There is so much to say about my Thailand trip, I had to break up my posts into 4: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, beach town and general tips for Thailand travel. Because there is always a camera glued to my hand, you can get an idea of our trip with this video we made:
This post has general tips, what to eat/where and FYIs:
The most golden tip I can give you is to get a business card with an address from your hotel to show taxi drivers getting you home. Also get your hotel concierge to talk to cab drivers picking you up to ensure they are going to the right spots.
Check to see if your hotel has laundry service and use it so you can carry on bags, Thailand is hot. Hot weather clothes are small. It will fit. (We did fly home with an extra duffel bag of gifts and souvenirs)
Buy a lot of things. Thailand is so cheap, it is super fun to buy a bunch of stuff at markets.
Hand sanitizer. A lot of it. All day. We even used it to wipe down utensils before eating street food.
Clothing for temples: women need to cover their knees and shoulders. Buy elephant pants once you're in Thailand, They're loose and breezy. No flip flops allowed, but I did see some people getting away with that one. If you are a woman and you're not dressed properly, they will not let you in or will make you wear a weird robe-like thing that looks hot and ridiculous.
Negotiate tuk tuk/cab/any transportation prices before the ride starts. It sounds more difficult than it is, we'd just walk up and say 100 baht to go whenever and they'd usually just say ok.
Be aware of your surrounds but we really never felt threatened or unsafe.
Bathrooms are terrifying - BYOT bring your own toilet paper always because they probably won't have any. Again with the hand sanitizer here, there might not be a sink with soap for hand washing. So much hand sanitizer.
Bring bug spray - mosquitoes weren't bad in Bangkok but I got eaten alive in Chiang Mai. You can also buy it in Thailand, there are corner stores everywhere.
Everything is outside, even restaurants, you'll get used to the heat. Pack cool clothes but men should bring at least one pair of pants. I wore a lot of sun dresses, workout clothes and then elephant pants to temples.
Hotel wifi is usually pretty good. Before leaving the hotel, screen shot maps of where you want to go to show cab/tuk tuk drivers.
Drink lots of water whenever you can, the heat makes you need to hydrate. But... keep in mind how terrifying public bathrooms are so drink for peeing convenience.
FOOD TIPS: every region has a completely different and amazing cuisine so pay attention and ask your hotel for restaurant and ordering recommendations.
In Thailand you order several different dishes and share, you don't each just order one thing per person. And if you're like me, you'll be order A LOT. Everything is so cheap so get adventurous and try a lot of things.
Street food: eat it but be mindful of the stall's cleanliness and make sure the food is fresh. Don't eat something that has been sitting out.
Bangkok: Eat grilled prawns, pad thai, chicken satay and papaya salad.
Eat mango sticky rice everywhere. As often as possible. You unwrap the rice, pour all the coconut milk on the rice and then eat it with a bite of mango. It will blow your mind.
Chiang Mai: Eat Khao Soi (as often as possible), Tom Yum soup, whole fried fish (in restaurants, not stands), cashew chicken and panang curry. Khao Soi is the best food I've ever tasted. Sausage is a Chiang Mai specialty, we tried it and didn't love it but maybe that's just the spoiled Texan in me.
Don't order Khao Soi in Bangkok and don't order Pad Thai in Chiang Mai. Each region does its own cuisine exceptionally well but doesn't do another region's cuisine well. Stick to the region's specialty.
Don't order beef. In any capacity. Ever. You won't die or anything but its gross.
The luxury we got to experience here was... ridiculous. Ko Lanta was our splurge stop. We stayed at the over the top, fabulous Pimalai Resort and Spa for three nights. There is so much to say about my Thailand trip, I had to break up my posts into 4: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, beach town and general tips for Thailand travel.
We flew into Krabi where our hotel picked us up in a shuttle, took us to their dock and speed boated us 90 minutes through bright waters with tall tiny islands shooting up for miles.
We had to make a death-defying, barefoot run down a floating, jointed pier to get to the beach. What a sight. It was the Thai island of your dreams.
Our hotel was one of a few on the beach, including a hostel - which we looked up just to make sure we weren't spending hundreds of dollars when we could be spending $30. There was a bunk bed situation we wouldn't have been happy with. The hostel's beach bar was, however, where we parked ourselves every afternoon for cheap cocktails, sea shell hunting, hermit crab spotting, ocean swimming good times. The cocktails were also the best I'd had in Thailand - if I had to drink another mojito I thought I might just stay sober. So a big thanks to them for keeping my cup full.
