My Thai

Due to my hospital stay in Goa our arrival in Thailand was a bit delayed. With a two-week limit on our adventure, choosing among the many beaches, islands and national parks became quite a challenge. After a quick night in Bangkok, we decided to head south and check out the island of Koh Lanta. We thought a night bus down to Krabi would be a great way to get to the beach and save on a night’s accommodation – we thought wrong. After a sleepless night we arrived at the slightly-out-of-town bus stop where we were easily persuaded to book another ride to Koh Lanta. The island has a laid-back atmosphere, nice beaches and can be explored in a day with a rented scooter.

We spent the better part of a week relaxing at the beach bar, meeting some fellow Californians (it is bizarre how many Californians I meet while traveling) and exploring the island. Basically, we were living the life. Fresh pineapple shakes in the morning, authentic pad Thai in the afternoon and fresh aloe vera massages overlooking the beach for sunset – need I say more?

After a short ferry-ride we arrived in Railay – a rock-climbers mecca famous for it’s limestone cliffs overlooking the water. I spent a few days there with my friend, Suzanne (another Californian), who splits her time between Thailand and Rome. She lives with her boyfriend at the Diamond Cave, where we camped out. Railay was fantastic – we spent our time rock-climbing (in my case "trying" to climb), exploring caves and hiking to the lagoon.

Another night bus back to Bangkok left us on a quite street at 6am where we found a surprisingly cheap double room (shared bathroom in the hallway). When we walked outside later that day we realized why our lodging had such great rates – it was in the middle of Khao San Road, the biggest backpackers street in Bangkok. If you ever go to Bangkok, DO NOT stay here! The road is relatively short, but is home to hundreds of souvenir stands and lined with outdoor restaurants all competing to play the loudest music possible until 2 AM.

While the accommodation was less than ideal, it was cheap and allowed us to do some more exploring and get one last massage before we left. We met up with friends from Koh Lanta and spent some time taking a boat through the canals – a great way to see the suburbs and how people live outside of the big city. We also spent a morning shopping at the weekend market that was so big it has it’s own map (which, of course, we didn’t find until the end) and we barely covered a quarter of it.

We ended it all with a tuk-tuk race – the brainchild of our friend, Brad. The six of us fit into two tuk-tuks (scooter rickshaws) with each driver promised an extra 50baht for arriving first. I was barely in the seat when our driver peeled out and got a head start. We raced down the streets of Bangkok, taunting each other from our open-air seats. What the other driver lacked in speed, he made up in style – popping wheelies as he chased us down the road.

It was a short visit, but we managed to do enough things that I feel like a I need a vacation after my vacation...