With school starting back up, I’m unsure if I’ll actually be able to finish these posts, but I’ll certainly do my best.
My eighth day in Thailand was one of my transition days, so not spent doing quite as much as adventuring. Nonetheless, there were still some fun experiences I’d love to share.
My next destination for the trip was Chiang Mai, which is a city all the way up in the north of Thailand. I’d heard lots of good things about it, so in spite of it being a little further away, I opted to make it a priority.
Many people take the night train to get up there, but looking at prices I noted there were cheap flights from Bangkok, and with that I’d only spend a shorter time traveling for a similar price. The train was more than twelve hours, while flying was under an hour (though it would take a little more time to get a van back to Bangkok and then to the airport).
I woke early in the morning in Ayutthaya, had some breakfast at my hotel before calling a Grab Car to take me to the van station. My ticket had suggested showing up 30 minutes early, so I did so. This meant I actually ended up catching a 30 minute earlier van, and getting on the road earlier than I’d intended to. The van was pretty crowded, so I was crammed in a back seat with my backpack on my lap. Not the most glamorous ride, but cheap and effective to get back to Bangkok.
I arrived at Bangkok plenty early, called another Grab car to get to the airport.
Since I’d given myself plenty of leeway in my flight times (accounting for possible delays on the road, traffic etc), I had time to kill in the airport. So I had a coffee at a shop and relaxed for a bit and then even went to do a sit down meal for lunch (some kind of noodle dish and milk tea). I also wandered around a bit, as I hadn’t seen much of the place when I was coming in on my first day.
I had to admit it was very interesting to me that in the Bangkok airport for domestic flights you don’t go through security until you’re headed to your gate. I saw people with stickers saying they’d cleared security so they could then go back out and eat, but I opted to just wait until I was ready to go to my gate rather than coming and going. A short bit before my flight I went ahead and headed through a quick security line and headed to my gate.
The flight was very easy, and as it was so short I chose a window seat to really get the most of the views. Bangkok was fun to see from overhead, but I was most interested in seeing more of the North which I’d heard was lovely. Sure enough, the beautiful lush green surroundings to Chiang Mai were beautiful overhead.
When I’d booked my hotel on Booking.com it came with a complimentary taxi service, so I opted to use that for convenience. My driver picked me up and took me straight to my hotel, making things very easy.
I had opted to stay at the Twenty Lodge, a boutique hotel in the heart of the old city of Chiang Mai.
I checked into my hotel. They gave me some kind of refreshing tea that I really enjoyed and then showed me to my room. I set my stuff down before taking off to do a little exploring.
I enjoyed walking around a bit, mostly looking around some of the temples in the area, and admiring the canals surrounding the old city. I also spotted a few fun pieces of street art. Feel free to look through some pictures in the slideshow below.
Then I went back to my hotel and lounged by the pool for a bit.
At last I was ready to get some dinner. I cleaned up and then headed to find a restaurant.
I ended up settling at The House by Ginger, this lovely little restaurant in an old colonial home. I ordered a Chiang Mai Sling (white spirit, coconut liquor, lychee syrup, lime juice, white sugar, and pomegranate) and some fried rice with crab meat for my main course.
Everything tasted delicious, but what I loved the most was the atmosphere of the old house. It was just so fun, such a lovely romantic space with candlelight and an eclectic mix of couches and chairs at tables.
I was unable to resist dessert as well. I went with a brownie and ice cream, which was delicious and decadent. Definitely the perfect thing to end a busy day of traveling.
After I was finished eating, I headed back to the hotel. I’d been told the pool was open twenty-four hours so I opted to take one more swim before turning in for the night.
And that concluded another amazing day. Follow along to read about the other amazing days!
I woke up in my hotel in Ayutthaya and went to grab some breakfast in the courtyard before starting out on my explorations. My hotel had a nice breakfast with toast, juice, coffee, and fruit and then a main course of your choice (either more traditional Thai fare with rice etc. or more Americanized options). I went ahead and had eggs and sausage as I figured the protein would fill me up for a busy day.
Once I’d had my fair share of food, I took off towards the historic city. I started at Wat Ratchaburana . I bought a ticket to be able to get into all of the different archeological sites in the city and then headed into the first one I’d chosen to visit for the day.
Lizard spotted on the way to the temple
As with the day before, I wandered through the ruins, getting pictures and admiring everything there was to see. Wat Ratchaburana actually ended up being one of my favorite sites. One of the phrangs was actually open to go up inside. There were even some bats up in the corners of the chamber and you could admire the view of the temple from the top.
It didn’t take too long to see everything there was to see. Temperatures were heating up so I took off to the next site I’d planned to visit as quickly as I could, stopping a couple of times along the way to see other interesting things.
So as I mentioned in my last post, Ayutthaya is very spread out. Which is why a lot of people visiting more than one site choose to rent a bike. Unfortunately, overconfident person that I am, I looked at the distance and figured “oh I can just walk it”.
You’d think I’d have learned my lesson the day before of realizing Thai streets are not always built for walking.
Still, I went ahead and walked down to Wat Thammikarat, another site that was open for no charge.
Next was probably my biggest priority, heading to the site of the old palace (Wang Luang). I started by visiting Wat Mongkol Borpit. Much of Ayutthaya is in some amount of ruin, bases of buildings, crumbling phrangs, and chedis that are just exposed brick. This temple was a little more modern (1500s rather than 1300s), but it was also in a restored state and is still currently a working temple.
Picture of the temple before restoration
When I was done seeing the inside of the temple, I decided it was time to take a little break. Temperatures were continuing to rise. I know the hottest temperature I saw in terms of “currently feels like” was 109 degrees F (42 degrees C).
So I had a milk tea and some water and relaxed in the shade for a little bit.
Finally, I felt refreshed enough to continue, so I went on to visit the old palace. I wandered through, taking breaks in the shade of some trees as needed.
When I finished up seeing everything there was to see at Wang Luang, I headed over to Wat Phra Ram. I did stop to admire the elephants doing rides outside of the temple. Sadly, modern research shows that riding elephants can be harmful to them. So while I definitely would have loved to ride one in theory, I made a conscious decision not to participate. Still, I snapped a couple photos of the elephants walking by. They are definitely beautiful creatures. I hope one day Ayutthaya will get rid of their elephant rides, but sadly that’s probably a long way in the future at this point.