Because I'm a nerd, we watched a lot of Discovery Channel shows on Thailand, including one about sand bubbler crabs... which, if you look really closely, you could spot on this beach. We were the only ones not trampling through all their tiny balls of hard work.
There was also a reggae bar where we sat on pillows on the floor, listened to a live Thai reggae band and watched a guy throw fire around on the beach. Once the clock struck 10 p.m. however, the tide came up so high we had to run through 6 inches of water all the way home because the beach had fully disappeared. I might note we were cackling the entire time.
Three nights was the perfect amount of time here. We're not big on lounging on beaches, we like to explore. Which we definitely did, our hotel had bikes we checked out and rode into town, wizzed by a few elephants on the side of the road and found a few more bars to visit. There are also wild monkeys in this jungle all around our hotel, we got to see a group of them right outside our hotel room door.
Kayaking from out hotel was a really cool way to explore the island from afar. We paddled out and around, it was drizzling that day but made for some picturesque views. Also pretty sure I saw a box jelly fish, so be careful around these islands, they kill you. Me yelling 'oh baby jellyfish!' was Kevin's cue to cue our abrupt exit from the water... and into our private pool with a perfect view of the sunset.
Spoiled much? If you don't get a room with a private pool, you just have to deal with this terrible situation instead. Just joking, look at this thing. In love yet?
The food at Pimalai was superb. You get spring rolls with a jungle view on one side...
And fried soft shell crab and coconut soup with a beach front seat on the other side.
They really like to tout their happy hours, which is cute because the delicious bar 100 yards down the beach shakes up cocktails for a full $1, but the views from Pimalai really can't be beat.
Sunsets were spent lounging on our outdoor bed, watching the sunset perfectly right behind a tiny island in the ocean. Sigh. This is what dreams are made of.
Elephants, mopeds, mind blowing food, break-dancing, cooking class, crazy locals and night markets. Chiang Mai was the standout on the trip. We thought the so called "Old City" would be a more laid back, historical area, but it's bubbling youth culture was the overwhelming highlight. Keep your eyes peeled for phenomenal street art and your ears open for bumpin' 90's rap music.
Our Chiang Mai hotel was a 10 out of 10 for location, room extravagance and view. If you go to Chiang Mai, which you must, stay at Akyra Manor. Akyra Manor was in walking distance to a billion things and tuk tuks and red cabs were always out front. The view of the mountains on one side and the city on the other from the rooftop pool is breathtaking, and their bartender up there shakes up a mean lychee martini.
Our room was massive (for $200/night) and had a bathtub as big as a jacuzzi on the outside balcony. They also have laundry service, which we took advantage of after our dirty elephant adventure and a great included breakfast. There are a ton of tuk tuks but you should try the super cheap big red communal taxis. You flag them down and they take you and other passengers wherever requested (again, negotiate price and drop off location before boarding).
Right across the street from our hotel are several bars. I forced us to explore the loud music and announcer voice floating through the streets... it was one of those "we'll just have one drink" kind of an evening. Until we ran into a mass break-dancing fight. These guys have MOVES.
Then our "we'll just have one drink" night turned into this:
They drink 5 shots before they start drinking. You can see the shots below and, you know, just the normal Thai bar munchies: grubs and worms. It was basically the best night ever followed by the worst morning ever. Worth it. Earlier that day we also ran into a graffiti art contest near our hotel.
On the nightlife note: You say jazz bar and I'm there. We hit up the North Gate Jazz Bar because of all the hype on TripAdvisor. It was alright, I've lived in Louisiana though so if someone isn't belting it out, I kind of lose interest. It was nice and relaxing for a bit but we didn't stay long. It's missable.
Our hotel is in the Nimman Street area which is the spot to be for hopping bars, clubs, chill patio bars, high energy or low, you can find any type of nightlife you're interested in. This is the area you want to stay in. That youth culture I was talking about? This is the nucleus.
Warm Up is the SPOT in Chiang Mai. It was one of the only places open past midnight so every Thai in the area is there partying. I woke up the next day with about 10 new Thai facebook friends (I've been hitting that auto translate button a lot now... and it is really hilariously bad at translating Thai to English).
