So it’s been so long that I’m starting to forget! Oops. I’m thinking this entry will be much shorter than the last one as I just need to write it all down! But, some people haven’t even posted the pictures of our trip yet. A picture is worth a thousand words (hint, hint).
Saturday, 10/13
To save time, we flew to Mae Hong Son today. It was less than an hour flight and a beautiful flight at that. I plan to travel back that way and to take a bus through all the winding roads and mountains. It was so beautiful. We stayed in a little guesthouse off of a man-made lake that is surrounded by a market every night. We walked around the small town, tried new food (the crepes were mom and Dan’s favorite) and tried to figure out other things to do in town. Well, there wasn’t much. When tour books mostly talk about the treks that are led out of Mae Hong Son they are really saying that there isn’t much in town and it is just a great place to start a trek. Since we weren’t planning on trekking we didn’t have much to do. But the beauty was worth the trip as it’s just a small town in the middle of tall, green peaks. Mom and Dan also got another taste of Thai hospitality. Our guesthouse didn’t have a bed for three people so they brought in blankets and mats for Dan to sleep on. Of course, Dan didn’t seem that impressed but I am always happy when they go out of their way to make things work. Maybe I would have felt differently if I was sleeping on the floor (concrete floor as Dan would say for the rest of the trip). Definitely one of those “this is all about the experience of Thailand” times. How many times do you think I can legitimately say that? Probably not as many times as I did say it!
Sunday, 10/14
Today we hiked up to a wat on a big hill just north of the town. It always feels good to hike when you see other people just taking vans to the top. It always feels hilarious when you are “hiking” on a road though. But it was good exercise and we felt like we had accomplished something. Dan even used it to work out his calves and went down the hill on his tippy toes! Mom and I tried, emphasis on tried. It was very scenic to look out over the town and the surrounding mountains. A great early morning activity.
Then we got to the bus station to take a bus to Pai (said “bye”). I’ve never had an issue getting a bus so I wasn’t too concerned about how early we were there. Well, I jinxed myself. We get there and there aren’t any buses. They are all full for the day except for the really late one which we didn’t want to take. Part of the reason to take a bus from Mae Hong Son to Pai was to see the scenery. So the heat and the annoyance of this weren’t working so well with us. I’m sure it didn’t help that I was like, “oh, I’m sure it will work out”. And it did end up working out. Not really how we expected. There was so many people that needed to get to Pai that they decided to charter a Sawngtaew—and guess who got to go on it! Well, not just us. We were one of maybe 25 people. Now you all know a sawngtaew is just a converted pick up truck with some seats and a roof. There are enough seats for 12 people. We started piling in. Just when it seemed like we couldn’t any more, we had to. People were on the top of the roof (about 7 military boys), hanging onto the back, and sitting in the aisles and on luggage. Dan even decided that hanging onto the back was more comfortable and he could see more. I always made sure I could see part of his pants leg…just to make sure! The most hilarious part was that our driver continued to stop for people on the road. It was insane how many people we fit on there. You have to see the pictures because I can’t even describe how it worked! My mom’s favorite part was stopping off at the driver’s home and picking up some bamboo that we had to stuff under our legs. No hurry, no problems---so Thai!
It was quite an adventure and it then ended up being one of the most memorable few hours of our trip. We met a couple from France who had just finished a three day trek so we got to hear all about their adventures. Then I got to practice my Thai and English with a high school girl who’s English was pretty good (meaning, we could communicate a little bit but it takes a lot to have the courage to say something to a farang). It was fantastic and beat taking a bus any day. Sometimes the experience is better than anything else. Actually, almost always that is true for me. I mean, we didn’t get to see as much of the scenery but mai pen rai…we had such a great time talking to people and freaking out that we were actually doing this!
We got into Pai and took motorcycle taxis up to this hotel that is a little bit out of town. It was a great place to stay. Pai is known for is music and art scene but we liked the place we stayed so much we ended up never staying out late to catch the music! Some of the best times of a trip are when you end up doing very little.
Monday-Wednesday, 10/15-17
Pai was a great little town but even though it was the low season, I would say there were more farangs than Thais. Talk about shock to your system. They were everywhere! But one farang ended up being Kirsten, a PiA fellow in Nan, and her mother! It was exciting to hear my name through the street and turn and see Kirsten. Unfortunately, they were leaving that morning but mom and I got to catch up with them before they left. Small world. They introduced us to this amazing Muslim Bakery where we got this Cinnamon Butter Cake every day. On that note, the food was great. Excellent pizza, I got to have falafel and other delicious treats. We found our favorite place for food (which had free Internet if you ate there) and we got food there 3 times I think. We are a family of routine I guess. Or more true, if we find something we all like we don’t feel the need to change it.
We got Thai massages which I loved. I felt so flexible afterwards and good amount of soreness at Thai massages are intense. It’s like active yoga with big women pushing your body in ways you didn’t think it could go. And in ours, you can only imagine Mom saying “ow ow ow” as a reaction to many of the stretches. I had to try my hardest to keep from laughing. It definitely required some practiced breathing through many of the “massage poses”.
We eventually rented motorbikes and toured around a bit. I was too slow of a driver for Dan but I think part of driving is taking in the scenery. The area around Pai is really beautiful. That night we ate at this packed Thai place and Dan ended up getting food poisoning! So that was the end of Thai food for Dan. It sucked for him but luckily he had time to rest that day.
