On December 24, Julia and I got to the airport around 9:30am for our flight to Bangkok that was leaving at 11:20. We boarded a little bit late but thankfully our flight was only about 30 minutes behind. We landed in Bangkok at 3:45pm and grabbed a taxi to our hotel.
When I had originally booked our flights, we were supposed to be in Bangkok for about 24 hours before we'd have to head back to the airport to fly down to Phuket. The airline, however, saw fit to change our flight to Phuket so that it was now the following afternoon. Had I known that we'd have such a short time in Bangkok, I absolutely would not have booked a hotel downtown; I would have stayed near the airport instead, or maybe even booked a same-day flight to Phuket. However, the riverside hotel we stayed in was absolutely lovely so I can't regret that.
Our taxi got stuck in a little bit of traffic so by the time we got to the hotel, it was dinnertime. I convinced Julia to walk 20 minutes up the street to IconSIAM, an incredibly upscale mall that had a very fancy international buffet restaurant that I thought would suit our purposes for a nice Christmas Eve dinner. Unfortunately, they were all booked out with reservations, so we ended up having Spanish tapas for Christmas dinner, which I honestly probably enjoyed even more.
We stayed at the Ibis Riverside in Bangkok on Christmas Eve and the outdoor area was beautiful
View from our hotel
Spanish tapas for Christmas Eve dinner in the IconSIAM mall
Keeping up with the food themed photos: Christmas breakfast!
Being away from my family was hard but I think I could get used to a tropical Christmas
Our flight to Phuket on Christmas got delayed by a little over an hour, which was annoying because we were dying to get there. But we landed around 5:30 and were on our way to our hotel by 6pm. I had booked us at Da Bungalows, a hotel on Kata Beach, which is about an hour or maybe a little more from the airport. Our Christmas dinner, which unfortunately I didn't think to take photos of, was seafood and spring rolls at a restaurant with doors that literally opened onto the sand, so the effort was definitely worth it!
On Monday, December 26, we had a relaxing beach day. The water was turquoise and warm and we just had a 10/10 day.
View from our hotel balcony
Beach day at Kata Beach in Phuket
The photos really don't do our view justice because it really was breathtaking.
The Kata area is really nice and I had chosen it because it was known for having a variety of good food but not being a party central like the Patong area of Phuket, so that night we went to a restaurant that was next door to our hotel for delicious burgers.
The following morning, we got picked up at 7am from our hotel and shuttled to the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary. They rescue female elephants from captivity in places like circuses, the logging industry, etc. and let them live at the sanctuary in peace. The elephants aren't able to be released into the wild because they were born in captivity. I absolutely loved seeing elephants in the wild in Africa but I've always wanted to interact with them, so this was a dream come true (as you can tell from the photos, I'm sure, where I am grinning ear to ear in every one). We started with feeding them, then we went into the mudhole with them to moisturize their skin, then helped them wash it off in a waterhole, before doing a final shower. It was easily one of the best mornings I've ever had.
We asked if, rather than going back to our hotel, we could get on a shuttle that was going to Old Town Phuket instead, and luckily the lovely people at the sanctuary allowed it. We explored Old Town and its famous Sino-Portuguese architecture for a few hours, which is lovely and quaint and really reminded us of beautiful Key West, Florida.
In Old Town Phuket
Wat Mongkhon Nimit
We went back to our hotel for a quick nap before we got picked up for our final activity of the day: a two-hour full body massage. Neither of us had ever had a Thai massage before and honestly, I didn't love it. I definitely prefer Swedish, but it was certainly an experience!
Waiting for our massage appointment. The spa was up on a hill and had a lovely view
One of the many lovely things about Phuket is that all of our pre-booked activities included hotel pickup and drop-off, so I asked them if they would drop us off at an Italian restaurant for dinner, which they did. I had burrata pizza that was to die for, and also got to eat gnocchi for the first time since I moved to Seoul, before ending my meal with tiramisu, so I was basically in heaven.
The following day, we went island hopping in the Phi Phi islands, and we got picked up from our hotel at 05:10am. The tour company assured us that an early start would ensure that the stops would be less crowded, so the early start was worth it. We started with a highlight at Maya Bay, made famous by The Beach starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Maya Bay is one of those places that doesn't look real, even if you're looking at it with your own eyes. The photos barely do it justice.
Island hopping for the day! (If we look tired, I'm guessing the 5:10am pickup is the cause)
Our trusty speedboat
Maya Bay
Worth sharing 4 times, I think
Viking Cave on Phi Phi Leh, so named for some ancient Viking cave paintings on the walls inside. The scaffolding on the side is for people who collect the nests of swiftlets, primarily to sell in Chinese markets, to make "bird nest soup."
