Thailand's Legendary Beaches

Although it was hard to leave the beauty of the National Park behind, I was really excited to see what Thailand's beaches had to offer.  A few hours south of the park, we arrived in Krabi on the coast of Southern Thailand.

One of my personal highlights in Krabi was the Chang Bar.  A reggae bar by day and dancing on tables and pogoing to house music by night.  We burned that place down that night.  Good times.

The next day we woke up early to catch a speedboat to some islands off of Krabi.  These islands were the real deal and looked like they were out of movies.  And a few of them actually were; we went to Maya beach which although crowded with tourists and speedboats is probably one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever seen and was the location where "The Beach" was filmed and the James Bond movie "The man with the Golden Gun".  Truly paradise.  The nicest thing about that island was that no one is allowed to develop on or live on that island.

Maya Beach

After a couple more islands, the boat stopped at Koh Phi Phi.  Shout out to Steve and Linny for telling me how incredible the island was.  It totally lived up to my expectations.  Myself and a few others from the group actually strayed away from the tour itinerary to spend the night on Phi Phi.  Once the group left on the boat we found simple rooms in the center of the small town.  We tried to sleep in these gorgeous beach bungalows but they were all taken by that time.

Phi Phi itself is a smaller island with two public beaches that are connected to each other by a small town in the middle.  Parts of the island look like the jutting mountains of Khao Sok park although the water was crystal clear so incredibly warm (almost 85 degrees!)  Again pretty touristy and packed but there were a lot of really cool beach bars located literally on the sand and lively restaurants that served up spicy curries and beer.  It is definitely a backpacker's Mecca and the perfect place to party.

After a great Panang curry for dinner at the Papaya restaurant we headed to the beach.  Many of the bars have fire dancers so we sat down to enjoy the show with buckets for drinks.  Buckets are usually Red Bull, whiskey, and coke or sprite and hold maybe about 5 drinks.  They definitely did the job.  The fire show was awesome and then the bar played some games that involved people losing articles of clothing.  Pretty entertaining but the buckets hadn't gotten me to that point yet!  From there we headed to a beach party where pogoing is a requirement seeing as all of the music was house and trance.  Again a very surreal experience with all of the neon lights and people dancing on the beach.  These parties are the site of the famed full moon parties in Thailand.  Hope to catch one next time.

Dinner @ Papaya

Phi Phi

Phi Phi was a bit spring breakish but in a great way and one night was just a tease.  Definitely planning on coming back.

It's sad to say goodbye to Thailand after having such a great time but tomorrow we head to Penang in Malaysia and I'm really looking forward to seeing what it has to offer.  Maybe buckets and beach parties if I'm lucky ha.

Southern Thailand - Khao Sok National Park

From Bangkok we took the overnight train south to Khao Sok National Park.  The train was a good time.  Lots of travelers looking to party and plenty of Chang beer for all.  The drive to the park was really nice through lush rural areas through valleys between impressive mountains with sheer rock faces.  Our accommodations there were bungalows set back in the rain forest.  Each had a hammock out on the porch surrounded by tropical flowers.  Really amazing spot.  It was called the Misty Morning Resort.

Part of the group on the longtail

So the first afternoon we took a hike through the park that was about an hour long.  Honestly I was a little bit disappointed by this walk.  It was a well traveled trail and we didn't see much wildlife except leeches!  Lucky me I was the first to get one and got a few more.  They were not quite as gross as the ones in the States; they look more like small earthworms.  Still not pretty but apparently they are harmless.  We attempted to hike up to a waterfall but had to turn back due to time.

It was ridiculously hot so once we returned from the hike we went tubing in the river that runs through the park.  The group may not have been as redneck or intoxicated as Missouri float trips can be but it was definitely just as fun.  It felt so refreshing to cool off from the hot and sticky jungle.  We even saw some monkeys and snake overhead as we floated down stream.  At one point we found a rope swing that everybody tried.  I had one scare along the way as I was bitten by something under the water and all I could imagine was those snakes we had seen earlier!  No cause for worry though as the guide said it is common for the fish to do that.

