Brilliant Bangkok, 25-29 March 2014

in front of the Grand Palace

After an interesting 16 hour train ride from Southern Thailand, we finally made it to Bangkok! It was an overnight train that had decent food and as we were 2^nd class, we got a bed. The toilet was interesting as it was literally a hole in the train so anything that went in the toilet hit the track…. unique! However, it was a good experience and we arrived safely and soundly compared to a mini bus.

getting ready to board the train

Bangkok is a must see in Southeast Asia!! The city is hustling and bustling, modern and historical, crazy and relaxing. So many things are going on and it is absolutely fantastic. It is such a large city and if you do not know where you are going, quite easy to get lost…. But that is what makes it fun!! It was definitely way more exciting than island hopping, that is for sure!

koh san road

The old town area is where most of the sites can be seen. All the temples and the Grand Palace are within walking distance, or preferably tuk tuk or water taxi, from each other. The legendary Koh San road where backpackers get up to no good is only about a 20 minute walk from the Grand Palace. My favorite temple was Wat Pho which is the home of the large reclining Buddha.

We stayed in a more modern part of town called Sukhumvit and it is near an airport themed mall called Terminal 21. We also were only a few MRT (the very clean subway system) stops from a few high rise hotels. We went to the Moon Bar on top of the Banyan Tree Resort one night. It was such a great view!

heading to our "fancy" dinner... first time we got "backpacker" fancy since Singapore !

at the top!

We splurged on some red wine and dinner at their Vertigo Lounge in order to relax on the 61^st floor of the hotel. Sipping red wine overlooking the city was a pretty awesome experience. It definitely was completely opposite to the idea of dirty Bangkok I had in my head; it was anything but.

Bangkok was an excellent way to end our time in Thailand. It was a little bit of everything. I absolutely loved this international city. It was full of culture, history, fun, and most of all, nonstop excitement with something to do whenever you wanted to do it. 

Gulf Coast Island Hopping-Thailand, 18 - 25 March

island life

Island hopping in Thailand- really anything you want it to be. Luxory, relaxation, partying, anything goes. It is true island bliss. We’ve been taking ferry to ferry from Island to Island. It has been great. We’ve done cheap guest houses, a luxury resort (which is still only like $50/night), and bungalows in the hills. It doesn’t seem to matter where you stay, it will always be beautiful beaches, a nice pool if you're lucky, and it will always be relaxing. To be honest, there is not much to say other than it was absolutely relaxing and beautiful. We could have partied, but after a month of backpacking and travelling already, we decided to just chill out and relax. It was a much needed recovery before heading to Bangkok.

view from one of the bungalows-Koh Phangan

sunset from the bungalow

The only stressful bit was going from Koh Lanta via ferry, then mini van bus to the other side of Thailand to the Gulf coast. The bus drivers are INSANE! They drive so crazily, have their phone in hand, taking phone calls, texting, and commenting on photos on Facebook. Luckily we arrived safely to the other side for our ferry, but it definitely made the decision to not take any further bus rides if we could help it. We booked the train to Bangkok instead of the overnight bus. Other than that, the ferries are great and reliable and we thoroughly enjoyed our Island hopping. However, we are SO READY to get off the islands and get some city life in Bangkok !! 

on one of the ferry's we took, what a view !

another beautiful sunset

Koh Lanta, 14 -18 March 2014

views from the National Park

After our crazy adventure in Koh Phi Phi and Maya bay, we decided to spend some time in Koh Lanta. It was the polar opposite of Phi Phi. Super chilled out, relaxing place. We just lazed around and relaxed, ate, and drank. It was great after our overnight lack of sleep on Maya Bay and Phi Phi.

sunset, 2 min walk from our guesthouse

We met up with our Canadian friends we met in Maya Bay and formed a little “biker gang”. It actually was sooo much fun riding our little MoPeds around the island. We went to the National Park and did the hike in it. This was sort of a sweaty disaster, but we made it. We also hiked to the waterfall, which was not really a waterfall due to the dry season. Again, it was still super fun. We went to the bat cave and saw a few bats, scary !!!

our bike gang !

super sweaty during our hike !

After our sweaty day of hiking and adventuring, we went to Brett & Emma’s hotel as they had a pool. (thanks Brett and Emma!!) We had a few drinks before heading to a huge dinner at “Same, Same, but different”. It was a nice little restaurant on the beach. I have had better Thai food, but the view couldn't be beat. I actually loved Koh Lanta. It was a great place to just take a break, roam around on a scooter bike, and just have a fun relaxing time !!

view from our table at Same Same, but Different