Chapter 34 - Thailand - The Land of Temples, Elephants, and Pad Thai

The Elephant Jungle Sanctuary was one of many highlights of our Thailand trip.

Hi again,

We left on October 20, 2024, for a 57-day SE Asia adventure; basically one month in the Philippines and one month in Thailand.  This chapter will highlight the second part of the trip we spent in Thailand.  

Bangkok: A Vibrant Welcome (11/18 - 11/19)

We arrived in Bangkok, Thailand and discovered we were staying in Chinatown - what a fun surprise!  We probably should’ve known when the hotel was called The Grand China... haha.

I love Chinatown's and the one in Bangkok is now my favorite by far!

The street markets were a highlight, with the best egg rolls and chicken meatballs.

The next day was packed with sightseeing starting with the colorful Flower Market.

 

We visited several Buddhist temples, including the Lucky Buddha, Leaning Buddha, and tiny Emerald Buddha at the Grand Palace (which you could not take pictures of)—all incredibly beautiful. 

  

We took lots of temple photos that day.  After the third one, they all started to look the same.

Video at the Grand Palace, the former home of the King of Thailand.

A memorable experience was getting a custom-made silk shirt and skirt made.  Looking back, we overpaid and probably shouldn’t have bought them, but at least we now own our first custom-made clothes and have a story to go with it.

 

Later that evening, we hopped in a tuk-tuk and drove through the city and danced the night away on Khao San Road—such a lively and memorable scene! 

 

The ladyboys at the bars were definitely a highlight of the night—so entertaining! The spots where they were dancing were packed and buzzing with energy. 

 

The ladyboys were incredibly welcoming and had a real talent for getting the crowd hyped.  

Corp checked off a challenge from his Thailand bucket list by eating a scorpion. The video below captures him savoring the "delicacy."

Phuket Bound: A Wild Ride (11/20 - 11/21)

We left for Phuket and used the InDrive app to get a private ride to Patong Beach. After a few hiccups, we finally secured a driver who, let’s just say, had a need for speed. Picture this: complete darkness, driving on mountain roads, heavy metal music blasting, and driving on the left side of the road—it was quite the experience! By the time we arrived at the hotel 45 minutes later, Corp was carsick and couldn't wait to get out of the car.  I didn’t upload a video because they just didn’t truly capture all the senses that were experienced on the ride.

Patong Beach had a great vibe—long beach walks, lively bars and restaurants, and people of all ages enjoying the scene. We decided to stay for five nights. 

Bangla Road at night? Absolutely wild—a true party town!  Check out the video below.

Check out this video to get a sense of Bangla Road.

We also came across a one-of-a-kind spot called the Tiger Night Club & Disco and couldn’t resist stopping for a drink. 

Video of the interior of the bar.

Elephants & Rainbows (11/23 - 11/25)

A bucket list item came true for me—visiting the Elephant Jungle Sanctuary! We learned so much about Thai elephants—how they differ from African elephants, and the heartbreaking reality of those rescued from circuses. 

Before we met the elephants, we made them some rice-fruit balls that included bananas and corn.  Corp got to carry the mix to the elephant area.

This photo makes me laugh because she looks like she is smiling with all the attention we were giving her.

Watching her flap her ears while we scrubbed her was so peaceful. 

The next few videos are of us interacting the with a number of different elephants.

Seeing the elephants walk freely between feeding and bathing areas was surreal. They are such a graceful and beautiful animal.  Totally worth the $50 per person!  I would love to do it again!

On our last morning walk on Patong Beach, we were greeted by the most beautiful rainbow over the ocean. 

This rainbow was such a perfect way to end our stay before heading to Karon Beach.

Karon Beach & Koh Phi Phi (11/26 - 11/29)

Karon Beach wasn’t our favorite—smaller than Patong Beach, a lot of rude Russian tourists, and our first hotel was a nightmare (very hard bed and heavy metal blasting from a bar next door until 2AM). We moved after one night and found a quieter spot. Highlights at Karon Beach? 

We both got to hold a slow loris.  He was so sweet and cuddly!

Check out this video of the slow loris with Corp.

Another highlight in Karon Beach was swimming in the ocean in the pouring rain!

Karon Beach had a unique feature that allowed the ocean to backed up like a small river.

We didn't have a lot of sunsets in Thailand, but this one was very picturesque.

We loved the crab that was painted on the sidewalk...another mascot for our Crabby & Chipper Travels blog.

I liked the Thai rolled blueberry ice cream. It was fun to watching her make it.  

Next stop: Koh Phi Phi via ferry. This island is one-of-a-kind, with lots of long boats, no motorized transportation, insane beach nightlife, and hours long fire shows on the beach.  