Later that night we had drinks at a bar overlooking the river while bats flew by.  The bartender was playing classic American rock as we all traded stories as we drank Chang.  It was all kind of surreal.

The next day we woke up early and took a longtail boat through the lake to an isolated lodge with beach huts for rent.  The ride couldn't have been more scenic; the mountains were rising straight out of the water.  Looked like the pictures I've seen of Ha-Long bay in Vietnam only on clear fresh water.  One of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.  Before a lunch of fried, local Gourami at the lodge we went for a swim in the lake.  Finally we went with a guide on a pretty serious hike through the rainforest.  We waded through streams and thick jungle.  The bamboo there was poisonous so we had to be careful what we touched.  Along the way we saw huge caterpillars and even a chameleon.  Very beautiful.  At the end of the hike we went into a cave where we waded through chest high water with headlamps in the pitch black.  Not going to lie it was a little scary when you couldn't see and things were floating past you in the water.  On the ceilings were stalactites and huge hunter spiders about 6 inches in diameter.  Not poisonous but they would definitely put the hurt on if you were bitten.

Khao Sok was one of the most spectacular places I have ever seen and it would be totally worth the trek to get there on your next trip to Thailand.

From there we headed to Krabi on the southern coast of Thailand and Phi Phi island.  I'm going to try to make a post soon but the computer at the internet cafe corrupted the memory card to my point and shoot camera.  Really hope I can show the photos though because I think they are some of the best yet.

Conquering Bangkok

My latest flight took me to Bangkok from Barcelona.  I flew through Doha, Qatar and it was about 12 hours total flying time.  Wish I could have spent some time in Doha but I had a tight connection.  Crazy hot there though...it was still 102 degrees two hours after sunset!

Arrived in Bangkok Friday morning and was dead tired but decided to make the most of the day.  I was on my own this weekend until I meet with my group on Sunday but I took Bangkok by storm in tuk tuks (3 wheel motorcycles for hire).  The drivers are really funny guys.Made about 8 stops all over my area and it only cost about $3.  Everything is insanely cheap here.  Indonesia is supposed to be even less expensive but I can't even imagine.  Those tuk tuk drivers are hustlers though!  They try to take you to the "lucky buddha" temple that is only open one day a year ha.  All part of the experience.

Buddhist Temple

Tuk Tuk Tim

I stayed in a small hostel type place near Khao Sarn Rd. which is super touristy area but actually really interesting.  They are hawking everything you can imagine...t-shirts, coconuts, scorpion on a stick, nunchucks, and even tazers.  AMAZING people watching.  Great street food too.  Plates of Pad Thai, meat skewers, thai potstickers, etc for all about $1.  I think that's actually where they filmed Hangover 2 also.
Yesterday I went to the Grand Place and Temple which completely blew my mind.  It was an enormous compound filled with extremely elaborate and ornate buildings of all shapes and sizes.  It kind of seems like the SE Asia version of Magic Kingdom ha.  Really an amazing place.

Grand Palace Temple

Temple of the Emerald Buddha

Grand Palace

So for all you worriers out there ;) it's worth mentioning that they are having elections in Thailand today (Sunday).  The blue party is in power and they red are hoping to win today.  I'm sure you heard about the riots last year because of the political parties.  Whoever wins there may be some chaos that ensues but rest assured I am catching a train out of Bangkok in a few hours to go to Khao Sok national park in Southern Thailand.  Not many riots in national parks so all should be well.
Because they are having the election today they actually banned all alcohol sales from 6pm Saturday until midnight tonight.  Bummed.  But I went to a Muay Thai kickboxing match last night that apparently didn't get the message.  People were getting rowdy...not in an agressive way but in a way where the Thais would scream at the top of their lungs with Thai Baht bills clenched in their fists and the fighters go at it.  While the kickboxers are fighting music plays that sound almost Indian...kind of like snake charmer music.  It's almost trance-like.  The fighters themselves range from about age 25 down to about 14!  These 14 year olds kick some major ass.  One kick from them and they would probably break me in half.  They all have 6 packs already!  All in all one of the most unique,exciting, and surreal experiences I have had yet.

