I had made big plans in my brain for our final week in the Thai islands after scuba diving in Koh Tao. We were going to head over to Krabi, check out Railay Beach, boat over to Koh Phi Phi and finally ferry down to Koh Lanta. Well, none of that happened. In fact, Anna, Peter, Sheryl and I headed straight back to Thong Nai Pan Yai on Koh Phangan. We all figured, why schlep our stuff all over southern Thailand in search of paradise when we had just come from it? Longtail Beach Resort was all booked, so we found rooms at Dreamland Resort, where $25/night got us a nice, clean bungalow and hot water shower. As a bonus, Dreamland has a gorgeous pool right on the beach…complete with swim up bar and super cool bartender, Ram. For the next week, we did nothing but hang by the pool, eat delicious Thai food, drink as many fresh coconuts as possible, light off a few more lanterns, catch up on our blog and reflect on an amazing couple of months in Southeast Asia.
Hmmm, where should we go next?
I know! Thong Nai Pan Yai
Who can complain?
Sheryl and Anna are happy
Pete’s happy
Johnny’s happy
Swim up bar
Pete put in some serious hours at the swim up bar
Fresh coconuts
Our favorite bartender, Ram
Taking pics of fire dancers
Our new best friend, Beach Dog
Another great night at Dreamland
Writing wishes on our lanterns
More lanterns
Ram lets one fly
We’ll miss you Pete and Shery (and Southeast Asia)!!!
Getting scuba certified in Koh Chang, exploring the temples of Angkor, dodging scooters in Hanoi, ringing in the New Year in Luang Prabang, riding elephants in Chiang Mai, island hopping in the Gulf of Thailand…it’s incredible to think of all that we’ve done in the past 70 days since we arrived in Southeast Asia. While we’re really looking forward to Australia and New Zealand, we can’t help but feel a little sad to leave this beautiful part of the world and its friendly people (I almost choked up ordering my final Pad Thai tonight). We definitely hope to be back one day.
Although sad to see our friends go, we were excited to head off to Koh Tao for some scuba diving with my brother and Sheryl!
Arriving on Koh Tao
After navigating through the crazily crowded ferry station, we headed to Sairee Beach where Scuba Junction is located to check in, get our gear fitted and settle at our new bungalows. We were a little horrified when we finally saw Sairee Beach…I guess we’d been spoiled by Thong Nai Pan Yai’s protected cove, white sand and serenity. Sairee Beach was long, narrow and crowded. There wasn’t a whole lot of “beach” and sadly, there was trash in the water. We soon realized that this beach was for diving and partying. In spite of this, it was still a beautiful setting and we made the most of it over the next few days. The most fun part about Sairee was the “yellow brick road” – a long narrow road that stretched alongside the beach, lined with shops, restaurants, bars, resorts, massage spots, etc. It was a lively happening road to stroll down at night, and we had a great time watching all the action and enjoying the restaurants.
Sairee Beach
Johnny and Peter pondering the meaning of life
Lunch time!
During the mornings and early afternoons we spent our time in a much quieter underwater world. Although a couple of our dive spots were a little crowded with other dive boats, we still had an amazing time swimming amongst the coral with the fish. On day one, we were paired with a bit of a Danish dive nazi, but on day two, we had the cutest little Swiss dive master named Vera, who was super fun and easy going. It was really exciting for Johnny and I to put our PADI skills to the test on our first ‘Fun Dives,’ and it couldn’t have been better getting to dive alongside my brother and Sheryl.
The advanced divers
The novice divers
Peter also was able to get some awesome video footage of us on the dive:
Leaning back after the dive at Shark Island
Besides diving, the other highlight of Sairee Beach was the BBQ! I don’t know if we had just worked up an appetite from diving or if the setting along the beach with the sunset influenced our taste buds, OR if the fact that we haven’t really had much BBQ in 8 months, but this was one of the best BBQs I’ve ever had! And the best part was that two giant skewers, salad and a baked potato cost 100 baht, or roughly $3.00. After watching some pretty athletic ladyboys dominate a volleyball game on the beach and taking in a beautiful sunset, we ate a whole lot of BBQ. It was so good, and we felt that it could only get better topped off with a peanut butter banana crepe from a street cart on the yellow brick road. As if this weren’t indulgent enough, Peter and Sheryl also decided that a foot massage was in order. A pretty perfect day if you ask me. In fact, it was so great, that we basically repeated it the next day: scuba – lunch – beach – volleyball – sunset – BBQ. Before we knew it, our time on Koh Tao had come to an end, and we were packing up our bags to make a return visit to Koh Phangan!
