Southern Thailand Beaches

Paradise Found-Koh Ngai

Warning: If you are reading this and you are someplace that is cold, wet, and full of snow, well, you may not want to scroll any further. That is, unless you are prepared to purchase a plane ticket right now. Southern Thailand seduced us with warm turquoise seas (perfect for just floating), long swaths of golden sand (biggest decision of the day: under which palm tree to park your bum), and big skies painted by sunsets. It was torture to stay there.

Relax Bay, Koh Lanta

Sunset, Haad Khlong Dao, Koh Lanta

So what did we do on Koh Lanta? A whole lot of nothing at all. Except we managed to loose track of time and day of the week. Many a traveler has had their itinerary eaten by Koh Lanta and it’s pretty easy to understand why. And I’m pretty sure we extended our stay “for just two more days” at least three times…

If you are silently cursing us, not to worry, karma did eventually catch up in a rather epic way. Food poisoning that was nasty, messy, projectile, and as a bonus included two long ferry rides!  And while most will remember their visit to Koh Phi Phi for Maya Beach (where the movie “The Beach”was filmed), our day trip to the island will be recalled with affection as the most stunning place that we have ever vomited.

Koh Phi Phi- A pretty place to puke

The best way to recover from food poisoning in paradise?  Two days in these chairs!

Today’s Agenda: Absolutely Nothing!

 

THE Cookbook

It’s pouring rain. And not just buckets either, this is more of the biblical kind. l lean over the wooden bridge and watch the small vegetable fruit laden boat float beneath me. It’s powered by oar by an old woman and she is wearing a round straw hat. The rain suddenly stops and I wipe the drops from my brow and pull out my camera.

Snap, snap, snap.

And then it hits me. It’s the book cover.

THE cookbook cover. THAT COOKBOOK COVER.

Thailand: The Beautiful Cookbook

The heavy and oversized- more coffee table than cookbook- the one that just appeared on a random Tuesday in the household of my childhood. THAT book, which I used to flip through for hours without the intention of ever preparing a recipe (not much has changed), but was absolutely enchanted by the glossy photos and descriptions of a world that was so very colorful and so very far away.

And I am here.

Pinch me damn it.

Please enjoy some additional highlights from Amphawa& Auyutthaya, Thailand

Urban Soul Revival in Bangkok

So here we are. Two months of travel in the books and only a little bit worn and ragged from sensory overload and decision fatigue. Long term travel, as freeing and fantasy filled as it is- is at the same time, frustrating and exhausting. Routines are non-existent and we have become accustomed to feast or famine when it comes to things like availability of shampoo, Advil, snacks, contact lens solution, or for Mike, a sink with hot water to shave. Turning up in a new place every couple of days is definitely exciting, no complaints, but the fantasy of the unfettered traveler is tempered by the rather annoying reality of ensuring  proper shelter, food, transportation, and because this is 2017- please add wifi and ATM’s- which incidentally are pre-requisites to the former.

In this way, it’s fairly simple to understand how an intended “one night in Bangkok” slipped easily and without much debate into three. Throw in some fancy rooftop cocktails, a comfy bed, and some big fluffy hotel towels, and next thing you know, five days have gone by. Sawadee ELOISE, and welcome to Bangkok!

Chinatown

7 Levels of MBK-Anyone need a copy watch?

$5.00

 

#truthoflongtermtravel (edition 3)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BOleg6qA0di/

#truthoflongtermtravel (edition 2)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BONF8jWA8as

#truthoflongtermtravel (edition 1)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNv-o9FD-nw/

Leaving Vietnam

The Lanterns (and tourists) Of Hoi An

It would be so much easier to say it was a single isolated incident that made us decide to curb our travel in Vietnam, but a continuous string of negative interactions has led us to simply close the chapter on our time in country, albeit sooner than we had initially planned. If you are curious as to why, read on.

(and if you are thinking we sound a twee bit bratty, we get that too- first world problems for the couple traveling round the world- it’s not lost on us either…)

It’s not to suggest that our time in Vietnam was without highlights, in fact there were several. We were (positively) overwhelmed by the kinetic energy, cultural institutions, and of course, the good and cheap street eats of Hanoi

I’m hungry… PHO-mo’,  PHO-sure.

And completely awestruck by the karsts of Ha Long Bay

And Tam Coc

Our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent with loveliest of local hosts just outside of Phong Nha, in a village where absolutely everyone greeted us with warm genuine smiles and the excited shout of “hello” from the very young to the incredibly old. We rode bikes (and pushed said bikes) through deep mud and even looked for Santa Claus in an incredible cave (ok, we did not actually look for Santa)

And though it took some extra effort, we eventually came to understand the mystique of the Imperial City of Hue…truely impressive.

But our very best moments in Vietnam happened with friends…

With Claudia in Hanoi

In Hoi An with Pooja & Ravi, major bonus points for replenishing our Advil!

And so the reason for our exit is what?

If it was just the one taxi meter that was so ridiculously rigged in Ho Chi Minh City

Or

If it was only one guesthouse owner that did a final size up of us at check out and then decided to tack on another 20%, just because we looked like we could afford to pay it (we didn’t) (dayenu)

Or

And if only one shop owner did the same (we did at least once) (dayenu)

Or

If the throngs of tourists were not absolutely everywhere (dayenu)

Or

If we had not at all hours been aggressively and continuously cat called to “buy something now” (followed by constant shoving of goods in our faces) until we were forced to be kinda jerks…(dayenu, dayenu…day-en-u)

If it was only one these things, then I might suggest that our decision to go was made in haste. But sadly, when same thing/ different place keeps happening, the shadow it casts can be very dark and very long. In other words, we both felt it was simply time for us to go.

And while we continue to possess both empathy and admiration for the sheer persistence and entrepreneurial spirit that is required to survive in Vietnam, after three weeks, we want to feel like walking ATM’s, no more.

good-bye…VIETNAM!

(disclaimer-we have run across a number of people and blogs that share similar experiences to ours during their travels in Vietnam and equally others whose experiences have been quite opposite- so choose your own adventure and draw your own conclusions)