North! To Sukhothai

We made a 2 day stop in Sukhothai en route to Chiang Mai last week. We biked in between buddhas...perfect place to stop halfway before heading all the way up north. Check it out!

{These next two pics courtesy of Monsieur Faure-Brac!}

{Like two deer caught in the headlights, no? ;)}

Already halfway through our trip!! And what's coming up next...

Greetings from Pai, way up in Northern Thailand! We've been motorbiking through the hills surrounding Chiang Mai and Pai for the last week...

...but 3 months ago yesterday, we embarked on the long journey from LA to Kathmandu!! Which means we only have 3 months left on our 6 month backpacking trip. Time has been flying by but we have also soaked up every minute and absorbed each place and each passing day.

*In the first half, we fell in love with Nepal. Someone asked me to describe Nepal in one word and it was 'magical'...we loved it.

*We got our first glimpse of the gorgeous beaches and chillied out atmosphere of Southeast Asia in Indonesia.

*We enjoyed the great feeling of being back in the first world in Kuala Lumpur.

*And for the last 6 weeks we have fallen head over heels in love with Thailand...from the very south in Koh Lipe to the very north of Pai, Thailand's hippie haven.

*We also squeezed in a week in Cambodia and absolutely loved Siem Reap and the Angkor temples.

So what's next?

Laos for almost 3 weeks and we're looking to get off the beaten path as much as possible.

Singapore for a quick and unplanned 30-hour layover.

Palawan in The Philippines (!!!!!) for 9 days. Christian needs his tan back ;).

Kuala Lumpur for the Future Music Festival.

Hong Kong. Where we booked a teeny-tiny Air BnB apartment.

South Korea for 9 days so Christian can get his techy-nerd fix and so we can enjoy Seoul with plenty of tips from our dear friend Carly.

Japan just in time to see the cherry blossoms bloom and to meet our friends Ross & Cheryl.

Bangkok for Songkran, Thai New Year,  otherwise known as a huge water fight on the streets.

Jordan, to check yet another item off of our bucket list: Petra!

Israel...Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv, we are coming for you!

At some point we will be in 

The Netherlands to spend lots of time with family and friends in Maastricht and Amsterdam.

Have you ever been to any of the above places? We'd love to get any tips if you have some favorite spots/things to do/places to eat/etc!

Koh Mak, 'Long Live the Danes!' and a Shipwreck...

We wanted to squeeze in just one more 'koh' before we met up with our friend Denis in Bangkok. We loved the Thai islands so much already, we agreed we'd definitely make time to escape the city for a few more days on the beach.

Back in Koh Lipe, we befriended a nice Danish family. The mom and dad were a) some of the coolest parents on the planet always swimming and playing around on the beach with their two young sons, b) told us about how cool Koh Phi Phi was 20+ years ago and c) are most definitely 'koh experts'. They have been to the Thai islands many, many times (I mean I think they went to Koh Phi Phi in 1979!!!) and gave us some 'koh tips'. We told them we were looking for something like Koh Lipe: beautiful, not touristy and beyond awesome.

The Danes told us about Koh Mak. We spent our 4 days on Koh Mak often saying things like 'long live the Danes!' and wondering how we could attach a note to a bird's foot who would magically fly away to Denmark and thank these people for telling us about this beautiful island.

I mean...

...we walked to a shipwreck...

...we motorbiked through pineapple fields...

...we had one of the best pork with chili and basil dishes we ever had (Christian says it was the best)...

...we went to a live acoustic jam session...twice...

...and we had a beachfront bungalow for $18 a night...

It was ridiculously beautiful. We loved Koh Mak and we really love Danish people now, too...

TRAVEL TIPS

*Koh Mak is only 4-5ish hours by minivan from Bangkok. Take a minivan from Ekamai station to Trat, then a 1 hour speedboat to Koh Mak.

*The Monkey Island Resort was perfect. Cheap bungalows with fan right near the beach and also with a hammock. But get breakfast in town...their bungalows are great, their breakfasts are terrible. And you need to call the hotel directly to reserve your room!

*Mong Restaurant was the site of that amazing pork with chili and basil we had. It's down the highway from Monkey Island Resort on the side of the road--we went by motorbike.

Bangkok at Night

With the Bangkok Shutdown in full-swing, Bangkok has been in the news a lot lately. We arrived in Bangkok only days before the Shutdown was to begin on January 13th. Luckily we had plans to escape the city and go to Cambodia for a week.

My friend Anna graciously let us crash at her place for a few days while she showed us around the new part of Bangkok around Thong Lo and Ploen Chit. I was amazed how developed Bangkok was. When 'Bangkok' came to my mind I had visions of old ghettos or Chinatowns, dirty guesthouses and animals running around on the streets.

Somewhere along Thong Lo, the weirdest thing happened. I knew an old college friend of mine, Kevin, lived in Bangkok and, months earlier, we had tentatively made plans to grab a beer while we were in town. Anna showed us to this nice wine bar and someone yells my name. It was Kevin! Small world! Of all the bars in Bangkok, on any given night and there was Kevin hanging out with his friends. A few days later we attended Kevin's craft beer event at Bangkok's new Asiatique downtown area (highly recommended if you want a cool, sophisticated place to hang out!). 

Once we got back from Cambodia though, we were back in Bangkok but this time staying in the infamous Khao San Road area. This area was a bit more inline with what my imagination conjured up about Bangkok, but still...Bangkok is very developed. Pad thai and street-side massages were just as cheap as guidebooks and other backpackers told us.

Later in the week, we patiently awaited the arrival of our fellow travel buddy Denis and our travel duo now has become a travel trio for the next few weeks!

What I did discover about Bangkok is I like it way better at night. The street stalls come out and the entire city comes to life. We have since headed to Northern Thailand, but we will be back, Bangkok...see you for Songkran (Thai New Year) in April.

*We saw Bangkok pre and post Bangkok Shutdown and felt completely safe. We walked through some protests (probably shouldn't do that) and only witnessed people dancing and singing and people camped out sleeping on the roads. One protestor even came up to us and gave us directions when we were lost! Unfortunately there has been some shootings and explosions in recent days. But in our experience, we did not feel threatened in Bangkok whatsoever.*

{DENIS ARRIVES!}

{Bangkok wasn't so bad during the day either I guess ;)...}