We also went to see a traditional Muay Thai fight. We went to Thaphae Stadium and the fights are real... pretty sure we saw someone get a rib cracked. This pretty much summed me up:
But the drinks were flowing and we had a fun Irish couple sitting next to us. The fighters are warming up and cooling down like 10 feet away from you so you get to go chat with them and take pictures pretending to punch their abs. The "half-time show" might have been my favorite part: they put 10 guys in the ring blind folded and had them go at it.
I'm still coming to terms with the fact that I might never eat Chiang Mai food again. We got a lot of restaurant recommendations from our hotel and they didn't disappoint.
In Chiang Mai you don't eat Pad Thai, you eat Khao Soi, Tom Yum Soup, whole fried fish, cashew chicken and panang curry in open air "restaurants" where they cook it at a stall on the edge of the seating area. Khao Soi is the real MVP (pictured above).
Tom Yum soup is pretty spicy but weirdly amazing. It doesn't look nearly as incredible as it tastes. Sausage is a Chiang Mai specialty, we tried it and didn't love it but maybe that's just the spoiled Texan in me. In Thailand you order several different dishes and share, you don't each just order one thing. And if you're like us, you'll order A LOT. These shrimp dumplings below were also incredible. My best tip is to over-order your face off in Chiang Mai.
Oh and: eat mango sticky rice. All the time. You can thank me later.
We've heard everyone drone on and on about Thai cooking classes and while I would rather just eat than learn how to cook, the Pantawan Cooking class was a great experience. You should do it too. I drank the koolaid, or panang curry, if you will. They also serve beer.
I have already made some of the recipes at home and blown people's mind. They also take you through a traditional market beforehand to buy the ingredients. We saw different veggies, herbs and meats we never even knew existed. Below is the fried whole fish you have to try, it looks super terrifying but don't let that deter you.
Onward... We didn't want to devote an entire day to elephants, and most elephant places are full day adventures. Our hotel was able to find a half day tour, with a "new" company that they weren't very sure about. Sounds shady... but it was awesome. Elephant Carer Home spent time letting us feed the elephants and do a little bonding before starting the death defying trek ahead of us.
I'm just joking, kind of. I was the only one who couldn't get comfortable on an elephant. Everyone else was chilling and relaxing as they enjoyed the beauty of the area. So while this is what we were seeing:
This is what I was most definitely feeling:
Needless to say, I was glad we did a half day trip, but I am so happy we did it. It was a super cool experience and I'm probably the only weirdo who can't find balance on a giant elephant.
We also got to bathe them and they were so cute. They were like puppies slashing around and smiling in the water. They also have a baby elephant that walked along beside her mom the whole time. If you plan accordingly, this elephant place is right by the long neck tribe (where the women wear all those gold bands around their necks) which we missed but would have been interesting to visit.
In the map, you'll notice a square moat around the old city of Chiang Mai. The area actually still has the moat and crumbling walls and gates around it. That alone is worth a trip to the city. There are a ton of temples in Chiang Mai and this map was my optimistic goal of seeing the coolest temples. From A (our hotel) to G (night bazar) is just about 4 miles. (I said optimistic remember?)
We decided to rent a moped, because everyone in Thailand zips around on motor bikes and we felt inspired. That was a terrible idea, and seriously don't do it unless you actually know how to drive one... So I was basically so concerned for my life the whole time, I couldn't keep up with where we were. Here is a list of the ones I determined, after exhaustive research were the coolest: (B) Wat Lok Molee, (C) Temple of the Lion Buddha Wat Phra Singh, (D) Wat Chedi Luang Worawihan (and monk chat), (E) Monastery of a Thousand Kilns Wat Phan Tao and (F) Wat Phan On.
Wat Chedi Luang is the most must see of all, not just because of the impressive, crumbling, ancient looking mountain-like temple but because of the "monk chats" held on the grounds. It was more like visiting ruins really. The monk chat was developed by an English dude who was hoping to get the monks some English practice. It was a bit intimidating walking in there but was incredibly eye opening. A monk told us his story of how he chooses not to talk to his family because those earthly ties (love) keep him from reaching nirvana. Woah.