Temple Ruin in Ayutthaya - North of Bangkok

Silly Elephant Show in Ayutthaya

Gotta go catch my sleeper train now...10 hours :(  But Khao Sok park is supposed to be reminiscent of Ha-Long bay in Vietnam with all of the beautiful rock formations shooting straight up out of the water.  Should be a few days til my next update.

Happy 4th!

Finally another Post!

So I have definitely been lagging on the posts lately.  June flew by so fast and there were so many great experiences on Ibiza.  I'll try to hit the highlights but I don't think the blog could ever quite do it justice.  Ibiza has so much too offer from the landscape, to the people, to the nightlife, to the food.  I feel like I barely scratched the surface over the last month.

Cliff Jumping at Cala Salada

View of Es Vedra from Louise's patented sunset spot

Puerto Del Cielo from Liz's patented sunset spot

Well I mentioned before that I tried going vegan for a week.  It went well and was not even really that hard thanks to Clay's amazing cooking!  Anyway it's something I would recommend everyone try if you haven't done so already.  A lot of the locals on the island are really health conscious so we even attended an interesting raw food workshop run by one of Liz & Clay's friends.

Me, Liz, & Clay at the raw food workshop

So after my parents left, a group of us went out to the opening party for Cocoon which is one of the biggest nights at the Amnesia club.  Its more of a locals night with awesome minimal electronic music and super impressive lighting and decorations.  They had giant jellyfish hanging from the ceiling of the club...impressive.  Anyway Liz, Clay, I and one of their best friends Louise and her sister Ika had a blast that night until the club closed down at 7am.  If you haven't been to the clubs in Ibiza you have to make the trip.  Especially for Cocoon!  All in all a great 28th birthday celebration.

Louise, Liz, and me at Ushuaya Beach Club

Hanging with Jesus, Jesus, and team Sweden

So speaking of b-day's, my sister now hosts an annual b-day bash every June for her birthday that's called Lizbiza.  She knows how to celebrate...each year the party lasts for a few days (or even weeks sometimes) where locals from the island and friends from abroad come to celebrate with live music and great food.  To accommodate everyone they have a tipi and a jaima (a huge Moroccan-style tent) constructed.  The Jaima is decorated with tons of pillows, beds, and carpets so after the party finishes people can spend the night inside if they want.  Anyway, both the tipi and the jaima are super fun.

Jaima Time!

Unnamed Pole Dancer in Jaima

Chocolate Hedge Hog for B-Day 

Band playing in the Chill-Out for the party

I could write pages more about the amazing time I had in Ibiza but I need to get some sleep to catch my flight to Bangkok in 6 hours!  Ibiza and friends will be greatly missed but it won't be the last trip and maybe Ibiza will someday be a second home.... ;)

Off to bed...I'm going to try my best to make more posts next month but shorter.  Hopefully I can still post pics from internet cafes.  Bangkok here I come...

Finally Ibiza!

So I've been lagging on posts to my blog lately because I have been having too much fun in Ibiza!  Me and the fam arrived here about two weeks ago and are staying at Liz and Clay's house in the middle of the island.  Their house is a traditional Spanish style villa set back in the valley between some large hills covered with trees.  Gorgeous pool and amazing views of the valley from the roof.  It's a large property where there are a couple of orchards where you can pick the fresh fruit that grows - figs, plums, oranges, etc., over 10 kinds.  There are also some animals on the property with some chickens and even two baby lambs named Jesus and Jesus.  I like to call them J Squared.  They're hilarious.

So seeing as my parents were only staying in Ibiza for a week and I amt here for the whole month of June, I promised that I wouldn't go to the clubs so I didn't sleep the entire week while they were here.  We had a super great time checking out some of the over 80 beaches on the island and having some tasty food along the way.  Clay is a phenomenal cook and lucky for us he cooked quite a bit.  Most delicious vegan dishes.  Seeing as Clay is such a great cook, Liz and Clay even inspired me to go vegan for a week!

