Thailand Days 17-25: Krabi & Bangkok

Hello again family and friends! For the final time, we are checking in today from tropical Thailand to describe the amazing things that we have been up to for the past week or so. After working incredibly hard for the first half of our trip in the north, we ventured south to the beaches of Krabi. Finally, it was time for us to relax and catch some rays.

Upon our arrival in Krabi, the weather could not have been better. Sure, it may have been a bit hot, but the beach was only a five minute walk away. After setting our bags down and getting acquainted with our amazing resort, we headed to Ao Nang beach to get our first of many tanning sessions, catch some waves body surging, and throw the Frisbee around.

Unfortunately, the amazing weather and beaches were not to last for too long, as it is monsoon season in Krabi and the rain came in by the bucketful for the next two days. While the rain came on and off, the real trouble for us came with the wind, as it made the seas too treacherous to travel by boat. While we were a bit bummed by our turn of luck, this group did an amazing job of turning what could have been a really disappointing situation into a really fun one! Instead of our original plan of a boat tour, we decided to indulge in the following: authentic Thai massages, shopping in the town, kayaking through the Thai jungle (while hanging out on a white sand beach!) and hanging out by the rooftop infinity pool next door to our hotel. Not exactly a tough life. We also were lucky enough to get to participate in an authentic Thai silver class, with some of the TM’s even taking home self-crafted rings with the help of a Thai jewelry professional. While these were all amazing activities, we were ready to get out to the beach, and luckily for us, Mother Nature was ready to turn around.

The next two days in Krabi felt like they were out of a movie. On day one, we headed to Railay Bay, a small peninsula located between the city of Krabi and Ao Nang. It is accessible only by boat due to the high limestone cliffs cutting off mainland access. These cliffs attract rock climbers from all over the world, but the area is also popular due to its beautiful beaches and quiet relaxing atmosphere. The water was so warm! Our group spent the entire day at the beach, and many of us truly learned the value of sunscreen. At the beginning of the day, TM Remi said, “I want to sizzle!” She definitely got her wish, as did the rest of us. After enjoying lunch at the Railay Bay Resort, we moved from the west side to the east side of the peninsula, where the water was super shallow and provided a great view of the cliffs. By the time we got back, it was time to re-group and prepare for our last day in the south.

Our final day in Krabi consisted of an authentic longboat tour of the 4 Islands of Krabi. We jumped into our private boat as we made our way through the beautiful islands of Ao Bang. We had the opportunity to stop twice to snorkel, where we saw some of the most colorful fish ever, and had lunch at Poda Islands. After lunch, we headed to Chicken Island (named for its distinct shape, in which a peak juts out of the foliage and looks just like a chicken’s head) where the beaches are white and the water is warm, to snorkel and enjoy some excellent relaxation time in the water and on the sand. From there, we headed back to the hotel and prepared for our final domestic flight back to Bangkok. We were sad to leave Krabi, but excited to head back to the City of Angels.

Our final days in Bangkok can be described in one word: shopping. First, we went to the MBK mall, which was absolutely HUGE. The mall had over 2,000 shops and vendors and 6 floors. Parents, don’t let your kids say they didn’t have enough options with their souvenir shopping! Our final day before the end of our trip consisted with one of some most truly unique shopping experiences – first at the Maeklong Market, which is a market held on an actual railroad track. The coolest part of the market was definitely when the local train came right through the market on the tracks. We saw the vendors, in a matter of moments, slide their goods back to allow the train to come through and then got returned to normal immediately. It was so cool to witness! Finally, we went to the floating market that contained crafts and food to buy. It was truly amazing to see how we could step back in time to see how the locals were still selling their food on long tail boats. We were even able to take a boat ride around the floating market with a guide, which was so relaxing and scenic with huge palm trees lining the canals.

