I just got back from Thailand and I am still on Cloud 9. I highly recommend visiting if you every get the chance! It is fairly inexpensive to visit, with friendly people, delicious food, and beautiful views. A group of four other girl friends of mine and I went for one week (too short if you ask me, I'll be planning for much longer the next time I go). We found that there were a lot of things to see a do, a good variety of options for any type of person whether you prefer to shop, participate in water sports, hike, or try different types of Thai foods. April is one of Thailand's hottest months, but us Texas girls were able to cope with the weather fairly well. Below is our itinerary, and a lot of my own commentary, in case you are interested in our experience and want to incorporate some of it into your own adventure! I have added hyperlinks to the places we stayed and some of the places we visited. (get ready for a looong post...)
April 21st: flew out of Houston at 12:50am to arrive in Taipei at 6:00am. Connection to Bangkok.
Day 1, April 22nd: Flight from Bangkok to Phuket to then travel by taxi to Patong Beach (at this point we had been traveling for 24+ hours). We spent one night and half of a day here. Patong Beach is mostly known for their nightlife and town area with restaurants and markets. We went to a restaurant we found online for dinner called Seahag. We were a bit hesitant at first as the restaurant was a bit empty and it wasn't the nicest of interiors; however, by the end of our meal we were raving about how great each dish was that we all shared and how friendly and attentive our waiter was. We got a free dish of stir-fry veggies! Yum. After dinner we went to one of the main streets which is lined with bars. There are an overwhelming amount of people in the streets (think Bourbon Street in Baton Rouge, LA) and about half of those people are locals who work for the bars shoving laminated paper ads in your face with the title "ping pong show". We soon found out what that was, and didn't attend. I would recommend doing some research for yourself and decide if you want to attend a show or not if/when you visit Patong Beach. We had a drink at a bar an observed the memorizing acrobatic women twirling on poles atop the bar. Sure, they were probably considered strippers; however, they had some serious skills holding themselves along the poll with their bodies completely horizontal in midair. Afterward, we went to a more clubby bar with a DJ and strobe lights. We were all very impressed with ourselves as we had been traveling the entire day and somehow were still dancing and singing. We soon decided to walk back to our hotel around midnight to reunite with a bed. Thailand bed observations: the mattresses were all very firm, the pillows were usually fairly cushy, and the added cot we often times had to get was identical to the actual bed. Needless to say, the beds were not as fluffy and as pillow-topped as the ones we were used to.
Day 2, April 23rd: Walked from hotel (Hotel Ginger House) to the beach to have breakfast. We all ordered "American Breakfast" plates with mimosas to celebrate the beginning of our vacation. Things learned about Thailand's breakfasts: the "breakfast sausage" is a mini hot dog which is a bit rubbery and honestly a turnoff wen accompanied by eggs and bacon, the egg yolks are more orange than U.S. eggs but just as tasty, and the bacon tastes more ham-like than toasted if you understand what I mean. The fruit was always the best part of breakfasts, so fresh and juicy. The coffee is pretty good, too. After breakfast, we shopped along the beach a bit, walked on the soft, white sand, and then packed up to grab a taxi to head to Karon Beach via taxi. It was about a ten minute drive before we arrived to our resort, Mandarava Resort. We took our time settling in by exploring our rooms, swimming in one of the five pools, grabbed a drink at the bar, and even get ourselves a massage. The next day we took a complimentary yoga class in the morning, ate at the breakfast buffet (the omelettes hit the spot!), and packed our bags before visiting the pool one last time. Around noon we piled into a van taxi to make our way to Chalong Pier where we would board a ferry to the Ko Phi Phi Don (the Phi Phi Islands). The car ride to the pier was quite nauseating for all of us due to the hills, how fast our driver was driving and the fact that we were piled into the car like sardines. We finally made it to the ferry, after everyone popped an anti-nausea pill, and soon boarded the ferry to take us to the islands. The ferry ride ended up being about one hour and 45 minutes. We discovered we could sit on the top deck when we had about 15 more minutes of the ride left so we took full advantage. The air was warm, the sun peaking through the slight overcast skies and the views were unbelievable. The water was a deep blue, meeting the islands at their brown and dark green bases. (This was definitely one of the longer days we had just considering we were in so many places and did a variety of things - mostly travel.) After paying the 20 baht (used toward the upkeep of the island like clearing litter) to enter Ko Phi Phi Don, we dropped our luggage off in our hotel rooms. We stayed at PP Tonsai Place which we all agreed was very clean, comfortable and the woman who managed the front desk was very accommodating and kind. We walked a short 3 minutes to the beach where me immediately stripped down to our swim suits and b-lined to the shore. It was low tide at this point so we had to walk a significant ways to finally reach the shallow water. The water felt like bath water, it the hottest ocean water I have ever experienced. Looking out, there was one little dark green island in view, low hanging fluffy clouds, the sun peaking through some other higher clouds, and the island coming in on both the left and right peripherals. After soaking up the view around us and gushing about how this moment, if the rest of the trip somehow went wrong, would make our whole adventure to Thailand worth it. Happy hour on the beach (where we discovered Chang beer...it was our obsession the rest of the trip), showers, dinner in town, and then a local bar where we got a famous Thailand bucket drink. Most times you find these buckets with multiple liquors, sodas and juices but we got a fairly simple one.