Still, I headed into Wat Phra Ram and saw everything there was to see there.
It was getting to be almost noon, so I hastened my pace a little, determined to see everything on my list before the heat became unbearable.
So, as quickly as I could, I made my way across the river to Wat Chaiwatthanaram, another ancient temple right along the Chao Phraya river.
I had thought about stopping for lunch, but again just felt any long break would only let the heat continue to increase. So with that in mind I grabbed some snacks at the 7 Eleven and then continued on my walk to the temple.
Some might feel like “well it’s just another crumbling temple, if you’ve seen one you’ve seen them all” but for me, I enjoyed the uniqueness of each one I saw. Wat Chaiwatthanaram had several very detailed parts, and several terracotta impressions of stories from the Buddha’s life. There was some restoration work being done, so there was some ugly scaffolding on a couple parts, but otherwise it was still impressive to see.
As I was already on the other side of the river, I opted to head down to Wat Phutthaisawan. It was one of the few temples that wasn’t completely destroyed during the collapse of Ayutthaya so it is actually still in beautiful condition and still used today. Unfortunately, it too was having some restoration work and had scaffolding, but it was still interesting to see what the former city might have looked like in its full glory rather than the crumbling archeological site that it is today.
The temperature was reaching its peak, and in order to get back across the river to my hotel, it would be a long walk. I opted to have a Grab car pick me up and take me to the Ayutthaya Historical Study Center on the other side of the river.
The study center was a small museum talking more about the history of Ayutthaya and giving more information about the various archeological sites. I particularly enjoyed that it was airconditioned so I could start to cool down after so much time out in the sun.
After I’d seen everything there was to see inside, I headed back out. I debated if I wanted to go elsewhere, but honestly I was exhausted. I’d walked about 14 miles (22 km), so I needed a break.
I headed back to my hotel, had a cold shower and otherwise just relaxed for the remainder of the hot and humid afternoon.
I was definitely getting pretty hungry though, so I soon mustered my strength and went back out to find some food. I ended up at Malakor Kitchen and Cafe.
I sat on their porch as the inside had open windows as well, so wouldn’t be much cooler. They did have lots of fans at least, so that definitely helped with the heat.
I had a passionfruit smoothie, some spring rolls, and a curry with pork and betel leaves (a leafy green kind of like spinach). Everything was delicious.
After finishing up dinner, I took a few more pictures of the temples lit up at night before heading back to my hotel. I needed to get packed as I would be taking off for my next destination early the next morning. However, I definitely had enjoyed what Ayutthaya had to offer. I saw so much beautiful history and it’s not a place I’ll forget anytime soon.
I had a lazy morning around Greenleaf Guesthouse to start my day. But, as much as I wanted to stick around Khao Yai National Park a bit longer, I had other parts of Thailand to explore. So I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before getting ready to go.
In the late morning, a driver took me and three others to the train station. We were all catching the same train, one heading to Bangkok but making a stop first in Ayutthaya.
I had never heard of Ayutthaya before I started researching places to see in Thailand, but it’s a pretty popular tourist destination, especially for those interested in history. Ayutthaya was at one point the Siamese capital, founded in the 1300s. Today there are ruins in varying states of decay of the once great city.
My train ride was a lot less pleasant than my first one was. I had chosen to sit in third class, as apparently second class (the best for regular trains during the day) was all booked up.
Though the second class car was definitely nothing fancy, third class was much more cramped and had no AC, just fans and an open window. You could tell people are used to being crammed on at times, as there were handles like they have on buses and subways. I did find it very interesting that there were reserved seats for Buddhist monks that clearly are set aside at all times.
Thankfully it wasn’t a very long ride, maybe an hour and a half to two hours. I did my best to just look out the window and admire the countryside. At last, we finally arrived at the small train station.
I bid farewell to the other two people who’d been in my group at the guesthouse with me before setting out to my hotel.
My phone said it was less than a mile to the hotel. I’ve walked more than that before, even with a heavy suitcase, so I waved off taxi drivers and set off walking.
Maybe three minutes later I realized what a mistake this was.
While I’ve struggled with suitcases on cobblestone streets and the like in Europe, I found Ayutthaya to be lacking in pedestrian spaces. If there was a sidewalk it often was crumbling, blocked by bins, bikes, cars etc. I was ending up in the street quite a bit and also noticed I’d have to take what looked like a freeway overpass to get over the train tracks. I was a bit dubious that there would be a proper walkway across that. On top of that it was over 100 degrees F (37 C). So, I parked myself in the shade on a corner, pulled out my phone and requested a Grab Car.
My ride was there a few minutes later, taking me to my hotel in blissful air conditioning.
Sure enough, it was a very short drive, but I was relieved to be out of the heat and felt this was a safer option to walking overall.
I arrived at my hotel, Luang Chumni Village. It was pretty much a large house in traditional Thai style with some modern amenities. I spent a few minutes in the AC in my room, drinking some water and laughing at the “No Durian” signs on the fridge. For any who don’t know, Durian is a very smelly fruit, so I did see several signs asking people not to have it in hotels and other public spaces, but this was my first encounter.
Finally, I gathered my day pack and set out to go explore.
The remains of the historic city of Ayutthaya is quite large, spread out across the city, though concentrated on an island in the middle. Still, I knew being mid afternoon I probably would only see a small part and could concentrate on seeing more the next day as I was staying two nights.
Some ruins close to my hotel (free to wander around)
I grabbed a few snacks at 7 Eleven and then took off to Wat Maha That, the remains of an ancient temple. As Ayutthaya is spread out, you can buy a ticket to get you into all the sites for one day, or just individually buy ones for the sites you want to visit. There are also some parts that are free, but the more elaborate structures all charge. I went ahead and just bought an individual ticket, figuring it was unlikely I’d see more than one part with so little of the day remaining.
Sure enough, I wandered through the temple and found myself dripping sweat. It’s pretty exposed out in the sun. They provided free umbrellas for people to shade themselves, but even that only did so much. I also had noticed signs asking women to cover up, so I had slipped some lightweight pants over my shorts, warming me further. I’m not sure the rule was actually being enforced, but I would rather be safe and respectful.
