One of the benefits of staying in hostels is the ridiculously nice people that work there. They have great knowledge of things to do, places to eat, and tips to get around. Our first day in Bangkok, one of the women that worked at our hostel recommended we go to a floating market that was open on the weekend. This turned out to be a great adventure.
After about 2 minutes of walking around we came to the river where we saw some boats. Right away this guys asked us if we want to ride on one of the boats. We weren’t sure what it was or where the boat was going but it looked fun so we got on with a few other people and the boat took off down the river. After going down the river a bit the boat stopped at this seemingly random dock where we got off and walked around. It seemed to be a very small market at some of the houses along the river. Then we got back on the boat. It stopped again at a rather large shrine before bringing us back to the dock we started at. Getting to see the river and the houses on it was a fun time in itself.
After our boat tour we walked around the market and had lunch. There was such a variety of different and unfamiliar foods that smelled delicious. John’s goal for Thailand was to eat Pad Thai at least twice a day so of course we found a place that was making fresh Pad Thai. After that we were intrigued by something interesting at another stand. They had these bright colored dumplings in coconut milk which were really tasty. Overall a successful day one in Thailand!
On Sunday we headed over to the weekend chatuchuk market. It is one of the largest markets in Thailand and only open on the weekend so it’s lucky we got to see it.
On Monday we flew up to Chiang Mai. The short flight took us out of the huge city of Bangkok and closer to the peaceful forests of northern Thailand. Chiang Mai was much smaller and less chaotic than Bangkok. Our first day we walked around the city square, visited a couple of the smaller temples, and went to the night bazaar in the evening to walk around.
On Tuesday we got up early and headed north for our day with the elephants. Before our trip we did a lot of research into which organization we wanted to go with for our experience with the elephants. We wanted to make sure that there was no riding allowed at the park (because this is really harmful to the elephants) and most importantly that the organization was responsible and treated the elephants humanely. We found Elephant Nature Park which is an organization that rescues elephants from street shows, circuses, and riding camps and rehabilitates them back to their natural environment. The park was a huge beautiful piece of land with elephants roaming freely in every direction. We spent the day feeding them, waking through the forest with them, and to top it off bathing them in the river at the park. It was such a great experience that will never be forgotten!
Our last day in Chiang Mai we walked around more of the city to see a few of the bigger temples and the gate of the wall that used to surround the city.
After we returned to Bangkok from Chiang Mai we had one more full day there. We visited the Grand Palace and Wat Pho (one of the bigger temples in Bangkok). These were quite extraordinary and beautiful to see.
That night we had dinner at our favorite Pad Thai place that we found. We also got their coconut ice which is like heaven in a cup (coconut with shaved ice).
Thailand was our last stop in Asia. It was a great way to wrap it up with lots of culture, beautiful landscapes and animals, and delicious food.
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