I think I need a new personal blog, so I can show bigger photos! Something to work on when I get some free time, i guess.
Showing posts with label Thailand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thailand. Show all posts
Sunday, January 18, 2009
More Views from Bangkok
Thought I'd share a few more random photos from Bangkok and the surrounding areas.
I think I need a new personal blog, so I can show bigger photos! Something to work on when I get some free time, i guess.
I think I need a new personal blog, so I can show bigger photos! Something to work on when I get some free time, i guess.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Dave... Cook?
Yeah he does it from time to time, but usually when I am awfully sick or something. Here's the proof he cooked in Thailand.
We had a lot of fun taking this class and I so can't wait to cook some of it on our own at home. I'm especially excited since I just learned there is a small Asian market right near our house!
We had a lot of fun taking this class and I so can't wait to cook some of it on our own at home. I'm especially excited since I just learned there is a small Asian market right near our house!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Brideg over Bangkok
I'm not sure what it was about this bridge, but I fell in love with it. I shot it in several different ways while on a river boat in Bangkok.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
To Many Hours of Traveling
This is what I looked like when we got to LAX! Like total crap! We woke up at 5am Bangkok time to go to the airport. We arrived at LAX at noon, which was 3 am Bangkok time! Ouch! No wonder I look so bad!
Sunset in Phuket
Yeah I'm not going in order at all!
Anyway, my friend Brenda and I were enjoying some time on the beach in Phuket. We got to watch the sunset. The cool thing was some people decided to play Frisbee right by the water as the sun was setting. Here's a couple of shots.
Anyway, my friend Brenda and I were enjoying some time on the beach in Phuket. We got to watch the sunset. The cool thing was some people decided to play Frisbee right by the water as the sun was setting. Here's a couple of shots.
LopBuri Monkeys
We visited this town on New Years Day called LopBuri. It's known for the monkeys that pretty much run the town. They are all over and they are not afraid of people. Of course they get fed all day by people, so I wouldn't be afraid either. Here's a few shots from LopBuri. The town also has lots of ruins to visit.
Thailand Recap
10 Airplanes
1 train (don't take the train in Thailand)
3 planes either changed or booked at the last minute (very easy to do in Thailand)
6 different hotels
4 Islands
Countless Monkeys and Elephants
Fed one baby tiger
Two Elephant Rides
10 different cities and beaches
Rode 2 Tuk Tuks
Many taxi rides
Met people from Australia, Ireland, Italy, India, Finland, Norway, Sweden, England, and I'm sure many other places as well.
Lots of Buddhas and Temples
Lessons Learned:
1. Don't take the train...and if you do..only take 1st class. The Trains just weren't like European trains at all. In fact we changed our plans to fly instead of taking an overnight train after our first train experience. We were on a 2 hour second class train and it was not a lot of fun. The bathroom was something to avoid!
2. For females...take toilet paper from your hotel room. Seriously its a BYOTP country. Lots of places either don't have toilet paper or they charge for it. Also most of the toilets are basically just a hole in the ground. The bucket of water is for flushing (took me a few toilet visits to figure that one out).
3. It's very easy to change your airline reservations. They don't even charge you as long as they have fares of the same rates available.
4. Don't take the Tuk Tuk!!! It's lots of fun, but they want to take you all over the city for there free gas deal and you spend more time shopping for custom clothes and jewelry.
5. If your going to Chiang Mai and you want some custom clothes...do it here...so much cheaper.
6. Be willing to negotiate..cut there price in half! Tell them its your best offer and walk away...90% of the time they will take it.
1 train (don't take the train in Thailand)
3 planes either changed or booked at the last minute (very easy to do in Thailand)
6 different hotels
4 Islands
Countless Monkeys and Elephants
Fed one baby tiger
Two Elephant Rides
10 different cities and beaches
Rode 2 Tuk Tuks
Many taxi rides
Met people from Australia, Ireland, Italy, India, Finland, Norway, Sweden, England, and I'm sure many other places as well.
