Last Day

Our hotel in Krabi was beautiful! It was only one night, but we really enjoyed our stay.  This is a picture of the pool, we are not in one of these rooms on the ground floor, but I thought it was so cool- you could just go out your deck into the pool- next time.

We had breakfast this morning and then ended our stay here by getting what else, a massage. We went to the spa at the hotel which was gorgeous! We booked a 2 1/2 hour treatment with hair therapy, body scrub and 1.5 hour massage- it was glorious. So we all have good hair, smooth skin and are relaxed and ready to come back home. We took a plane from Krabi to Bangkok and got picked up by a shuttle to our hotel near the airport because we have a 5:30 am flight in the morning. Everything was fine until we turned down an unpaved road, passing shanty towns. We wondered where we were going. I was really scared- if it is not too dark, I will take pictures in the morning. The room is nice except for its one inherent flaw- see if you can figure it out. At least tonight we all have our own rooms. 

View of the bathroom from my bed- anyone see the issue? It is very trendy but really? A glass bathroom.

All toilets in Thailand have a spray hose next to the toilet instead of a bidet.

So this concludes my blog. I had a great trip- thanks to Jo and Janina for being great travel buddies. Thailand is a wonderful country- there is a lot more to see, maybe I'll come back some day.

Phi Phi to Krabi

We are starting the last leg of our trip. It has been so much fun. Today we are taking the ferry back to Krabi. First, back on the long boat - this time we are taking a tour of Phi Phi Le, an uninhabited island full of beautiful beaches and caves. I never saw it, but the movie The Beach, was filmed at one of the beaches. It is a four hour tour and then we are dropped off in Phi Phi, the site of the early long boat debacle, for a few hours before getting on the ferry to Krabi.

Here is our ride waiting for us

Note the boat is in the water- also note handy port-a-ramp on the left- no such luck on the way here.

Dock at Phi Phi where we first landed

This is one of the stops on our boat tour= a secluded beach on Phi Phi Le- we got out to swim for a while

The water and sand are amazing- getting back on the boat, not so easy!

The color of the water was stunning

Another beautiful spot

The secluded beach where the movie The Beach was filmed- lol. We didn't even bother to stop- look at that crowd

A Holiday Inn is Always just a Holiday Inn

Now, we haven't really stayed anywhere expensive in Thailand- the hotels are amazingly reasonable. but we have stayed in all boutique hotels that are very stylish- all pretty new and very chic! The bathrooms have been the highlights of each room with great tubs and cool fixtures. However, our Holiday Inn Bungalow is just average. Very plain and just like any other Holiday Inn you would find on I5, except for the location that is- and is it spectacular!  As I mentioned, there are no roads, so you must travel by long boat or speed boat to get anywhere- since we were so far north, there was really nothing around us and to take a long boat back to the dock was out of the question, so we just enjoyed our beach.  After the fiasco with the shack in front of us, we got what we were promised- a beach front property. I would say if we had to take 5 steps to get to the beach, I would be exaggerating. It was right there. We even went to the beach in our pajamas in the morning. Since there was nobody there, who cares.  We thought there would be rain, but we lucked out again with perfect, beautiful weather. It was literally, the most beautiful water and the best sand that I have ever felt. It was as soft as a carpet and bathtub warm. Here are some pictures of our stay.

Our three chairs with our bungalow behind the chair to the right

Hotel Pool

It doesn't get much better than this 

Early morning picture- look how far out tide was

Things don't always go the way you plan!

Reluctantly we said good bye to our beautiful hotel in Krabi and took a van to the ferry dock for a boat to a famous Phi Phi Island.  We knew things were not going to be the same as the Tubkaak when the driver dumped us out of the van far away from the pier and told us to get walking. So we dragged our very heavy bags down a dirt path to the ferry boat where we were told to put them on the boat. This is the part where we regret having over-packed! Until now, all our bags were handled for us so the weight of them was not an issue, now that we were responsible for them- it was a different story. Well there is not a real dock, so to get to our ferry, we just had to walk across other boats all parked parallel and ours was the fourth. Luckily someone helped us hoist our bags up the little tiny stairs to the upper deck where we waited for an hour in the heat and humidity for our ferry to leave. Boy were we grateful for the cool breeze of a moving boat.  We sat on the wooden plank benches and saw some truly amazing scenery on our way to Phi Phi.  It was so beautiful that it is hard to fully describe.

One of the many little beaches and villages along the way

Just some pictures of the ride- they don't even do it justice.

