My sister Sara came to visit me in Korea during the Spring of 2009. She also decided that she was going to take a little side trip to Thailand after visiting me. Of course I wanted to travel with her, but at the time I was enrolled in a daily intensive Korean language program at the university in Seoul. I really couldn't afford to miss the classes if I wanted to pass. So Sara decided she would travel to Thailand on her own, which was great... I'm all for independent travelling... or atleast I was until I saw the movie
Taken a few weeks before she arrived. (see trailer below)
After seeing this movie I decided my little sister couldn't possibly have the travel sense that I did (no offense Sara) and that if she went to Thailand alone, without
my supervision, she would most likely be stolen like the girl in this movie... and so, I booked a ticket! Just a side note... I have since been humbled about my superior travel safety skills... last year in China I was pick-pocketed on three different occassions in three different cities :( GRRRR!! ...but thats a story for a different post.
Sara and I left for Thailand on April 9, 2009. I remember the date because it was my 26th birthday! She ventured out into Seoul to find me a cake that morning while I was in class. We were so excited about the trip to Thailand that it didn't matter the majority of my birthday was spent in an airport and on a plane.
Okay so here's a run down of what we did on our trip... basically the things that still stick out to me.
Thai Immigration~ When entering Thailand we were greated by immigration officers wearing big smiles, flower leis and Hawaiian print shirts... standing behind the smiling men with the passport stamps was another row of men dressed in black, holding machine guns... I remember clearly that the machine gun men did NOT smile.
Floating Markets~ On our first day, Sara and I went to a floating market about an hour outside of Bangkok. The markets name was Damnoen Saduak and I truly felt like I was in a different world there. Apparently before Bangkok had roads it was a city made up of canals like Venice.
We rented a boat and were driven around the market by a happy guy who kept encouraging us to buy wodden buddhas. We also floated past these houses in the middle of the river on stilts. My description of how awesome this place was couldn't possible do it justice so here are a few pictures I took instead.
Cruisin' through the jungle!
The floating markets near Bangkok
Gotta drink some coconut milk when you're in Thailand!
The Aschenbrenner girls take on Thailand!
Bankok Temples- The temples in Bangkok were unlike anything I have ever seen before. There were so detailed and beautiful. The first place we visited was the Emerald Buddha Temple. I felt like I was walking around Candy Landy (except there wasn't any candy). I've never been in such a sparkly/glittery place before. Here are a few pics...
My sister, Sara, at the Emerald Buddha Temple
We also went the the Temple of the Reclining Buddha. This temple was a bit more relaxed from the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. There were a lot less tourists here and we were able to see many young Buddhist monks (teenage boys) praying and working around the temple. I'm not sure exactly how accurate this piece of information is, but Sara and I were told that the Thai government only pays for school up until 8th grade. If young boys join the temple and become monks during their adolescent years the temple will provide for them and they are able to continue their education.
The 14 hour Bus Ride- After our time in Bangkok, Sara and I went down to the Southern part of Thailand to check out the famous beaches. In an effort to save money we decided to take a bus instead of flying. We opted to take the bus with the locals because it was much cheaper than the tourist bus. Needless to say we were a little misplaced with all the Thai people around us. A few people tried to tell us we were on the wrong bus and pointed out the tourist bus to us, but Sara and I were stubborn and insisted we were in the right palce. The ride wouldn't have been so bad if the driver would have stopped to let us off the bus to go to the bathroom. There was one bathroom break two hours into the trip... after that the driver didn't bother to stop again. He didn't hesitate to pee out his window when he had to go though.
The best part of the bus ride was around hour 13. Sara had just woken up and I asked her to reach above our seats to grab my back-pack. As Sara was pulling the bag down the bus driver suddenly turned and Sara fell into the laps of the sleeping Thai people next to us. I bet they didn't expect to wake up and find a foriegn girl laying across them! haa ha
Beautiful Beaches and Coconut Fruit Shakes- Sara and I spent four amazing days wandering around the islands near Krabi and Koh Lanta. We ate tons of Pad Thai and drank many Coconut fruit shakes while watching the sunset at night.