After the floating market, we headed back to the hotel to hold our final trip banquet, pack and get ready for our flights back home. As our trip in Thailand comes to a close, all of us on trip T2 want to say “Khob Khun Kha” or “Thank You” to the people of Thailand for having us along for this amazing adventure. The scenery was breathtaking, the people were unbelievably kind, and our group created memories that will last a lifetime. We will truly never forget our time here in Thailand, and personally, I can’t wait for the opportunity to come back again! Thank you to everyone for keeping up with this blog throughout the course of the trip.

ลาก่อน,

T2

Thailand Days 10-16: Chaing Mai (Service, Adrenaline and Elephants, Oh Mai!)

Hello again family and friends! We are writing to you this time from the southern shores of Krabi, Thailand, where the beaches are breathtaking and the food is still jaw-dropping. That’s a subject for another post, though. This time, we are going to talk about our time in Chiang Mai, Thailand, the final stop for us in the northern section of the country.

Our time in Chiang Mai began with a Thai cooking class. We don’t mean to brag, but we are all basically experts at cooking Pad Thai and Green Curry Chicken now. The class did an amazing job of walking us through what ingredients we needed and what steps to take to ensure that our stomachs were full and there were smiles on our faces. In the words of trip member (TM for short) Isabel, “I had no idea I was that good at cooking!” Added TM Ethan, “Hi Mom – can’t wait to cook this for you at home.” That’s a direct quote.

From there, we moved to our final service project, as we were tasked with teaching English as a Second Language to a diverse group of learners at a local school. We worked directly with students in grade one through six, creating lesson plans centered around playing games, singing songs, and making English so much fun to learn. We even got to eat lunch with and go to recess with the students! TM Hannah said it best when she said, “I will never forget how big their smiles were.” I don’t think any of us will. At the conclusion of our final day of service, the entire school came outside for a goodbye ceremony, and it’s pretty safe to say that there was not a dry eye among any of us.

After service, it was time for us to enjoy the fruits of our labor, relax and have fun! We started our true vacation time with a trip to Eagle Trek for some zip lining. Within one of the province’s oldest forests lies a zip line built in the forest canopy. We zipped from tree to tree, not only getting the adrenaline pumping but getting a great view of the forest, up close and personal. We were taken high into the canopy using a system of stations, tree houses, cables and sky bridges for over 5km, 15 zip lines, 2 sky bridges and 2 rappels! The longest zip line was 800 meters, giving everyone on the trip an adrenaline rush that we will remember forever.

Following a night of bartering and spending probably too much money at the Night Market and viewing our first ever Muay Thai fight (more on that later), we woke up and departed for our final temple viewing of the trip at Wat Doi Suthep. This is Chiang Mai’s most famous and revered temple. We were taken aback by the history of the place, as it was built near the end of the 14^th century and is known as a major pilgrimage destination during the important Buddhist holidays. Some of us were even blessed by one of the monks there, and we were able to witness local college students making the 10km trek up the hill to see the temple. It was clear how revered this temple is to the Buddhist people.

That afternoon, we were able to spend our time at one of Chiang Mai’s most famous Muay Thai (kickboxing) camps learning hands-on about this martial art which is also Thailand’s national sport. Learning from professional athletes who had competed (and won) all over Asia, we were able to learn the most popular sport in the country by stretching, learning the moves and sparring. We were getting pretty good at it, or so we thought – until we saw the demonstration by our trainers. Let’s just say that none of us are quite ready to become professional Muay Thai fighters just yet.

Our entire time in Chiang Mai was incredible, but we truly saved the best for last with our trip to Patara Elephant Farm. In truth, this part of the trip probably deserves an entire blog post on its own, but I’ll try to do my best to describe an experience that was truly beyond words. To give you an idea…”This was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever done.” – TM Skylar. Agreed. There were three main parts to the day with the elephants. First, we learned about the elephants and the farm, which included a presentation focused on elephant welfare and conservation. We learned about elephant farm management and Patara’s breeding program, including how to tell if an elephant is happy and healthy, how to approach the elephants, and daily health care for these amazing animals. Next, we met our elephants. Yes, that’s right, we each were given the opportunity to meet and interact with our own personal elephant for the day. We fed them, and practiced using commands to ride and control them, in preparation for part three: a trek with the elephants and fun activities such as elephant riding through the jungle, bathing and brushing, commanding the elephant to do things, etc. It cannot be overstated how cool this entire day was. It was truly beyond words.