Enjoying the view…
…and ready for BBQ
Nightly volleyball tourney
Nightly awesome sunset
Not a bad spot for dinner
The beach lights up at night
BBQ!
So. Excited. For. BBQ.
Yum. Yum. Yum.
Top it all off with a banana peanut butter deep-fried crepe drizzled with condensed milk. That’s right. I said it!
And top that all off with an hour-long foot massage…am I in heaven??
Anna and I had been looking forward to coming back to the Thai islands ever since we left Koh Chang in late November, and the fact that we were going to share the next few days in this beautiful part of the world with some of our favorite people made us downright giddy. A bumpy, partly off-road minibus ride brought us from Haad Rin (home to the infamous Full Moon Party) to Thong Nai Pan, where two coves form a scenic double bay on the northeast of Koh Phangan. We stayed on the southerly Thong Nai Pan Yai, which had enough going on to keep our attention for a few days while being off-the-beaten-path enough to make us feel like castaways. After checking into our bungalows at Longtail Beach Resort, we had just enough time for a quick dip before it got dark. Swimming in the clear, warm water with our entourage of eight while looking back at the white sand beach and surrounding lush jungle in the afternoon light definitely gave me a case of the warm and fuzzies. We grabbed some dinner at a beachside restaurant, hit the sack early and spent the entire next day lounging on the beach.
Thong Nai Pan Yai
Stoked to be back in the islands!
Serious game of Chinese checkers
My wife and my best bud in Thailand…not bad!
Marinating in the Gulf of Thailand
On our second full day, we boarded a boat for Angthong Marine Park, an archipelago of 42 islands to the west of Koh Phangan and presumably the setting for everybody’s favorite backpacking novel, Alex Garland’s The Beach. Our boat, Orion, was a little slow, crowded and grubby, but the scenery…and super cool upper-deck diving board…more than made up for it. We arrived to the cluster of islands after about an hour boat ride trough some tropical morning showers. Anna and I thought the scenery looked a little bit like a less dramatic, more tropical Ha Long Bay. We stopped off for a quick snorkel in Koh Wao before heading to Koh Mae Ko and hiking up to a viewpoint of the island’s stunning, emerald green saltwater lagoon. The steep hike and climb up some makeshift ladders was a little gnarly. Let’s put it this way, if it was in the U.S., we would have had to sign insurance waivers and be strapped into harnesses. However, as you can see in the pictures below, it was worth the effort. Seeing this beautiful lagoon hidden on a tiny island in the middle of a protected marine park definitely had us feeling a little bit like the characters in The Beach (with me being Leonardo DiCaprio, obvi). After some lunch on the boat and a beach break at Koh Wua Talap, Orion brought us slowly but surely back to Koh Phangan for some well-deserved Singhas.
Rainbow on the way to Angthong Marine Park
The scenery reminded us a little of Ha Long Bay
Angthong Marine Park
Snorkeling at Koh Wao
Mortal Kombat!
Judges gave Greg a 10!
Hi Mom and Dad!
Emerald lagoon at Koh Mae Ko
Greg and Hillary taking in the view
Tommy and Michelle making the climb
They made it to the top
Peter and Sheryl on Orion
Lounging on the way back to Koh Phangan
The view from Koh Mae Ko
Koh Wua Talap
On our third and final full day, we took a longtail boat to Haad Khuat (otherwise known as Bottle Beach), regarded as one of the most beautiful beaches in Koh Phangan. Only accessible by boat, Bottle Beach felt even more remote than Thong Nai Pan Yai, and we spent the entire day drinking fruity drinks, playing cards, eating Thai food and frolicking in the water. Later that night, after our usual routine of some drinks in Tommy and Michelle’s Boat House, we grabbed a taxi to Thong Nai Pan Noi for dinner at the luxurious Santhiya Resort. With views over both bays, live music and dancing, and an all-you-can-eat Thai food buffet, we had a great final meal together. After dinner, Greg and Hillary surprised us with some sky lanterns they had bought earlier in the day, and we all took turns sending them off before heading to Flip Flop Pharmacy Bar for a final nightcap. What a perfect way to end an amazing week.