First day at the beach
Oh yeah! Pad Thai! Yum :)
Sunset on the beach
Snorkeling and The Emerald Cave- My favorite day during out trip was when we went snorkeling and to the Emerald Cave. In Thailand we saw a lot of tourists, mostly from Europe. On our snorkel trip Sara and I were the only people who could speak English so we basically followed the crowd to make sure we didn't miss our boat as we toured and stopped at different islands. Snorkeling was great... so many awesome fish in the water!
Sara snorkeling
A break for lunch~ Spicy green curry! Mmmm Mmm... :)
At the end of our 4 island snorkeling tour we visited Morakot Cave (The Emerald Cave). Sara and I had looked up pictures of this place before arriving in Thailand and we knew it was definitely a place we wanted to visit while in Thailand but we had no idea just what kind of advenutre we were in for.
Basically our boat pulled up to a huge mountain like rock coming out of the water. There was a small entrance into the mountain that we could see people swimming into...
The staff on the boat began directing us into the water and had us form single file lines holding onto eachothers' life vests. Two strong Thai swimmers began pulling our line towards the cave. The current was really strong and we kept getting pushed up against the sharp rocks around the cave entrance. Inside the cave the water was truly emerald green and the rock formations were really neat.
The two men pulled our group deeper into the cave. Soon there wasn't any light except the flashlights they had at the front of the line. The sounds of everyones' voices echoing off the walls of the cave was a little eerie, especially since we couldn't understand what was being said. The Thai people began chanting a song as we were being pulled through. A very long time ago pirates actually hid their treasures in this cave... unfortunately Sara and I weren't able to spot any gold in the dark.
As we were nearing the center of the cave a woman near us began to scream. She had been pushed up against the rocks and had broken her leg. A group of men brought a long board into the cave to carry her out on. The situation was a bit intense and I felt a little nervous about how safe this situation actually was. Bottom line... this cave would not be a place that tourist would be allowed to visit in America.
So remember how I said the Emerald Cave was a small entrance into this big rock like mountain rising up out of the water? Well this mountain is hollow in the center. So once you swim through the cave into the center of mountain you come to this beautiful beach-like lagoon area with trees and vines climbing all way up to the top of the mountain... it was almost like being in the center of a volcano except without any lava.
Sara taking a break before we swim back through the cave and to our boat.
After swimming back through the cave and climbing onto our boat Sara and I looked over the side and saw a huge jellyfish where we had been swimming. So scary, the thing was atleast 2 feet wide. Thank goodness we got out of the water before Mr. Jellyfish decided he wanted to make friends with us!
The boat ride back to Ko Lanta Island took about an hour and we were able to watch the sunset from the top deck. The day was absolutely perfect!
I met an elephant! - I really wanted to see an elephant while I was in Thailand but didn't want to take part in the Elephant trekking jungle trips because I had heard that the trainers use hooked whips to guide the elephants when tourists are riding them. They hit and tear the elephants ears when they aren't following directions... obviously that wasn't something I would fee; comfortable supporting.
I was hopeful that we would be able to see an elephant just out in the wild... but of course Sara and I weren't exactly frolicking through the jungle on our own (HECK NO! I had no desire to meet any Thai Pythons!) so by the morning of our last full day my elephant dream still had not been fulfilled.
That morning while eating breakfast on the beach at our resort (I know! What a great way to start the day!) we mentioned to the server that we wanted to see an elephant. He told us there was a farmer not far away who had an elephant living in his field.
With high hopes, Sara and I set off in the direction our server had pointed. After walking a long way, a nice woman offered to take us on her scooter to the farm... Apparently, she was friends with the elephant man and knew exactly where we wanted to go when we said the word elephant.
The elephant man, who was out in his field and was so excited that we had come to visit. Thai people are really welcoming and warm :)
Sara and I had our own little meet and greet with his elephant. It was obvious that this elephant was loved and well taken care of so I was really happy to give the man a little money for letting us take pictures in his field.
Making a new friend :)
Banana Time!
Haa Ha!
Thank you Elephant Man!!
So that pretty much sums up the highlights of my trip to Thailand. This trip will always be a wonderful memory for me and I feel really lucky I got to share it with my younger sister. We saw so many new and exciting things and I loved the relaxed Thai lifestyle and the people. I definitely hope to go back someday!
