I’ve had Thailand on my list for many years, and the prospect of finally going there was surreal. I wanted to be thoughtful about where to go, knowing it’s not an easy hop, skip, and jump away and I likely wouldn’t return for a while. Most people told me that I would need at least 3 weeks to make my way around this gorgeous country, but that wasn’t in the cards so we had to make due with just over a week.
If you’re going there for the first time, you may be faced with the first basic question, “Should I go to Bangkok?”. If you’re a huge fan of The Hangover Part II, then you have your answer. My two cents, Bangkok is not earth shatteringly (made up word) amazing BUT there is immense value in making a pit stop here. I like to learn about a country by seeing the big city and then seeing a few places a bit off the beaten path or somewhat less traveled. (Side note – by a place less traveled, I mean well traveled by the Germans. Man, those guys get into the crevasses of the earth and find the best spots. If you’ve arrived somewhere surrounded by Germans, be proud that you found a gem”.
Bangkok is not a walking city. I repeat, Bangkok is NOT a walking city. This is not the place where you wake up and decide to walk all day looking for charming boutiques, cafes and tourist sights. It is the opposite of Europe in this respect. You have to be a man with a plan when staying in this chaotic and crowded city. It’s very hot and so you want to limit your walking to small pockets and then figure out transportation in between. The train system is decent, although i wouldn’t recommend taking it from the airport. You’ll likely have a lot of luggage and we had to change trains a few times, which usually wouldn’t be a problem except for the fact their stations didnt have elevators or escalators, so that got a little stressful. No sleep + Heat + Heavy Things + Stairs = Trouble.
Here are a few things that stand out to me.
– Glo Trinity Silom Hotel: Reasonably priced, clean and modern, located near the Silom night market and Ronnie the Tailor. See next point.
– Universal Tailors at 52/2 Silom Road next to Sol 18: Ronnie the tailor is a good man. His fabric selection is vast and his turnaround time is about 3/4 days. Expect to make visits once or twice a day, which is why staying nearby is critical. Suits are about $200-$300 and shirts about $40. I must admit that he does better work on men than woman. Ronnie also travels to the states a few times a year, specifically to Iowa because as he says “There are a lot of rich and tall farmers, that need custom clothes made”. The man has a point.
– Skybar at Lebua. Put in the words “Lebua Bar” into google search and tell me that you wouldn’t want to go here. Pictures don’t lie here; the view from this outdoor bar, i think the highest in Asia, is absolutely mesmerizing. Its probably going to be crowded when you go, but I promise that I am not misleading you when I say this is a “must”.
– Ayutthaya: We hired a driver and took a day trip to this ancient capital to check out the wonders of an old city. It’s about an hour outside Bangkok but took us 2 coming back in traffic. While I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the sights, the heat was simply oppressive. Mr. Chai’s air conditioned van quickly became a place of refuge during the day trip. The highlight was the elephant ride; who knew elephants were so prickly? Their hair is super thick.
Here is me and Mr. Chai.
– The Grand Palace: Pictured below and all the way at the top. A tourist trap, yes, but so worth it. First of all, please note the cool outfits we have on. We rented those covers ups from our tour guide as the temple has strict wardrobe guidelines. Speaking of tour guide, highly recommend you get one to get the most out of this experience. Jackie, our guide, took us through the Grand Palace, to the reclining Buddha, through a market and on a boat ride. Very worth the half day trip. Let me know if you want a referral, I have her number saved but don’t want to post it on here.
Yes, this is a GIANT Gold Buddha, reclining.
We just couldn’t help ourselves…..
– Night Markets in Silom: Crowded, lots of amazing brands like “Kenny Cole”, yes you read that right. Surrounding the markets its a permitter of bars. As suspected, the night scene in Bangkok is quite colorful and well, there are pamphlets the young girls pass out to those passing by depicting the kind of show you can find inside. Let’s just say this city doesn’t get its reputation for nothing.
Thailand is known for its beaches so we did some homework on where to go and came to the following conclusion. Phuket sounded great, but a bit overcrowded and we wanted something a little less traveled, you know, like where the Germans go! After talking to a few avid travelers, it became apparent that the Krabi Provence was the place to go. So we were definitely going there and then I learned of a resort on a less known island, Ko Lanta.
Ko Lanta: We took a quick flight from Bangkok to Krabi and arranged for a car (via our hotel) to pick us up. When we saw the van had the below symbols on it, we knew we were in for a good time! The cool part of the trip was when we got on a boat, in the van, to cross a body of water to arrive on Ko Lanta.