Pi Leh Lagoon
We did a drive-by of Monkey Beach on Ko Phi Phi Don, where macaque monkeys live on the shores. Apparently their favorite food is crab! (And they've been known to bite tourists so thankfully we observed from a distance)
Truly living my best life on Ko Phi Phi Don
My family went to Aruba when I was about 8 years old and my parents booked us a snorkeling day trip. The tour guide warned us that the corals were sharp and dangerous and that touching them could make us sick/give us an infection. Being 8 years old, I was absolutely terrified that a coral would basically kill me and refused to go in. That said, the first time I really snorkeled was in the Philippines, and I have to admit that other than the sea turtles, I was slightly underwhelmed by the variety of fish. I thought maybe snorkeling was just not my new favorite activity—until we snorkeled in the Phi Phi islands. I saw fish I had only seen in Finding Nemo (Specifically Gill, the Moorish Idol fish), as well as several that looked like they could've been the inspiration for The Rainbow Fish, and many more. So I'm happy to report that I no longer think snorkeling might be kinda overrated, thanks to that day in the Phi Phi islands.
We ended another 10/10 day with dinner at The Boathouse, one of the swankier restaurants in Kata Beach, where we dined with the doors open to the sand and the waves rolling in. It was so lovely that we decided to go back for breakfast the following morning. The setting there is so beautiful that I meant to take a picture of Julia with her breakfast, to stay on theme, but unfortunately it slipped my mind.
Wednesday was our last day in Phuket so we had another beach day before making the hourlong trip back to the airport around 5pm. We flew back to Bangkok and checked into a private room in a hostel in Old Town called the Bangkok Bed & Bike. The hostel itself was clean and in a nice, walkable neighborhood, but the bunk bed setup was so unfortunate (the ladder was basically against the wall and the steps were absurdly far apart) that we agreed it was probably our last bunk bed experience together, considering Jule and I are 31 and 30 respectively.
On Thursday, we got a relatively early start to see the Grand Palace, which was only a 30 minute walk from our hostel. I had read the palace complex only gets more crowded towards midday and that going early was your best bet for not being overrun with people. It was still quite crowded at 9:30am so I really can't imagine what it's like at noon.
When we arrived, we discovered that we were not dressed according to the dress code, which admittedly made me feel like an idiot. I knew that we needed to have our shoulders and knees covered, but they also included a rule that there were no "skin tight pants" allowed, so our leggings were apparently inappropriate. We bought scarves across the street to cover our legs, which is why we both look like fools in the photos!
Wat Phra Kaew, aka the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, "is regarded as the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand," according to Wikipedia. "The complex consists of a number of buildings within the Grand Palace in the historical center of Bangkok. It houses the statue of the Emerald Buddha, which is venerated as the country's palladium." In case you don't know what palladium means (like me, since I had to Google it), it means "protective image." The Emerald Buddha, which is in the glass case in the middle of the photo, was admittedly a bit smaller than I expected, but it's made of jade and apparently he wears different outfits depending on the time of year, so that was cool!
In the Wat Phra Kaew temple complex
The Ubosot, or ordination hall, which houses the Emerald Buddha
The Prasat Phra Thep Bidon, which was intended to be a new home for the Emerald Buddha but the king who commissioned it died before the buddha could be moved. And as a bonus, you get the full effect of our scarf-skirts.
A few from the row of 8 prang within the temple complex. Each of the prang represents a different aspect of Buddhism.
Phra Thinang Chakri Maha Prasat at the Grand Palace, a group of grander throne halls to replace the old ones and were built between 1868 and 1887, according to Wikipedia. "The palace has been the official royal residence since 1782. The king, his court, and his royal government were based on the grounds of the palace until 1925. King Vajiralongkorn (Rama X) lives at the Dusit Palace, but the Grand Palace is still used for official events. Several royal ceremonies and state functions are held within the walls of the palace every year."
Our next stop was Wat Pho, aka the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. The pictures really don't allow for scale so just to be clear, this buddha is 150 feet (46 meters) long. The temple is first on the list of six temples in Thailand classed as the highest grade of the first-class royal temples, according to Wikipedia.
On the grounds of Wat Pho (sans scarf-skirt, thankfully!)
Closeup of one of the gates to Wat Pho
We then took our first tuk tuk ride over to Thipsamai, a Michelin starred pad thai restaurant. I'd eaten so much western food in Phuket that I really felt like I needed to make up for it in Bangkok. The pad thai was totally worth the hype and I do recommend if you find yourself in Bangkok.
After lunch, we hopped in another tuk tuk to hit up our last temple of the day: Wat Arun, aka the Temple of Dawn, which was on the opposite side of the river.
