Photo Weeks #12 and #13

I’m back! Did you miss me? I’m happy to report that my vacation in Thailand this time was much more enjoyable and pleasant than my previous encounter with Thailand. Of course, I’m no longer a whiny kid who doesn’t like Thai food and can’t stand the heat, so that probably had a lot to do with it. I am now an older more mature adult who can endure sweating profusely for the sake of traveling and vacation. Just kidding, being sweaty 90% of the trip wasn’t so great, but I didn’t complain as much about it this time (I think). I took more photos with my actual camera than on my phone, so hopefully I’ll actually upload those. I know I haven’t uploaded any of my previous Taiwan photos yet. Oops.

The first weekend of the trip was spent on Koh Phangan, where my brother and my new(-ish) sister-in-law hosted a group of their close friends and family for a weekend in a giant villa that had a beautiful view, a dinner on the beach, and an infinity pool! Did I miss my chance to take basic af photos? Yes. Do I regret it? Maybe a tiny bit, but here is a photo of Jeremiah lounging in a donut floatie enjoying the view.

Generally, I’m not one to enjoy “water activities” – but surprisingly I feel very at ease on a boat. I get car sick and air sick, but I’ve never really been sea sick before and there’s something peaceful about being on a gently rocking boat in calm seas. Key word there: calm. The photos here aren’t reflective of a portion of our snorkeling and kayaking trip, which was pouring rain while we kayaked a little bit around a coast line. I was about 75% sure that Jeremiah and I were going to get swept out to sea, and I could barely see. An experience, for sure.

The second portion of the trip was spent relaxing on Koh Samui. The weather was hot but lying by the beach doing nothing was great. I guess I am starting to see why people like going to the beach to do nothing, but it has to be a really nice beach. Not those dirty LA beaches or cold Norcal beaches. I think in the future, though, I would just go to Hawaii if I wanted a beach vacation. Much closer and more shaved ice available. We also got a suggestion from one of the hotel hostesses to get dinner and see the sunset at the Jungle Club, which is a restaurant attached to a hotel at the top of a mountain. This meant that it had a great view, but also took forever to get to because we had to take a taxi to the bottom of the mountain and a separate taxi up to the hotel. It was a little muggy so we couldn’t really see a sunset, but it was there that I had the best green duck curry I have ever tasted, so it was 200% worth it in my book.

I also went riding on ATVs for the first time! I only got stuck twice, and I was the only woman in the group who drove her own ATV, so all the other women were very impressed by me. I think I would go again, now that I know what to expect!

The last part of our Thailand trip was spent in Bangkok. Most people we had asked said that Bangkok was whatever, and that they had enjoyed the other parts of Thailand (Chiang Mai, other islands) better. Taking that into consideration, Jeremiah and I spent most of the Bangkok time finding things to eat, and didn’t prioritize seeing temples or monuments. I also spent a lot of time drinking mango smoothies. I normally don’t like mangoes, either, but most of the time when we came upon a mango smoothie or mango selling place, I would buy it. So yummy.

We did go to visit Chatachuk Market, which was like a Taiwanese night market times 10000, so that was one “touristy” thing that we did. On the way back, we took the ferry and passed by the Wat Arun and the Grand Temple, so we did get to see a little bit of sightseeing! So we can at least say we saw it.

For our last dinner, we ate at a restaurant called The Local. We had been previously warned by my cousin that the food was spicy, but silly us thought that we could take the spiciness, and besides, we do like spicy food! That was a mistake. It was so spicy, but so delicious that we sweat and cried our way through the meal. Still worth it, though. We also ordered the appetizer sampler that came with a flower petal concoction that had many complex layers of flavor.

It was a good vacation, but it does feel nice to be back home after traveling so much. I also did not throw up this time which I count as a victory (although I have been feeling quite queasy since I returned so maybe I should not count it as a victory just yet…) I’ll be hopping on another plane this week to visit Cindy and Stacy on the East Coast (and also… run 10 miles…) which sounds a bit daunting right now after having traveled on 6 planes in the past two weeks, but I know once I get there I’ll be happy to be with them again!