The Island Life

Stepping off the plane into Ko Samui, one notices the air feels...dense. Hot and Humid. After two flights from Chiang Mai to arrive to island paradise, we were all feeling a little grimey, and it was like our hotel was reading our minds because as we stepped into our transport van, the resort dude handed out ice-cold, lightly scented towels and cold waters. It was pure heaven.

 

Then, we settled into our private villas (which are quite possibly the nicest "rooms" I have ever stayed in in my life for $200 a night)...and headed to the beach. Here is where we all got a really quick lesson in the power of the sun. We all got a healthy dose of Vitamin D in about 10 minutes. And then they brought around more towels...does it get any better?

 

Also, said heat also inhibits a lot of beach chair reading, as we are spending most of the time wading around in the perfectly cooled pool. Nate is also giving Ryan swimming lessons each day which is quite enjoyable.

Ryan tried his hand at wind surfing, and made significant progress over the boys' attempts in Cozumel. Nate has been doing a lot of open-water swimming in the ocean to prep for Triathlon season!

 

And we have been especially excited about the food on the island. There has been lots of seafood consumed, especially by Ryan. We ventured away from Thai the first time last night and tried Mexican. We were all craving salsa and chips given the tropical feel...can't say they have that quite nailed down yet, but it handled the craving.

 

 

We were worried that the affordable massages would go away once we hit the beach, but alas the $6 hour-long Thai massage still exists, but now exists with an amazing view too!

 

We had, most likely, our grossest translation fail during this massage, when Ryan started asking about the clubs and the lady given him the massage was telling him about the 'transvestite' population in Chaweng--also the clubbing district. As Ryan helped his masseur out with the word for "transvestite" Nate says:

"I prefer Lady Boy"

Meaning..he prefers that TERM. (Do you see where the misinterpretation is coming in here?)

Everyone starts CRACKING up, and the lady keeps saying "you prefer lady boy" and starts laughing. She then proceeds to tell a story I can only presume is hilarious in Thai, but involves her imitating a 'lady boy' with a really low voice and looking at Nate.

I finally had to step in and say "No, he doesn't. I'm his lady." and then they all cracked up even more.

Temple of Surprises

I'm pretty sure that "Temple of Surprises" isn't the exact translation for what may end up being my favorite temple in Thailand, but it should be.

We approached this temple thinking it was just this (and I use that term loosely):

 

Definitely beautiful, right? Well, typically we would walk up to the temple, go inside and leave. And something just beckoned us to walk around the side of this temple, and check out the sight that we would have missed:

  

That wasn't the only surprise either. When we walked around this temple, there were five stone elephants, a golden Buddha, and some monks that had been mummified. Sweet.

 

And to think we almost missed it all....

Elephant Trekking!

**Disclaimer..I had this blog all typed up and ready to push publish last night and with one quick slip of the finger on this tiny little micro keyboard and POOF! Gone was all my photo work, witty quips, and so on. So forgive me if this post is a little lackluster....As Nate would say: blogging isn't a novelty act.**

We set out on a full day excursion away from the hustle and bustle of Chiang Mai into the mountainous region and the Mae Tang River for elephant Trekking and Whitewater Rafting. We got a SWEET video from the agency that did the adventures since we couldn't take our cameras rafting, so I'll post that video when we get back to the states (Ekern fam--think Dominican Republic....).

The day couldn't have been better. It was a perfect location and setting, perfect guide to get us (most specifically me) through our apprehension of rafting for the first time, and seriously cute elephants.

 

  

When we originally looked for elephant adventures, Katie and I were both concerned about finding a place that the elephants were well cared for. For the most part, this one fit the bill (minus our guides occasional swat of the bamboo swatch). We thought that maybe they enjoyed getting to take people because then the elephants got to go across the river and cool off (?). Maybe...who's with us?

 

Ok..so if you aren't buying the river as a bonus for hauling our butts around, how about the fact that half way through the trek there just 'happened' to be a little hut with a tiny little man selling bananas that we could feed to the elephants. 

Here was our elephant asking really nicely for a banana:

"PLEASE!"

"THANK YOU!"

 

This was my personal favorite part...right up until I started getting slobbered on from how fast the elephant whipped his trunk up and down.

After the trek, we headed further up the mountain for our rafting adventure. I am happy to say we all survived, we didn't tip, and none of us came away with any weird bacteria, rashes, etc.

Around Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai was a much more manageable destination. Everything was in walking distance for the most part, and the streets were much less crowded, noisy, etc. The one mystery the continues to perplex me is that for how many people are in these cities, there is little trash laying in the streets but you have to hunt down a garbage can to throw it away. How does that work? In America, if people didn't have a garbage can every 30 feet they would ditch it on the ground...

Anyway, here is a smattering of moments, and oddities throughout our stay here:

1) We noticed that there seemed to be a heavy reliance on few power sources as evidenced by the below. Some of the power lines were so low you felt like you had to duck under them.

2) In general, there is a beautiful temple, or pleasing sight to be seen in any direction. Of course it is in the eye of the beholder.

 

  

  

3) We all got massages at the Women's Correctional institute...for super cheap (or affordable as Katie likes to say). It was a super cool rehabilitation program where the women undergo 100+ hours of training when they are incarcerated, and then they give massages at the prison once they are "out" to help get experience and earn some money since it is hard to get a job after being in jail.