Lanterns are for sissies; Tommy opts for the bottle rockets
Our final night at Flip Flop Pharmacy Bar…we’ll miss our Thailand gang
We had such an awesome time with Tommy, Michelle, Greg and Hillary and feel so lucky that they used their precious time off to come join us on our trip. Even though the week went by way too fast, we certainly made the most of it and it’s amazing to look back at all that we did. After everybody left, I probably got the most homesick I’ve been this entire trip. Luckily, Peter and Sheryl were stuck with us for another week, and I quickly learned that homesickness is easily curable by scuba diving and more Singhas.
Johnny and I arrived in Chiang Mai about a week ahead of our friends and set out to explore the city and all it had to offer. After having been in the picturesque, sleepy town of Luang Prabang for the past couple of weeks, the congestion and modern conveniences of Chiang Mai were a little overwhelming for us at first. But we couldn’t complain after having some pretty legit chicken burritos (with avocado!!!), picking up new books at an enormous used bookstore, and re-stocking all of our toiletries at 7-Eleven.
Chiang Mai, the old capital of Thailand and the cultural heart of the country, is packed full of juxtapositions…ancient and contemporary, European and Asian, natural and industrial. Walking down the street, one might pass a gilded temple buzzing with orange-clad monks, a food stall hawking mango sticky rice, a funky shop featuring wares from an up-and-coming Thai designer and a fashionable boutique hotel – all in the same block. Intrigued by this eclectic mix, we covered a lot of ground over the next four days on foot, by bike and by scooter. Our favorite area to wander was within the old walled city where we’d pop in and out of temples (wats), explore the market and food stalls (with mango sticky rice being the stand-out) and stroll along the moat that creates a giant square around the city center. We also navigated the crazy night market that seemed to stretch on forever, rode up Doi Suthep mountain to Wat Phrathat, tried some restaurants in the Nimanaman area known for its hip boutiques, cafes and university crowd, and checked out the nightlife at some spots along the Ping river. We even had a chance to meet up with our friend from Luang Prabang, Joel, at the lovely Ginger & Kafe restaurant.
Moat and the remains of the city walls
Old meets new at Wat Chedi Luang
Buddha
Tha Phae Gate
Saturday night market
Kalare food center & night bazaar
After all this romping around Chiang Mai, we were feeling a little pooped and just couldn’t wait for all of our friends to arrive. On our expeditions through the city, we had discovered a Le Meridien right in the heart of the lively night market area. We decided to treat ourselves to a couple of luxurious nights with our Starwood points and get out of the less-than-stellar Funky Monkey guesthouse where we had been staying. We took full advantage of all of Le Meridien’s amenities (especially the pool!) and felt refreshed and ready for action when everyone arrived.
Enjoying the amenities at Le Meridien
Like kids in a candy store
We could barely contain our excitement when we met our dear friends Tommy, Michelle, Greg and Hillary at our new boutique hotel, Aruntura (which, by the way, was amazing!!). My brother and Sheryl rolled in a few hours later and our happy crew of 8 was off to celebrate our first night together with dinner at the Mandarin Oriental.
Over the course of three days, we managed to pack in a lot of activities, including a pretty ridiculous Muay Thai fight, a harrowing scooter ride through burly traffic and one way streets and up Doi Suthep mountain for a return visit to Wat Phrathat, the insanely packed Sunday night market, some questionable but entertaining Thai live music along the Ping River and some delicious Thai meals, of course.