Lots of Buddhas and Temples
Lessons Learned:
1. Don't take the train...and if you do..only take 1st class. The Trains just weren't like European trains at all. In fact we changed our plans to fly instead of taking an overnight train after our first train experience. We were on a 2 hour second class train and it was not a lot of fun. The bathroom was something to avoid!
2. For females...take toilet paper from your hotel room. Seriously its a BYOTP country. Lots of places either don't have toilet paper or they charge for it. Also most of the toilets are basically just a hole in the ground. The bucket of water is for flushing (took me a few toilet visits to figure that one out).
3. It's very easy to change your airline reservations. They don't even charge you as long as they have fares of the same rates available.
4. Don't take the Tuk Tuk!!! It's lots of fun, but they want to take you all over the city for there free gas deal and you spend more time shopping for custom clothes and jewelry.
5. If your going to Chiang Mai and you want some custom clothes...do it here...so much cheaper.
6. Be willing to negotiate..cut there price in half! Tell them its your best offer and walk away...90% of the time they will take it.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Krabi - my favorite location
Day 15 - we arrived to our splurge hotel! We each had a room with a spa on the balcony overlooking the ocean. Seriously awesome! The resort was great and so were the rooms. We spent most of the day there, playing in the pool and kayaking in the ocean. Dave and I found this little cave in the ocean and kayaked through it. That night we went into town and had dinner and did some shopping.
Day 16 - Dave and I booked a kayaking tour to some caves. This was really cool. To kayak to and through some caves off of a river was really sweet. After our Thai lunch we went to a fresh water swimming spring. It had a rope swing too, which was a lot of fun. That night we met up with our friends for dinner in town.
Day 17 - The previous day we discovered that our flight time was a lot later then we through. Wish pretty much gave us all day in Krabi. So we hired a long tail boat to island hop in. The captain took us all over the place. We ended up at one beach in the middle of the ocean, it was kind crowded so we asked him to take us somewhere else. We ended back at this really cool island. Its basically two small islands connected by a sand bar. We swam there and fed more fish. I think this was my favorite part of the day. Being out int he middle of the ocean in our own boat was way cool. After island hopping we went back into town to eat some lunch and finish up our shopping. Dave and I bought two elephant paintings for our house. I can't wait to get them framed. Then it was back to the hotel for some pool time before heading to the airport.
Day 18 - Time to come home! We were up at 5am Bangkok time to get to the airport. Our flight left at 8:30, well 9am really since there was a short delay. We got into LAX at noon (PST) which was 3am the next day in Bangkok. We slept on these flights, just not as much as going out there. So right now we are super groggy and I'm hoping the stuff I wrote has made sense. If not, I'm sure I'll fix it tomorrow.
I hope to have a few photos posted tomorrow.
Day 16 - Dave and I booked a kayaking tour to some caves. This was really cool. To kayak to and through some caves off of a river was really sweet. After our Thai lunch we went to a fresh water swimming spring. It had a rope swing too, which was a lot of fun. That night we met up with our friends for dinner in town.
Day 17 - The previous day we discovered that our flight time was a lot later then we through. Wish pretty much gave us all day in Krabi. So we hired a long tail boat to island hop in. The captain took us all over the place. We ended up at one beach in the middle of the ocean, it was kind crowded so we asked him to take us somewhere else. We ended back at this really cool island. Its basically two small islands connected by a sand bar. We swam there and fed more fish. I think this was my favorite part of the day. Being out int he middle of the ocean in our own boat was way cool. After island hopping we went back into town to eat some lunch and finish up our shopping. Dave and I bought two elephant paintings for our house. I can't wait to get them framed. Then it was back to the hotel for some pool time before heading to the airport.