All the decorated long boats were so pretty.  Most of them are used for tours.

Koh Phi Phi didn't allow cars or scooters so we walked to all the bars and restaurants and there were a lot of them.

 

The streets were super narrow, and whenever locals needed to pass by with luggage or supplies, they'd call out "beep beep" to let you know to move aside.

Here is a video of Corp participating in the fire performance! 

Our hotel was right on the water and just steps from the lively nightlife on Loh Dalum Beach, making earplugs essential for sleep. After three nights, we opted for a quieter stay at a hotel farther from the beach to get two more restful nights.

Thanksgiving Day was a full-day tour adventure—Monkey Beach, snorkeling, swimming in a lagoon, and seeing bioluminescent plankton at night. We had a classic fried rice meal on Bamboo Island, and Corp got to cross off another bucket list item...seeing Maya Beach from the movie The Beach!

 

Maya Beach was beautiful!

Our tour guy dressed up at Bat Man at Maya Beach.  They will go to great lengths to get a better tip.

Happy Thanksgiving from The Campion's!

We saw this monitor lizard sleeping in the tree when we were eating lunch.

We made new friends from the Ukraine and Lithuania. It was interesting to hear their perspective on the Russian-Ukrainian war, especially since they had lived in the heart of the conflict and had no plans to return for a number of reasons.

We met new friends from the Ukraine and Lithuania.

We hiked to several viewpoints that had breathtaking scenery! 

Phi Phi Viewpoint 1 was the lowest viewpoint, but still had a beautiful view and there were lots of whimsical features in the gardens to look at.  

Phi Phi Viewpoint 3 was the highest viewpoint.  You could easily see Loh Dalum Beach on the right side of the photo and Ton Sai Beach on the left side of the photo.

Ton Sai Beach (on the left side of the photo above) was the area hit hardest by the devastating tsunami on December 26, 2004, when 20-foot waves struck the island, claiming the lives of an estimated 700 to 1,000 people—both visitors and locals. That thought crossed my mind more than once during our five-night stay on the island.

 

Watching Muay Thai fights and amateur boxing at the Reggae Bar was a new experience for us. From our balcony seats, we had a great view of the action, including the moments when a boxer would circle the ring, searching for a challenger from the audience.

We tried a Thai massage, but while I didn't mind the stretching and pressure point work, Corp tapped out after 30 minutes (he said it felt like paying someone to beat him up).  We will definitely stick with  Swedish massages in the future.

Exploring Koh Lanta & Beyond (12/1 - 12/8)

We left Koh Phi Phi by ferry and arrived in Koh Lanta.  We stayed on Long Beach, which was perfect for walking and sunsets.

Our bungalow at the Nakarana Beachfront Resort.

The resort had a great pool, so we enjoyed swimming laps in every day.  The spitting dragons were a neat feature.

Koh Lanta had lots of bar and restaurant options on the beach, which we love.

The clouds made this another beautiful sunset in Thailand!

We took the 4 Islands Tour, and while snorkeling was okay, the Emerald Cave was mind-blowing—we swam about 10 minutes through a dark tunnel (video below) and emerged in a hidden lagoon.

The Emerald Cave was one of the most beautiful places were have ever seen.

You can see the cave opening we swam through right above Corp's right shoulder. 
The video below shows us swimming in the cave.

Picturesque lunch location.

I love anytime we can swing on a swing at the beach.

We had all this delicious food for $13 U.S.

This is how you get to the ferry in Koh Lanta...in the back of a little truck

Birthday Celebrations & Jungle Adventures (12/10 - 12/13)

Next stop was AoNang, which was about a 2 hour ferry ride form Koh Lanta.  

It was a pretty comfortable ferry ride.

Corp’s birthday was full of fun—a boat trip to Railay Beach and a night out on the town.

 

Railey Beach could only be accessed by boat.  There were lots of tourists there.

We saw lots of macaw monkeys at Railey Beach.  We were told that after the tourists leave at the end of the day all the wildlife comes out of the mountains and forest and it is a completely different place.

Corp bought some tubes so we could float on the water.

Here's the birthday boy!

Corp couldn't resist the opportunity to ride a mechanical bull on this birthday.

That evening, we also met Andy from Germany, who shared the same birthday day and year!

They even got our their id's to confirm they were born the same day and year.

The next adventure was the Jungle Tour, which included seeing Blue and Emerald Pools, hot springs, and Tiger Cave Temple.

After a short hike, we reached our first stop; Blue Pool named for its beautiful blue water.  This was a pool we could not swim in.

It was the bluest water we have ever seen!

