It was an amazing two weeks. A few highlights:
We did many things while in Chiang Mai! We spent our firsts day visiting Buddhist Temples, which were absolutely stunning.
We even visited the oldest one in Thailand. It was beautiful and peaceful. We weren't able to go inside though. The one in the picture above was an other ancient temple we were able to visit.
We also visited the Night Bazarre which is a bit overwhelming if your a shopping addict! I was practially dizzy looking at all of these things that I all of a sudden must have. Haha! But it was awesome, and I got some fun souveniers. Also at the night bazarre, was the fish pedicure!
Glad I did it, probably will never do it again! It was weird!
Our day at Patara Elephant Farm. It was incredible! I would reccomend this to anyone- and not just any elephant excursion. This one was for such a great cause and we learned how to actually take care of the elephants with the people from the tribes who do it every day! We fed them, checked their health in numerous ways, walked them and bathed them.
This was my girl. Her name was Praow. She was 4 months preggers!
The experience was truly unique, and I"m so thrilled that we were able to be a part of it!
The next day we had some pool time and met some English friends that were currently living in Australia and traveling their way back to England for the holidays. Just relaxing and perfect. It was hot out!
When we flew to the southern area of Thailand, we chose to find a more "remote" island that was less touristy. So, after a random truck picked us up, and drove us all through Krabi and to a farm to pick some vegetables, we got to the town where we could catch the local boat that would take us to the island.
We rode the long boat with the locals who were stocking up on supplies.
When we got to the island there were random scooter taxi's ready to take us through the trails of the isalnd and down the beach to our remote and rustic "huts". It was a beautiful family style resort with about 7 bungalows tucked into the the jungle. Ann would cook for us, and there were kayaks for use, which the boys used every day free diving and catching oysters. She also called in a massuse so we spend a day taking turns getting Thai massages on the beach! We stayed for 3 days/2 nights. It was wonderful, if I ever make it back to Thailand, I'll be sure to go back to see them again.
We eventually made our way to Ko Phi Phi islands, which were MUCH busier. In fact, if I go back, I'm not sure I'd stay on the Phi Phi islands again, because it's very "spring break" style.. just full of a bunch of college kids from Australia getting wasted and dancing to club music at 1 in the afternoon.. No thanks.
But, we found some nice accommodations on a quieter side of the island. We did a scuba diving excursion which was a great accomplishment for me! We did what was called a "Discovery Dive" and went 40 feet under! It was more challenging than I thought it would be.. getting used to breathing under water. But once I calmed myself down, it was all worth it! We swam with sharks, and saw a sea turtle! Our instructor was an interesting lady from San Diego who we nicknamed the Sea Turtle because she's so chill!
Anyways, the boys chose to keep going and they ended up getting certified! But that left two days for Laura and I to hang out without them. We went out for dinner, laid on the beach, got more massages, shopped, drank Mai Thais.. ya know.. the rough life!
Our journey was starting to come to an end, but we had one more stop in Railay on the mainland near Krabi. Once we got there, we realized we should've spent a few days there instead of only one! THIS was the picturesque place that we've seen in all of the pictures. Majestic. Beautiful cliffs and caves everywhere and monkeys running all around.. the water was perfectly turquoise and the sand was equally gorgeous!
STUNNING!
We spent the day on the beach and then went to West Railay to eat dinner. The beach just had quiet resorts and nice restaurants. It was simply lovely! We lit some Chinese Sky lanterns and had a nice last dinner. The next day, we had to head back to Bankok for our last night and then to the airport to head home :(
This was probably the most diverse trip I've ever had. Every day was an adventure, meeting new people and doing new things. Each location was so different from the last, and Thai hospitality was absolutely wonderful to us! I do hope that someday I make it back and can spend some more time in Chiang Mai, Ko Jum, and Railay. Those were my favorite locations!