Day 3, April 24th: Snorkeling day! Up and at 'em at 6:15am. Packed our bags, left them in the front lobby, grabbed a quick breakfast at The Mango Garden and met our long tail boat driver at Tonsai Pier. Observations: everywhere we turned in Thailand there was mango. A lot of places had the well known mango sticky rice, smoothies, sliced mango and came across a lot of hotels and restaurants incorporating the fruit into their name. We boarded our long tail boat, us five girls plus three others who were visiting from Brazil. The long tail boat we booked was one we found out from a mother and son we met at the Madarava Resort, Mr. Chet Longtail Boat Trip. Mr. Chet and his brother led the best tour! We all really enjoyed it and wold recommend it to anyone. It took about 10 minutes to reach Ko Phi Phi Ley where we swam and got acclimated to the water, took the boat to a different area of the water to snorkel, and stopped by Maya Bay (very crowded, there is a national park here and where some of the The Beach movie was filmed). May Bay became very, very crowded with more and more tour boats anchoring to let their people off to explore. Our group soon left Maya Bay and made our way to another area of water to find baby sharks (unfortunately they seemed to be shy that day), had lunch at the beach (yummy fried rice, pineapple and Chang beer), then journeyed to Monkey Beach. The Monkey Beach honestly freaked me out. They were definitely very cute creatures, but at the same time were running around and leaping into trees or onto people's backs. We were told by our tour guides to be still, not to feed the monkeys and to be careful of our sunglasses and belongings. Right when we stepped onto the beach we witnessed a monkey hanging out on a girl's shoulders but then rip off her sunglasses and run into the tree with them. I think it's safe to say she didn't get them back. The monkeys were getting territorial, but many were also sweet, innocent and were just curious to interact with us humans. Morgan and Lindsey, two girls of the group, were able to lure monkeys onto their backs just by standing there. It looked like a lot of fun, but Bianca, Crystal-Mae and I were not interested in possibly needing a rabies shot if one of the monkeys became fiesty.
Took a ferry back to Phuket from Phi Phi to let grab a taxi to our hotel in town. We stayed at The Memory at On On which is a very cute, boutique-y hotel. We were finally able to wash up after the long day, lounge a bit and then head back out for a dinner in town. We went to a quaint and very clean restaurant that was only about 8 minutes walking called Suay. I was the most tired I have experience in a very long time. I still felt as if I was on a rocking boat, I felt drunk although I hadn't had anything to drink since lunch, and my eyes would not stay open. The sun, sea, and activity of the day definitely dehydrated all of us. After licking our plates and finishing off four liters of water, we journeyed back to our home for the night.