  

4) We also got massages in every other location possible. Massage store, in the street, in the market, at a prison...massages were affordable...and everywhere..and amazing. Thai massages, Foot Massages...Fish massages (which we haven't tried yet but involve fish sucking your feet to improve your circulation.)

I can't believe we still have 5 nights left. This is the never-ending vacation, which is pretty awesome. I don't think I've ever been gone this long before from "it all" even for our honeymoon and I have to admit it is pretty amazing...more to follow.

Taste of Thai

We are barely half-way through the trip and already have had quite the adventure with food. Well...I shouldn't say "we"...because I have been playing it pretty safe considering I get sick from Florida water and would prefer to not be spending more time in the bathroom than Thailand on this trip.

Anyway, the big news is that I have found the one food that transcends all cultures and brings joy to foreigners no matter what country they are in:

Yup...cotton candy. Right here in Chiang Mai at the Sunday Market. Now, for the polar opposite of transcending cultures...bugs. Crickets to be exact. And loads of other 'delicacies' to bring a gush of quenstionable body parts into your mouth. Katie and I said no way to these, but the boys went for it.

 

  

We have also tried numerous different Thai restaurants.  Nate always seems to be the most open with Katie a close second. Here is my safe dish of Thai Chicken Basil with a donut of rice and the appetizer of Fried pork balls (of which I didn't attempt)....

Just like massages, food is also fairly ridiculously inexpensive. Our total bill for 4 people including sodas and beer this afternoon was 280 Baht..or approximately $9. FOR 4 PEOPLE. Nate is loving the beer over here by the way...

While Ryan is busy 'educating' the locals on how to make an ABC shot. As you can see there is quite a variance in the education from person to person.

 

 

My personal favorite was the offering hanging on the shelf by all of the booze in the "Good Friends" bar.

Thailand knows how to do ice cream as well. We stolled into the aptly named Beary Bear Ice Cream (?) shop to get some sweet treats, and found this strange combination of ice cream parlor (about 25% of store) and weird shrine to stuffed bears and all things Disney/Hello Kitty/etc. There was even a HOT PINK Hello Kitty Fridge, which I considered bargaining to buy for my sister. But I settled on taking a picture of this poster instead (check out the Heffalumps Becca!)

 

  

Another fun little tid bit about Thailand is that it is not smiled upon to show affection between males and females. Katie and I could hold hands all day long, but Nate and I not so much. So Nate has been hearing "Don't touch me Nate" more than usual, and has even heard it from Katie which admittedly sounds kind of weird. Here is our "don't kiss me Nate" pose...

One Day in Bangkok

Literally..we had one day in Bangkok. As advised from many people Bangkok can be overwhelming and one day is all you need. So we took it by storm...well as much storm as 3 people (yes, Ryan was still absent) can be amid  12.5 MILLION people.

We started the day out by figuring out the SkyTrain system. I had to admit we were quite the trio. Nate and Katie on the navigation, and me on the documentation (i.e. photos). Nate committed the first cultural no no of the day when he kicked money with his foot that had dropped on the ground. This was the FIRST thing we ready about (the King's picture is on the money, and feet are considered very dirty in this culture). Oops.

We caught the river boat, which was pretty cool except for two things.
1) There was this freaky baby sitting right by the ticket station.
2) Nate is really mad that we paid 3 times more than we needed to..which by the way was like $2 more.

To say we were prepared is an overstatement, BUT within 5 minutes of stepping off the boat, we warded off 2 scams so we were feeling pretty triumphant as we headed into the Grand Palace. I can't do the beauty of this place justice so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. We were in awe of how ornate everything was...

 

  

 

 

The architecture was not the only thing ornate in Bangkok....I think that word could also be used to describe the smell. The smell was 'interesting'...a combination of thousands of different smells to make one big unique odor...eau de Bangkok if you will. This smell was most prevalent walking along the streets amid packed vendor stalls that ranged from flower stalls (yummy) to stacks of dried fish (...not as yummy). Let's just say I didn't quite muster up the courage to try street food in Bangkok because my nose overpowered my stomach.

We also went to Wat Pho, a temple for the Reclining Buddha. This particular Buddha is my personal favorite so far on the trip. First, it was HUGE...massive in scale. Second...it's feet bottoms were made out of mother of pearl.

 

 

Third, this was the site of our first Thai Massage. Here is a pic of Katie and Nate in their post-bliss massage stupor. We all got a 1-hour foot massage. One may ask what could you possibly need your feet rubbed for 1 hour for...but let me tell you you do. And I fear that we may all be addicted to massage by the end of this trip. Anyone care to guess the cost of said 1-hour massage? $8. And that was on the spendy side.....

I wish I could share some CRAZY story about our one-night in Bangkok but the reality is we all fell asleep at about 6PM, and woke up at 8:30, and decided to call it a day. Was it lame? Yes. Were we completely adjusted to Thai time after one night even if it meant sleeping for almost 11 hours? Yes...so I would say it was definitely worth it.

AND the best surprise of all came at 4AM when Ryan came around the corner smiling, with new passport in hand...ready to take on Thailand with the rest of us. The group was complete.