Spring Break: Thailand 08

(These are Thai chilies - it's what puts the star(s) in Thai food.)

Arrival in Thailand: Bangkok

We stayed on Khaosan road - wouldn't stay on this road more than once. It's pretty dirty and everything is nothing less than dodgy. Of course, great deals can be had on clothes in the streets here if one is willing to haggle; I was.

We spent the great majority of our first full day in Thailand exploring The Grand Palace (a temple grounds). A well dressed local informed us that the Palace was closed until 3pm (this occurred at 11am), but he could take us on a nice tour until the palace re-opened. Recalling the warning in my guide book - thanks Lonely Planet - that identified the different types of scams in Thailand, this was one. We decided to check things out for ourselves. As it turns out, the palace actually closes at 3:30pm and had we gone with the "nice gentleman" we wouldn't have seen the palace that day. Unlike temples in Japan, temples in Thailand are opulent, colorful, and touched with gold when possible. This particular palace is incredible and we spent about four hours trying to soak it up. The picture above is a mural of the actual palace. I wasn't able to get a good shot of the palace to do it justice - it's simply too large. But some more photos are below.

View of the palace from the road. The elephant statute is actually an intersection roundabout.

A touch of gold is an understatement.

Opulent guards hold up the "fort." These sculptures are prevalent on the palace grounds.

This is the kind of place I want when I move out of my parent's house.

Street market food is can be pretty tasty, but one has to remember to order "with or without flies." Fortunately for this coconut jelly vendor everything comes without flies.

-----------

Full day number two was spent at the "Floating Market."

The floating market is a zoo. We walked on the sidewalks lining the canal, which was packed with vendors and tourists. We ordered up spring rolls from one woman in her boat, pad Thai from the next, and fresh mango to round out our meal. For $1.30 I had the best pad Thai in my entire life. Actually, the Thai food in Thailand was, as expected, the best. Food is exceptionally cheap and even more tasty. The only problem now is that I will return to the states where it is expensive, but hopefully still tasty in comparison.

Here's a vendor selling fresh fruit.

------------

Off to the Beach(es) of Thailand - an unforgettable experience. We stayed in the Mild Bungalows, which was situated in a park-like setting just a few steps from a undeveloped section of beach. The beach was about 20min walk from Ao Nang, the main beach of Krabi. Instead of hoofing it everywhere we rented a sweet motorbike (scooter) from the hotel for the week - pretty zippy little toy (we wore helmets). We used the hotel as a launch point for our daily adventures. We were able to go hiking, kayaking, and swimming most days. We also tried to catch the sunset as often as possible, clouds permitting. Here's a few shots from the various trips we took.

This is the view from our bungalow's front porch.

Another bungalow - the hotel owners really took pride in landscaping.

Here's a lucky shot I got of this bird. Our kayak guide pointed it out to us while we were touring a mangrove forest. I'm not sure what kind of bird it is. Anybody know?

Nail Island - this shot is taken from "James Bond" Island, which was featured in 007 The Man With the Golden Gun. Nail Island, of course, is featured in just about every Thailand tourist magazine or post card.

After Nail Island, our tour went to the "monkey cave temple." Outside the Buddhist temple are about 100 monkeys roaming free. Tourists feed the monkeys bananas and peanuts. I bought a bag of peanuts to feed some monkeys. When I bent down to feed a monkey (a picture is below), h/she snatched the bag and ran. I laughed.

We'll call this little monkey "Snatcher" - this is a pre-snatch glamour shot. I'm pretty sure her eyes are on the prize.

This baby monkey apparently wants both milk and a banana.

Precious moments in monkey history.

After the monkey temple, we headed for a dip in the rain forest. This place reminded me of the Northwest.

No trip to the beaches of Thailand would be complete without a ride in a long tail boat. This is a great mode of transportation for getting around to all the different islands. One can take a speedboat, but I think that detracts from the "island feel."