Barbara's Travel Blog

Three Weeks in Thailand

I could spend days trying to recapture the last three weeks of vacation in Thailand in my blog… but really, wouldn’t that kill the relaxed, tanned, post-vacation bliss? So instead, here’s a photo-centric recap of some of my favorite moments, experiences and sights from the trip:

Gorgeous Scenery: Thailand is just so incredibly beautiful. Photos can’t even begin to capture it, but here are some of my favorites anyway.

Activities: When we weren't relaxing by the pool, there was sea kayaking, rock climbing, swimming, snorkeling and more to keep us busy. You know, in between pina coladas.

Animals: We saw SO many animals in Thailand. My personal favorites were the little black kitten in Railay, the turtle crossing the road in Bangkok, the baby elephant in Chiang Mai (who I’m totally in love with), and the little monkey who let me scratch behind his ears (even if he did jerk off afterward).

Culture: Having begun to learn a bit about Buddhism in my last few months living in Asia, it was a real pleasure to get to visit some of the beautiful temples in Thailand. Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai is one of those rare places that feels genuinely spiritual in spite of the hordes of tourists. I also loved when our group lit and released a traditional Thai lantern, which is supposed to release your bad luck with it. Here’s hoping! And who wouldn't enjoy Princess Cave in Railay, with its abundant phallic offerings?

R&R: In between all our other activities, we found plenty of time to kick back, relax and work on our tans. Jen, Kim and I all have matching halter-top-style funny tan lines now.

Food: Of course, we found plenty of time to eat, drink and be merry. We particularly enjoyed our Thai cooking school experience – here’s hoping all those fabulous dishes are as easy at home as I remember them being in class!

Thai Quirks: More than any other Asian country I’ve traveled in, I saw so many amusing variations on the English language in Thailand on menus, signs and other random places – including the example on the back of Jen’s life jacket in the photo below. We were also quite fond of the hot pink taxies in Bangkok, and the horrible muzak versions of '80s love ballads we kept hearing everywhere.

Friends & Family: Most importantly, I got to spend the last three weeks with my Mom and some of my nearest & dearest friends. Mom, Jen, Kim, April and Joe, I love and admire you all for your spirit of fun, learning and adventure. I’m lucky to have you in my life.

 

And to everyone else, thanks for continuing to tune into my blog and for offering encouragement during my travels. I look forward to sharing my travel experiences with you again in the future.

P.S. Many more Thailand photos are posted at http://babas.typepad.com/photos/thailand/.

Friday the 13th, full moon and black cats…

Featuring: Guest Blogger – ½ Pint (“same, same, but different”)

“Same, Same,” as I am on the same trip as Barbara, but “different,” as I am not actually Barbara. This is a very popular saying here. Like our cooking teacher, Ya, said today, “red curry, green curry… same same, but different.” So I’d like to thank Barbara for giving me this opportunity to write in her blog.

So - I arrived here at Railay Beach, Thailand, eight days ago. I did not lose my passport on the plane (as my mom feared) or get sold into white slavery (as my grandma feared). I am now tanned, massaged, relaxed and a little bit buzzed. I live in a little hut on the other side of the path from Barbara and Jen (the cheapo side – no AC or shower curtain... I shower right next to my toilet – very weird). I wake up every morning, eat a free breakfast, and then sit by the pool until noon (wearing 30 sunscreen, mom). The afternoon is when the activity starts. Kayaking, snorkeling, shopping, climbing, and cooking…well, not all of those activities in one day. But here is a bit of a synopsis:

Last Sunday, we went out on a sunset snorkeling trip, to find Nemo (mission accomplished). Here we are after finding the poor fish and reuniting him with his father. If only we could’ve thrown our jackass, stoned, South African tour guide overboard (and I’m being nice). This was the never-ending trip. At one point, the guide and his much younger Swedish girlfriend left us alone on the boat to wait for a ride back to our beach. I started to calculate how long the swim back would take and whether I could survive those little jellyfish bastards that enjoyed stinging me earlier in the day (p.s. I’m ok mom)

On Tuesday, April and I finally got to go climbing. Krabi is touted as having some of the best rock climbing in the world. And since my only comparison is the Portland Rock Gym, I will have to agree. We went climbing with Jam Rock, Niang and Sarot were our guides. I wish I had some pictures for you but I couldn’t get the camera to upload to Barbara’s computer. So you will have to wait for the Ofoto spread. (*Disclaimer – no, mom, I swear, I wasn’t climbing up big rocks, I’m actually crawling horizontally over the rocks, they are on the ground.) April and I climbed one route that provided an amazing view. It was higher than I have ever climbed. How high? Damn high (as Sara Pyfer would say).