Day 18 - Time to come home! We were up at 5am Bangkok time to get to the airport. Our flight left at 8:30, well 9am really since there was a short delay. We got into LAX at noon (PST) which was 3am the next day in Bangkok. We slept on these flights, just not as much as going out there. So right now we are super groggy and I'm hoping the stuff I wrote has made sense. If not, I'm sure I'll fix it tomorrow.
I hope to have a few photos posted tomorrow.
The Island of Phuket
This is a place we were glad we saw, but glad we didn't stay a very long time. The island is just beautiful, but super touristy...especially Patong Beach.
on Day 13 we arrive around 1pmish to the island. Our taxi cab driver was trying to talk us into staying at another hotel. But once we go there, we all through he was just crazy. It was beautiful! Yes it sat up on a cliff, but you had your own villa and there was a path that led to Karon Beach. So we spent the remainder of the day playing on the beach. Brenda and I took sunset photos too. When we finally went back to the hotel, we discovered Dave and Mark jumping off the waterfall into the pool....oh boy...then they talked Brenda and I into it too. I think technically the pool was closed so there was no one around to yell at us.
Day 14 - We took a snorkeling tour to Koh Phi Phi...another beautiful island. The snorkeling was wonderful! Some of the most colorful fish I've ever seen. Much better than Hawaii. They drove us by Jame Bond island (I think this is the area where te movie the beach was filmed)...this is when my day went sour. I was taking photos and my SLR started to read error 99! Oh no! Yup, some failure with my camera and it didn't work for the rest of the trip. Luckily I had a point and shoot with me, but that is just so hard to use when your used to your awesome SLR. The afternoon was spent on an island int eh middle of nowhere. We swam, snorkeled, fed fish, and threw the football around. That night Dave and I went to Patong Beach and ate dinner in the sand again.
DAy 15 - We caught the 8:30am ferry over to Krabi, our last stop of the trip.
on Day 13 we arrive around 1pmish to the island. Our taxi cab driver was trying to talk us into staying at another hotel. But once we go there, we all through he was just crazy. It was beautiful! Yes it sat up on a cliff, but you had your own villa and there was a path that led to Karon Beach. So we spent the remainder of the day playing on the beach. Brenda and I took sunset photos too. When we finally went back to the hotel, we discovered Dave and Mark jumping off the waterfall into the pool....oh boy...then they talked Brenda and I into it too. I think technically the pool was closed so there was no one around to yell at us.
Day 14 - We took a snorkeling tour to Koh Phi Phi...another beautiful island. The snorkeling was wonderful! Some of the most colorful fish I've ever seen. Much better than Hawaii. They drove us by Jame Bond island (I think this is the area where te movie the beach was filmed)...this is when my day went sour. I was taking photos and my SLR started to read error 99! Oh no! Yup, some failure with my camera and it didn't work for the rest of the trip. Luckily I had a point and shoot with me, but that is just so hard to use when your used to your awesome SLR. The afternoon was spent on an island int eh middle of nowhere. We swam, snorkeled, fed fish, and threw the football around. That night Dave and I went to Patong Beach and ate dinner in the sand again.
DAy 15 - We caught the 8:30am ferry over to Krabi, our last stop of the trip.
The Rest of Chiang Mai
On Day 10 we also hit up the Night Bazaar and did lots of shopping. I'm super excited about some of my purchases. I think I could have shopped forever in Thailand.
Day 11 - This was the day we took an outdoors tour. We hiked through the jungle for a few hours through some Thailand tribal communities. Then took a 1 hour elephant ride. Our elephant wasn't behaving to well. He really wanted to eat...all the time! Next was a trip down the river on a bamboo raft. Quite peaceful, but really neat. That night we returned to Chiang Mai and went to the night safari. Basically a night time zoo. Except the animals are not all caged up. The exciting thing was for 250 baht (about 7 dollars) you could hold and feed a 4month old tiger. It was really cute.