Wat Lok Molee was actually our first stop, as planned, even though we had no idea where we were going. It was small, built in the 1300's, and all I remember is wanting to kiss the ground when we got there (it was our first moped stop). Temple of the Lion Buddha was very cool. We bought offerings at the stand at the door, they explained what we do with them and we entered the temple barefooted to see a golden shrine and a stationary monk meditating cross-legged in front of those kneeling on the floor. Wat Phan On will stop you from the road with a giant golden dome; it is a sight. We didn't make it to Monastery of a Thousand Kilns -Wat Phan Tao, not because we died, just because we were afraid of the possibility.
The night bazaar is amazing. There are literally millions of things to look at and they stretch miles. Buy a ton of stuff to bring home, everything is SO CHEAP. Retail therapy has nothing on Chiang Mai. I bought a real pearl necklace for $20. Saturday and Sundays are the walking street markets, these are, if possible, even more impressive than the night bazaar. Really be sure to articulate to your driver you want to Saturday/Sunday walking street market or they'll just take you back to the night bazaar.
At night, from the rooftop of the hotel, you can see Wat Phra That Doi Suthep glowing in the mountainside. You can ask your hotel to schedule you a driver to take you up and back down to this temple complex, and it is absolutely the most stunning, over the top, golden spectacle. There are monks strolling all around and you can see a fantastic view of Chiang Mai below. The drive through the Thai jungle (waterfalls included) to get there is pretty stunning too. I also really wanted to go to Wat U Mong on the same trip to Doi Suthep but we just didn't have the time.
Tiger Kingdom ended up accidentally being an adventure for us. We took one of those red cabs there and nearly flew out the back of it on the freeway. I'd recommend a traditional taxi driver or get your hotel to schedule you another car. Again, it isn't that expensive.
I was only down with petting baby tigers and they didn't disappoint. There were also big tigers, bigger tigers, white tigers and even lions for insane people to get in the pens with to pet. I kind of expected the tigers to seem drugged or sluggish... they were NOT. And there were crazy people in the pens with them snapping selfies.
We didn't realize there weren't just taxis waiting to take people home from Tiger Kingdom... so we were kind of stranded in the middle of the Chiang Mai countryside. Get your driver to wait for you. We walked out of Tiger Kingdom, turned right and there was a resort a mile or so down the road (no sidewalks and on a freeway in the middle of nowhere). The resort was kind of like Narnia, a weird oasis in the middle of nowhere. We got a few drinks and had them call us a cab.
Literally the best food I've ever eaten, most fun I've ever had with locals and temples and beaches like you've never seen before. Unless you've been to Thailand too. There is so much to say, I am breaking my Thailand post up into 4 posts: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, beach town and general tips for Thailand travel.
Watch this video of our trip:
I've gotten a lot of questions about my trip and I always answer with: You have got to go. From Bangkok to Chiang Mai to Ko Lanta every stop was uniquely adventurous. Our trip was so perfect, I'd recommend anyone follow our lead...
First stop: BANGKOK
HOTELS:
We stayed in two different hotels in Bangkok, one on the river (more peaceful and relaxing) and one in the heart of the crazy. Our first hotel was The Peninsula Bangkok and if we were to go back, I would stay here the entire time while in Bangkok. For around $200 a night you get a massive room, balcony, 15 white gloved staffers welcoming you in Thai and smiles every time you walk through the door. It's NICE. A hotel like that in America would probably run you $800 a night.
I was sick with a cold for our first few days here so we did a lot of eating at the hotel. There were four different incredible restaurants in the hotel and it was nice to have a spot to eat where you knew you didn't have to worry about getting 'Bangkok Belly'.
Our second hotel in Bangkok was Ariyosomvilla, a smaller boutique hotel. This one was a bit pricier (about $250/night) and just off Sukhumvit Road. Our room was fabulous and the hotel was definitely more low key but in walking distance to all the craziness. The thing is, getting around Bangkok is so cheap that location isn't as important as normal. Keep in mind though that traffic is a bitch here so pick a hotel at least near something you want to do.
From The Peninsula we walked out of the driveway, turned right and got several $6 massages at a little massage spot. Thai massages are definitely worth a try, I bet you never thought your leg could be bent backwards over your head... they'll make it happen. They also offer "relaxing massages" which are more like what we are used to.
Floating markets are all the hype in Bangkok according to travel sites... but most of them are really far outside of Bangkok. We didn't want to waste the time in traffic going outside of Bangkok so we taxied to Taling Chan floating market which is less than 10 miles from downtown.