OK, so we thought after a week and a half in Thailand that we would be a little more experienced, but alas, when we got to the dock in Phi Phi, a scene much like our first arrival awaited us.  We lugged our stupid bags off the boat and down the very long wooden dock- the whole time I was thinking to myself what in the heck did I bring and what would I miss if I threw this bag into the ocean right now? We were greeted by the swarm of people trying to get us a hotel, an excursion, a taxi, a long boat. It was a little overwhelming. I remember feeling this way coming into Roma Termini- the train station and having no place to stay and needing these people. However, luckily we did have a place to stay, the Holiday Inn rated #3 on Trip Advisor (note to self, always go with # 1) and we did have transportation to our hotel. So we walked past the 50 people holding signs from every hotel on the island. Of course, there are no roads on the island so you have to get everywhere on a long boat. We saw all the names of hotels as we passed, surely ours must be towards the front- it was # 3 after all. Well, we got to the last guy and and didn't see Holiday Day Inn- we must have missed it. Janina ran back past all 50 people, surely he was among the crowd. In the mean time, a guy ran up to us, asking if we want wanted to rent his long boat to bring us to our hotel- he said, "Holiday Inn, no boat, you pay me and I take you".  Hahaha, we thought, you can't fool us twice. We had already been duped by the Tuk Tuk driver and the boat ride on the first day of our trip, we knew he was just lying to try to get us on his boat. "No thanks" we confidently said. Holiday Inn, no boat- you have to get taxi. "No thanks"' we repeated! But I was starting to think, where is the boat that was supposed to be waiting for us? What should we do? We were swarmed by vendors like flies on honey, people must have seen the panic on our faces and smelled blood.  Finally, we saw a little grandma that looked trustworthy, so we asked her to help us. Please call Holiday Inn for us- they are supposed to have a boat waiting for us.  She kindly called for us and handed us the phone and much to our dismay, our stomachs sank as we heard the news.  Jo argued on the phone saying that she was not happy, that this was ridiculous, that she confirmed, etc but even after all that, we were told there would be no boat.  Defeated, we came to accept that we needed a ride. The same guy came up to us first,  propositioned us again, but we were now indebted to grandma for helping us and she said, of course,  her brother had a boat we could take so we had to take it... and thus began our next adventure.

Well, her brother's boat was not parked near the handy steps where we could easily embark, but rather in the middle of the water, in front a restaurant.  I quickly realized that we were going to have to walk through the water to get into the boat (Jo was still in disbelief) Then there was the issue of our suitcases. The boat driver was about 70 years old, about 4 foot 11 and 90 pounds if that, not to mention he was suffering from cataracts. (Jo pointed out that his feet were as wide as they were long and he could not wear shoes, thus he was barefoot) How was he going to get these enormous bags into the boat-because surely weren't going to walk through the water holding them over our heads. He struggled with them and with grandma's help, they got them into the boat, not without a struggle. Well, that was nothing compared to the struggle that we had getting onto the boat. We treaded through the waterAnd now, we had a 35 minute ride in this little boat to our hotel. Here are a few fun pictures of that adventure.

Jo getting into the boat- notice grandma's face- imagine her screaming oh my while attempting this!

Here we are with the Madonna!

Our beautiful boat

The luggage that was making the boat tip- the piece of junk metal on the left is the ladder in the boat.

Anyway, it didn't end there- we got to our hotel and thankfully, at the dock, they had a ramp to help us disembark. We had our welcome drinks while Jo debated with the manager for a while about the fact that we were supposed to have a long boat waiting for us. He then informed us that breakfast was not included- we thought it was- and so we really got no where. Here is a good time to mention that in Thailand, in every hotel that we checked into, they offer you an ice-cold rag with some scent on it and then a welcome drink of fruit juice- nice touch. Anyway, back to the story, so we spent a while there, getting no where and then we went to our room- a beach front bungalow-not. There was a shack right in front of our room so all we saw is the shack. A few more phone calls and waiting around and finally, we got a room with a beach front view. Since this day was a little harrowing, we took advantage of the happy hour 2 for 1 drinks and met a nice bartender named Boy. I will save the hotel pictures for tomorrow because as Jo said, we are probably the only people in the world who would have complained about our room- you'll see why.

Krabi

Well, I would like to say that our days were packed with cultural adventures, but pretty much it went like this.  Wake up, have a wonderful breakfast buffet, go to the beach, have lunch, go back to the beach, end at the pool, clean up and have dinner.  Not too bad for summer vacation. It is amazing at this resort and we did go into Ao Nong beach the first night and walk around, but there really wasn't much to do except shop at little stalls, so we decided to just stay where we were and enjoy our hotel.

