Ugh, the last day of our honeymoon was, without a doubt, my longest travel experience, ever. We arrived at BKK around midnight of the 21st, and then spent the next few hours relaxing outside the ANA baggage check area while we waited for the check-in counter to open. We had Burger King for dinner, because it was the only open choice in the airport and we figured it would be a while before we could eat anything else substantial.
Continue Reading »The last day of our trip, and of our honeymoon! It ended up being one of our best days too, even though I seemed to have caught a stomach bug and can’t avoid frequent trips to the washroom. We booked the cooking class last night, however due to poor Wi-Fi reception we weren’t able to get a confirmation that we were enrolled in the afternoon course. To avoid any confusion, we got up early enough that we would be able to do the morning class if we didn’t hear back from the organizer.
Continue Reading »The last full day in Chiang Mai! We decided that we wanted to leave the city, and so we scheduled an outdoor tour in the Chiang Mai countryside today. The tour started at 8:30 AM, when we were picked up in front of our hotel by a songthaew and our tour group. The first stop on the tour was a visit to a farm which raised both orchids and butterflies named the Bai Orchid-Butterfly farm.
Continue Reading »Another day of walking! We got up and left the hotel just after 9:15 in the morning, a respectably early start for a full day of touring. I had read the previous evening that we could pick up a cheap ride to the Doi Suthep temple just outside the Chang Phuak (north) gate, which was conveniently just across the road from our hotel. We crossed the moat and got into a songtheaw, which is basically a red pickup truck with a covered bench in the back for people to sit in.
Continue Reading »Today went much better than yesterday. Todd and I woke up early to catch a cab from the hotel to the Don Mueang airport for our flight to Chiang Mai, and after a little price negotiation with our cab driver we arrived with plenty of time to spare before our flight. Last night we decided that we wouldn’t have breakfast at the hotel, in order to give ourselves extra time to get to the airport, so upon our successful check-in we decided to grab a bite to eat before our flight.
Continue Reading »Today had its ups and downs. After waking up late a painful sunburn and a mild headache, we packed our things and bode farewell to the Rayaburi Beach Club and Phuket in general. We arrived at the Phuket airport with about an hour and a half before our flight was scheduled to depart, giving us time to check our things and grab a sandwich from Subway before boarding. The flight back to Bangkok was uneventful; there were some people on the flight who were pretty rude when it came time to disembark, there were about 5-7 people who refused to let people seated in rows ahead of them through.
Continue Reading »We were initially planning on booking a tour of James Bond island today, however after spending all yesterday diving we were exhausted and decided it was better to have a rest day. I read several not terribly exciting reviews of the island, so we decided it was probably for the best anyways. We ended up having a lazy morning on the beach instead. Todd spent the time reading some magazines in the sun, while I spent some time sketching out some thoughts I’d been having about one of my computing projects, a distributed file system.
Continue Reading »Valentine’s Day! Instead of spending the day on long, romantic walks on the beach, Todd and I went scuba diving! We were picked up early in the morning at our hotel, and spent about 45 minutes in a van driving to a dock somewhere south of Patong beach. The boat we were diving from had about 50 people onboard, and after we left the dock we were paired up with our instructor, Bjorn.
Continue Reading »Our first full day in Phuket! I know how much Todd likes his beach days, so I set aside a full day to do nothing but relax and enjoy the sand and the surf of the gorgeous Patong beachfront upon our arrival. The location did not disappoint - the water was the perfect mix of refreshingly cool while also being pleasantly warm; and the sand was perfectly smooth without a rock to worry about.
Continue Reading »Finally, a bit of calm. The excitement of the last few days is over, and we had a bit less of an exiting day today. We spent the morning relaxing in the hotel and having a quick swim before packing up and taking a cab to Don Mueang for our flight down to Phuket. I think we’ve learned our lesson; we decided against taking another train! We will be spending the next few days at Patong Beach in the Phuket province in Thailand.
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