I just meandered through the various temple structures, admiring crumbling phrangs, old pieces of statues, and everything there was to see.
I finally wrapped up my wanderings and headed out of the complex. I noticed there was a park behind the temple, Bueng Phra Ram Park, a large green space with some ponds and shady trees. I sat under one of the trees to eat a snack and rehydrate.
As I was doing so, and debating what I wanted to do next, I noticed a beautiful bird flying by.
I mentioned in my last post, but for any who don’t know I’ve become very interested in birding in the last year. I read a book about the intelligence of birds called The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman and every since I’ve been hooked. It’s pretty budget as far as hobbies go and makes for good motivation to get out into nature. So, needless to say seeing some new birds had me intrigued.
Turned out the bird was a Common Hoopoe. But as I watched it fly away I was beginning to notice more birds gathered around the large ponds.
Since I knew the day was drawing to a close, not the best time to go explore the other sites, I figured this might make for a good conclusion to my day. I’d stick to the shade of the park and see what beautiful new birds and other animals I could spot.
So I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering, taking photos, listening and looking for birds. I wandered over bridges and looked at a few free ruins in the mix. I recorded a number of new species I had never seen before. I also was surprised by alarge Asian Monitor Lizard in the waters of a pond. He disappeared into the lush aquatic plants before I could snap a picture.
At last, I was tired and ready to be done for the day. I headed back to the hotel, bought some cold water on the way and then took a cold shower to refresh before dinner.
For dinner I ate at a place called Earl Thai. I know I had some kind of a chicken and rice dish which I enjoyed. I had wanted to do one of the curries but unfortunately it was unavailable the night I was there.
On my way back to my hotel I took some pictures of the temples in the evening light. I also stopped by the night market. I’ve seen my fair share of markets in Europe, but definitely haven’t visited one at night, so that was a fun new experience. I didn’t buy anything, but enjoyed wandering a bit.
As I was heading back to the hotel, I realized I was still a little hungry so I grabbed some chocolate ice cream at a local parlor called Duca Tim. They did soft serve, two flavors for the day. You could get one or both flavors in a swirl and then pick your cone flavor. It was very fun and colorful experience!
Finally I headed back to the hotel, determined to get a good night’s rest before another eventful day.
I began my morning in Khao Yai National Park with breakfast at my guest house. Greenleaf Guest House has a small restaurant attached, so they offered food you could order. I had eggs, toast, fruit, and coffee.
After filling up, our group hopped on the back of the truck and took off for the park with our guide, a different one than the day before.
We stopped at the park gates. Apparently they need names of anyone entering the park submitted ahead of time online, and our guide had done so, but technology being what it is, it hadn’t gone through. We entered our names in her phone again and waited before finally being granted access.
The roads wound up into the mountains through beautiful lush jungle. Even as someone who had visited beautiful tropical locations before, I was in awe of the gorgeous scenery.
A few minutes up the road, we stopped pretty quickly, our guide noticing a snake in some bushes on the side of the road. Somehow she’d managed to see it from her spot in the passenger seat. We were all quite impressed with her skills.
It was an Oriental Whipsnake, named for its slim body and crested eyes. Our guide tried to pull it out of the bushes to look at more closely but eventually had to just let it continue on its way as it had slithered out of her reach.
We continued driving onwards, keeping our eyes peeled for more wildlife.
At the top of the mountains we stopped at a viewpoint. Our guide passed out leech socks. To anyone not familiar with leech socks (I definitely wasn’t before this trip) they are small cloth sacks the size of your foot that you slide on like a sock over your socks and the bottom of your pant leg. You then fasten them to keep them tight around your leg, thereby preventing leeches from crawling under your pant legs and finding a place to feed. As it was becoming the wet season in Thailand, leeches were more of a problem so it was important to take precautions.
After some pictures at the viewpoint and securing our socks in place, we continued driving. We stopped at the visitor’s center and had a look around and a short break. Our guide gave us some mango sticky rice in banana leaf as a snack to prepare for our upcoming hike. Then we were back on the road again.
We stopped for a view of a Great Hornbill. As someone who’s gotten into birding lately, I was definitely thrilled to get to add such a beautiful species to my life list.
We did a little more driving and looking for species from the car, but sadly weren’t able to see much else. Our guide then had us stop at a trailhead and we began walking into the jungle.
Our first animal spotted was a Cardamom Mountains Pricklenape, a very unique looking lizard. Our guide kept joking about him wearing eyeshadow since he does have a dark coloring around his eyes.
We kept walking further into the trees. I was at the back, but suddenly the entire group froze. Everyone ahead of me was open-mouthed. As I crept a bit closer, I caught a glimpse of a large black furry form. Before I could even think to raise my camera, it bolted into the trees.
At first I was unable to even comprehend what I’d seen. My brain was trying to register monkey, but I knew the largest monkeys in the area weren’t that big.
Our guide, who was also still in some shock, said it was a juvenile Sun Bear. In all her years at the park, she said she’d never seen one that close before.
We waited for a bit while our guide called her boss and told him. He was nearby and came to look around and see if he could find the bear again. Sadly no luck.
Our guide had calmed down some, but she was still a little shaken. Admittedly to come face to face to such a large and dangerous animal, had to be a shocking experience. As I hadn’t gotten as good of a look and hadn’t even realized what I was looking at until after it was gone, I wasn’t quite so scared.
We continued on our walk, stopping to look at some different insects and bugs. We also spotted some claw marks left from a Sun Bear in the area.
We took a break at a large tree… well I say tree but really it was just where a tree had been before vines had strangled it. Now the vines remained like a giant cage. We climbed through them, amazed at how large they were.
The group sat and ate some snacks. Our guide had gone to scope ahead, leaving us alone. We sat chatting for a bit before we became intrigued by something inching along the ground. It looked like a little dark colored worm, moving in a strange manner, inching and wriggling and then standing on one end and stretching towards us. We were all quite curious.
Our guide returned and we asked her about the strange creature. She told us to move away as that was a leech and the reason it was moving towards us was because it could sense us and was looking to feed.
