Friday, March 29, 2013

On the road again....

Today is our last day in Southern Thailand.  On the map I've made red dots on the places that we visited.  Here are our final thoughts on the locations we visited.....


We loved the two islands we visited on the gulf of Thailand (Koh Tao and Koh Phangan).  We felt we got great value for our dollar in terms of accommodations (our lovely hotel on Haad Yao was only $24/night).  The beaches were amazing- crystal clear, warm (sometimes HOT) ocean water.  Very relaxed and laid back atmosphere; overall just a great place to unwind.

While the cliffs and landscape in Krabi were beautiful and seeing the monkeys on the beach was awesome, we aren't in love with the Adaman Sea side of Thailand (keep in mind our review is based on one location). The water/beach was nothing special- most of the time it was very windy and the water was murky and choppy.  The beach town of Ao Nang was also nothing special- it was filled to the brim with tourists and pushy shop-owners.  Additionally, the accommodations here were way over-priced, at least compared to places we visited prior.  We stayed in a budget guest-house for 3 nights (which cost the same as the hotel in Koh Phangan), and then decided to splurge on a nice hotel for our last night.  Unfortunately the hotel was terrible and we wished we hadn't spend the extra cash on it.  Oh well!

Our bags are packed and we have a bit of a journey ahead of us: this afternoon we take a 3 hr mini-van to Surat Thani, then we plan to take the night train up to Bangkok.  The next day we will take another train towards Cambodia- first stop is Siem Reap to see the ruins of Ankor Wat.

We might not be blogging for a few days while we are in transit.  Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

More from Krabi

Just a quick post to say hello!

Yesterday we just bummed around and relaxed.  We got $5 massages by the ocean, and I also indulged in a $3 pedicure :)

As food in this area is a little more pricey, we have been eating more street food.  There is a vendor on every corner selling fruit-shakes, pancakes, various thai-dishes etc.  


We're not really sure what the bag-handle is for (convenience? looks?  Asian-trend?) but we liked it.





Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Krabi, Thailand

We have been in Krabi, Thailand for the last few days.  There are beautiful limestone cliffs surrounding the area; here is a picture from our guest-house room.


We knew there were macaque monkeys around the area, but we didn't know we would come across them so easily!  We were just walking towards the end of the beach when we encountered this:



There were dozens of wild monkeys- some playing in the sand, some going for a swim in the swamp, some jumping on unsuspecting tourists.  It was both terrifying and amazing at the same time.  Here are a few more pictures of the monkeys.









(below- mama and her baby!)

We then took a long-tail boat to another beach, Railay West, which is only accessible by boat (or death-hike across the cliffs).  The tide was out, but the scenery was still awesome.









And, to end the day on a high-note, we spotted this beautiful boy- riding a scooter with his owner!



Thanks for reading!!

Monday, March 25, 2013

Critters!

We left Koh Phangan yesterday, here are a few last pictures of our hotel and beach.




We've seen a number of neat critters while we've been on our trip so far, we wanted to share the pictures with you!

 A lizard we saw in Chiang Mai (while at our cooking class!)

 Lizard in Ao Nang 

 Medium sized hermit crab at Koh Phangan

 Tinsy tiny microscopic hermit crab at Koh Phangan

Large hermit crab at Koh Phangan (who had chosen the most beautiful shell!)

 A spider that keeps Tyson up at night in Koh Phangan

 Spider Crab in Koh Phangan (click on the picture to zoom in)

 A lizard who had dropped his tail and was half grown back in Koh Tao

 A lizard who was bright red and yellow but changed by the time we got the camera in Vang Vieng

 How could we not include the two elephants (she's halfway through her 24 month pregnancy!) 

 Once again click and you will see the wild water buffalo in Laos

A sun bear at the bear rescue in Luang Prabang

Thanks for reading everyone! Check in tomorrow for photos of our current location, Ao Nang Beach in Krabi Thailand!


Friday, March 22, 2013

Koh Phangan

Just a quick update from Koh Phangan...we are staying in a lovely hotel on a beach called Haad Yao.  We haven't been doing much more than swimming in the beautiful pool or taking a dip in the ocean!  Here are some photos....





Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Koh Nang Yuan

Today we took a sea-taxi to a small island called Koh Nang Yuan, which is just a few minutes away from Koh Tao.  It is really three islands linked together by sandbars, and it was stunning.



We bought snorkels and masks and explored the waters- we saw some pretty amazing coral and fish (wish we had an underwater camera so we could show you!).  Despite applying sunscreen we are both decently scorched, and we're now loading up on aloe vera.

Here are a few more photos from the day:






We got home in time to see the sun set...after a nap of course.



Tomorrow we take another boat to a different island - Koh Phangan, where we'll likely stay about one week.