Alicia & Ben » Blog

Thailand Trip Index:

• Introduction
• Day 1 – Tigers, Elephants, Erawan
• Day 2 – Chinatown, Krabi
• Day 3 – Phi Phi Island Hopping
• Day 4 – Massage, Hike, Beach
• Day 5 – Cooking Class, Sunset Island Hopping
• Day 6 – Back to Bangkok, Siam Niramit
• Day 7 – Ziplining, Night Bike Tour

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This was Ben’s birthday and it did NOT disappoint. I think, in fact, I’ve never seen the man so happy in my entire life than he was this day!

We had hoped to do an island sunset cruise but the company we had wanted to book us informed us they wouldn’t be going. So, first on the agenda was to find another company that was going that night. Also, one thing I had wanted to do but failed to schedule was a cooking class. So, that morning we went looking for both activities and in a matter of a few minutes we had both set up. Ben didn’t want to do the cooking class but he escorted me to the meetup spot in Ao Nang, a nearby city. After a little searching we found the spot and were greeted by two Thai men and I discovered I was the only one in the class! I considered my safety and decided I would be fine so I hopped in the taxi, waved goodbye to Ben, and off we went up into the hills of the village. We stopped at this little outdoor, open kitchen and my class began.

My mom had actually encouraged me to make this happen and I’m so grateful for her suggestion! I enjoyed this so, so much more than I expected to. The instructor was excellent and the food turned out so tasty. We cooked chicken panang, coconut soup, cashew chicken, spring rolls, papaya salad, and mango and sticky rice. I learned new techniques for some of our old favorites and fell in love with a few new dishes. It was time well spent!

They drove me back to Ao Nang where I found a commuter boat back to our resort. It was a bit of a wait but I enjoyed chatting with new friends while we waited to fill the boat (they need 8 to go).

I spotted Ben in the resort’s pool during my walk back to our hut. So happy.

The staff greeted me by name, laid out a towel, and brought me cold water.  It’s nice to be taken care of every once in a while.

We ate my creations for lunch and then left to find our boat for the sunset cruise.

This was a bigger boat with lots of funny Asians who didn’t know how to swim. We stared at them in surprised concern as they tried to learn how to swim; they stared at us in surprised concern as we bloodied ourselves rock climbing, cave exploring, and back flipping off the second story roof of the boat. Good times were had by all 😉

We started with some snorkeling at Tup Island. Ben swam into a cave and took this great shot. I was concerned a wave would smash us into the rocks so I stayed in the open ocean area.

After that we went by Chicken Island. See where it gets it’s name?

Then we stopped for some deep water soloing aka rock climbing. Two crew members showed us how it was done:

But it wasn’t nearly as easy as they made it look! A few fit people couldn’t even get up the rope ladder. Ben held it steady for me and I was able to get up. That alone, I felt, was an accomplishment since several had already tried and failed. The pressure was also on as all boat passengers stared from the deck and witnessed each person’s failures and triumphs 🙂 Ben was quite impressive and made it the farthest of any non-crew members. He got quite a few cuts and battle wounds.

From there we went to Si Island. I was cold so opted to stay on the boat and take a few pictures. Ben put on a show with his backflips and jumps. He was so childlike – carefree, playful, spontaneous, joyful. This was one of the happiest moments of his life, I think! It was so fun to watch him be so free and happy.

After that we were shuttled from our larger boat to Tup Island aboard a long tail boat. We were told it was a photo-op so we took pictures. The sun was getting low and the light was soft and warm. Lovely! We handed the camera off to some of our Asian friends and they all had ideas/suggestions of how to pose….kiss, boat in the background, piggy back ride, peace signs. We kept trying to get a normal picture but everyone had outlandish ideas and we weren’t bold enough to suggest otherwise.

We were sad to leave but getting hungry so our captain took us to Poda Island for a buffet dinner and sunset. This was another pretty spectacular moment. Sitting on the beach, eating Thai food, watching the sunset. Perfection!

Once it was dark they put on a fire show. Crazy!

We were supposed to swim with bioluminescent algae but there were jellyfish so we just saw them from aboard the ship (no pictures). It was interesting but not life changing.

We arrived back to our resort around 9PM. We showered, dressed, and went to the Grotto for dinner and birthday dessert. The Grotto is one of three restaurants at the resort. It’s built into a cave and overlooks the beach and ocean. It’s pretty much spectacular! Here are a few professional pictures….

This replaced Saturday night’s restaurant as our new winner for “Best Ambiance” restaurant. There was live music playing, we could hear the waves rolling in, we were happy and exhausted and hungry and had overwhelming gratitude and happiness and love. It was another very happy moment in our lives. Very happy. Like so happy I just wanted to weep. We love our kids and being with them, but wow, this was nice, too. So nice. Oh, so nice. Like, I want to go back right now, so nice!