We had no idea what was going on with this fight, but it was pure comedy:
The scooter gang
No lack of traffic in Chiang Mai
Charging up Doi Suthep
The fearless scooter captains take a high-five break at a scenic point on Doi Suthep
Peter reenacting a picture that my dad took here in 1969
Wat Phrathat
Wat Phrathat
Wat Phrathat
Wat Phrathat
A monk touching up the bright paint
Greg & Hillary in front of a gold chedi
Tommy, Greg and Michelle lighting candles and incense in the inner sanctuary
But of all these activities, the most memorable and incredible experience came with our visit to the Patara Elephant Farm, where we were all “elephant owners for the day.” We first discovered Patara through a mutual friends’ blog, Two Packed Bags, a couple similar to ourselves traveling the world. We were so inspired by their post that we immediately decided that we would have to visit Patara while in Chiang Mai. Luckily, our friends were all in agreement, making it even more special to have the experience all together. There are many reasons why we felt Patara was more legitimate than some of the other “elephant farms,” which we had heard could be depressing and “circus-ey.” In addition to being “a Thai-owned and managed farm focusing on health-care and breeding management for friendly, beautiful and special elephants to produce healthy elephants to live on Earth,” Patara works with Chiang Mai university on elephant conservation and creates their interaction program so that visitors can really learn about the health and care of elephants.
Ready to start the day in our hand-made “elephant trainer” tops
In the morning, once our elephants “chose us,” based on personality – kind of like elephant Love Connection -, we fed our elephants bananas and bamboo and checked to make sure they were happy and healthy by reading their body language, checking that they had slept correctly the night before, checking to be sure they were hydrated (did you know elephants sweat from their toenails??) and the best part – checking their poop! Not only did we have to count their dungs, but we also had to squeeze the masses to check for fluid and tear them apart to check that all was digested properly. Luckily the poop didn’t smell – another sign of good health! We then dusted the dirt off our elephants with leaves and bathed them in the nearby river.
Snack time with our elephants
Bananas and bamboo…yum yum!
Our first whiffs of the dung…surprisingly not smelly at all! See poop action sequence below:
My elephant, Boon Pak, was clearly enjoying his dust-off
Peter’s elephant gets the royal treatment
Greg’s elephant enjoys a facial
While Johnny’s elephant gets a full body scrub
Bath time would not be complete without a water fight!
After learning some basic commands in Thai (like “good boy/girl,” “go,” and “stop”), we watched a demonstration on how to mount our elephants and were then sent out to give it a go. This was both hilarious and a little intimidating as you either had to launch yourself over the elephant’s head, or do a one-footed trunk rise or a one-footed leg rise up to the top of the elephant’s head. Needless to say, it was a pretty awesome experience to sit atop our elephants for the first time, bare-back, with our feet tucked behind their warm flapping ears and feeling the prickly hairs on the top of their heads.
Hillary gracefully rises to her elephants head
Tommy goes for the frontal launch
We ♥ our elephant friends!!!
We proceeded to take about an hour-long trek on our elephants to a waterfall where we stopped to feast on a ridiculously delicious meal of sticky rices and coconut treats. Once we fed our elephants our leftovers, we were able to swim with our elephants in the river! We were all a little apprehensive that we’d be crushed by the elephants rolling in the water, but after my brother hopped in and tumbled on his elephant harm-free, Johnny, Greg, Sheryl and I followed suit and were pretty hysterical the whole time we slipped around with our big wet elephants in the water.
We ate our delicious meal on banana leaves…
…and drank Johnny’s Kool-Aid
Swimming with my main man, Boon Pak
Peter & Sheryl
Peter goes “face first” into the action
Practicing Muay Thai
So much fun
By the end of the day, I was pretty smitten with my elephant, Boon Pak. I felt so sad to say goodbye to this big, gentle, beautiful creature. We had all really bonded with our elephants who each had a very unique appearance and personality. In the morning when we first arrived, we were all a little scared to get too close to the massive elephants (even the babies!), and they all looked pretty similar to me. But after spending the whole day with our “elephant friends,” we were playing around with them like they were puppies. And each elephant could not have appeared more different from one another. Not only was the whole day extremely fun, but also very educational. It was a truly incredible experience with amazing friends in a magical place, and we were so grateful to be sent home with two CDs of awesome photos from the day shot by our Patara guide, Ben!!
