October Break in Thailand
Share on Facebook
Railay Bay Beach Club was a nice landing spot for about 10 days in April. We had plenty of time to relax, eat Thai food, hang out with friends, and catch a few sunsets. 
“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.” Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds 
“But I love your feet
only because they walked
upon the earth and upon
the wind and upon the waters,
until they found me.”
― Pablo Neruda
I hated to say good-bye… It was every summer, every boat ride, every sunset. ― Jenny Han, It’s Not Summer Without You 
“After you’re dead and buried and floating around whatever place we go to, what’s going to be your best memory of earth? What one moment for you defines what it’s like to be alive on this planet. What’s your takeaway? Fake yuppie experiences that you had to spend money on, like white water rafting or elephant rides in Thailand don’t count. I want to hear some small moment from your life that proves you’re really alive.” ― Douglas Coupland, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture 
“In Thailand the customer is always wrong.” ― Grace G. Payge, A narrow escape from an ordinary life: A true story 
Share on Facebook
Chiang Rai was a welcome change from Chiang Mai. Less tourists, and better coffee! Chiang Rai is also better suited for motorcycle day trips. These pictures were all taken on day trips.
Way out on some backroad, we happened upon a small hilltribe festival. Not much to see really, so we only stayed for about 15 minutes. Nice people though.
We drove up to a tea plantation. Did some tasting and bought a box of tea.
One morning we drove out to a local monastery that was carved into the side of a cliff. This was the only monk who was there.
Share on Facebook
Chiang Mai, New Years Eve 2012. The whole city lets off floating lanterns starting just after it gets dark, and building until well after midnight. Instead of joining the tourist horde, we slipped into a temple that was in the middle of its own celebration. Quiet meditation music and all the lanterns we could light, was the highlight of the evening. In Chiang Mai, we stayed at the Yindee Stylish Guesthouse. It was great. Nice location, friendly owners, clean flashpacker-friendly rooms.
Chiang Mai isn’t really a location that I would heavily recommend. It feels like it’s been overrun by tourists and kind of lost most of its character. Better to just keep going to Chiang Rai. The only reason I’d want to visit either one, would be to rent a motorcycle and do more touring of the surrounding hills. TOTAL.VACATION.WIN.
lift off.
Right at 12:00 fireworks joined the lanterns in the sky.
We met this monk and he told us all about the ceremony and his experiences living in Chiang Mai.
Share on Facebook
Anne and I had a good time in Bangkok. Public transit here is great. This makes a big difference in how visitors view a city. We were able to comfortably cover a lot of ground in short amount of time, which left a good impression. I’d say that Bangkok is worth about 2 days on a traveler’s itinerary. There’s just so much more to see in the rest of Thailand. In Bangkok, we stayed at the Sunflower Place. The location was central to everything. The hotel was clean, and everyone who worked there was very helpful.
Bangkok local BBQing on her boat.
Largest reclining Bhudda in the world at Wat Pho.
Grand Palace, Bangkok
Catfish on sticks
Bhudda hands and feet
If I had a dollar for every Bhudda…
Share on Facebook
by P-Lo
no comments
add a comment link to this post email a friend