Chiang Mai exceeded even the loftiest expectations of our group, and we were so sad to say goodbye. With that being said, we are so excited to be on the beautiful beaches of Krabi and can’t wait to tell you all about it in the next blog post!

ลาก่อน,

T2

Thailand Days 1-10: Bangkok, Chiang Rai, Mae Salak

สวัสดีเพื่อน ๆ และครอบครัว! ฉันเขียนถึงคุณจากประเทศไทยที่สวยงามในฐานะผู้นำการท่องเที่ยวเรามาที่นี่ในเมืองไทยเป็นเวลามากกว่าหนึ่งสัปดาห์แล้วและการเดินทางครั้งนี้เป็นปรากฏการณ์ที่น่าอัศจรรย์จนมาถึงแล้วด้วยสถานที่ท่องเที่ยวและประสบการณ์ที่น่าทึ่งกว่าแนวขอบฟ้า!

OK, now let’s try that in English…

Hello friends and family! I am writing to you from beautiful Thailand as the proud trip leader of Trip T2. We have been here in Thailand for just over a week now, and the trip has been absolutely phenomenal so far, with more incredible sights and experiences just over the horizon!

Our trip started with travel, and a lot of it. After a quick and easy 16 hour flight to Hong Kong and a two hour connection to Bangkok, we were in Thailand, ready to take on everything. Our trip began in one of the most scenic ways imaginable, with two days of touring Thailand’s capital city, Bangkok. While in Bangkok, we experienced all of the major sights and sounds, including a street food tour, night market, longboat rides, “tuk-tuk” (taxi) rides through the city, and many of the lavish temples that have become famous in Buddhist culture, including the Golden Mount, Grand Palace and the Reclining Buddah at Wat Pho as well as the ruins of the temples of the former capital city of Thailand, Ayutthaya. After spending some time there, it’s no wonder that this amazing city has earned the nickname “City of Angels!”

From Bangkok, we traveled north to Chiang Rai. Our first stop in Chiang Rai was to the White Temple, by far the most modern temple we had seen to that point. The entire temple was bathed in white and acts as a contemporary, unconventional art exhibit. It was really cool to see! After enjoying a break from the steamy Thailand weather with some ice cream, we headed back to our resort and prepared for our first day of community service.

Our first community service site was at Ban Huaymaesai Primary School. Our service was twofold – on day one, we engaged in beautification projects around the school, painting the cafeteria, exterior walls and bathrooms to give the kids at the school something they could be really proud of! Before heading back for day two, we had to make sure to treat ourselves for a job well done, and when in Thailand, there’s only one way to do that – with an authentic Thai massage. We all felt absolutely incredible when they were finished, and we were ready to tackle our community service on day two, which involved teaching the primary school children some English and organizing games for them to play. The smiles on their faces were never-ending, and surely will not be forgotten by anyone on our trip any time soon.

After Chiang Rai, we got into our vans and traveled to our current location, Mae Salak, in a completely remote area of northern Thailand. How remote? Well, the resort we are staying at isn’t even accessible by car – we had to take a longboat ride just to get here! We can all confidently say that the trip was worth the destination, however, as the resort in Mae Salak is gorgeous, surrounded by mountains and a nearby river. The peace and beauty of this section of the country is beyond words. In Mae Salak, we have gotten to see how rural Thailand truly lives, cooking our own meals in an authentic Thai hut over an open fire, mixing cement to help build a patio as part of our community service, and even getting an opportunity to work with the local Lahu tribe to farm rice by hand and using water buffalo!

This trip has truly been a once-in-a-lifetime experience so far, and the good news for us is that it’s only going to get better! We are all so grateful to be here and experience everything that Thailand has to offer, from its breathtaking landscapes to its amazing people. We can’t wait to see what the rest of the trip has in store for us.

Until next time,

T2