At Wat Arun, aka the Temple of Dawn
After we explored Wat Arun, we took a ferry back across the river, which cost about 25 cents and took maybe 2 minutes, so that was a hoot. We then found our way to the Royal Theatre, because our tickets to the Grand Palace included a free Khon performance, which is a Thai classical court masked dance. Julia really didn't have any interest but she valiantly joined me anyway, which I really appreciated.
I took a quick sneaky video that I absolutely shouldn't have taken, just so you can get a sense of what Khon is. I enjoyed it since it's so unique and ancient.
As luck would have it. the Royal Theater was literally up the street from our hostel so we went back to rest for a little while before venturing back out around dusk to visit The Deck, a bar I had read was a great place to watch the sunset over Wat Arun on the opposite side of the river.
Watching the sunset behind Wat Arun
We then hopped on the subway and met up with our guide for a food tour. The dishes included sukiyaki, mango sticky rice, tom yum soup, papaya salad, barbecued pork belly, pan fried duck, Thai pancakes, chicken and pork barbecue skewers, and guay tiew kua gai. It was a ton of food but it was spaced out really well. The last dish was my favorite; the direct translation is "rice noodles stir-fried with chicken." We really enjoyed the tour and they dropped us off back at our hostel at the end of the night so that was a lovely surprise.
I took unflattering selfies of us with our food at every stop for your viewing pleasure, so you're welcome.
The tour included a wander through a nighttime flower market and a vegetable market
Also the tour was by tuk tuk and motoring past all the gorgeous temples lit up at night was something else.
We clocked a little over 8 miles that day so we slept well that night! The following day was our last in Thailand, so we slept in a little bit and then took another tuk tuk to the famous Chatuchak Weekend Market to do some souvenir shopping and have lunch.
The Chatuchak Weekend market calls itself "the World's Largest Weekend market." I think that would be pretty difficult to prove but I can tell you that it has 15,000 stalls.
Our last planned activity in Bangkok was a canal tour, which was a little bit off the beaten path and deeply enjoyed by both of us.
Historically, Bangkok was known as "Venice of the East" due to the number of canals, or khlongs, as they are known in Thai. And it turned out to be a private tour so it was just us!
Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen, which our tour guide told us has the current largest buddha in Thailand
Our first stop was at an orchid farm, where all the orchids are air plants
The orchid plants kind of hang over a well of water underneath, so the humidity from the evaporating water below is how they get hydrated
Our tour guide told us anyone in Thailand can grow these orchids because they're so easy to maintain. I wish we could grow them as easily in the US!
We saw this gigantic monitor lizard swimming in the canal that even our guide commented, "Wow, that's a big one"
We stopped at Artist's House, the center of a 250 year old canal-side community that is still a gathering place for artists. We saw some people actively working on sketches and other artistic pursuits when we were there.
Back at Wat Paknam Phasi Charoen, we disembarked and went inside a towering stupa behind the buddha
The inside of the stupa is gorgeous, as you can see
After our tour, we had dinner near the river and then went for a walk to see Khao San Road, the famous party street. It was New Year's Eve and I took this photo at 8:20pm so I'm sure the festivities were only just beginning. Not really our vibe but I'm glad we strolled over to see it!
We killed time back at our hostel for a couple of hours before we headed back to the airport for the final time for our flight back to Seoul. Our flight left on time at 3:10am and I think it was the only timely flight for our entire trip. Thankful for small mercies!
Eating Taco Bell at the Bangkok airport at 12:46am on New Year's Day. Happy New Year indeed!
While we had been eating dinner, Julia's bad luck with air travel followed us and she got notified that her flight home from Seoul had been delayed and they put her on one that went through Minneapolis instead of Toronto. By the time we landed in Seoul the following morning, the Minneapolis flight had also gotten delayed, as there was clearly no rest for the weary. We wandered around the Seoul airport for a good half hour, looking for someone to talk to from Air Canada about getting her on a different flight, to no avail. I ended up calling Air Canada from my phone (and I called the American number because, had I called the Korean one, I doubt I would've easily found an English-speaking customer service representative) and later got a bill from my Korean phone provider for $35 for a 16 minute phone call. Julia pointed out afterward that international travel is really not for the faint of heart and God knows she is right! But thankfully the $35 phone call was worth it because we got her booked on a flight through Los Angeles and she got home a couple of hours earlier than we expected, so it did turn out to be a silver lining after all.
It was a marathon two weeks that we spent together and I'm still so grateful for the effort Julia put in to get all the way over here. And then to go another 6 hours further to Thailand was really above and beyond. I'm already looking forward to our next trip together!
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