I enjoyed the climb so much that I decided to go back again yesterday. We climbed through a large cave and ended up on this rock here, supposedly called the Taiwan Wall (I believe anything told to me). [Editor’s note: It’s actually “Thaiwand Wall.”] I got to look out at our beach while climbing up 30 meters (anyone translate that into American for me – duh). So freaking amazing. So many great Europeans on this climb. I came back wishing I was European as I think I deserve 6 weeks off a year instead of the measly two weeks I get. But anyway….

On Wednesday – Jen, Barbara, and I hiked out to the Princess Cave. Here is what is in Princess Cave. Yep, lots of phalluses. These are left by fisherman, as offerings to the Princess God for successful fishing. Refer to Jen’s Ofoto pictures for hundreds of phallus pictures (I think Jen really misses Pete). After exploring the cave, I felt like the Princess god would be watching out for me, and I wandered out to sea.

Today, Friday the 13th, was a fabulous day. The three of us went out to Ya’s Authentic Thai Cooking School. We learned how to make four types of curry, Pad Thai, three soups, fried rice, and two different stir fries. We also learned green papaya salad. Ya informed me that a man looking for a wife would see how she did “banging” with the mortar and pestle. If she was lazy or weak with the banging, he’d pass her up. Here I am practicing my technique… I am quite a good banger. Then we ate all of that food…. We ended the day with foot massages in Ao Nang and I bought yet another scarf and a tie for my bro (does he even wear ties?).

Anyway – that is it for now. I only have three days left here. Hopefully one more day of climbing and then a day of kayaking. And then to Bangkok. Until I am finally back to the dark, wet, rain of Portland. Will I be needing a kayak to get home from the airport?

KIMBO

A much-needed vacation

I've been in vacation mode and thus not particularly interested in blogging, but today it's raining buckets, so I've got some time to kill. Oh, in case you didn't know, I'm on vacation in Thailand for three weeks with my Mom, Jen, April and Joe, with l'il Kim to arrive in a few days.

We started the trip in Bangkok (big city, ugh), then moved onto Chiang Mai in the north, where we went to an elephant training camp, a traditional northern Thai dinner with native dancers, and a night market, and of course had lots of cheap massages. :)  Our hotel suite was gorgeous, and at the elephant camp I fell absolutely in love with a playful baby elephant - I would try to take him home, except our tour guide told us they require $50 a day in food, and 60 galons of water. But still, so cute! The lowlight of Chiang Mai was accidentally leaving my ATM card in an ATM machine. Fortunately, it sucked in the card, so at least no one had access to charge on it. But I had to cancel it and will now be sponging off everyone else until get home to my new card.

Yesterday we arrived at Railay Beach in southern Thailand. It was kind of a trip (so to speak) getting here... we took a taxi bus from the airport (with a crazy, speed-racer-esque driver), then got in a long boat for a 10-minute ride over to the peninsula. While we're here we'll be sea kayaking, rock climbing, elephant trekking, and of course getting drunk on the beach. That'll be our main focus today, in fact, since Indonesia has a hurricane and (as mentioned above) we're getting some serious rain from the edge of the storm.

Thankfully, the locals say the weather isn't normally like this; it was certainly nice all day yesterday. There are several massage places around the various hotels, though we haven't had a chance to try any of them yet. Jen's and my room is nice, but Joe and April's room smells very strongly of mildew, so they're going to try to get it changed.

I'd better sign off now. Today is Jen's birthday, and we're on a rainy-day mission to find the best bloody mary in Railay Beach. ;)