Thoroughly freaked out we all backed away and followed our guide onwards. It definitely wasn’t like leeches I’d seen in movies.
A few minutes later while looking at something I felt a strange sensation on my finger. It felt like playing with a straw as a child, pressing it to your skin and sucking. Sure enough when I looked down there was a leech clinging to my hand.
I immediately began to panic. I’ll admit, it was not my finest moment.
My guide flicked the leech away and looked at my hand. The little beast hadn’t broken the skin thankfully. She said it was unlikely they would as finger pads have pretty thick skin on them.
Needless to say I kept my arms closer to my body from then on out, worried about brushing against vegetation and having another tiny hitchhiker join me for a ride.
The jungle soon cleared and we came into a large grassland type area. We saw some elephant footprints and dung, but sadly no elephants.
In the middle of the grassland was a watch tower to look for animals. So we climbed up and took a look around. No luck at spotting anything big, though we did admire some swift nests built under the tower.
At last, we came to the end of the trail. The truck met us there and drove us to a restaurant in the park where we had lunch. I went ahead and ordered Pad Thai again, though it wasn’t nearly as good as the day before. Our group enjoyed our food and some fresh watermelon, chatting and sharing pictures with one another. Sadly, no one had managed to get a picture of the Sun Bear before it took off.
With some time remaining for our lunch break, we wandered around the restaurant area a little. I ordered an iced milk tea. I also admired a Sambar (a type of deer) lying near the rest area.
Our guide had set up her scope near a bird nest up front, keeping an eye out for the mama bird to come back. Sure enough, a Long Tailed Broadbill soon showed up. We admired her colors through the scope.
As we were getting pictures of the bird, there was a commotion behind us. Turning around, we saw a monkey with something in his mouth quickly climbing up to the roof of the restaurant. Apparently the sneaky macaque had snuck down, grabbed someone’s food and then quickly headed back up to hide on the roof out of reach.
We had a good time sitting and watching him for a bit, before our guide told us it was time to go. The monkey we’d seen earlier sat at the exit, seemingly watching us leave. He really was prime entertainment.
On the road we drove around a little bit, seeing a juvenile Red Muntjac and its mother. We also saw a large Asian Water Monitor Lizard, though our guide assured us it was actually more of a medium size.
We stopped at a waterfall, hiking down into the canyon to get a better look and take some pictures. Sadly, there is no swimming allowed in the park, but it was still beautiful.
After that the leech socks were finally able to come off as we would be spending the remainder of our trip in the back of the truck.
Apparently evenings are a good time to spot wildlife, so the tour concluded with a drive along some of the roads keeping an eye out for monkeys and elephants.
But after only a short time of driving, our driver pulled over and our guide asked us to hop out quickly. The driver went and grabbed something out of the road using a piece of cloth. He came over to where we were standing on the side of the road and put down the biggest scorpion I’d ever seen. Looking it up later it was a type of Giant Forest Scorpion. Thanks to their large size and bright green color they are very a bit easier to spot crossing the road, so our guide thought it would be a fun thing for us to see, and we’d save it from being run over too.
Our guide let us get some pictures, even turning it around so we could get a better angle. She’s definitely a braver woman than I.
After we were done photographing the scorpion, we hopped back in the truck and continued driving. And before too long we started spotting monkeys. Lots and lots of Pig-Tailed Macaques hanging out along the road. Most of them know that tourists often have food and make easy pickings. Our guide had warned us ahead of time to have food and even sodas tucked away if we didn’t want monkeys in the truck stealing from us. We got to admire them from a safe distance, especially laughing at one larger male who would block traffic to check if there was anything worth taking.
The sun was beginning to go down, so unfortunately we did eventually turn around and head back towards the exit of the park. No elephants spotted.
I was at the back of the truck, so I was staring down the road behind us. I noticed a fuzzy black head poking out of a bush towards the side of the road. My mind immediately jumped to a dog based on the size, and knowing there were plenty of feral dogs in Thailand, I just assumed one had made its home in the park. But as I started to laugh about it to the group, I watched a bear look both ways before heading out of the bushes. And behind the bear were two little black cubs. Sadly by the time I realized, I didn’t get a picture, and only one other person in the group saw it. I apologized for not realizing sooner it was a bear, as I’m used to American bears which are much bigger. Still, I was thrilled to know I’d seen not one but four sun bears in my time in the park. I missed a porcupine others spotted at the front of the truck later, so it was definitely luck of the draw sometimes on spotting wildlife.
We headed back to the guest house for the night. As most of us had to pack or were leaving by train that night, we didn’t hang out as long in the evening, but did enjoy dinner together before heading back to get working on packing our bags, ready for another adventure in the day ahead. I would miss Khao Yai, but definitely looked forward to something new the next day.
After getting up and having breakfast at my hotel in Bangkok, I called for a Grab car to take me to the train station. My next destination for the trip was Khao Yai National Park.
I had booked a train to Pak Chong, the town nearest to the main park entrance.
I’d heard all kinds of rumors about Thai trains always being delayed, having problems, slower than driving, etc. I had none of those problems, so I was actually pretty happy with my first train experience.
Now, I love national parks, but unfortunately they are one type of tourist destination where you really need to have a car. I did manage to visit a national park in Croatia without a car… but from my research, this just really wouldn’t be feasible for Khao Yai. I already hate driving in my own country, and can’t even fathom what it would be like to drive in Thailand with crazy traffic and the fact they drive on the other side of the road from what we’re used to in the states. So, since renting a car or motorbike was not something I was willing to consider, I opted instead to hire a tour company to take me into the park. I knew there were trails you weren’t supposed to access without a guide anyways (I guess some tourists got lost in the jungle at night at some point and sadly ruined it for everyone). So it seemed like a good option to go with that.
Settling on the tour company option, I ended up hiring Greenleaf Guesthouse and Tours. Initially I was just going to use them to do the tour, but I ended up deciding to also use their accommodations for simplicity’s sake. This would be a little change from my usual type of place though, as the guesthouse was less of a hotel and more of a backpackers retreat. Very basic, only a bed and small bathroom. No AC. No hot water.
