Sunshine. Beaches. Elephants. Food vendors selling delicious eats from fresh mango to pad thai to noodle soup. Palm trees. Friendly people. Glorious weather. Did I mention the sunshine?
Thailand was the perfect escape from the snow, ice, freezing temperatures, and really mediocre food of KZ. Too bad two weeks wasn't nearly enough.
We spent our first night in Thailand in Bangkok, then immediately high-tailed it to the islands the next day-- the itinerary was to hit up Koh Samed and Koh Chang.
We couldn't actually stay on Koh Samed, as we left booking accommodation too late and everything was either fully booked or out of our price range. Lucky for us, a French ex-pat opened up a reggae-themed guesthouse in Rayong, a city on the mainland not too far away from Ban Phe, where we could catch the ferry to Koh Samed and just make day trips. I'm not sure if this French guy smoked a lot of pot, or has just absorbed the easygoing vibes of living in Thailand for many years, but he was uber-chill, and ran a super laid-back guesthouse. It was like crashing in someone's house, or a commune.
Took two day trips to Koh Samed and soaked up the sun on the white sand beaches and swam in the clear blue waters of the Gulf of Thailand.
And, just when we thought it couldn't get any better, we headed to the Koh Chang archipelago. While the beaches on Koh Chang weren't as nice, it was just as beautiful-- jungles, mountains, a rugged coastline. We spent two days (again, not nearly enough time) on Koh Chang island; the first day we went on an elephant trek through the jungle, and the second we went on a day-long snorkeling trip.
Then it was back to Bangkok for the remainder of our trip. We took a day trip to the ancient capital of Ayutthaya, where we took in the sights of palaces, temples, and Buddhas. The rest of the time in BKK we spent wandering about the temples and palaces, getting lost in the jungle of shopping malls (they are huge, there are lots of them, and they are amazing!), eating lots of good Thai food, and meeting cool new people.
I'm determined to head back to Thailand in the not so distant future, to explore this fantastic country some more; I feel like I only scratched the surface with this trip. Nevertheless, I had an incredible time.