Day 12 - we took another tour - this time to the local national park. We went tot eh highest point in all of Thailand...at a whole whopping 8000 feet! We saw some sights in the park and also visited a hill tribe where we got to watch them spin yarn and make scarfs and other things. That night it was back to the night bazaar, but after Mark and Dave played some ping pong at a local hotel.
Day 13 - We decided instead of staying in Chiang Mai the entire day we'd catch an earlier flight to Phuket to give us some extra time there. So we were off to the airport once again at about 7am.
Day 11 - This was the day we took an outdoors tour. We hiked through the jungle for a few hours through some Thailand tribal communities. Then took a 1 hour elephant ride. Our elephant wasn't behaving to well. He really wanted to eat...all the time! Next was a trip down the river on a bamboo raft. Quite peaceful, but really neat. That night we returned to Chiang Mai and went to the night safari. Basically a night time zoo. Except the animals are not all caged up. The exciting thing was for 250 baht (about 7 dollars) you could hold and feed a 4month old tiger. It was really cute.
Day 12 - we took another tour - this time to the local national park. We went tot eh highest point in all of Thailand...at a whole whopping 8000 feet! We saw some sights in the park and also visited a hill tribe where we got to watch them spin yarn and make scarfs and other things. That night it was back to the night bazaar, but after Mark and Dave played some ping pong at a local hotel.
Day 13 - We decided instead of staying in Chiang Mai the entire day we'd catch an earlier flight to Phuket to give us some extra time there. So we were off to the airport once again at about 7am.
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Bangkok to Chiang Mai
Day 4 continued - The one thing I had my heart set on while in Thailand was to eat right on the beach with our feet in the sand. So we wet out to Chaweng Beach and walked up the beach. We found this super cute bar. They had bean bag chairs set out on the sand with small little tables, so we enjoyed a drink while watching all the other tourists light off fireworks and Thai Lanterns. The lanterns are basically a form of a hot air balloon...the thought it that it is supposed to bring good luck. After our drink we moved on to a cute resturant with table set up right in the sand! Loved it! I think these are some of my best memories of the entire trip.
Day 5 - New Years! Today we were able to change our flight to an earlier flight. So we got back to Bangkok around noon. We reserved 4 nights at the Sofitel. For some reason we were given corporate check in and our rooms were upgraded to a suite! Not bad, huh. The location was great for new years since there were lots of pubs on the street and a huge new years party was just 2 stops down on the skytrain. So Dave and I had dinner, some drinks, then headed to Central World for new years fireworks. Our friends arrived at 11pm on new years, but we must have missed them by like 5 or 10 minutes at the hotel.
Day 6 - We planned to meet our friends in the lobby. We had breakfast then wandered to the train station. We took a train to Lop Buri. The train was interesting, but I'll write more on that later. Lop Buri is known for the ruins and monkeys that totally run the town. It was insane...3 of us had monekys jump on us while we were there. My firend Branda had 3 monkeys on here at one time! Photo coming soon!
Day 7 - We took a tour to the floating markets (a Thai market done on long tail boats), the death railway bridge, and the Tiger temple. That was awesome as we got to pet tigers. The downfall was they wouldn't let me take my own photos of Dave with my camera. They took my camera and took photos...of course they don't meet me standards at all. I was kinda disappointed in that.
Day 8 - Time to go to the Ancinet Capital of Ayythuya (sp?). This used to be the capital of Bangkok a long time ago...so know there are lots of ruins there. We took a lunchtime boat ride back to the city.
Day 9 - This was a day on our own to explore Bangkok. We saw the Grand Palace and the reclining Buddha, along with some other sights. We also ate dinner at this hotel on the 17th floor overlooking the city. The food was great! That night we were supposed to travel by overnight train to Chiang Mai, but after our Lop Buri train we decided we would rather fly...so we cancelled the train tickets and booked a last minute flight to Chiang Mai for the next morning.
