I think we have labeled Thailand as "not what we were expecting". We spent a month here and it is a beautiful country. Bangkok was better than we expected, with none of the tourist horror stories happening to us :) We relaxed and wandered around Bangkok for a few days, seeing the sights and the Wats.
Since we were feeling like we were not moving at the speed we wanted to be, a little bit going throught the motions, we booked a tour for two days to the River Kwai to see the "death railway" and the bridge over the River Kwai. The area was not what we were expecting, with big city surrounding it and an incredible amount of tourist busses, but it was beautiful. We were taken to museums about the building of the railway and WW2, and one (of many) of which was actually informational and not just an excuse to take your money, imagine that.
"Death Railway"
We were also taken to a waterfall, which was surrounded by forest and food stalls. We took a little path out of the way to the "source" and found quiet, trenquil surroundings. We also stumbled across a cave temple that was better than the big one we had seen in Malaysia. It was very natural and unspoiled.
The Tiger Temple.... dadadaaaa. We got to touch tigers. Thats right. We were very excited, and humbled by the amazingly beautiful animals. We did pay extra, but we got to have the tigers head put into our laps!! Tony was pulled away half way through and replaced by someone we didnt know, so half of the pictures are of me and another girl. Still very good pictures.
We went south after that to Khao Sok National Park, but we didnt stay very long. We were rained out of all of our trecks due to potential flash flooding. We we eager to move down to the islands in the south. We decided to go to Krabi, and that was as far as we got.
This was Reily beach where we made our home for the next few days.
This picture is for those of you who dont think you have the money to travel... This room was cheaper than a Motel 6. We decided to splerge on the room because without realizing we had picked the most expensive beach in Krabi, tough huh. This room also came with little fuzzy headed monkeys that sat in our mango tree and ran across our roof in the morning.
From Krabi we went back into Bangkok and up to Ayuthaya (spelling correction in progress). The city was an amazing arrayof temples in various stages of ruin.
Find the Tony!! He is in there we promise.
There were a few temples that were like all the others in every way except for the fact that all the Buddah's were missing their heads. The Burmese did this when they come into Thailand during WW2 (but we can't back that up).
This temple (Wat) had a stone head, probably removed from one of the Buddah's on grounds, completely surrounded by a figs tree roots. It was nice.
We made our way up to Chaing Mai and stayed with Uncle Kieran and Nam. We went on an elephant ride through the jungle. They were great with showing us around the city and feeding us amazing Thai food. We took a road trip with them to Mae Hong Son and Pai, stopping at waterfalls, view points and coffee houses.
These are the Hill Tribe children, they all wear colorful and beaded clothing. Beautiful to see in an eveyday setting.
This was the highest mountain in Thailand... and it was actually cold. From here we walked up the hill and enjoyed the fresh air...all the way to the coffee shop on the top of the hill, right next to the American spy station.
We went to Chang Rai and spent time there before going to the Golden Triangle and making our goodbyes and crossing over the Mekong River into Loas.
Since we were feeling like we were not moving at the speed we wanted to be, a little bit going throught the motions, we booked a tour for two days to the River Kwai to see the "death railway" and the bridge over the River Kwai. The area was not what we were expecting, with big city surrounding it and an incredible amount of tourist busses, but it was beautiful. We were taken to museums about the building of the railway and WW2, and one (of many) of which was actually informational and not just an excuse to take your money, imagine that.
"Death Railway"
We were also taken to a waterfall, which was surrounded by forest and food stalls. We took a little path out of the way to the "source" and found quiet, trenquil surroundings. We also stumbled across a cave temple that was better than the big one we had seen in Malaysia. It was very natural and unspoiled.
The Tiger Temple.... dadadaaaa. We got to touch tigers. Thats right. We were very excited, and humbled by the amazingly beautiful animals. We did pay extra, but we got to have the tigers head put into our laps!! Tony was pulled away half way through and replaced by someone we didnt know, so half of the pictures are of me and another girl. Still very good pictures.
We went south after that to Khao Sok National Park, but we didnt stay very long. We were rained out of all of our trecks due to potential flash flooding. We we eager to move down to the islands in the south. We decided to go to Krabi, and that was as far as we got.
This was Reily beach where we made our home for the next few days.
This picture is for those of you who dont think you have the money to travel... This room was cheaper than a Motel 6. We decided to splerge on the room because without realizing we had picked the most expensive beach in Krabi, tough huh. This room also came with little fuzzy headed monkeys that sat in our mango tree and ran across our roof in the morning.
From Krabi we went back into Bangkok and up to Ayuthaya (spelling correction in progress). The city was an amazing arrayof temples in various stages of ruin.
Find the Tony!! He is in there we promise.
There were a few temples that were like all the others in every way except for the fact that all the Buddah's were missing their heads. The Burmese did this when they come into Thailand during WW2 (but we can't back that up).
This temple (Wat) had a stone head, probably removed from one of the Buddah's on grounds, completely surrounded by a figs tree roots. It was nice.
We made our way up to Chaing Mai and stayed with Uncle Kieran and Nam. We went on an elephant ride through the jungle. They were great with showing us around the city and feeding us amazing Thai food. We took a road trip with them to Mae Hong Son and Pai, stopping at waterfalls, view points and coffee houses.
These are the Hill Tribe children, they all wear colorful and beaded clothing. Beautiful to see in an eveyday setting.
This was the highest mountain in Thailand... and it was actually cold. From here we walked up the hill and enjoyed the fresh air...all the way to the coffee shop on the top of the hill, right next to the American spy station.
We went to Chang Rai and spent time there before going to the Golden Triangle and making our goodbyes and crossing over the Mekong River into Loas.