It was such a magical day that will never be forgotten!

Thailand Trip Index:

• Introduction
• Day 1 – Tigers, Elephants, Erawan
• Day 2 – Chinatown, Krabi
• Day 3 – Phi Phi Island Hopping
• Day 4 – Massage, Hike, Beach
• Day 5 – Cooking Class, Sunset Island Hopping
• Day 6 – Back to Bangkok, Siam Niramit
• Day 7 – Ziplining, Night Bike Tour

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Day 4 of our trip was a Sunday.  There wasn’t a LDS church within 100 miles so we weren’t able to attend church.  However, in the spirit of the Sabbath, we tried to make this to be a calmer, recuperation day.  I’m not sure how successful we were but we did try!

We enjoyed our breakfast buffet ever so much and then I went for an hour Thai massage.  It was outdoors so I could hear the waves rolling in which was very relaxing.  Sadly, that was about the only relaxing part!  The massage was even more brutal than the first.  At one point she was pinching my toes and all over my feet and legs.  I actually had to peek to make sure I wasn’t bleeding.  She also put me into some strange contortions and some cracks were heard like I’ve never heard before.  I had to keep from screaming out at times, but in the end, I was incredibly loose and relaxed.  She told me it was good for my blood and I would be very healthy? (Phone pics Ben took)

The rest of the day is a bit of a blur but I think it included a very steep hike to a lookout, Indian food for lunch, kayaking, and beach time.

Thailand Trip Index:

• Introduction
• Day 1 – Tigers, Elephants, Erawan
• Day 2 – Chinatown, Krabi
• Day 3 – Phi Phi Island Hopping
• Day 4 – Massage, Hike, Beach
• Day 5 – Cooking Class, Sunset Island Hopping
• Day 6 – Back to Bangkok, Siam Niramit
• Day 7 – Ziplining, Night Bike Tour

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After a wonderful slumber we woke with the rising sun and started getting ready for a  day of island hopping.  We went for morning breakfast buffet – one of my favorite traveling conveniences.  It’s so nice to wake up knowing an amazing, delicious breakfast is waiting for you.  They’re especially fun abroad because the resorts provide a wide range of ethnic options.  We had Thai stir fries, Japanese breakfast soups, French pastries, unique fruits, brilliant jams and marmalades smothered on all types of fresh baked breads, and every Western breakfast item available to us each morning – whenever we were ready and as much as we wanted.  Oh, I loved that!

Ben’s place has a chocolate filled pastry, rambatan fruit, pineapple, Lychee fruit, and various cheeses.

We had arranged the previous evening to do be picked up at 9:30 on our resort’s beach for a 7 island boat hopping tour around the Phi Phi Island chain. Ko Phi Phi was used as a location for the 2000 British-American film The Beach. Island hopping is probably at the top of every Krabi visitor’s to-do list: this coastal area has more than 100 islands and dramatic rock formations, which makes for a thrilling boat ride.

Waiting for our boat to arrive…..

Our first stop was at Bamboo Island. It was beautiful with white, soft sand and clear, warm turquoise waters. It was crowded in the main area so we walked further down the beach and took a few pictures. I wanted to get them out of the way so I could put the camera away and enjoy the rest of the day.

We took a break and enjoyed the shade at this washed up gazebo for a few minutes.

After that I didn’t take many pictures so I’ll just summarize the rest of the tour. We went to Hin Klarng for some open sea snorkeling.

After that we went into Pi Leh Bay which was one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. We were surrounded on all sides by these tall cliffs and snorkeled in some of the most turquoise, glowing water. Actually the scenery above was even more beautiful than the scenery in the water so I spent a lot of time above water staring at the cliffs and water and taking it all in. I offered numerous prayers of gratitude to God for blessing me with that moment. It was literally one of the happiest moments of my life. I was in awe of God and it was a bit of a spiritually high moment for me.

We went to the famous Maya Bay which I think was the most beautiful place I’ve even beheld with my two eyes. It was crowded but STUNNING! I mean, jaw-dropping stunning! Heavenly genius beauty. It was such a feast for the eyes that I was a little drunk with happiness. We found a quieter area to swim which we happily did until we were forced back onto the boat. I considered abandoning our tour group and pitching a tent for a few days, but Ben assured me the resort’s comfy bed would be calling to me come bedtime.

We were taken to the town on Phi Phi Don and ate lunch, wandered through some shops (I was happy to find a hat for some shade), and held a monkey.

After that we went to Losamah bay, I think? We were surprised how the sand and water color differed from spot to spot. These waters were full of fish. Our boat guides gave us watermelon and we snorkeled and fed the fish by hand. It was another very happy moment!

