After a canceled flight in Kathmandu, we were able to re-book on another airline and meet up with Sheila and Joan on time in the Bangkok airport. We really had the perfect first 12 days in Thailand! Thanks to Gera for helping us plan a great trip and Sheila and Joan for making the long trip to see us; also for being great, easy going travel companions! Below are highlights of the four areas we visited...
BANGKOK
We visited a few temples and markets in our quick two nights in Bangkok.
KOH SAMET
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| We were lazy with the picture taking in Koh Samet, but it was sunny and the beaches were great! |
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| Beers on Tubtim Beach |
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| Not the safest job for these kids, but they are talented and they make a killing by Thai standards with their fire shows in front of beach restaurants every night |
KANCHANABURI
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| You may, or may not in our case, recognize the book or movie The Bridge Over the River Kawae. It's a historic WWII railway bridge built by Japanese POWs from Thailand to Burma. The railway is also referred to as the death railway due to the huge number of POWs that died building the bridge under extreme conditions. Kanchanaburi had great monuments and very interesting museums dedicated to the impact of WWII in this region. |
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| Erawan National Park at Level 1 of this 7 level water fall stretched out over about 2 kilometers |
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| Feet loving carp hang out waiting to nibble on tourist toes |
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| Level 3 comes with posing girl under water fall |
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| this was level, um, 5 we think |
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| Level 7! |
CHIANG MAI
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| Thai cooking class! We made (and ate) so much food... a soup, noodle dish, appetizer, stir fry, curry paste, curry dish, and dessert! Looking forward to using our new cookbook when we get home.
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| We all tried our hand at vegetable (carrot) carving... can you guess which one belongs to Rob, Sheila, Cass and Joan? |
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| Elephant Nature Park was a great, great experience where we got to feed, bathe and interact with these awesome Asian elephants. These are all rescued elephants some of them injured from their logging or agriculture backgrounds. Great organization, we learned a lot... www.elephantnaturepark.org
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| Whaddya feed this thing?... |
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| pinapple, watermelon and pumpkin breakfast |
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| Bath time! |
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| Helping the elephants get those hard to rinse places... |
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| Elephant kiss kinda tickles :) |
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| Bye Thailand, we'll be back after Laos and Cambodia (and maybe Vietnam)! |
