The Sights and Tastes of Bangkok

Just polishing off an incredibly ripe mango and sticky rice topped with a little coconut milk how can I help but love Bangkok. A long day of travel (made even longer by a visit from our buddy Wilkerson the evening before we left, thanks for coming out to see us Jason!) including a boat, a bus, a truck, an overnight train, and yet another bus we arrived from Koh Phangan to Bangkok and have been appreciating the sights and the tastes since we got here.





We started out getting our Buddha on by taking a day long tour of the Rattanakosin district, the historic old area of the city and also where we are staying. With a tuk tuk driver as our guide we visited many of the local temples and of course Buddhas that abound here.





















We climbed the Golden Mount for an awesome view of the city and encountered the thai smile and friendliness that the people are known for.



We also visited The Grand Palace and hit up the Patpong markets, and we even saw a ladyboy cabaret show, it was something else.





























In between all of our touring we have been eating like kings! Since you can get some pretty decent pad thai from the street vendors for $1 it is pretty easy to try all the flavors Thailand has to offer. We started off eating the spicy Tom Yum Kung, prawn hot soup, with spicy papaya salad on the side. We sampled the banana pancakes, or roti, the street vendors hawk and we have been loving the abundance of fresh fruit, vegetable juice, and smoothies that you can get at every corner. The mini thai tacos, fried batter filled with coconut cream and topped with all sorts of things from mango shreds to chives, spicy seafood curries and noodles galore, you name it you can get it here and for so cheap you can't help but want to try it all. Beer is also cheap and cold which with the heat here is the perfect accompaniment to every spicy meal. Brave Ross even sampled some fried spicy grasshoppers, he actually enjoyed them!





It has been a fun and delicious few days in Bangkok, the city definitely has a contagious energy to it and although crazy and crowded we really like it here, me and my stomach will happily return.



We are bound for Cambodia in the morning and will be checking in next from Siem Reap.

Koh Phangan

Looking to relax we made quite the change from the hustle and bustle of Kathmandu and decided to head to the sleepy island of Koh Phangan in Southern Thailand. A direct flight to Koa Samui and one ferry ride later we arrived in beach paradise.





We had heard of the infamous full moon parties that Koh Phangan hosts but looking for something a little quieter we headed away from the backpacker scene at Haad Rin beach to a smaller cove on the north east part of the island, Thong Nai Pan Noi. The small beach town hosts several resorts, from super upscale to more backpacker friendly, and a few shops and restaurants. There really isn't much more to do here than relax.

We decided to book a sea view bungalow and it has come with everything we need: a fan, a bucket to wash our sandy feet in, and a great view. We knew we were taking our chances coming in November, the rainy season, and our first few days were full of rain, monsoon like in the evenings, but we have been pleasantly surprised with sunny days to round out our week long stay here.







The island has been everything we were looking for. Quiet, and relaxing with an abundance of seafood curry to keep us both happy. Our days have been full of reading, laying out, sea kayaking, hiking to nearby beaches, and hilly humid morning runs. This definitely feels like a little paradise and has been a great week long break. I think we will be building a few more of these island getaways into the itinerary.