you in with its beauty, and had such a good vibe that you instantly wanted to stay. One day Ashley and I went on an all day snorkeling trip and saw so much incredibly beautiful ocean life. The following day we rented a motorbike and explored the island a bit. We stopped at an absolutely perfect beach and did a bit more snorkeling (I couldn't get enough). From the beautiful islands of southern Thailand we headed back to chaotic Bangkok to finish sorting out our visas for India and get ourselves ready to go there.

With our visas taken care of, we were free to explore Bangkok. This included a trip to a HUGE mall so we could stock up on stuff (mostly toiletries) for India. We went to the Royal Palace which was lovely and one morning I went to the floating market by myself. This market is about an hour outside the city (if you take the local bus, which I did, it takes more like 2 hours) and is truly magical. I got there around 7am and boarded a tiny wooden boat and wove through numerous channels packed with other tiny boats. They sell absolutely everything there, and while there are definitely other tourists, many of the people shopping are locals buying fresh produce, spices and other necessities. The following day we caught a flight from Bangkok to Delhi, thus starting a whole new chapter of our trip.

Closing thoughts on Southeast Asia:
I had a truly wonderful time in Southeast Asia and it was a great experience traveling around there. I met a lot of interesting people and had soooooo much of fun. I loved that there were dogs and cats everywhere - I think I pet more animals during those three months than ever before. Also, it was not at all unusual to look into the kitchen of the restaurant where you were dining and see a cat on the counter and have a dog lying under your table. The downside of that part of the world for me was the extreme number of tourists/travelers - so many that it almost overshadowed the cultures we were there to see. Regardless, Southeast Asia is absolutely incredible and I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to explore it.