Still, the driver picked me up at the train station and took me and a few others over to the guest house. When I’d contacted the guest house a couple weeks before they’d said no one else was signed up to tour on that day, and I might end up having to pay more for a private tour just by myself. But thankfully a few others did end up signing up last minute so I was able to do a half day and full day tour for a much lower price and with other people to adventure with. Though I love solo travel, it does get a little lonely sometimes, so a group tour can be a nice change of pace.
We were dropped off at the guesthouse and had a little time to get ready for the half day tour. Once I’d gathered my stuff and made sure I was appropriately dressed in long pants and closed-toed shoes, I headed to the restaurant area out front of the guesthouse. I went ahead and ordered lunch before we took off, doing chicken and cashews with rice which was really delicious.
Having been fed, we loaded onto an open-backed truck and set off down the windy roads. We stopped briefly at a huge golden statue of a monk. Apparently he had turned salt water on one of the Thai islands into freshwater and therefore was very revered and had the statue built in his honor.
Back in the truck, we were offered some chips as a snack and then headed to our next destination: the Ban Tha Chang spring.
Everyone shed their clothes and jumped in the water to enjoy cooling down after time out in the heat. Our guide even built a makeshift changing room for anyone who needed it and most of us spent the time just relaxing and cooling off.
The water was so refreshing and felt amazing. Our guide pointed out a few more natural wonders to us such as a golden orbweaver spider in the trees (too far away to get a decent picture) before we hopped back in the truck again.
In the parking lot, our guide had found a huge millipede and had fun showing it off to us. He let those who felt brave enough hold it. My appreciation of bugs and insects has come a long ways, but I still am not fond of critters crawling on me so I opted to pass.
Before too long we pulled over at a temple called Wat Sa Nam Sai. We walked around the grounds a bit, and our guide showed us some local insects such as the weaver ants that build their homes by sewing leaves together. Our guide then handed us masks to put on our faces and flashlights and led us to some stairs heading deep into the earth.
We passed hanging tree roots and descended into the dark depths. At the bottom of the stairs, we saw several branching caverns and a Buddha statue, and we heard some squeaking noises.
This Buddhist temple also had a cave as a part of their complex. The monks use it to meditate, coming down and sitting in the complete darkness and relative silence and using it to empty their minds. But other residents have made themselves at home alongside the monks. These were thousands of small bats.
Our guide showed us various bats, two different species. He explained more about them to us while we wandered through the caves. He did at one point lead us back into the furthest depths and asked us turn off our flashlights and fall quiet, seeing what the monks must experience when they meditate. It truly was pitch blackness, darker than anything I’ve experienced before.
The bats kept fluttering around us. Our guide did mention that sometimes the young ones will bump into you. I didn’t personally have any hit me, but they definitely came pretty close. I’m not a person who’s scared of bats, so personally I found it to be an amazing experience.
Back out of the cave we removed our masks. Apparently sometimes there’s fungus that grows in bat guano, so it was just a precaution. We jumped back on the truck and headed off down the road.
We stopped at another cave, though our guide warned us we weren’t going in, and certainly wouldn’t want to even if we could. Apparently while there had been a hundred thousand bats in the previous cave, there were more than two million in the current one.
Instead, we took woven mats and went and sat in the nearby fields. Our guide offered some fresh pineapple and binoculars and we waited as the sun went down. Hawks were beginning to gather, knowing what was coming. And indeed as the sun sank lower, bats began to emerge from the cave from two separate entrances. Millions upon millions poured forth, flying in clouds through the sky.
I’ve put pictures below, but truly they can’t capture the experience. The noise of millions of wings flapping, of little bat sounds, the hawks swooping down to get dinner. It was a marvel to experience and something I’ll likely never forget.
After the clouds of bats were beginning to disperse, our guide had us go and stand along the road facing some trees. The sun had almost fully sunk at this point, so it was getting very dark. We stood very still and quiet, and then sure enough a few bats began to fly out towards us. One girl on the tour freaked out a little and had me trade places with her so I was more in the middle of the fray. I stood there letting the bats fly past me, hearing their wings flap and their little squeaks as they avoided colliding with me. Apparently these were the same ones we saw earlier. They take a route out of the cave and through the trees every night and our guide has memorized their route and enjoys putting his groups in that experience.
At last, our guide called it a night, though one of our members realized she’d dropped her phone somewhere. We formed a search party and combed the field we’d been sitting in and thankfully were able to find it.
Our guide made two last stops, one to show us the fireflies, and another at the local 7 eleven to pick up any needed supplies for the next day (apparently a couple people didn’t have good insect repellent).
Back at our guesthouse we had dinner together. I ordered the Pad Thai. I’d been putting it off, not wanting to be too much of a stereotypical tourist. It actually ended up being the best Pad Thai I had on the trip, so I was very glad I had it when I did.
Me and a couple others chatted for a while before finally heading to bed. The guesthouse rooms were indeed very basic, but after a tiring day like the one I’d had it didn’t really matter. I took a cold shower, turned on my bedroom fan and collapsed into bed, ready for the next day, and looking forward to even more adventures.
Day two of my adventure in Thailand started with an early morning in Bangkok. I actually originally woke up at 4 AM (curse you jetlag), but did fall back asleep until 7, which was when I’d set my alarm for in the first place.
I headed downstairs to grab some breakfast. One criteria I almost always have in picking my hotels is that they have a breakfast available (preferably just included in the price). I actually am a person who really needs some sustenance in the morning to function on the regular. So when I’m out trekking it’s imperative I eat something.
My hotel had a nice variety of food, some more “Americanized” options like eggs, ham, toast. But also some rice and some kind of stir fried meat and peppers, which I found very delicious. Having filled up I felt ready to face the day ahead.
My first stop was the Grand Palace. My research before the trip had indicated it was a must see in Thailand. Hence making it a priority for the day. I had heard it was good to get there early, avoiding both the heat and the crowds. So I went as soon as it opened at 8:30.
The Grand Palace is essentially a large complex including the royal residence (Thailand still has a monarchy) as well as a temple, and some other structures. I went ahead and rented an audioguide to be able to get some more information as I walked around.
It was very warm in the sun, so I was definitely glad I’d gone early in the day, though I still had to stop and buy water more than once while walking.