Wednesday morning Mom and I got on a motorbike and started to follow signs to a waterfall. It ended up being so beautiful and we were so happy to sacrifice some sleep to see that. Sometimes everything isn’t in a guide book. It was too bad Dan didn’t feel well so he didn’t come as it was one of the most beautiful adventures. We really liked this bustling town in the mountains. It had character which a lot of Thai cities don’t have (in my opinion).
After lunch we boarded a minivan to Chiang Mai as we were flying out to Southern Thailand the next morning. We almost didn’t get transportation to Chiang Mai as, again, things were booked up! What’s with that! But, they added another buss and we jumped at the chance. I’m still a firm believer that everything works out, even if it causes some anxiety.
Thurday-Sunday, 10/18-21
Early morning flight to Bangkok with a connecting flight to Krabi. Well, not exactly. Good old Air Asia may be the cheapest, so we shouldn’t expect to be accommodated, BUT we thought they would check our luggage all the way through to Krabi. Not at all. We had to pick up our bags in the international airport and of course, missed our flight to Krabi. I guess we were supposed to allow at least 2 hours in between connecting flights but we didn’t see any warnings about it! It was unfortunate and annoying but at least it still is “cheap” to pay in dollars. We had to buy all new tickets and hang out in the Suvarnbhumi Airport for several hours. A total backfire of our extra day on the beach. We didn’t really have a choice and we definitely learned our lesson. We got their eventually and that’s what matters.
So we flew from BKK to Krabi, took a van to the sea and drove through the limestone cliffs that jut out in that province, then boarded a longtail boat to Railay Beach which is not an island but the cliffs make it so you can’t get there by land, then took a tractor from the boat to the beach and finally walked a few minutes to our hotel. Phew! Lots of modes of transportation. The limestone cliffs are amazing and I haven’t seen anything like them before. Everything thing was so green so the rainy season did have an upside.
We spent 3 nights on Railay Beach. There were good and bad things. The beach was very pretty since the end of the beach is marked by towering cliffs. Very picturesque. Unfortunately, it was cloudy most days and usually rained in the last afternoon. Our hotel had a diving board with their pool so we had lots of fun with that. It was like visiting my Uncle and Aunt in Tennessee and playing on their diving board! We had competitions (because we are a competitive family, we have to know how can dive the best!) and we read when Dan would let us! The South is soooo expensive compared to everywhere else in Thailand. Especially here as there are only so many options of places to eat. Meals were still just around $5 but when we’ve been spending $2-3 it really seems expensive.
The highlight was finding Phra Nang Beach which is this amazing beach with a cave on one side. The limestone cliffs are enormous and hang over the water at one point. The pictures hopefully do it some justice as I don’t have a way with words when it comes to describing places. We climbed into the caves and felt proud of ourselves for getting all the way to the other side. It wasn’t that difficult but I don’t think most people would want to do it.
After 3 nights we were ready to move on as it’s really just a place to lie on the beach (but it wasn’t sunny) or go rock climbing. So our next stop was Ao Nang beach. It has more of a town so we hoped there would be more to do.
Sunday Night-Thursday, 10/21-25
Ao Nang was a very happening town and again, I can’t imagine being there during the high season as there were so many farang. Mostly Europeans though. If the U.S. had vacation time like they do then maybe others would have been there. It was a small town with lots of places to eat and lots of shops. There are two beaches and we stayed in the middle of both of them.
We rented motorbikes again and decided to take them south toward Ko Lanta. It ended up being one of the worst experiences on a motorbike. The whole drive was on a highway. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it was windy and they were doing construction on the highway. So, there we were on the shoulder with cars zooming past us and a couple foot drop off on the other side of us. It really was not enjoyable at all. When we finally got to some nature things they all charged money to get in. I can’t believe anything can be that pretty with so many other tour groups there too. We decided to waste our time and money with over-crowded tourist destinations. I think I’m getting spoiled with traveling and so it makes it hard to pay money to do much of anything! We did spend money on pedicures and it was a very nice way to pamper ourselves.
Thursday we headed back up to Bangkok. First we had to take a 3 hour bus to get to Surat Thani, where we were gong to take an overnight train. And that’s where I made a huge mistake! I forgot you could book a train in advance so the train was full. Some of us were not happy campers. Luckily, we ended up getting on a bus—an overnight one which Mom said she would NEVER take again! We even had to sit riding backwards and sit next to an old American man with his young Thai girlfriend of the week. It was awful to listen to their conversation (if you call broken English a conversation). We did make it back to Bangkok and then went to pick up bags at my friend’s house. Then off to our hotel where we just sort of sat around and slept a little as none of us had really slept the night before. It was easy to lay around since this hotel upgraded our room as we stayed there our first night in Bangkok too. And quickly it was time to sleep and then at 3am Mom and Dan had to leave for the airport. It was probably an easier goodbye since we were all half asleep. As quickly as they were here they were gone and I was on my way back to Khon Kaen to start teaching.
It now feels like a dream but it’s so good that they were able to come and to understand what I’m talking about now. I think they see why I like it here which makes it easier for me to make my decision for next year. There is something special in being able to share this country with family. There are so many things I forget to say or don’t even notice and after 3 weeks I think they had heard or seen most of my observations. It’s really hard to explain the things I experience every day when most people have little information to base my life off of, but now Mom and Dan do and it really means a lot that they were able to come. Who’s next?
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