We had a 45 minute boat ride back to our resort’s beach where we arrived around 4:30. We were sad the day was over but it was even better than we had expected. We made some really happy memories that day!

We showered and went to the Thai restaurant at our resort. It wasn’t open yet so we took a few pictures and watched some rock climbers to help pass the time.

At 6 we were seated at our table. There was only one other family in the restaurant and they were in a private room. We choose the open air area overlooking the beach. The sun was setting as we ate our delicious vegetarian green curry and lobster red curry. I think this was Ben’s favorite meal from the trip. We both agreed the restaurant had the best ambiance of any place we’d ever eaten. The good food, beautiful scenery and a satisfied sense of tiredness left us so relaxed and happy. 🙂 It was a really lovely ending to a really amazing day!

Thailand Trip Index:

• Introduction
• Day 1 – Tigers, Elephants, Erawan
• Day 2 – Chinatown, Krabi
• Day 3 – Phi Phi Island Hopping
• Day 4 – Massage, Hike, Beach
• Day 5 – Cooking Class, Sunset Island Hopping
• Day 6 – Back to Bangkok, Siam Niramit
• Day 7 – Ziplining, Night Bike Tour

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After a much needed slumber we awoke anxious to explore Bangkok.  We only had a few hours since we had a departing flight at 1:50 which would take us to the Thailand coast.

Our first daylight view of Bangkok:

We flagged down a tuk-tuk and asked him to take us to Chinatown.  We spent some time wandering the markets and looking for something safe to eat for breakfast.  We settled on some small fritter-looking things, spring rolls, and fresh fruit.

I could have stayed in Chinatown all day people watching, wandering through the shops, and admiring the creativity but we had limited time so we moved one. We tried to go to the flower market but our driver didn’t understand our request.  So we asked, “Wat Pho?”  He understood that so we went there instead!

At Wat Pho there is the famous reclining Buddha and a massage center.  So we walked the grounds and then got a 30 minute massage.  Relaxing?  Yes.  Painful?  Yes!  They told me it would cleanse my blood and was medicinal in nature.

After that we tried to see Grande Palace but it was closed for a religious ceremony.  So we hopped on a boat taxi and headed back to our hotel to pack and get to the airport.

We grabbed lunch at a restaurant close to the hotel. It was delicious! Totally different than most panang that I’d had but I loved every bite, which I announced after each bite.

We flew to Krabi ($120 for two people, round trip price – wow!). We splurged and had reserved 4 nights at the beachfront resort, Rayavadee. We were met at the airport by the hotel staff, chafeaured in a van with massaging seats to a boat which took us to the resort. We checked in and explored the grounds. It was beautiful!  We had a little two story little hut in the jungle, a 5 minute walk to three beaches – one south, east, and west of us.

We watched a movie that night in the room and went to bed early.

Thailand Trip Index:

• Introduction
• Day 1 – Tigers, Elephants, Erawan
• Day 2 – Chinatown, Krabi
• Day 3 – Phi Phi Island Hopping
• Day 4 – Massage, Hike, Beach
• Day 5 – Cooking Class, Sunset Island Hopping
• Day 6 – Back to Bangkok, Siam Niramit
• Day 7 – Ziplining, Night Bike Tour

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We left Tampa on an early Tuesday morning – 4AM to be exact.  We flew from Tampa to Dallas to Hong Kong (16 hour flight!!!!) to Bangkok.  We finally arrived at our destination after 30 hours of travel around 1PM on Wednesday (Florida time).  It was midnight in Bangkok.  We arrived at our hotel around 1:30AM.  We slept for a few hours but had to be up at 3:30AM because we were being picked up by a driver at 4AM.

To preface, I should mention that we have a hard time planning a calm, relaxing vacation.  If I go to the other side of the world I want to experience as much as possible.  So, we knew we’d be exhausted after 30 hours of travel and 2 hours of sleep but the adrenaline kept us running.  We had booked a customized day tour with Tour with Tong.  It included a VIP spot at the morning program at Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno (Tiger Temple) in the Kanchanaburi province, about 3 hours outside of Bangkok, riding elephants, and a trip to Erawan Falls.

This first day in Thailand was AMAZING!  It’s one of those things you wonder if you dreamed it all up once it’s over.  I kept saying, “Ben, we are in Thailand feeding a tiger!”  “Ben, we are in Thailand riding an elephant!” “Ben, we are in Thailand eating Thai food”   It was a really busy day but so much fun!  Maybe even our most favorite day?  It was a once in a lifetime type of day.

On to the fun….