I took lots of pictures so make sure to scroll through the slideshow below to get some views of the beauty of the Grand Palace.
I also took advantage of the museums in the complex while I was there. One was devoted to the temple and another called the Queen Sirikit Museum of Textiles was essentially devoted to the fashion worn by the queen mother. I enjoyed both, especially some time in the air conditioned buildings instead of the intense heat of the sun.
When I finished at the Grand Palace, I decided to walk over to Wat Pho, a nearby temple complex that houses the Temple of the Reclining Buddha.
I walked around a bit inside the complex, admiring the various parts of the temple especially the enormous reclining Buddha (pictures just don’t quite do it justice). The temperatures were definitely rising though, so I opted to get some ice cream and water for lunch before deciding I needed a longer break in air conditioning.
My ticket to the Grand Palace also included a show called the Khon Thai Masked Dance performance. It was only available in the afternoon, so I hadn’t worried about it earlier. But now it seemed like a good option.
So figuring I’d already paid for it anyway and could use a break inside, I hopped on one of their open air trolleys to get over to the theater. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take my hat off and as we were driving it came flying off into the busy road. Of course, it wasn’t like I could easily ask the driver to stop so I could fetch it. So I just resigned myself to losing my hat. The good news was, I’d brought a backup one, not to mention I was sure I could find a cheap one elsewhere if I really needed.
At the theater, I headed inside and found a seat. For the next thirty minutes I watched various dancers perform. They did some dances showing the various time periods of Thai history, a couple showing off different regional dances, and also did a retelling of one of their traditional stories in dance form. All in all, very beautiful and enjoyable.
An example of what some of the costumes looked like
After the performance, I hopped back on the trolley to head back to the Grand Palace. They stopped to let some people out on the far corner of the palace, and I realized it was right near where I’d lost my hat. I figured it had probably been run over, but honestly, since I was in the area I figured I’d check.
As I scanned the road, I saw nothing, but when I happened to look off the road I saw a hat sitting on one of the posts that keeps vehicles off the curb. I ran over, and there was my hat in perfect condition.
A Thai man who had apparently either seen someone grab it and put it safely there or perhaps done so himself was delighted to see me get it. He smiled and said something in Thai, and I just grinned feeling so incredibly lucky.
The heat was only continuing to get more intense so I headed back to my hotel to enjoy the pool for a bit. I admired a few things along the way, but otherwise just went straight back. Definitely a good choice!
Government offices were decorated with white and purple ribbons for the Queen’s birthday, which was happening later in the week
That evening, I headed out to find dinner. I figured I’d venture down to Chinatown to do something different. I saw some good reviews for a fried noodle place not too far from Chinatown, so I headed there. The place was called Ann Guay Tiew Kua Gai, and it had a Michelin award.
I decided to try something different and chose the fried noodles and shrimp. I also had a coconut beverage which was delicious. The noodles came out and I was not impressed. The shrimp didn’t taste very fresh to me. The fried noodles had a weird slimy and gluey texture underneath the crispy exterior. (I actually did end up having these noodles again later in the trip and decided they just aren’t really for me texture-wise). They also brought some kind of a sour soup that was okay.
I left the restaurant, initially thinking maybe I could walk down to more of the real part of Chinatown and walk around. But I was pretty tired out from the day, so I opted to instead to just walk past The Giant Swing, a tall red structure outside of a temple that used to be used for ceremonies. It wasn’t very far out of the way on my way back to my hotel.
I actually ended up being very glad I didn’t go all the way down to Chinatown as it started raining really hard. I was thoroughly soaked by the time I got back to my hotel, even with an umbrella.
I’d hoped to swim again in the evening, but sadly the weather foiled those plans (also doing some thunder and lightning… never a great idea in an outdoor pool).
With all of those adventures behind me I headed to bed ready for more excitement the next day.
Hello all! So happy to be back with more travel blogging after a year long break. Between work and COVID, it’s definitely been a bit harder to get out in the world, but hopefully there will be even more adventures to write about in the future.
A few disclaimers: firstly this is not a solo trip. While I do a fair amount of solo travel and have several posts on this blog dedicated to that, this trip was one with my family. My parents are also big on travel, so when I have opportunities to join them on world exploration, I often do.
Secondly, I know as of June 13th Mexico has been moved back to a level 3 COVID level by the CDC. When we were traveling Mexico was at a level 2, so much less of a risk. If you are traveling please make sure you are staying up to date on current rates of infection and when in doubt consult with a travel medicine doctor if you can.
Now, why Mexico? And why the Yucatan? While both my parents and I are teachers and can take longer vacations in the summer, my brother has a more limited schedule and was only able to get away for about a week. Therefore, the family felt an international trip needed to be to somewhere not too far away and involving minimal jet lag. As I have always wanted to see some of the Mayan ruins and cenotes (caverns with water in them), I seriously pushed for the Riviera Maya and thankfully the family agreed. So with plans in place, we took off after the school year ended.
Day one was focused mostly on flights and getting to Cancun. Once we arrived we were picked up by our rental car company Yes Rental. They were very helpful and friendly and got us set up in our car so we would be able to explore lots of places in the area.
With the rental car taken care of, we started off driving down the coast to the town where we’d be staying the night, Puerto Morelos. We enjoyed the sights on the drive, particularly this fun crocodile mural (pictured below).
Our hotel for the night was called the Amar Inn, a cute place on the beach with little cabins with palapas style rooves made out of palm leaves.
With no specific plans for the afternoon, we figured a little beach time would be a good way to unwind after all the traveling. However, it wasn’t quite the tropical paradise welcome I was expecting. The sky was gray, and the wind was really blowing, remnants of the hurricane that had rolled through a few days before on the opposite coast. Sadly it just wasn’t quite warm enough to really enjoy the water as much as I’d anticipated. And on top of that there seemed to be a huge amount of seaweed piled up in the surf.
Me–disappointed by the stormy weather rather than the sunshine I expected
I’ve read up a bit on the seaweed problem since our stay out of curiosity. Turns out it’s an algae called Sargassum, which has been a problem along the Riviera Maya on several beaches in recent months. Sadly it means the waters aren’t quite as crystal clear blue as they normally are, and it also does cause some bad smells when decomposing on the beach. We’ll hope this becomes less of a problem for Mexico in the future so the beaches can go back to their usual beautiful conditions.
