Hello everyone! So a while back Ryan and I were surfing the web and we found another promo! (A huge discount of flights through Cebu Pacific Air). We decided to grab the opportunity and we booked our flight to Bangkok, Thailand! So a few weeks back in July we made our journey to Thailand. We arrived in Bangkok around 9AM, so we decided to have a day of sightseeing in Bangkok and then take a train to Ayutthaya for the night. When we first arrived in the airport we were super impressed. The airport was very nice, well organized, and had awesome public transportation options. We took the train from the airport into town and then took the subway to the train station.
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| One the train into Bangkok |
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| Holding my token to get onto the subway |
Once we arrived at the subway we found out we didn't need to buy our train tickets right away, so we checked our bags at the luggage counter and headed off to see Bangkok. While in route to see Wat Pho we ran into Mr. Cha. We had an amazing lunch and a great time with him exploring the temple of Wat Pho. Unfortunately Ryan and I started to feel a little under the weather so we parted ways and headed to the train station to catch a train to Ayutthaya.
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| Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho |
We got our tickets to Ayutthaya and noticed that we didn't have a seat number, and the ticket was REALLY cheap. So we asked about this and didn't really get an answer. So when it was time to get on the train we went into one of the cars and sat down at some empty seats. Well come to find out we had standing only tickets, but the lady who's seat we were taking, would not hear of us standing so she let us have her seat. (She took this man's seat and made him stand.) We tried to tell her it was ok, but no one would take our spots. We rode, about an hour and a half, on the third class train. It was a great experience. We got to meet tons of locals and see how they experience the trains.
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| The isle of the 3rd class train |
We made it to Ayutthaya, went to a night market for dinner, and had another awesome meal. I tell you what the Thai's KNOW how to cook. They have similar ingredients as Filipinos, but I LOVE the outcome of Thai food! The next day we went temple hopping and enjoyed comparing Thai temples to Cambodian temples. We rented bikes and also had a lot of fun riding those around. And of course we ate great food!
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| One of the many temples at Ayutthaya |
After exploring Ayutthaya, we took a night train to Chiang Mai. Ryan and I arrived a little early to the train station and then the train ended up arriving late, but one of the guards made sure we knew he was watching out for us. (Thai people are also very hospitable and nice) So once we finally got on the train a few funny things happened. First we were trying to put our bags up on the luggage racks without smacking anyone in the face, and when Ryan finally sat down some of our fruit rolled out of our bag and onto to the floor somewhere. Well the passengers across the isle from us (a grandmother and her granddaughter) were cracking up at us. We were very entertaining to them. You can imagine these two white people trying to get situated and not really knowing what they were doing, I would have laughed at us too! So Ryan sits down and we start to look for the fruit. (It was a mangosteen and if you have ever eaten mangosteen you can understand why we wanted it back; they are out of this world delicious!!) Our neighbors start to look around too, but are confused at what we are looking for. We finally spot it under the guy's feet in front of us. So Ryan stands up and reaches under his feet for the fruit. Well this had everyone cracking up and saying "ahhhh". Needless to say it was an amusing ride :)
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| Our neighbors :) |
We arrived in Chiang Mai early morning and decided to walk the 2K to the hotel. Once we arrived we thought we were in heaven. Our room was nice with an excellent a/c. We had hot water and a very relaxing atmosphere. The two of us had not been feeling so well so we decided to take it easy and rest for a while. We had several days in Chiang Mai and we enjoyed it throughly. We went sightseeing, walking around the town, talked with several monks, practiced meditation, got several messages, and of course ate some AMAZING food. Now we didn't eat Thai the whole time, although we could have. We decided one day to try this place called Heavenly burritos. Man that was the right choice. At that moment Ryan and I realized how much we missed Texas and good mexican food.
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| Yummy!!! |
We also took a cooking class while we were in Chiang Mai. This was a blast! We booked this through our hotel and it turned out that Ryan and I were the only ones in the class!! We had a total of four people helping us prepare our meals (one chef and one interpreter). We each made three dishes and then had the wonderful pleasure of it eating them afterwards. It was a lot of fun and I hope we can duplicate the meals once we get home :)
We were also able to visit a tiger park while in Chiang Mai. Ryan and I were a little skeptical of this place before going, but once we were there we really enjoyed ourselves. We got to play with the baby, small, and large tigers. I really loved it and wish I could have a tiger, haha!! Although they are dangerous animals, they are just big cats and it was fun to be able to see them on such a personal level. The trainers seemed to love their jobs and the tigers seemed very well cared for. If they had been out in the wild poachers would hunt them down. So a park like this gives them a chance to survive and live a long life. We could have a long discussion about the pros and cons of a place like this, but all in all we had a great time! :)
Our trip to Thailand was a huge success. I know lots of people say Thailand is too touristy now, but Ryan and I did our best to do things on our own and stay out of the tourist traps. We had an awesome time and would recommend Thailand to anyone! :) Until next time...
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