Day 10 - We go up early and flew to Chiang Mai. Lesson learned...ask your taxi driver how much the fare will be before getting in the car...we got charged a very high amount...pretty much double what we paid on other cab trips to and from the airport. We checked into the DeNaga hotel, which was super cute. Then wandered the city to see some sites. Later we hired a cab to take us to some of the handicraft places...silk factory, wood carving, and umbrella making. At the umbrella place, the artists will paint on pretty much anything for you. So I got one of my lens hoods painted with an elephant. We'll see how long it lasts...but its super cute! I also got an umbrella painted to.
Ok, enough for now....I'll post more later.
Day 5 - New Years! Today we were able to change our flight to an earlier flight. So we got back to Bangkok around noon. We reserved 4 nights at the Sofitel. For some reason we were given corporate check in and our rooms were upgraded to a suite! Not bad, huh. The location was great for new years since there were lots of pubs on the street and a huge new years party was just 2 stops down on the skytrain. So Dave and I had dinner, some drinks, then headed to Central World for new years fireworks. Our friends arrived at 11pm on new years, but we must have missed them by like 5 or 10 minutes at the hotel.
Day 6 - We planned to meet our friends in the lobby. We had breakfast then wandered to the train station. We took a train to Lop Buri. The train was interesting, but I'll write more on that later. Lop Buri is known for the ruins and monkeys that totally run the town. It was insane...3 of us had monekys jump on us while we were there. My firend Branda had 3 monkeys on here at one time! Photo coming soon!
Day 7 - We took a tour to the floating markets (a Thai market done on long tail boats), the death railway bridge, and the Tiger temple. That was awesome as we got to pet tigers. The downfall was they wouldn't let me take my own photos of Dave with my camera. They took my camera and took photos...of course they don't meet me standards at all. I was kinda disappointed in that.
Day 8 - Time to go to the Ancinet Capital of Ayythuya (sp?). This used to be the capital of Bangkok a long time ago...so know there are lots of ruins there. We took a lunchtime boat ride back to the city.
Day 9 - This was a day on our own to explore Bangkok. We saw the Grand Palace and the reclining Buddha, along with some other sights. We also ate dinner at this hotel on the 17th floor overlooking the city. The food was great! That night we were supposed to travel by overnight train to Chiang Mai, but after our Lop Buri train we decided we would rather fly...so we cancelled the train tickets and booked a last minute flight to Chiang Mai for the next morning.
Day 10 - We go up early and flew to Chiang Mai. Lesson learned...ask your taxi driver how much the fare will be before getting in the car...we got charged a very high amount...pretty much double what we paid on other cab trips to and from the airport. We checked into the DeNaga hotel, which was super cute. Then wandered the city to see some sites. Later we hired a cab to take us to some of the handicraft places...silk factory, wood carving, and umbrella making. At the umbrella place, the artists will paint on pretty much anything for you. So I got one of my lens hoods painted with an elephant. We'll see how long it lasts...but its super cute! I also got an umbrella painted to.
Ok, enough for now....I'll post more later.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Shoes, No service
The one huge cultural differnce that we have observed and participated in since being in Thailand is the No shoes policy. According to my travel book, Thais pretty much think of feet as the the dirtiest part of the body. Basically they have a foot phobia. So they hate shoes indoors. Lots of places will expect you to take shoes off before entering, such as our cooking class. There was even a shoe rack outside the door. You are expected to remove your shoes before entering. The one thing I couldn't help but think of is that in the USA if you were to enter a resturant without shoes you would totally get kicked out due to health code, but here in Thailand that is not only accepted, but expected!
Koh Samui
The island of Koh Samui has been real nice, although all the tailors in Chaweng Beach REALLY want to make Dave a suit!One guy even said.. "you look like a business man"...I just had to laugh at the one. Yeah right, my husband goes to work in shorts...even when its 20 degrees outside! Ha.
So here is how our time here has gone.
