Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok is known for its cultural attractions and its great nightlife.  We're too old to do nightlife anymore so we don't have anything to tell you about Bangkok after dark but we did visit all of the city's cultural attractions and we hope you enjoy the stories.

The most striking attraction in Bangkok is the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.  It's the most sacred temple in Thailand as Thais believe that the Emerald Buddha protects the country from harm.  The temple houses the most ornate buildings that we'd seen in all of southeast Asia.

Gold covered entry to the main temple building

Side of the main temple building

Close-up of the exterior of the main temple building

The Emerald Buddha - he looks big in the photo but he's 66 cm (two feet) tall

Two yakshis guard the entry to the temple complex

A pagoda (Buddhist shrine)

The temple's library

Exteriors of all the building are intricately decorated

Next to the Temple of the Emerald Buddha is the Grand Palace which used to be home for the King of Thailand before he built himself a new palace (probably to escape all the tourists!).  Unlike other palaces we'd seen, the Grand Palace is a series of buildings rather than a single one.

The main hall in the Grand Palace

A soldier stands guard

One of the throne halls on the site

The throne

A garuda is the symbol of Thailand and the royal family and is seen on all of the buildings

We'd seen plenty of temples in southeast Asia and we thought we'd seen it all but there were two in Bangkok that were unique.  The first was Wat Arun which has intricately decorated towers.  The second was Wat Pho which has the world's largest reclining Buddha statue at 15 metres high and 43 metres long.

Wat Arun seen from the river

The detail on the towers is amazing

Porcelain is used as decoration throughout

It's a steep climb to the top of the main tower

Nice view from the top

The Reclining Buddha

We ventured a little ways outside Bangkok to see a floating market.  You get driven around on a boat and check out vendors who are selling their wares from boats or floating shops.  The shopping isn't great as most vendors sell the same cheap souvenirs you could get in the city but there were a few interesting things to see.

In our ride for the day

Special price for you!

There were lots of folks cooking in their boats

Traffic jam - the market is a popular tourist attraction

Fresh fruit comes to you

Here are a few more photos from around Bangkok.

Bangkok is a sprawling city with 12 million people

"Street meat" is available on every corner but we weren't brave enough to try it

Another street-side vendor - it smelled good but ... maybe we'll be braver eaters on our next world trip

You see the gleaming, new side of Bangkok along with river

You also see slums along the river 

We haven't posted a cute cat photo for a while

A nice dinner

This is the end of our Thailand adventure and the last of the good weather on our trip.  We'd had three weeks of very hot and humid weather as we trekked through Cambodia, Laos and Thailand.

We now headed north to Japan and China.  We pulled out our socks, long pants and jackets and braced ourselves for early spring weather and something we hadn't seen for a while - snow!

Blake and Vanessa

Krabi, Thailand

We've had mixed success with the beach vacations we've scheduled on our trip.  We had great weather in Hvar, Croatia and Zanzibar, Tanzania but we were flooded out of Fiji and it was rainy and cold in Ibiza, Spain.

Our beach vacation in Krabi got off to a bad start as it was pouring rain when we walked out of the airport. Our hotel assured us that things would improve but we weren't optimistic.

The good news is we had great weather for the rest of our three day stay.  We thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful beach.

View down the beach

The resort provides very comfortable bean bags to lay on

View out from the beach

Vanessa hardly moved from the hammock during our stay

Blake got sunburned on our first day and hid in the shade after that

Don't know how this black dog could stand the hot sun and sand 

His white friend was smarter and napped in the shade

We got an unexpected bonus in Krabi - amazing sunsets!  They were as good as any we've ever seen.

The resort was really nice too.

The restaurant

A nice pool in case you get tired of the beach

We really enjoyed the beautiful scenery in Krabi and it was a great relaxing holiday before we headed to our last stop in Thailand - the capital city of Bangkok.

Vanessa and Blake

Chiang Mai, Thailand

When we arrived in Thailand, we'd been on the road for over seven months and our energy level and enthusiasm had decreased quite a bit.  We weren't ready to go home yet but we did start counting the days.

The first stop on our two week tour of Thailand was Chiang Mai in the north of the country.

We stayed at a great hotel in Chiang Mai.  It was an oasis of calm in the bustling city.  We took lots of time to just hang out at the hotel and we loved not having to navigate or negotiate or do anything else that would strain our weary brains.

We spent lots of time hanging out by the pool

The area around the pool looks even better at night

When we ventured out of the hotel, the best thing we did by far was to have a traditional Thai massage.  Thai massages are much stronger than North American massages and they can leave you feeling worse rather than better if they're too strong.  Lucky for us we found a great spa where they knew how to create a relaxing atmosphere and we got two awesome massage therapists who got the strength of the massages just right.

Our only adventurous activity in Chiang Mai was a zip-lining trip.  We were in a very international group of tourists and we had a great time roaring high above the jungle.

We've got our gear on and we're ready for action

Holding on is optional

Dancers always point their toes no matter what they're doing

Rope bridges connected some of the zip-line stations

A self-portrait as we zipped between the trees

We didn't do a lot of sightseeing in Chiang Mai because we were both feeling under the weather but we did visit a couple of wats (Buddhist temples).

Large statues of Buddha dominate each of the wats in Chiang Mai

The inside of the wats are very colourful

There are life-like statues of monks throughout the wats

Vanessa and Buddha

Vanessa had a good chat with a monk about what a monk's life is like

It was a hot day and everyone was looking for shade

Tuk tuks are the easiest and cheapest way to get around town

Us trying to look relaxed in the back of a speeding tuk tuk

Our stay in Chiang Mai was good but we couldn't help but think ahead to our next stop - four days on the beach in south Thailand.  A holiday from our holiday was just what we needed!

Vanessa and Blake