No I don't want a tuk tuk ride, a tailored suit or a ping pong show.. Thailand 2011

Thailand was simply amazing.... We were lucky enough to spend 2 weeks exploring the country.  During our travels we realized that "The Hangover Part 2" wasn't just a movie story, what happened to them is COMPLETELY plausible and I don't know if that is a good thing....  We explored; Bangkok land of dirt, pollution, over population and traffic. Chiang Mai a place to explore the culture of Monks and temples that were actually being used, not just for tourists and the great outdoors with 'jungle people'.  Krabi, 4 Islands, Phi Phi island and Phuket - STUNNING beaches one could only dream of, extreme heat, snorkeling and sunning.

Overall this holiday was an extraordinary experience and a great peak into the Thailand culture. We also lucked out with the weather, although we went during the rainy season we somehow never had rain ruin any of our plans! and even that it only rained 3 times the whole 2 weeks, which was in the morning! We even got the opportunity to visit the small country of Brunei and tour the city and Mosques of this oil rich country.  Since I obviously will have lots to talk about I will separate this super long blog post into each city visited.

Enjoy the photos!

 Tour on a long tail boat, lots of houses here are on the water

 Dried fish at the market. STINKY

 Anyone want some shoes?

 If you ever need a fake; id, university diploma, drivers license, passport... just go to Thailand

 Oh the grammatical errors..

 Fake Tiffany's, all the rage in Thailand

 Some slum areas in Bangkok

Thailand McDonalds, this is how you say hello.   Sawadeka, pronounced Sahwa De Ka

 breathtaking views on Ko Phi Phi island

VIDEO OF OUR TRIP

 GENERAL THOUGHTS ABOUT THAILAND
- Thailand to me was a mix of Kenya and America.  Kenya in the sense of poverty, slum areas and massive population.  America in the sense of brands.  Since Thailand is such a huge tourist destination there are so many US brands.  The shopping malls had Gap, Coach and lots of other stores.  There was over 3000 Seven Elevens in the country (the US only has around 1000) and lots of food brands were just like the ones at home.  Surprisingly there was more brands and commonalities in Thailand than there are in New Zealand!

Thailand is also home to anything knock off, everywhere we went there was Tiffany's jewelry, Abercrombie and Fitch, Polo, Gucci, Coach, Nike and any other brand you could think of fakes.  It was quite amusing as basically all Thai's wore this. 

There was lots of 'lady boys' all throughout the country

Anywhere you went if it was in a touristy area you were asked if you wanted a; Tuk Tuk ride, ping pong show or a tailored suit.  There was also ladies from different hill tribes walking around in traditional dress carrying little trinkets to sell.

There is a different colored Buddha for each day, and depending on what day of the week you were born there is a story/presumptions about your life and personality.

Thai massages and foot massages were around 160THB an hour.. or the equivalent of 7NZ dollars = 5 or 6 US dollars.  YES PLEASE!

A LITTLE BIT ABOUT MONKS/TEMPLES
- Bangkok had lots of temples/palaces but they were more for show.  Traditionally Chiang Mai's temples are actually used for Monks to learn.
- Monks are not allowed to touch women.  If a woman wants to hand them something it must not directly touch them ex; putting food into a basket the monk is holding
- All their food is donated.  Each morning the Monks go around collecting food from Thai's.  Most everyone will donate to them as it is seen as something god would want them to do.
- The goal of every Thai mans life is to be a Monk at one point during their life.  They used to be required to be a Monk for at least 3 months, but not it can be as little as 3 weeks.
- Temples and Wat's used to be the place men went to get educated.  Pre WW2.  This was basically their university to learn Thai Massage, become a doctor or anything else.
- Woman must cover their shoulders and knees.  So each time we visited one I had to have either along dress or pants on and then wear a sweater. it was SOOO hot!  but defiantly worth the sweat!

BANGKOK

We arrived at 12pm and made it to our hotel in the Royal District and an older part of Bangkok, wandered around the markets and fell asleep at 7pm. 
We spent the next day on a Temple Tour.  We took a long tail boat ride through the different canals. (Alot of Thai's live on the water and these rivers are their main source of transportation.)  We say a floating coffee stand along the way as well!

Then it was off to the Royal Palace and boy was it BEAUTIFUL!  The detail on each building is unreal and must have taken years to complete.  Everything about each building is breath taking and was such an amazing experience to see.  Then it was off to the Wat Pho where Thai Massage originated and Monks used to learn the technique.  This place also had the reclining Buddha which was the 5th biggest one in the world.  This place also was selling roof tiles you could write your names on, goals and ambitions which gets placed up on the roof towards Buddha.  We naturally donated our 20THB = less than a NZdollar and now our name will be up on the roof of the Wat Pho protecting the reclining Buddha.

The next day we did a bike tour around old Bangkok.  This was a GREAT experience.  We went across to the old capitol, before Bangkok was and rode through the old city and areas with floating houses for 4 hours.  Some of the areas you couldn't even tell we were on water because there was so much garbage.  Pollution is such a massive problem in Thailand its just so sad.

 in one of the floating houses areas, you can see the water but its SO brown and dirty.