Chiang Mai was a blast, but we were all eager to head south to the islands! Our entourage headed out with wheelie beasts in tow and headed for the airport – next stop: Koh Phangan!
Foot massages at the airport
Good thing we pack light:)
Banana pancakes & card games kept us busy while we waited
…is traveling with family and friends! So happy to be joined in Thailand by Anna’s brother Peter, his girlfriend Sheryl and our great friends Tommy, Michelle, Greg and Hillary!
Anna and I weren’t quite ready to say goodbye to the laid back vibe of Koh Chang just yet. After a fantastic week-long stay at Little Eden on Lonely beach, we moved about 15 minutes up the road to the village of Klong Prao, and unless you want to hear stories of us drinking fruit smoothies, laying on the beach, reading books and watching sunsets, there really isn’t much to blog about.
I do, however, have to mention our accommodation, Baan Rim Nam. It was definitely one of our favorite spots so far. First of all, the helpful owner Ian (who has an awesome Golden Retriever named Santa) has the type of back story I daydream about after a few Chang beers on the beach. After growing tired of life as a banker in the U.K., he moved to Israel for a year. After that, he made his way to India and rode his bike for another year throughout India and Burma before finally reaching Thailand. With a flight home and only $100 in his pocket, he opted to stay in Thailand and has been here ever since.
Baan Rim Nam (“house on the water”) isn’t just a clever name; the three bedrooms and two communal decks are built on stilts over the Klong Prao river estuary leading out to the beach. It’s a little off the beaten path (about a 20 minute walk from the main road plus a final crossing of wooden planks above a mangrove), but its setting is worth the extra effort. To get to the beach, we would either have to walk a couple minutes down a dirt path through a grove of palm trees (not-so-fun fact; falling coconuts kill 150 people worldwide per year) or paddle down the estuary in one of Ian’s kayaks. Our typical day at Baan Rim Nam would be: wake up, kayak across the estuary for some coffee, walk to the beach, swim, get some lunch, read on the deck, kayak across the estuary for a cheap massage, walk to the beach to see the sunset, walk to town for some dinner and finally relax on the deck watching the local villagers row by. Not bad, eh?
View from the deck at dusk
View back up the estuary from from the deck
Tying up the kayak after a serious paddle
Hanging out on the deck’s comfy hammock
Ian and Santa action photo
Santa fetching some coconuts
Local villagers passing by
Old fishing boats in the estuary
Our evening commute home from the beach
Mandatory scooter ride
Might have to join Coconut Shake-aholics Anonymous soon
After traveling for 27 hours with barely any sleep, the planet seems a little off kilter. In a half-conscious haze Johnny and I knew that good things were upon us as we arrived at our final airport in Trat, Thailand. We were driven from the runway in a Disneyland-esque trolley past elephant topiaries to the thatched-roof “terminal” where nice, smiley men handed us our luggage. The good vibes continued to grow stronger as we boarded the ferry boat to Koh Chang and experienced our first Thai fruit shake. Another very warm and friendly lady scooped an entire mango out of its skin, plopped it in a blender and added a big mound of ice. Whiz, brrrrr, and voila! Mango shake. Maybe the most sweet, delicious shake I’ve ever had, and for $1 to boot. The journey continued to our first stop, Little Eden at Lonely Beach. Not just a clever name, these bungalows nestled in the palm trees really became a little paradise for us.
If only all airports were this nice…
The path to our bungalow at Little Eden
Our home for a week
After a good 14 hours of sleep our first night we felt back to normal and quickly slipped into “Thai island time,” which is even slower (I think) than “Hawaii time.” There is just an immediate and overwhelming sense of peace, happiness and relaxation on the island. Although we loved our time in South Africa, we were happy to be rid of security gates and away from the distinct feeling of have and have-nots – the giant separation between rich and poor. So far, to me, this place feels the exact opposite. Even though it is a little rough around the edges (eg: the trash pick-up situation could use some work), everyone seems happy and content even though they don’t have “a lot” (in the material sense of the term). Johnny and I could see right away why people get “sucked in” to this island…a phrase that we have heard often since we arrived. Life is simple – in the best way possible.