Day 1: relax, go to the pool, enjoy some drinks, walk around Lamai, eat dinner, go to bed at 9:30 because we were exhausted
Day 2: An island tour that consisted of elephant riding, a monkey show, elephant shows, vistis to a waterfall, some rocks along the coast, teh Big Buddha, a viewpoint on the island, and a temple. The rest of day was spent at the pool and at Chaweng Beach
Day 3: Cooking class in Chaweng at the Thai Culinary Insititute. We ahd a blast here. There were 13 people in the class and we were all from different countries. Yet we all spoke english. The food was so incredibly yummy...now we have the recipes so hopefuly we can make this stuff again. After class we enjoyed a drink on the beach at a table that was literally on the beach! Then back to the hotel for some time at the pool. That night we went back to Lamai. We were still very full, so we really just had desert and a drink.
Day 4: A trip on a speedboat to Agthong National Park for snorkeling and kayaking. It was so gorgeous out there. I really enjoyed this trip. We got back to the hotel around 5pm, and that is where I am at now, typing this post.
Tomorrow we are off to Bangkok and will be meeting up with our frineds. New Years in Bangkok, but we have no idea what we are doing yet!
Have a great New Years Eve everyone!
So here is how our time here has gone.
Day 1: relax, go to the pool, enjoy some drinks, walk around Lamai, eat dinner, go to bed at 9:30 because we were exhausted
Day 2: An island tour that consisted of elephant riding, a monkey show, elephant shows, vistis to a waterfall, some rocks along the coast, teh Big Buddha, a viewpoint on the island, and a temple. The rest of day was spent at the pool and at Chaweng Beach
Day 3: Cooking class in Chaweng at the Thai Culinary Insititute. We ahd a blast here. There were 13 people in the class and we were all from different countries. Yet we all spoke english. The food was so incredibly yummy...now we have the recipes so hopefuly we can make this stuff again. After class we enjoyed a drink on the beach at a table that was literally on the beach! Then back to the hotel for some time at the pool. That night we went back to Lamai. We were still very full, so we really just had desert and a drink.
Day 4: A trip on a speedboat to Agthong National Park for snorkeling and kayaking. It was so gorgeous out there. I really enjoyed this trip. We got back to the hotel around 5pm, and that is where I am at now, typing this post.
Tomorrow we are off to Bangkok and will be meeting up with our frineds. New Years in Bangkok, but we have no idea what we are doing yet!
Have a great New Years Eve everyone!
Saturday, December 27, 2008
We Arrived!
So 20 something hours of traveling wasn't all that bad thanks to Ambien! Honestly the 14.5 hour flight went by pretty fast since Dave and I slept a lot. China Air was pretty good. Friendly service, good food, & free wine and beer. They kept us pretty full and we actualy enjoyed the food. The weird thing was they served us breakfast before we landed in Taipei (is was 5am cali time) but when we got on our connection to Bangkok that flight served us dinner since it was 10pm Taipei Time. But for us it was 7am...so it was a bit weird eating chicken and pasta at 7am local time! We adjusted well. Only slept about 5 hours at our hotel last night which got us up about a normal time in Thailand.
Now we are on an island called Koh Samui. Bangkok airlines rocks! They had a lounge for all cleints with free food, drinks, and internet! So far it seems that the service in Thailand is realy good. Today we just rested and didn't do a whole lot. Enjoyed the veiws at our hotel(we have a room overlooking the ocean and the hotel sits on a cliff), went to the pool, and enjoyed some drinks. Tomorrow we are off for an island tour. I won't be posting photos until I get back, but I'll try and post some text updates whenever possible.
Now we are on an island called Koh Samui. Bangkok airlines rocks! They had a lounge for all cleints with free food, drinks, and internet! So far it seems that the service in Thailand is realy good. Today we just rested and didn't do a whole lot. Enjoyed the veiws at our hotel(we have a room overlooking the ocean and the hotel sits on a cliff), went to the pool, and enjoyed some drinks. Tomorrow we are off for an island tour. I won't be posting photos until I get back, but I'll try and post some text updates whenever possible.
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