 During our biking tour we also saw trains from WW2 - Dad these photos are for you! :)

We were more than happy to get out of Bangkok and on to Chiang Mai where we would explore the jungle on our 3 day hill tribe trek!

CHIANG MAI
We arrived in the afternoon and boy was it hot.  After checking into the hotel it was off to the Seven Eleven for our daily trip there consisting of water and whatever else looked good. (All Seven Elevens were air conditioned so it was especially nice)  We were off to a walking tour of the temples courtesy of the Lonely Planet book (not to put a plug in for them but I would highly recommend getting a book for whatever country you are going to! so useful!) We found real Monks and met people who wern't trying to scam you or sell you anything, it was refreshing!  We also found a very good vegetarian restaurant for some delicious thai food.

The next morning was the start of our Hill Tribe Trek!  We rode in the back of a truck for around 2 hours with the two other couples on the trip.  A German couple named Sarah and Marcus and an Irish couple named Jo and Owen.  They were all really cool and everyone got along wonderful making the trip even better.  After stopping at the market to get the food for our tour we were off to a stunning waterfall.   It was raining but that didn't stop us from saving our selves from the heat and jumping in.

Then it was time to walk.. we put on our packs and trekked off in the 90 degree weather and 70% humidity.  There is only one way to describe it, sweaty.  We trudged along for an hour and a half before reaching our village for the night.  Along the way there were leeches... and yes, they attached themselves to my heel.  I tried not to freak out too bad, but it was not a pleasant experience.

The village we stayed in for the night was stunning.  They all grow rice and the fields were bright green.  The rich colors surrounding us were so beautiful, the camera can't even begin to do it justice.  We were cooked a homemade meal courtesy of our guide and then all fell asleep in the heat, under our mosquito nets, on our thin bamboo sleeping mat, 10 feet up in the air in our wooden hosts home.

The next day we were off again, and super gross.  The only shower was in the same room at the squat toilet which consisted of a can with water on it and a bowl for you to pour the water on you.. not ideal.  But regardless with a shower or not you would be drenched in sweat only a few minutes after walking.  We trekked along for 2 hours before stopping for lunch.  Then it was another hour hike, mostly uphill to the next village we would be staying in.  Along the way into the village we came across a dirty, dirty man.  I honestly thought he was disabled and unable to walk because he was having such a hard time.  Turns out; he was just on opium.  And settled down underneath the table singing and talking to himself until passing out.  We say him the next day, scared of what would happen only to have him say hello and stroll right past us.  Everyones jaws dropped, as he was normal! We also go to try jungle whiskey, which is made with fermented rice, though to me it just tasted like really really horrible vodka.

 This lady we came across while walking in the village.  She was separating the rice from the grains, how amazing!

 Then she sifted it in her trays and separated it all out into piles, such a skill!

Group dinner!  Middle is Irish couple and right side is the German couple.
The next day was our final day in the jungle and we had just enough time to ride elephants for an hour and go bamboo rafting (a lot more intense than it sounds)  There were some serious rapids, and we literally were just sitting on bamboo, so sitting in the water...

The liner in my shorts is now brown, not white thanks to this water...
The tour was an incredible experience and so many wonderful memories.  After surviving the bamboo rafting it was time for lunch and then the 2 hour drive back to the city.  We checked into our hotel and took a long, well deserved shower.  I have never felt so clean!

KRABI
After saying goodbye to the jungle we headed down to Krabi, the sun and beaches! We spent the day soaking up the sun in Railay beach only reachable by long tail boat.  The next day was a four island snorkel trip.  We took a speed boat to four different islands to soak up the sun, play in the water and snorkel around the beautiful underwater world.  I unfortunately hit my foot on some coral and cut my foot, but it is slowly heeling! 

 Thai Red Bull. Hopefully that is actually what it says...

 Chicken Island

KO PHI PHI ISLAND AND PHUKET
The next day it was on a ferry ride over to Ko Phi Phi Island where our resort was on the northern part of the island only accessible by another long tail boat.  It wasn't as nice as we thought it was going to be and the most expensive hotel we stayed in, but it did have a private beach which was amazing! Naturally we spent the day soaking up the sun and snorkeling on our private beach before going to the sunset bar on top of the hill for some drinks and absolutely stunning views.

Our last stop was Phuket for one day.  We hopped onto another 2 hour ferry ride in the blistering sun and were on our way.  The real reason we got to Phuket so early was simple, zip lining!

We finished the night off with a delicious dinner and a long stroll along the beach back to our hotel with the non working airconditioner.

We then started our 34 hour journey home at 3:30am and were lucky enough to have a stop over in the small country of Brunei (new post and pictures of that comming soon!)

Its crazy to think that in 5 months from now we will be home.. done with all our adventures, or will we? What should the next destination be! :)