The village by Lonely Beach
Besides our three seriously fun and seriously awesome days spent getting scuba certified through BB Divers (read more about that here), we really did a whole lot of nothing. It was great. After spending the better part of November driving across South Africa in our Nissan Tiida (always with our guard on), we were feeling a little bit like we needed a vacation from our vacation.
The Tiida was looking as beat up as we felt after our last of many 6-8 hour drives (yup, our hubcap was in the back seat)
We spent most of our evenings hanging out in the restaurant/lounge at Little Eden where the squirrely British owner, David, played good mellow tunes causing us to melt even further onto our floor cushions. The food was cheap and amazing, and the whole place had a good energy so we were hard pressed to find a reason to leave.
Our favorite spot at Little Eden
We did venture out one night to have dinner on the water and see a Reggae band on the beach
During the days we’d sit down on the beach, float around in the super warm water, grab some Pad Thai and fruit shakes at Nature Rocks (where people would often nap on their cushions after eating lunch) and maybe indulge in an $8 massage. Lonely Beach is known for being more of a touristy/party beach, but we wanted to stay there because it was close to our scuba school. We managed to avoid all the bad, loud music and really only noticed the party atmosphere by the fact that no one emerged onto the beach, or anywhere else really, until after noon. There were quite a few people selling bracelets and sarongs on the beach, but they were the least aggressive, most good-natured hawkers I’ve ever been around. A typical encounter would go something like: “Bracelets?” “No, thanks.” “Ok, good luck to you, good journey (accompanied by a big smile, of course).”
Can’t get enough Pad Thai and coconut shakes
Lonely Beach
If it isn’t already obvious, we’re smitten with Thailand, and yes, Johnny has already started looking up available real estate on the island. Koh Chang has made a pretty darn good first impression, and I’m sure it will only get better as we discover more of this beautiful country and its people.
Oh, and did I mention that Koh Chang has incredible sunsets?
We’ve spent the past three days on the beautiful island of Koh Chang getting scuba certified! We can owe the decision to get certified to my brother who bought us lessons last Christmas through Sport Chalet in anticipation of he and his girlfriend meeting up with us in Thailand this coming January. They love to dive and wanted to be able to take advantage of Thailand’s infamous diving with us. With work and a tight schedule leading up to our trip, we realized we weren’t going to be able to fit in the scuba classes at home (plus we weren’t very excited about taking our first dives in the freezing cold ocean at home in February!), so we opted to get certified once we arrived to Thailand through BB Divers. What a great decision that turned out to be!! Not only did we have the most awesome instructor of all time, Patrick, who exemplifies the lifestyle around here…(he came here 8 years ago from Holland on vacation and never left and told us that ‘he doesn’t make tons of money, but that he loves what he does and loves his life’ – a simply perfect outlook if you ask me); we also had the most fun dive crew, the most beautiful backdrop and crystal clear, warm water.
The PADI Open Water Certification course took three days. We spent our first day watching informational DVDs, taking written tests (we passed, phew!) and practicing skills in the pool. The next two days were spent on a boat diving around islands in Koh Rang National Marine Park and other amazing spots. With 20 meters of visibility on most of our dives we were able to see unbelievable underwater worlds in all their glory and were even lucky enough to spend some quality time with a giant green sea turtle who was most likely 70 years old! Johnny and I relished the whole experience and couldn’t believe how much we loved diving. Swimming among giant schools of glowing fish, being surrounded by other-worldly masses of coral and floating in peaceful silence at the bottom of the sea are truly special experiences.
Boarding the original Thai fishing boat adapted for diving
Garlands tied to the bow of the boat to honor water spirits for good luck and protection
This year we’re trading turkey and mashed potatoes for shrimp and Pad Thai! We are so thankful to be here in this beautiful part of the world with each other, and are so grateful for our amazing family and friends who have been so supportive of this journey.
We love you and miss you!!!
Ciao for Now 