After the beach disappointment, we headed back and threw clothes back on to head into town for dinner. There were several restaurant options that looked good, however, we settled on trying La Sirena, a Greek inspired restaurant in town.
The restaurant ended up being great, good food and a beautiful top floor deck to enjoy the ocean views even with the wind still blowing like crazy.
I had a lamb dish and a pina colada to celebrate the start of a tropical vacation followed off with an apple tart ( I wanted the baklava but they were out).
After the meal, we walked around the city center a little bit before heading back to the hotel for a swim in the pool. Puerto Morelos definitely is pretty small, but we found it charming in its simplicity. Likewise the pool at the hotel was nothing fancy, but it felt nice after a long day of travel.
It was an amazing start to the vacation! I look forward to posting more about the upcoming days so stay tuned for more.
Well, after a year off from traveling, the world is finally starting to open back up. And thanks to that I have something to blog about again. Even if it was a more minor trip than some of my past ones.
As I took a teaching position this last year, I had the good fortune of finally having a summer off! Which meant as soon as school was out, it sounded like fun to go somewhere. If you’ve read my past posts you’ll know my family and I are fairly close and still sometimes travel together. So when they suggested a quick trip once school was done, I had to agree.
So why Oahu? A couple of reasons:
Limited time- The family knew we had obligations in early June and only had a couple of days. Meaning best choices were ones in the US or close by.
COVID Restrictions- likewise many countries still weren’t opened up. Even some states we thought about visiting really were asking for no unessential travel.
Something different- We’ve visited quite a few places in the US so were looking for something more unique. My brother and I both had not been to Hawaii before, my mom had stopped by as a very young child in route to the Philippines when her dad was stationed there with the navy, and my dad had been a couple of times but was willing to go back.
Rental cars- At the moment rental cars are facing shortages. Oahu was one of the only islands that actually had cars that weren’t listed at a totally unreasonable rate.
And so, with those factors we settled on Oahu for our vacation, and with that decision made we set off on our destination.
Well, sort of. There are still COVID restrictions on travel in Hawaii (or there were when we went). Meaning we all had to be tested less than 72 hours before flying out. My poor parents and brother accidentally tested just a few hours too early (72 hours before the LAST leg of the journey), and had to do it twice! But I was lucky and only had to do one test which was pretty easy. Just a quick drive through visit to Walgreens and my results were in an hour later. Negative thank goodness!
Alright, let’s actually get to the travel part.
Our first day had a lot of bumps in the road. And I mean just getting out the door to go to the airport.
Our flight was scheduled to leave very early from our home town, so I’d slept at my parent’s place to avoid having to drive over at 4 in the morning. We’ve done this in the past for travel and usually just called an Uber to take us to the airport to avoid the exorbitant parking rates.
But when my brother pulled up the Uber app he was startled to see that no cars were available.
Keeping calm, he quickly dialed a cab company. And was informed that no one was available. He called a second, but they were too busy talking to someone else in the office to let him know how long a wait it would be for a taxi. We were all glancing at the clock, knowing we had only a few minutes to make a decision before it would be too late. And so with a sigh, we decided to drive to the airport and just deal with parking rates.
At the airport itself, we all tried to relax and laugh it off. However, going through security, my dad, my brother, and myself all got through the first checkpoint with no problems. But when my mother presented her ID and ticket, she was held back. As I moved further through the security line, I kept looking back at her and watching as she became more and more uneasy with every minute she was held back. Stuck in line, I had no way to go back and reassure her, so I resorted to shouting at her to “take deep breaths”.
Through the rest of security, my dad and I waited impatiently. My brother joined us a few minutes later, and we all stared back, hoping they’d finally let her through.
Thankfully, a few minutes later my poor mother appeared, still looking shaken. Apparently there was something wrong with her ticket, and the TSA had initially told her to go get it fixed again before coming through security. But thankfully one of the other agents decided it was alright and let her through.
Turns out, my dad had put HIS birthday on the ticket instead of my moms. So when looking at her driver’s license the dates didn’t match. Whoops. Problems with booking four tickets at the same time.
Thankfully, at the gate it didn’t cause any further problems. We boarded the plane and settled in for a short ride to Seattle.
Our layover was just about the perfect length, long enough to grab some breakfast without feeling rushed, but not so long as to get antsy waiting.
From there was the flight to Hawaii. And good news, I was able to sit at the window and enjoy some of the views as we landed on the island.
After landing, we enjoyed the beauty of Hawaii from the airport while we stood in line to have our COVID tests checked. There’s a beautiful open air pavilion in the center of the airport with trees and greenery, and birds flying through.
After getting the okay on our COVID tests, we caught an Uber to head into the city to our hotel.
We stayed at the Aqua Oasis, close to the beach, but not right on it. All in all we had a great experience there, and didn’t feel we were missing anything not being oceanfront.
After leaving our bags, we went to grab some lunch. Our Uber driver had mentioned a dim sum place he liked in the Royal Hawaiian Plaza (a shopping center in downtown).
It was a bit of a wait, but we decided to go ahead and do it. We walked around the other shops for a bit before heading back to get our table. Once there we ordered a variety of different dishes, and enjoyed almost all of them.
After a delicious lunch we headed down to Waikiki beach and enjoyed the beautiful water, the views of Diamond Head, and the other beauties the island had to offer. We took some photos. I especially enjoyed the ones I got of my mom being surprised by a wave.
After our fun in the water, we headed back to check into our hotel rooms. We relaxed a bit, and I enjoyed the views from our balcony before settling back to relax in the air conditioning.
Views from the balcony
After some relaxing time, we took an Uber over to a restaurant called Moku Kitchen in a shopping complex called SALT. The area had lots of cute shops and restaurants and a fun artsy type scene. Again we ran into a pretty long wait, though that was okay since there were plenty of things to look at while we waited, and some people watching to enjoy.
Art near our restaurant for the evening.
Finally they told us our table was ready. Funnily enough, rather than having us go sit and order, they wanted us to go to the bar and place our order before taking our seats. It put a little pressure on us to decide quickly. I went ahead and chose the Hawaiian pizza with kalua pork, pineapple, and jalapenos. And yes I know some people think pineapple on pizza is an abomination, but I’m one of those who LOVES it. Especially good fresh delicious pineapple rather than canned.