I would recommend getting there early in the day. It starts shutting down around 2 or 3 pm depending on how many people show up. First of all, it was beautiful, with so many colors and vendors in boats selling weird thing to eat while tied up to the dock.
Just looking around was an experience in itself but you have to eat. These prawns were freshly grilled right in front of us and were bigger than my face. And don't use that beer as a reference for measurement - beers in Thailand are about three times the size of American ones. You also must eat chicken satays.
Our next adventure is a pretty unusual one... and that made it pretty incredible. Fishing. But... in true Thai fashion it was over the top.
Did I mention fish terrify me? Tap was our guide. He picked us up from the hotel and drove us out to this lake. He studied abroad in America and his English is basically perfect. He was super not creepy and really entertaining.
Bangkok Fishing Guide Service stocked the lake with rare Amazon fish and the catching was easy. Well hooking them was easy... reeling these monsters in took some muscle. Also... this fish as teeth. Human-like teeth.
We tuk tuk-ed around to all the places near the hotel. Just tell them how much you'll pay before riding so they don't jack up the price after. This all sounded stressful to me before going but they were really easy to negotiate with. No big deal.
We ate. We ate so much and as often as possible. The food is the best I've ever had.
It took a bit of a walk to pick the cleanest looking vendor with the freshest looking food. This one was near our hotel and was actually wearing gloves while preparing the food. We did wipe the utensils down with sanitizer before using them. It was delicious. Shrimp balls are the MVP.
We also made a very miss-able trip to Sky Bar from the Hang Over 2. It was super crowded and drinks were super expensive. I wouldn't go back but if you do go, men have to wear pants and everyone has to wear close toed shoes. We had to rent shoes from a genius lady who set up a shoe and pants rental stand across from the bar.
Now we venture to Ariyosomvilla hotel. It's a small, absolutely stunning room but I still preferred The Peninsula. But this is an entirely different part of Bangkok with entirely new adventures for us to explore. First stop was exploring the different streets around there (or Soi as they are called).
Sukhumvit is the longest road in Thailand. This is where you can go get a custom made suit or dress for cheap. Stores as far as the eye can see. The side streets, Sois, have restaurants and hopping bars and clubs.
We strolled on down to Soi 4, the red light district aka Nana Plaza. The photo below is a "lady boy" which is pretty self explanatory until you look at the photo. They really look like women. Soi 11 was a fun bar hopping area.
We spent one night exploring Khao San Road aka backpackers road. The area was busy with tourists, but not in an annoying way. It was a really interesting melting pot of people from all over the world. There are vendors selling things on the side of the road, from tarantula and scorpion on a stick to elephant pants and soft t-shirts.
The bar scene here could be comparable to Bourbon Street in New Orleans. There was a ton of live music - Thais singing American songs with a thick accent - it was a total blast. Don't miss this.
On our way home we stopped and ordered some grilled prawns on the side of the road and sat outside and ate them. The seafood selection is really stunning. We made sure they got us the prawns that were right on the ice to ensure their freshness. They grilled them right there in front of us. This is everywhere in Bangkok, choose wisely and eat at one.
We got a tip for the best way to view the riverside Wat Arun (which unfortunately had scaffolding covering the majority of it while we were there). There is a restaurant inside Sala Arun Hotel, with a spectacular view of the temple and river. It also has a balcony but we needed a little AC.
On our side of the river is Wat Po. This is where the giant reclining Buddha is, but that wasn't really the best part of this temple.
The temples sparkle. They are beautiful. Grab a coconut from a nearby stand and wander through the buildings. Photos can't really capture how ornate these buildings are.
We popped in to see the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, took a kneeling squat in the temple, crawled up to a monk who was blessing people, let him bless us, he tied a bracelet on us and sent us on our way.
We did all these temples and the Grand Palace in one afternoon. That's a lot of outside in the heat time so we went through a lot of bottled waters and sun screen. We bought tickets, did a quick spin through the inside and ran into a nearby restaurant for a drink and some AC. The Grand Palace has a very appropriate name and is worth a visit.
Bangkok is a giant busy city with ample food on every corner. Literally. Important to note that we never felt unsafe.
Next we flew to Chiang Mai. This was my favorite spot on our trip. I thought it would be historic and old, but there is a teeming youth culture overflowing the city with graffiti, break dancing, friendly locals and the best food in the world. Read about our next stop in Chiang Mai in the next blog post. Also see Thailand travel tips.