Day 4, April 25th: Wake up! We get to see elephants today! We got a mere five and some hours of sleep before we had to spring out of bed, get dressed, and be downstairs for our tuk tuk driver at 6 a.m. As much as I wanted to be back in bed catching a few more z's, I knew today's activity was going to be worth every tired bone in my body. We arrive at The Elephant Jungle Sanctuary Phuket around 8 a.m. and join about 25 other visitors. We are greeted almost immediately by roaming elephants. There was a large one, a medium one, and a baby one who was very shy and following the largest one around closely. We met all three ellies, fed them bananas, took photos, and soaked up their majestic beauty. Elephants are truly majestic. They are gentle giants whose demeanor resemble that of a dog: following people around, clearly excitable when there were bananas or watermelon slices involved, and most of all just wanted to be pet and loved on. We listened to the history and mission of the sanctuary and then what our day would look like. If you have interest in ever visiting an elephant sanctuary, I highly recommend this one! They are doing really great things, rescuing trekking elephants and creating a new and happy life for them. You can read more here. We were taught how to feed the elephants by saying "Bon!" loudly which encourages the elephants to lift their trunk to the sky so that their mouth is more visible and easy for you to reach; we joined in on a very large mud bath with the elephants; and then moved over to a smaller "pool" where we helped wash off the mud from the elephants' backs. It was amazing how close and personal we were able to get with the elephants. There was really no rules, other than to be respectful, which was nice. At one point the group of us were sitting in the water with a baby elephant literally rolling around from lap to lap. An elephant was on our lap! At one point the largest elephant was in the pool playing and splashing and a baby elephant swam under the water to nurse on the mother. It could breathe under water! Amazing. The whole day was amazing and I think I am still in awe.
This again was a long day. We got back to our hotel to wash up around noon and still had a whole half of a day left! We decided to visit Big Buddha which was very cool. Big Buddha is 42 meters tall and sits atop Nakkerd Hills. Breathtaking panoramic views of Phuket Town, Kata, Karon beaches, Chalong Bay and more. Here they were not strict with dress code, although we came prepared with kimonos and long skirts to cover our shoulders and legs. Afterward, we got a tuk tuk ride across town to see Big Buddha from afar. We had dinner at the Tunk Ka Cafe which has great reviews online; however, we were not too impressed outside of the view. We could have ordered the wrong thing, but the food was sub par in our opinion. We wished we would've had dinner up the road at Khao Rang Breeze where we grabbed a drink after dinner. To finish of the night, we headed to a night market where there was an equal amount of shopping as there was food. Bianca encourage the group to eat fried crickets (and later we tried maggots...when in Thailand!), we found a rooftop bar with a cool Thai cover band, we had our fair share in Chang beer, and discovered street crepes (banana and Nutella goodness) which we would dream about that night.
Day 5, April 26th: Off to Bangkok! This morning we were able to sleep in a bit, but made sure we were up and at 'em before 10 a.m. so we could get the free breakfast buffet. Many of the hotels we found when booking places had complimentary breakfasts, which in my opinion is a huge plus. Once we were all packed up we piled into our cab and headed to the Phuket airport to travel back to Bangkok. We stayed at the GLOW Pratunam which was pretty centrally located in the city. The hotel is in a high rise which was cool to be able to see beyond the building next door to us. We piled into one of our two rooms to discuss what we wanted to do with the rest of our afternoon and night, all falling back into the beds simultaneously. Wow. What were these beds made of?! They are clouds! Needless to say, these were the comfiest beds we came across during our time in Thailand. Once we soaked up some R&R, we grabbed a tuk tuk to a nearby market. We shopped for souvenirs, perfected our haggling skills, tried street food and got Thai massages. The street Pad Thai was amazingly good, but we all agreed the U.S. does a pretty good job in mimicking the traditional Pad Thai. We finally found the Durian fruit that I was on the hunt for the entire trip and all tried a piece. Apparently it is the world's smelliest fruit and even banned from hotels, airlines and other public areas. We were not very turned off by the smell to our surprise - it smelled like melon. The only thing we could think of is that in the street market, they might've done something to the fruit to decrease its smell considering it is a public area with lots of people in close quarters. The taste? Well, it tasted like cantaloupe with the texture of an avocado. All in all, we were all fairly underwhelmed. Continuing down the market street, we came across a stand for crepe-like treats called Rotee. A Rotee is a very thin pancake filled with fruit and chocolate or peanut butter (we chose bananas and Nutella), folded into a square, drizzled with condensed milk and then finally cut into smaller squares for easy eating. It is heaven on earth. Last stop of the market exploration was a traditional Thai massage. We couldn't leave Bangkok or Thailand without indulging in one, c'mon. We started off with foot massages, which initially I was hesitant in signing up for since I have very ticklish feet, but about two minutes in I was sold. Next up was a neck and back massage. Thai massages are different than most massages in that the therapist uses his or her hands, knees, legs, and feet to move you into a series of yoga-like stretches and also applies muscle compression, joint mobilization, and acupressure. It was odd at first because I have never been physically moved during a massage before, but I think it is my new favorite type of massage. I am on the hunt for a good Thai massage place here in Austin. Let me know if you have a recommendation.