Other dishes ordered at our table were the fish tacos, the Saimin, fish and chips, and a Mai Tai. All in all we found the food delicious.
After a delicious meal, we walked back to the hotel. It was almost three miles, but it was fun to see more of the city at night. I especially enjoyed seeing some of the Black Crowned Night Herons out by the canals.
At last we arrived back at the hotel, and settled in to get some sleep. After a four hour time change, an early wake up, and a lot of walking, we were definitely ready for some rest.
Stay tuned for more about the trip to Hawaii in the next couple blog posts! It’s such a pleasure to be back on here writing about travel again after a year off.
*Disclaimer: Though this post is being written during the COVID 19 crisis, this trip was taken in 2019. I’m merely taking advantage of having time now to post about my adventures. Please read and enjoy being able to travel vicariously while in the safety of your own home!
So this was without a doubt one of my worst days of travel ever.
I’ll go ahead and mention right now that I have rheumatoid arthritis, which essentially means my immune system is very confused and attacks my body rather than the proper things it should attack like germs. As a result I have to take medication that suppresses my immune system to make sure I don’t end up with permanent damage to my body. So, unfortunately that means I am much more likely to get sick.
Before going on my trip I had consulted a travel medicine doctor. All my immunizations were updated, and I was given some antibiotics and anti-Malaria medication (more to come on that). I’d recommend seeing one of these specialists if you plan to travel to places like Colombia, but I just wanted to point out that my experience won’t be everyone’s because I unfortunately just am not as strong as some people.
Needless to say, I turned in early the day before and was sick most of the night. Thankfully I took my antibiotics and by the next morning was feeling a little better, though still not at my best.
Anyhow, just thought I’d point out that travel comes with risks, and illness is unfortunately one of them. Just do your research and be prepared. But if the worst happens, just ride through it. My memories of Colombia are good overall, in spite of these minor hiccups.
I woke up in Salento after a very rough night of being sick. Thankfully, after having my antiobiotics I was feeling a little better so I had some breakfast. My mom opted to stay at the hotel and rest as she too wasn’t feeling well and my dad, brother, and I went off to a little valley where we had seen signs mentioning that there were Tapir in the area.
Sadly we didn’t see any animals, but it was beautiful and sunny. We enjoyed some time out in nature before heading back to pick up my mom and check out of the hotel.
Unfortunately, I started to feel worse again as we took off. My brother kindly let me take the passenger seat so I could recline. I took a good two hour nap feeling feverish again.
We stopped to pickup some snacks from lunch at a convenience store and then continued.
Before too long we arrived in Popayán. We checked into our hotel Casa la Plazuela which was in a beautiful old colonial home with a courtyard.
I went ahead and took a nap while my family went out to explore the town. I went ahead and put some of their pictures in here so you can see the beauty of Popayán, also known as The White City.
I was able to get out of bed for dinner. Unfortunately yet again I didn’t write down the name of the restaurant, probably because I was still not feeling great. I had some shrimp and rice, hoping the rice might help settle my stomach at least.
Thankfully I was feeling well enough to take a quick walk around the main square and get to enjoy a little of the beauty of the town before heading back to bed.
* Disclaimer: This post was written during the COVID-19 pandemic due to having time to do so, however the trip itself took place in 2019.
So anyone who really knows me is aware I have a bit of a coffee problem. I absolutely love it. I have it pretty much every day, and I love trying new types and going to new local shops when I find them. So, needless to say, being in Colombia I had to spend some time exploring the coffee region. Thankfully my dad was able to arrange our trip so that we had some time to head through the coffee region on our route.
We started our morning in Ibagué where we’d stayed the night to split up our travel time. Our hotel, The Sonesta, had a lovely buffet breakfast that we enjoyed before hitting the road.
That road was in fact a one lane steep windy drive through the mountains. Part way along we came to a dead stop and ended up waiting for maybe an hour. We never did quite figure out why… whether it was construction or an accident or something else. Thankfully it was beautiful where we were and we enjoyed some butterflies and nice views, as well as a funny dog who came car to car to beg for food.
Finally the traffic cleared and we continued our drive. We struggled to pass trucks going up hill, making our drive slower than we’d anticipated. Thankfully once we got to the peak and started heading down it got a little easier.
We eventually arrived at Finca el Ocaso, a local coffee farm that offered tours. We caught the one o’clock tour with no problems.
Our guide, Daniel led us around the plantation, showing us the whole process of coffee making, from growing the plants all the way to roasting and brewing. We picked some coffee cherries and then wandered the rest of the farm. My brother and I especially loved the farm dog, Emilio, who followed us all over as we took the tour.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
We finished up the tour getting to try a cup of coffee, which was delicious. That was just a traditional blend, so my brother voted to also go to the cafe and buy a cup of the 300 coffee, which goes through a greater fermentation process and sounded interesting.
After finishing the tour and our coffee, we bought a few bags to take home and then headed to our hotel. It was actually a hostel called Coffee Tree Hostel. Initially they had mixed up our reservation and put us in a dorm room, which was a bit strange, but thankfully they were able to correct it and gave us our two private rooms with some beautiful views of the valley.
We rested a bit, all pretty tired from the long day before deciding to head out for aw alk in an area called the Cocoro Valley. Not only is this a beautiful natural landscape, but it features a lot of Wax Palms, a beautiful tall variety of palm tree that only grows natively in the Andes of Peru and Colombia. They can grow up to 45 m (148 ft) and sometimes even taller.
We wandered through the valley for a while, enjoying the beauty of the palms and snapping lots of pictures.
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
After our walk we went to grab dinner in Salento. It looks like for some reason I didn’t write down our restaurant from that night, but some of that might have to do with the fact that I was beginning to feel somewhat sick and was only able to stomach some spaghetti and bread rather than anything more adventurous.
Then off to bed for me, while my brother and dad headed out for a night walk. I was excited for another fun day ahead, not yet realizing that my travel experience was going to get just a little bit more interesting.
To Roam the Roads of Lands Remote 