We met our guide, Chris, in our hotel lobby around 4AM. We slept in the car during the first two hours of the drive. We stopped around 6AM to buy something to eat.  I ate my safe strawberry chia bar but Ben was adventurous and bought this pastry.  I wasn’t impressed.  It tasted like wonder bread with pudding in the middle. Ben enjoyed it, though.

Our first stop was the Bridge at the River Kwai (Khwae Yai), The Bridge on the River Kwai is a 1957 British World War II film by David Lean based on the novel The Bridge over the River Kwai by French writer Pierre Boulle. Plaques near the bridge commemorate the thousands lives that were lost during the construction of the railway from Thailand to Burma which was a key part of the planned land invasion of India by the Imperial Japanese. It was a somber stop but a part of Thai history.

We knew we had found the Tiger Temple when we saw these large jaws out the car winddow…

The Tiger Temple is partially run by monks. Most Monks only eat once a day, before noon, and receive their food only from offerings. So, to begin the tour, we offered food to the monks. To do so, we took off our shoes and with two hands placed the food in their bowls and bowed in respect.

After being blessed by the Monks, the 10-12 of us in the VIP group went to the temple where the tiger cubs were. We got to bottle feed and play with them. Most of these cubs were already pretty big! Ben and I were amazed by the size of their paws.

This little guy did not like Ben one bit!  He liked me, though, he bite my side.  I was worried he’d torn my shirt and I hadn’t brought a spare.  Thankfully, he hadn’t!

The monks were saying prayers during this time. Once they finished we ate breakfast with them. Spiciest breakfast of my life. My mouth was burning!

The cubs needed to be taken to another area of the sanctuary for their morning bath. We got to walk them there and helped scrub them down. We also fed them cooked chicken. I think the purpose of the chicken was to keep them distracted so they wouldn’t try to attack the person bathing them. Many of the workers there did have scars which I wasn’t expecting, actually.

Next, it was time to help the adolescents run some energy off. They took us in an enclosure where 8 – 10 big tigers were running around. They handed us tall sticks and told us to make them jump. What?!?!! This part got my heart pumping! The staff and volunteers were very careful about safety but I was having an Are-You-Sure-This-Is-Safe moment. They are tigers and all.

For the grand finale, we walked this big guy down to the adult area. They put us in a fenced-in area and turned the adults loose to run freely.  It was amazing!

When I say, “fenced in area” this is what it looked like.  These two ran past us and the fence practically fell over.

You can really see how they can blend in to their environment.  Their camouflage surprised me.

No doubt, this was a morning we will never forget!

We were sad to leave but excited to know more fun was to come.

We had a half hour drive through the beautiful moutains and jungle up to the elephant village.  It was a simple little place.  As a matter of fact, we were the only tourists there.  We were told to bring a change of clothes and a towel but had no idea what to expect other than we were going to get wet.  We went down to the river to wait.  We were entertained by the two women there – one washing her clothes and the other catching fish for lunch.

Then the elephant and mahout arrived. They went straight into the water and invited me to join them. I considered running for safety but knowing I couldn’t get a refund decided to forge ahead. We hopped onto that huge animal and the mahout gave a command and the elephant filled it’s trunk with water and whipped it back into our faces. All we could do was laugh.

Next the man told us to hold us tightly.  He yelled a command and the elephant started rocking back and forth.  It was like trying to stay on a bucking bull.  We didn’t stand a chance.

We’d crawl back on and she’d rock us right back off.

After a little while we took a few pictures and rode the elephant up the mountain, back to our car.

Note: all the guides there are practically professional photographers.  They took my camera and would instruct us how to pose and then would snap away 🙂  Made my life easy!

By the way, when you’re on top of an elephant it looks like a really long way down if you were to fall. After having seen how easily it could buck us off I kept worrying if it sneezed or something we’d go flying. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.

It was a fun experience to be that close and interactive with such an amazing animal!

One place my mom had recommended we visit was Erawan Falls, one of the “most beautiful places I’ve ever been” she told us. We weren’t sure we could fit it in but Tour with Tong said it was possible. Yeah!

Erawan Waterfall is famous for its seven layers of cascading falls, swimming holes, natural slides, and waterfalls. The trail is easily marked, though, the upper area was rocky and left me wishing I’d packed tennis shoes. After a little instruction our guide sent us up alone. It was so peaceful and beautiful! It was a little magical, actually. The forest felt very much alive and enchanting. We must have said 15 times, “I’m so happy we came here!” It was a wonderful few hours alone to hike, soak our feet, talk, and take it all in.

There were fish that would latch on to our feet when we put them in the water.  I was way too ticklish to endure it but Ben (seen below) quite enjoyed it…..

Chris had ordered us dinner and it was waiting for us when we were done…..

We slept most of the way back to Bangkok, finally arriving around 8PM. It was a fantastic first day and everything we had hoped it would be!