We spent almost two weeks in Thailand to celebrate my 40th and it was easily in our top 5….probably 3…places we’ve ever been. Lucas did an amazing job researching and planning a trip we will never forget.
We started in the north in Chiang Mai where we hung out with rescued elephants, explored temples and learned how to cook Thai food. And then it was all about the beach! We headed to Krabi and then Koh Samui—-absolutely breathtaking!! I captured this highlights in this write-up and my wish for you is that if you haven’t experience the beauty that Thailand has to offer, that one day you will.
After almost 24 hours of travel via Istanbul, Kathmandu and Bangkok, we arrived in the northern city of Chiang Mai, Thailand. Before I get started on Thailand, I must comment on the Kathmandu Airport. We booked our flights with award miles and we were quite excited at the thought of flying through Nepal—seems so exotic and I had visions of landing eight near Mt Everest…or that we’d at least see it in the distance. Not so much. It’s definitely not fair to judge a country by its appearance from the air or even its airport but…..not sure I’ll be rushing back to Nepal anytime soon. I am also really glad we packed carry on bags as it was clear that Nepal doesn’t get many transit passengers. We navigated the 50s style airport and walked out to our flight. The Thai airlines flight and service was incredible and the food a glimpse of what we had awaiting is in Thailand. We quickly connected through Bangkok…we made the decision to not stay in favor of an elephant and cooking experience in Chiang Mai and quality beach time in the south. We heard differing opinions on this decision. Some expressed severe disappointment in our choice not to at least spend a few days in Bangkok….largely citing the shopping to be had. Others we encountered along the way maybe spent 1 day in Bangkok and had so so reviews. Ultimately we were 100% comfortable with our decision.
We arrived in Chiang Mai late on Monday night and went straight to our hotel…the Pingviman http://www.pingviman.com/en-us located right in the old city. The hotel staff was super friendly and welcoming and the rosewood carvings throughly were beautiful. The Thai people are incredibly hospitable and warm and smiles come easily to all of them it seems.
We got up the next morning excited for a day of learning and making Thai food. We took a class from the A Lot of Thai Cooking school http://www.alotofthai.com/ that a woman has been running out of her home for 20 years. The class was fun and informative and she did a great job explaining what we were doing and why—-but didn’t belabor the points too much —she recognized we were all anxious to make and more importantly, eat, the Thai food. Our big lesson is that if you have all of the ingredients prepped and the right tools, Thai food is easy and fast to make. We cooked pad Thai, chicken curry and soup—-each meal was delicious! The meal ended with sticky rice and fresh mango…a common dessert in Thailand and something I could eat every day—-Delish!! We rounded out the day with a trip to the local market. Thai people shop for their food every day and few have freezers understand the concept of “how long does that last?” Shelf life isn’t a concern here because they buy their food fresh each day.
We had about an hour to go see a couple of Wats (Buddhist temples) we saw two of the primary ones. I was struck by how much gold there was. We also learned that you should never allow your toes to point directly at Buddha. The wats were beautiful and there were many sprinkled throughout the city. Chiang Mai is a very walkable city and when you don’t feel like walking any more, you can hop on a Tuk Tuk! SO FUN! They are named that because of the sound it makes. TIP: negotiate the price BEFORE you get in. It’s a fun way to get around the city.
The next day was all about the elephants! We did our research and learned that any sanctuary that offered you a ride on the elephant most likely meant that the elephant had been abused and tortured. The ride to the elephant sanctuary https://www.elephantnaturepark.org/ that we went to was a little less than an hour outside of Chiang Mai and we picked up other tourists along the way…Largely American couples. We watched a video to prepare us for interacting with the elephants…did and don’t s. We also learned about the not so happy facts behind elephants and how they are abused in order to break them completely so that they perform at circuses, paint pictures for tourists and pull heavy logs to support the logging and furniture business. It is heartbreaking.
We were able to feed the elephants 3 times, walk with them through the jungle, bathe them in mud and then rinse them off. It was so much fun and the experience makes you forget everything else in life as you are completely caught up in their personalities, movements and noises.
After our city time in Chiang Mai, we were looking forward to the beach! We flew back to Bangkok and then to Krabi. We stayed at the Tubkaak Boutique Resort https://www.tubkaakresort.com/ and it was spectacular. We arrived at night and I couldn’t wait for sunrise so we could see the landscape and we were not disappointed. I could not have asked for a more beautiful location to spend my 40th birthday. We walked along the beach and marveled at the huge rock formations jutting out of the water and at the tiny little crabs ALL over the beach. We spent a good amount of time at the spa and lounging on the patio deck of our room—magic. We also took a longtail boat tour around the rock formations and stopped off at various beaches to explore and take in the beauty. Lucas also arranged for a special lunch on the beach with champagne and freshly cooked Thai food! YUM. We feel fortunate to have visited many beautiful places and beaches, however the beaches set against the dramatic rock formations truly make Thailand stand apart from other locations.
Our final destination was the island of Koh Samui. We stayed at the Intercontinental http://samui.intercontinental.com/ and we went back and forth quite a bit about whether we should stay here or the Conrad Hotel. I’m sure the Conrad is wonderful but this hotel blew away our expectations. We stayed in a villa with a plunge pool and a beautiful and unobstructed view of the water. GORGEOUS. In yet another breathtaking place, we spent a few more days of lounging, spa treatments, sunset cocktails and delicious food…..it was a slice of heaven.
We hear it so often….”do you guys ever work?” “Must be nice to travel so much” “will work even remember you because you’ve been gone so long” We almost never spend the energy to reply to those statements. Because we know. (And this doesn’t just apply to us).
We know that the balance of time spent away from the office against the stress, meetings, pressure, emails, bureaucracy, inertia, etc, etc….will absolutely never be equal.
So. Take the vacation. Take the time away. It makes you better. And if you think you can’t be away because this or that might happen…get over yourself.
The day it finally hit me that the work world would absolutely keep spinning whether I was there or not was super liberating.
So..where’s your next trip?