Day 6, April 27th: Last day in Bangkok and the beautiful country of Thailand. To end our trip, we decided to visit The Grand Palace and see as much of Bangkok as we could in the time that we had left. Our flight left Bangkok at 4:30 p.m. to Taipei so we had to keep a close eye on the time. We arrived at The Grand Palace before 8 a.m. so we were among the first chunk of people that were admitted. We entered the palace grounds single file while a guard scanned you from head to toe to approve or disapprove your clothing. Bianca, Morgan and Lindsey made it through the checkpoint, but unfortunately I was turned away to get a "proper shirt". So Crystal-Mae accompanied me across the street at a souvenir shop to purchase a t-shirt. I was wearing a maxi skirt, a tank top, and a kimono type cover-up except the guards were not fans of it being see-through. They were definitely more strict here with the dress code than they were at Big Buddha. Later at a second checkpoint Lindsey got turned away for her scarf not passing as a real shirt. Luckily Crystal-Mae had purchased a button down t-shirt for her brother at the shop earlier so Lindsey was able to throw it over her tank top and proceed into the temples. Walking through The Grand Palace was a peaceful experience. I noticed all of the visitors to be very respectful and truly interested in the architecture, history and significance of the palace. The intricate details of the temples' exteriors with stones and tiny mirrored pieces was awe-inspiring. We saw the famous Emerald Buddha inside the, you guessed it, Temple of the Emerald Buddha where we observed Thais kneeling to worship the Emerald Buddha. Overall, we were happy we visited the palace and learned about the royalty that once inhabited it.
We grabbed a cab back to our hotel, ate a quick lunch and drank some Chang beer before taking another cab to the airport. We were Change-obsessed by this point. The drive to the airport was about thirty minutes and the latter half of it we jammed out to Avril Lavigne, naturally. I smile now as I type this. Belting Avril in Thailand with four of your girlfriends with a male Thai driver will probably stay high on my list of vacation memories. We arrive at the airport, check our bags (as they are jam packed with souvenirs and definitely heavier than they were when we traveled to Thailand, unchecked), and explore the airport until boarding begins. Naturally we find Chang beer to have just oneee more because we don't know the next time will be that it'll be available. Finally boarding time comes and we file into the airplane. Oh...but wait...it is Hello Kitty themed! Everything to the toilet paper was branded Hello Kitty. I wish I took some photos. 11 hours and we are back in Houston! Our Thailand adventure is now over, but the memories will last forever (cue warm fuzzy feeling).
Post-Thailand getaway: Jet lag. is. real. I had never experienced true jet lag, so it was quite the treat. The first night back in my bed after landing from Thailand I slept until 4:30 p.m. the next day, was awake enough to go get a burger with my sister, and then went back to sleep around 11 p.m. until I became wide awake at 2 in the morning. I rolled around in my bed on my phone, checking email, looking at Instagram and Snapchat until an hour went by and I felt tired enough to try and make it to sunrise. I experienced jet lag for a good week after landing back in the states from Thailand. Apparently it takes your body to recover and reset to the time zone you are in about one day per time zone crossed on the flight back to your home base. Crazy.
Takeways: I highly, highly recommendvisiting Thailand! The dollar goes a long way, Thais are friendly, the country is beautiful, and there is a variety of things to see and do that will satisfy any type of traveler. For my next visit to Thailand I definitley plan on going to Chiang Mai and then spending at least 5 days on the Phi Phi Islands.
