Thailand: If We're Not Moving...We're Sleeping!

So the month of March will go down as one of the craziest months of my life. I just got back from a 9 day trip to Thailand, I am in Doha for four days, and then head to the US for a two week trip that will bring me from Orlando, to DC, and back up to NY before returning to Doha. The Thailand trip I just got back from was incredible and another one of those let’s fit three weeks of travel into one week kind of trips. I went with a buddy who works in Doha at Carnegie Mellon University, Kevin D’Arco. Kevin and I visited Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Ko Phi Phi Don on our trip. We had some incredible adventures even though we got off to a bit of a slow start.

Now when I say slow start, let me clarify. I got off to a slow start. In fact, I didn’t make my flight. I have never come close to missing a flight in my life. Well…there was one time in Barcelona but we MADE that one. Regardless, Kevin and I had a flight at 8:15am from Doha to Bangkok direct. Evan woke up at 8:45am after being out late welcoming Brennan to Doha. FAIL! Luckily Qatar Airways was able to book me on a 2:30pm flight to Bangkok so I wouldn’t miss much. That 2:30pm flight was delayed five hours and I would now arrive in Bangkok at 5am Saturday March 2^nd instead of 6pm on March 1^st as planned. How do we make this situation better? Challenge Brennan to the Arabic version of Monopoly and win handily after a game that neither of us enjoyed.

Once I got my feet on the ground in Bangkok it was non-stop action for the rest of the trip. On our first day in Bangkok we toured around several temples, specifically the Reclining Buddha and Emerald Buddha. We got tailor made suits that would be delivered to our friends. And made friends with drivers and tour guides like Jackie and Steady Eddie. Kevin and I were incredibly lucky because we chose to visit Bangkok on the one weekend every four years that all bars and restaurants close early (What are the chances?!?!). The reason they close early is that the mayor candidates used to throw huge parties get the voters drunk and then send them to the polls. So a few years ago they mandated that all bars and restaurants close early before the election to prevent this. In order to avoid a quiet night in the hotel, Kevin and I decided to take a 90 minute cab ride to Pattaya Beach to experience what is considered some of the most extreme nightlight in the world. It was a place that made New Orlean’s Bourbon Street look innocent. After a night in Pattaya we went back to Bangkok, sat ringside for a Muay Thai fight, and then got ready for the next stop…CHIANG MAI!!!

 

Chiang Mai was my favorite stop on the trip. It felt much less touristy than Bangkok and Phuket even though it is Thailand’s second largest city. Our first stop in Chiang Mai, TIGER KINGDOM!!! Basically a whole bunch of tigers are in cages that people can go in and play with. The Kingdom is a breeding farm for Tigers around the world. When we arrived it felt like a tourist trip and pretty lame to be honest. But once we got in that first cage with a tiger it was AWESOME!!! The tigers would let you lay on them, rub their bellies, or just play with you. We went in the cage with the small tigers, the smallest tigers, and the big tigers (yes, that is what they were labeled). In all we spent about two hours with these beautiful animals and kept all of our extremities. Next stop after Tiger Kingdom was the Monkey Center. Now everyone knows…I.LOVE.MONKEYS! I just think they are awesome. And these were the smartest monkeys I have ever seen! We saw monkeys ride a bike, do push ups, count numbers, and even dunk a basketball! The following day we did a zipline though a rainforest with 31 ziplines, the longest spanning 800 meteres. Our final day we did a one day trek that included an elephant ride through a river, a hike to a waterfall to swim, white water rafting, a bamboo raft ride (that was incredibly disappointing), a visit to a local village, and a butterfly farm! After the trek we jumped on a flight to the island of Phuket for our last stop on the trip!

 

Phuket is the most popular of Thailand’s island and serves as a launch point for many other islands you can visit. We stayed in the Patong Beach area in a central location hotel but spent time exploring the rest of the island on mopeds. We saw some amazing beaches, hiked down some rocks for a sunset, and had some great nights out. We also took a day long boat trip to Ko Phi Phi Don and Ko Phi Phi Ley islands for snorkeling and visiting beaches. The scenery was absolutely incredible, although there were a TON of tourists.  Phuket was probably the gem of the trip and when I go back to Thailand in the future I will likely go directly there and head to explore some of the more remote islands.

 

I can speak for Kevin and myself when I say that our expectations of Thailand were shattered. Most people that live in Doha have been multiple times and sing its praises, and now we know firsthand why that is. It is a country that has such a wide range of places to explore and our trip was only the tip of the iceberg. In many ways we did Thailand right. We saw a lot. Had some amazing times, but in other ways we did it wrong. We planned too much and could have taken things as they came. We picked hotels over ridiculously cheap hostels and we now know more about the areas that aren’t as commercialized as our stops. Overall, job well done Kevin and Evan (by the way people thought it was HILARIOUS that the two American guys were named Kevin and Evan a few times we just told people different names). Can’t wait to head back to the SE Asia region this summer with Sarah and Co. to explore Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and Indonesia. 

Next stop is the US of A!!! I fly out early Thursday morning (and I will be sure not to miss this one). I will be in Orlando from March 14-20, DC March 20-26, and NY March 26-29. I have some amazing plans to see friends and family throughout and I am so thankful to be heading home after 6 months here in Doha. Although I still feel like I don’t desperately NEED to go home it will feel so good to spend time with all those people that I miss so much while I am here in Doha. See everybody in a few short days!!!