We had a BeerBQ at Liz and Clay's friend's house one evening with chicken wings, pork, and even a little jungle juice.  The sunset looking out over the pool was amazing.  The house was also host to the 1st Annual Ibizan Cannonball Contest.  I gave it my all but in the end I lost to three kids aged about 8-12.  They were pretty fierce competitors.  

Site of the 1st Annual Ibizan Cannonball Contest

Probably one of my favorite things to do on the island is to go out on Liz & Clay's small powerboat and cruise from bay to bay and jump off the boat to swim in the turquoise waters.  The water temp is already pretty warm at about 75 degrees.  One day we went out on the boat and Clay's friend Mitch challenged me to go waterskiing since I had never gotten up before.  After a bit of coaching, I got up on my first try.  Lots of fun and I hope we can go out again.

"Portal to the Sky" where you can drive the boat through

A stop at a bay for a swim

Florence Day Trip

Our first day trip from Bologna was a 40 minute train ride to Florence.  Wow...we hit Florence on possibly the busiest day of the year...it was the 150th anniversary of the Republic of Italy.  It was hard to find an Italian in the city...the tourists took over and were from all over the world.

Entrance to the Duomo

Our first stop was to the Duomo which is the 3rd largest Catholic church in the world.  Pretty impressive.  We waited  In a 45 min line to hike to the top of the dome.  It was about 475 steps straight up through narrow medieval stone spiraling staircases.  People were definitely struggling by the time they reached the top and it is not a trip for those who are claustrophobic.  The ceiling of the dome had a massive mural painted on it that had super creepy images of the devil and demons eating humans from the Rapture.  The views from the top were amazing and well worth the wait.  Panoramic views of the entire city.  Florence is what I imagined an old historic Italian city to be with all of the original buildings well preserved.

View from top of the Duomo

Next we checked out a few plazas, one of which had an exact replica of the statue of David.  From there we walked along the river across the Ponte Vecchio which is a very famous old bridge crossing the river with outrageously expensive jewelers hawking gold on the street.  Seemed like the epitome of a tourist trap.  Later we went across the river to the famous gardens on a hill overlooking the entire city.  The gardens themselves were pretty weak, totally unkempt, but the views back on the Duomo and the city were incredible.

After wandering the streets for awhile longer it was time for a frosty beverage.  My parents knew of one of the only rooftop bars in the city where we took down a few drinks and watched the sunset.  Overall, one of the most beautiful and authentic European cities I have ever seen but it is literally impossible to get away from all of the tourists.  Definitely check it out if you haven't already done so but be prepared for the lines.

View from the bar

Bologna - Food Capital of Northern Italy

So for our next stop we headed back to the boot of Italy and stopped in Bologna in the Northern region.  It is a good sized city that is very central to other popular cities such as Venice and Florence so it is very easy to make day trips to check out other areas.  Many of the old buildings of the city have been well preserved despite bombings during WWII.  Bologna is also home to the oldest university in the world which dates to the 12th century so the city is taken over by college students at night looking to party is some pretty cool and very old pubs/bars.

Piazza Maggiore

Since Bologna is not as popular as many other destinations in Italy, it was great to be able to experience a city without all of the tourists.  We checked out all of the sightseeing spots which included some very old plazas and castle-like buiildings and lots of torres, or towers, that actually lean dangerously like the leaning tower of Pisa.

Leaning Tower

What's best about Bologna though is the food.  We would just wander the old winding streets and each side would be littered with tons of great restaurants.  I wish I had more photos of the food but they are all about fresh ingredients for the local specialty dishes.  Guess what their claim to fame is...Bolognese sauce!  Anyway the pasta and regional meat dishes were the bomb and Bologna is definitely a place to check out if you want some good food and an escape from the tourists.

Local Gourmet Market

Ha no idea what was going on here but worth posting