South East Asia - Summer 2009

We are now in Northern Thailand in a city called Pai. We ended up spending one night in Ayuthaya and checking out some ruins before taking a 14 hour night train to Chiang Mai. The train wasn't as bad as I though it was going to be, but still didn't get much sleep on the ride up.

We spent a few days in Chiang Mai, the second largest city in Thailand. We rented scooters and rode up to Doi Suthep, a temple at the top of a mountain/hill with a great view of the entire city. We also went to a waterfall and to the Chiang Mai Zoo where we got to see a Panda! There were great markets in Chiang Mai, we checked out a day market that we were told by a local was better than the touristy ones. We also went to the Sunday Night Market which is huge, we couldn't even wander through all of it. We did a bit of shopping though!

We took a mini-bus (15 passenger van) from Chiang Mai to Pai along the windiest road ever! It was about a 4 hour drive and we took some gravol before as car sickness if quite common due to the ridiculous amount of curves!

Pai is a very small town, but very relaxed and laid back. The day we arrived I wandered around and explored the town a bit. The second day we went out to a waterfall that we could swim in and spent a couple hours just relaxing by the water, there were lots of tourists out there doing the same. Yesterday we went scootered out to the natural hotsprings and past lots of elephant camps on the way. The hotsprings were very hot, but it was a very serene place and there were only a few locals there. We only spent a few minutes in the water but spent an hour or so just reading by the water.

We will probably take a bus to Chiang Rai tomorrow, which is closer to the Laos border, and spend a few days there before crossing into Laos. I have booked the flights for the rest of my trip so I now know what the rest of my trip will look like. After a month traveling through Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia, I will head to Southern Thailand and spend a couple weeks on the beaches before flying to Manila to meet Ryan and Camille. Then I will go to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia for a few days and then fly to Hong Kong for 5 days, then back to Bangkok for the last few days of my trip!

We spent the past 3 days in Kanchanaburi which is about 2 hours west of Bangkok. It was definitely a change of pace from the big city! The guest house we're staying at is on the Kwai River and only cost 70 baht a night (about $2.50 Canadian)! There is a nice lawn with palm trees and flowers and their are hammocks and beach chairs to relax in.

The day we arrived we just layed around enjoying the sun for a few hours and then that night we went to the night market in town. The next day we rented scooters and took them all around town. We went to the Kwai River bridge that was built by POWs during the war (and the movie 'Bridge over the River Kwai' is based on it). Then we drove around the back roads a bit and went to a temple inside of a cave. Our "tour guides" were two little Thai boys no more than 5 or 6 who wandered through the cave with us and sang Thai songs! Very cute.

Yesterday we decided to keep the scooters for another day and drive out to the Tiger Temple! There were about 15 or so Tigers that were rescued as babies by Monks who then tame them. It is very touristy compared to most things here and a bit more expensive (about $18 entry fee) but you get to pet tigers and end up with amazing pictures! We even got to kiss baby tigers on the neck! In a few days I will put up some pictures, but the computer I'm on right now won't let me.

Today we are taking the bus to Ayuthaya (the ancient capital of Thailand) and we will either spend the night there and check out some of the temples, or bus up to Chaing Mai right away, we will decide when we get there whether it's worth spending a day there.

The weather is nice and hot, yesterday was probably the hottest yet as we had to wear pants and tshirts to the Tiger Temple (no shorts or tank tops allowed for women). Every day around 4:30pm the rain starts and lasts for about 2 hours. There has been thunder and lightning every day and the rain comes down in buckets! We just sit on our patio and watch it come down, it's quite refreshing after a day of heat! Thankfully we have yet to get caught in the downpour, it's very predictable so we make sure we're back to our guesthouse in time!

We made it to Bangkok safe and sound!

We arrived at Khao San Road at about 1am this morning and it was definitely a bit of culture shock when we got out of the cab, the street was still full of people and food stands! It's now 9am over here and we're going to go get our first meal in Thailand in a few minutes, very excited about that!

We aren't too sure what we're going to do for the rest of the day yet, tomorrow we will likely check out the Saturday markets! Steph really wants to get a Thai massage after over 24 hours of traveling, so that may be in order for today.

Keeping this one short as I haven't gotten up to much yet!

Tomorrow is the big day! Steph and I are taking off to Bangkok with a quick 4 hour stopover in Tokyo.

Although I don't have a set schedule for what I'm going to do and where I'm going to go, I do have a general outline of an itinerary for the first few weeks and some ideas of things I want to do and see. We fly into Bangkok but we've been told that we'll only want to spend a couple of days (tops) in the city. We're then going to hop on a train (or bus) up to the north of Thailand to Chang Mai and Chang Rai. We will likely spend a couple weeks up north, going on treks and doing some elephant riding, checking out the markets. I'd also like to take a Thai cooking lesson.

After a few weeks in that area we plan to head over to Laos. Here we will likely go to Vang Vieng where we can spend a day innertubing down the Nam Song River. There is also some good caving in the area. After a few days in Laos, we plan to head over to Vietnam and Cambodia. In Cambodia I definitely am going to check out the Angkor Wat temple just outside of Siem Reap.

After this, I'm not too sure what the itinerary will look like other than two weeks in the Philippines at the end of July/early August where I will be meeting up with my brother Ryan and his girlfriend Camille and her family and friends. The rest of my time I plan on heading to the islands and beaches of southern Thailand, spending a few days in Hong Kong and making my way down to Malaysia to Kuala Lumpur and a couple of the islands off the west coast.

As of right now, that's all the plans I have! We are very excited to get over there and just see where life takes us!