You need to know 3 things about Ko Lanta.
– Baan Kan Tiang See Villa: Below is a view from our balcony. This was the most serene, beautiful and secluded place we visited in Thailand. I really can’t say enough about this incredible place, but must warn you that its up a high hill so don’t stay here if you can’t handle the hike.
– The Drunken Sailor: At the bottom of the hill, is a little spot called the Drunken Sailor. The owners are a mix of an American who quit his life in the US to move to Thailand along with his Thai female partners. The food is delicious but ambiance even better.
– The Houben: On our way from the beach at the very bottom of the hill in this tiny town on the island, we stopped for a drink at the Houben, a boutique hotel run by a Belgian family. We had cocktails and appetizers, overlooking the sunset, and making friends. Below is a picture taken by a nice english couple to capture the adorable moment between DAS little people. The photographer even went out of his way to email the pics later. Gotta love meeting people from all over the world. And then of course, was the feud that our boys were trying to start with the daughter that runs this hotel with the owner of Drunken Sailor. Perhaps funnier than hearing them try to make up stories about how the Drunken Sailor was talking smack about this Belgian girl, was when our boys had to go up the hill to get about $0.80 to settle our shortage on the bill. Classic.
In Summary, Ko Lanta is not as quite as beautiful as some of the other more well known places, but it was still stunning and the experience of this Villa truly made it. 2 nights there was perfect and helped us decompress after Hong Kong and Bangkok.
Next, we went to Ao Nang, one of the cities in the Krabi Provence. We picked to stay there because we read it had the most to do, but at the same time had an incredible beach and a great launching pad to see the other beaches nearby for day trips.
I can’t recall the name of the hotel we stayed at but it was on the main road parallel to the beach and service and the room were nothing to write home about. I don’t really think you can wrong with lodging there. Make sure you are within a block of the hotel, and you are good to go.
Thai Massages: Both in Bangkok and in Ao Nang, we got massages every day. If you are considering going to Thailand, you have probably already heard about these amazing and cheap massages. Let me just say that words cannot describe how amazing it is when a small Thai woman bends and stretches your body from head to toe. Don’t get excited, this is not me insinuating that this gets sexual. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I am sure you can go down that path in some of the spots, but the pure art of the Thai massage is magical. Ao Nang had tents with rows and rows of masseuses so you would make a pit stop between beach activities.
Long Boat Day Trips: Long Boat drivers hang around on the main beach entrance of Ao Nang every day waiting to take you to your destination. Don’t worry about being haggled as the prices are fixed by government, and the drivers are really friendly.
Railay Beach: Picture below. This, as always, doesn’t do it justice but the view form the quaint bars of Railay Beach and the giant rock formations is euphoric. Spend the day here, grab lunch, and head back to Ao Nang before it gets dark. It will be a day well spent.
Ko Pi Pi (Maya Bay) – The movie the Beach, with Mr. Hunkaliscious himself, Leo Dicaprio was taped here. Picture to the right below, is our long boat driver after we pulled into this bay. 1.5 hour boat ride from Ao Nang is the tiny island of Ko Pi Pi. We asked to go straight to Maya Bay, which was FLOODED with tourists. The disappointing thing is that the pollution of the gas and people throwing bottles and crap in the water, put a damper on our experience. I’ve talked to people that said they were there when it was pristine and not many others were there. Look, this place is OFF THE CHAIN gorgeous, truly powerful and overwhelming. However, we opted to leave after an hour because we just couldn’t soak it in when packed like sardines and surrounded by tourists. Maybe I can return one day in my life and experience it differently.
Bamboo Beach – After leaving Ko Pi Pi, our driver took us to this hidden GEM where we were some of the only people, and the water was magical. Picture to the left of me demonstrating my pure joy for having encountered this place. Not even the Germans were here, and for that, I pat myself on the back.
We had some incredible food, ordered Pad Thai at every meal to share just to see where we could find the best one. Turns out the best was on Silom street in Bangkok at some hole in the wall, whose name I sadly did not write down. Ronnie the tailor told us about it though, so I suppose you can ask him while being fitted for a suit 🙂
This post only scratches the surface on what there is to do and see in Thailand and I just have to return and see more of the South, the islands and then head to Chang Mai for some Burmese influenced cuisine and lush forests. It was humbling to meet the gracious Thai people and to share in the beauty their country has to offer. I really had to pinch myself a lot on this trip because I just couldn’t believe how far away I was and how truly foreign this country is. Distance and differences aside, I was comfortable, safe and ecstatic.
Lena's Traveler's Talk 
Leave a comment