We headed South by an overnight bus from Bangkok to Krabi, a port to get to the Western Islands. This bus was slightly more comfortable than the overnight bus in India, but annoying because we had to switch buses at 5am. From Krabi it was a ferry to Koh Phi Phi. 
Koh Phi Phi is a beautiful island in the Indian Ocean with high cliffs and flourishing greenery. With over 6,000 new tourists arriving daily, many of which were European, it is like a European Spring Break destination for a good time, good weather and good views. We spent five days here enjoying massages, snorkeling, diving, hiking to viewpoints, drinking buckets and dancing.
From Phi Phi we headed to Phuket. Where unfortunately Sarah left us and headed to Vietnam. We miss you Sarah, can't wait to meet back up with you in Cambodia!
For our day in Phuket we rented bikes and explored the coastline. We enjoyed freshly cooked seafood at a little fish market, gazed at the breathtaking views from the "Big Buddah" and did a bit of shopping in the lively town of Patong Beach. It was quite an adventure, especially navigating in the dark back to Phuket town. We got slightly lost, drove in circles for a bit and had an interesting encounter with two local police men. Remember to take your license if you ever rent bikes in Phuket!
We flew North to Chiang Mai next where we spent eight days enjoying the city and surrounding areas. Chiang Mai has the largest market I've ever seen, The "Walking Street Market" on Sunday. It spans for several blocks down one road then branches down two side streets for a few more blocks. We spent four hours walking up and down the streets buying trinkets and getting massages, still not managing to get through the whole thing! We also visited a Thai Silk factory where we observed and learned how to make Thai silk using a manual loom. You have to be quite coordinated to handle it!
To feed our wild side we ventured out of the city and up the mountain for some Zip-Lining with the Thai run company Jungle Flight. It was a rush to swing from sky bridge to sky bridge staring out over the Thai rainforest. We highly recommend this company, the guides (Capt. Jack Sparrow & Tom Cruise especially) were very comical and made the adventure that much more interesting and fun.
Chiang Mai is home to "The Tiger Kingdom" where you can go and cuddle with the beautiful animals. We had a great day snuggling up to big, medium and small tigers, even a small lion.
Rachel turned 24 while we were in Chiang Mai. HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACH! We enjoyed a lovely evening in celebration starting with an all-you-can-eat buffet at one of the nicest hotels in town - the Shangri-la. We followed this with some Muay Thai boxing, and ended the night at a Rasta bar where we bopped to the beat of a great live Ska Band.
This is a definitely a great thread. Thailand is a very beautiful and a very graceful even so elegant destination. This place is so vast and having got all the possible amenities and facilities has been provided by their tourism department to all the potential travelers and they are getting much earning due to the arrivals of international travelers on this beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteAll the experience is great and fantastic and full of joy, cherish and excitement. The beaches are so evergreen and tremendous, shopping plazas are great, temples are likable and are a part of ancient archaeology. All the body massage centers are spectacular and absolutely fantastic and the food is too yummy and superbly sumptuous as well.