Can  you name these Thai fruits?

We read and relaxed so much that I didn't even have time to update this blog.  Here are a few more pictures of our stay at the Tubkak in Krabi. This is pretty much what our days consisted of:

Another view of our beach

Beautiful surroundings

Our beachfront restaurant

Hanging out in the hammock

Happy Hour

Sunset

Our beach cabana

Travel Day

This morning we said good bye to Chiang Mai. It was a beautiful town with so much to offer that the 5 days went by like that. What we learned about the north that it is very Thai. There are a lot of temples in Chiang Mai and the surrounding areas. 98% of the country is Buddhist. This is the area for elephants. The Golden Triangle, about 2 1/2 hours from here is the border of Burma, Laos and Thailand. Unfortunately we did not make it up there. We know that there are a lot of refugee camps on the Burma/Thai border because of persecution of certain ethnic groups. We also learned that American influence can be felt everywhere. When we left the gates of the old city, the first thing we saw on the corner was a 2 story Starbucks and not far away was a McDonalds. When we ventured the the night market last night, we saw many American hotel chains in the newer part of town as well as some European ones. I think it just shows that the world is getting smaller and the things that are the same are increasing. It was a really interesting visit all around.



We left for the airport at 8:00AM, flew to Bangkok, waited and waited, got on a plane to Krabi and then took a 45 minute drive to get to our hotel.  We are staying at the Tubkaak Resort and it is amazing!  I am sure this is going to be the highlight of our stay in terms of accommodations. It is right on the beach and the rooms are very cool and very zen. Our shower and bathtub are outside and the bathroom looks out into the open area. The hotel prides itself on its service and does not disappoint. Here are a few pictures of our beautiful hotel.

I love this idea- it is a foot wash at the base of the stairs- no one wears shoes inside.

This is our restaurant and the table where we had dinner

A view of our pool and you can see the rooms behind it

A view from the bathroom looking out into the shower and tub!

Our private beach- note that there is no one else on it

Apparently beach chairs are not allowed so they provide comfy beanbags to lay on.

Thai Cooking Class

We read about cooking classes in Chiang Mai before coming here. My sister in law, Kelley recommended one that she had gone to a few years ago so we decided to give it a try. It was a wonderful experience! It felt like we were on the cooking channel! We took a van from our hotel about 25 minutes outside of town to a local thai market and got a tour of the market and an explanation of all ingredients that we would need. We were each given the name and quantity of two ingredients that we were supposed to purchase. It was pretty cool. 

The rice stand with more types of rice than I even knew existed

A long shot of the market- it was huge!

Buying noodles for Pad Se Ew

Then, we went to  Chef's house. He has a cooking patio all set up with individual cooking stations. First, we went into the demo kitchen to see how to make a dish, then we got to go outside to our own stations and cook it. It was so much fun.  Our first dish was Pad Se Ew - a wide style noodle, somewhat similar to Pad Thai. We proceeded to make fish, wrapped in banana leaves, with red curry, yellow curry (one of my favorite Thai dishes) and then cashew chicken. What ever we made was what we ended up eating for lunch so there was some motivation to do a good job. I must say that everything came out really good.  I hope that I can replicate any of the recipes at home for all of you- don't hold out too much hope but I did walk away with a cookbook to help! Really fun afternoon and we met some really nice people from Australia and a woman from England that shared the experience with us.

Cashew Chicken

Posing with Chef!

Lunch with our classmates

This is our kitchen classroom at Chef's house

Cooking coconut cream for our curry

What are we going to do with the rest of our day you ask?? Go back to the massage place of course- today a facial and a back and neck massage- all for $15 for 2 hours!

Ok, well we just got back from the Massage place and let me tell you, apparently Thai massage is not supposed to be relaxing. I feel like I got beat up- in a good way! You should google Thai massage to see images of the kinds of stretches and poses they do- as Janina said, you feel like you are in Cirque de Solei. So after our massages, we jumped on a Tuk Tuk to take us to the river front and had dinner at a restaurant that someone on our elephant tour recommended. It was fun, sort of touristy but decent food. When we were done we ventured over to the bar to watch the band which was playing all American cover songs from the 70's. It is always amazing to hear people singing in perfect English. Back in the room, we have to pack our bags because sadly we are leaving Chiang Mai tomorrow. Every day here was an adventure. We are off to the south of Thailand, right above Malaysia, to a beach town called Krabi. Wish us luck- it's monsoon season and the weather forecast shows thunder storms for the next week. Hope they are wrong!!