First week in Thailand

I think pictures do a lot more for the country of Thailand that I can put into words. This place is beautiful. Eric and I began in Bangkok, October 20th, after enjoying, as mentioned before, being pampered in first class. Eric was a bit sick in Bangkok so we spent the majority of our day at the doctor trying to to get him some medicine. Luckily the "x-lay" showed nothing that a little zpack couldn't fix. Bangkok seems like a great city. It is very modern city and most people speak some English. Our hotel, Sam Sen Sam, was adorable and the people that worked there were great. We will have a lot more time to explore the city because we will be passing through two more times before leaving this area on Thanksgiving day.

First class pampering before I fell alseep

From Bangkok we took a short flight to Phuket. The town near Pucket, Patong, we had heard was much like Cancun so we decided to stay there for a night before hopping on the ferry to Koh Phi Phi Don. I think Eric and I were both a little disappointed with this town. There were so many hawkers trying to get you to buy every item imaginable including tuk tuk rides, suits, tours, clothing, massages, and even women. The she-males were definitely interesting to watch. They have no shame strutting their stuff around the town and participating in "she-man" shows. By this point in our trip I had come down with a stomach bug, so Eric and I both were feeling a bit under the weather. We attempted to get a good night's rest at our hotel, C & N, but the bed felt more like wood floor than a mattress. We packed up quickly the next morning and booked afternoon tickets on the ferry to Koh Phi Phi Don.

I had heard that Koh Phi Phi was paradise from many of our friends who have visited this island. They were right. The beaches are beautiful, with clear shallow water for about half a mile out. There are no motorized vehicles allowed on the island so it is all foot traffic or bike riding. Diving, snorkeling, and rock climbing are huge here and their shops, along with boutiques, restaurants, and bars, line the winding streets. Eric and I are staying in a private bungalow on stilts called Phi Phi Casita. It's amazing. In fact, we like it so much we keep adding on more days to our original 3 day stay.

A view of the beach

Our days have been spent relaxing on the beach, eating Thai and Italian food, going on adventures and watching HBO in our comfy room. Our first day on the island we took a half day trip that included snorkeling, kayaking, visiting the Koh Phi Phi Leh (where the Beach was filmed), monkey beach and watching the sunset (the best I have ever seen) on a boat while eating dinner.

Monkey Beach where lots of monkeys gather to eat bananas out of your hand
(or bite your hand if you are unlucky)

Kayaking into a cave while visiting Koh Phi Phi Leh

Sunset from our boat

Our nights have mostly been spent eating delicious meals followed by watching flame throwers on the beach or checking out muay thai boxing at the reggae bar. There is something for every type of person here. There are some relaxing bars (Banana Bar is my favorite so far) that play great music or clubs that rock late into the night.

Sharing a bucket while watching some muay thai boxing
(we saw a tooth knocked out, a bloody nose, and a dislocated shoulder
all just for a free bucket of liquor)

Eric watching people jump through the ring of fire

More fire

We have also done rock climbing, which I highly recommend through Cat's Climbing company. The instructor is great and the rock wall overlooks the water. It's beautiful. Eric is planning on doing as many dives as possible now that his cold is finally clearing up. I am going to take a day off from rock climbing and let my sore arms rest before trying again tomorrow. We are planning on spending a total of about 6 days in Koh Phi Phi, although I am sure we could stay LOTS longer, and then heading to Reilay for some more climbing and relaxing.