The natural bubbling effect at Blue Pool is caused by underground hot springs releasing gas, creating a mesmerizing, bubbling effect in the vibrant blue water.  When you clapped your hands the bubbling would be more active...so cool!

Next stop was Emerald Pool.

Video of the pool.

Corp playing around in the water.

Third stop of the day was relaxing in the Wareerak Hot Springs.  The springs were marked with yellow, orange, and red dots.  Red being the spring's with the hottest temps at 104+ degrees.  

It was neat watching the water bubble up from underground and run throughout all the pools.

Our last stop of the day was Tiger Cave Temple, where we climbed 1,266 steps to get to the Buddha at the top.  Seeing it was definitely the most challenging of the Buddha's we saw.

The 1.266 steps were very steep as you can see in the next video.  Our legs were jelly when we were finished.

After several water breaks and rest stops, we made it to the top. Thankfully, it was cloudy, or we might have melted!  I had to wear the blue fabric wrapped around my waste because woman have to have their knees covered when at a temple.

Corp couldn't resist gonging the bell.

View from the top of the mountain.

We went through the Tiger Cave Temple pretty quickly because we were really tired after the hike up and down the mountain.
  

 

We ended the day exploring the Landmark Night Market and tried lots of yummy street foods, like mango, shrimp, and chicken spring rolls, steamed dumplings, and takoyaki, which are delicious, ball-shaped snacks made of a flour-based batter and filled with chicken and shrimp, green onions, and pickled ginger drizzled with a yummy sauce.  

 

 

Several backpackers told us to take the overnight Surat Thani train from Krabi to Bangkok, which was quite the experience.  First, it took us 6 hours and three transfers to get to the Surat Thani Railway Station from AoNang.  Then we discovered we mistakenly booked separate first class cabins, so we ended up sleeping in a cabin with a stranger; a 40ish year old male with Corp and 70ish year old woman with me.  When I walked in the cabin she looked terrified of me.  The dining car was old and gross and walking between the nine rail cars to get to and from the dining car was terrifying.  After an 11-hour ride with maybe 3–4 hours of sleep, we vowed: never again. Next time, we’ll just fly which would have taken 2 hours.  

Final Days in Thailand (12/14 - 12/16)

When we returned to Bangkok we stayed in Asiatique - The Riverfront Destination, which is a more affluent area in Bangkok.  It had lots of shopping and restaurants.  The two story carousel was stunning.  We couldn't figure out why no one was riding the Chang ferris wheel (btw...Chang is the #1 beer in Thailand).  It turns out the cost was $15 per person to ride, which is very expensive in Thailand.

We also visited the Ladmayom Floating Market before wrapping up our trip.

Some of the boats were beautifully decorated.

   

  

  

  

This is just a sample of all the food items we could try...most of them were yummy and few not so much!

Then, the long 23-hour journey home began—it was exhausting, but thankfully uneventful.  

Miscellaneous random cute/funny/interesting/weird pics/videos below…

I absolutely love Pad Thai and made it my mission to try as many variations as possible—because no two are ever the same! Some days, I even had it for both lunch and dinner.  

My favorite pad thai?  
The street-made version in Bangkok—fresh, flavorful, and only $1.50 for a full plate. Absolutely delicious!

Chinatown was fascinating because each store specialized in just one type of item. If you were looking for a phone cover, you had 50,000 options to choose from.

Our shower in the Patong Beach hotel was so narrow (about 20 inches wide) that you had to stand sideways just to avoid touching the shower curtain while showering.

This wall of orchids at our Pantong Beach hotel was gorgeous!

We were surprised to see a tractor backing a boat into the water.

This is the first time we have ever seen a scooter used as a dog sitter.

The green lights show the squid hunting that happens at night off Koh Phi Phi.

We thought this bar sign in Koh Phi Phi was hilarious!

This statute in Bangkok made us laugh.

In Bangkok. we stopped at a little neighborhood bakery.  I thought this was a strawberry danish.  Turns out it was a mini hotdog with ketchup and fried onions....it was so gross!

This mannequin was right out of a horror film.

We loved Thailand - from the craziness of Bangkok to the stunning islands we visited.  We definitely plan to go back...hopefully wrapping it into a trip to Vietnam too.

Stay tuned for Chapter 35 - a month long trip to the Yucatan Penisula, Mexico!   
 
Until next time, safe travels and happy exploring!

Corp and Tammy

 

Financials to note:

 

Our round-trip flights from home to SE Asia and back cost $3,305, not including the flights between destinations within SE Asia, our total hotel cost was $1,659.82 for 28 nights - $59.27 per night, and on average we spent $155 per day including hotel costs.