London: Day 2 and Day 3

I was a bad blogger and forgot to write the last two days that we were in London.  I was exhausted every night when we got back to the hotel.  We have been there before so you're not missing too much.  Click on the London label to find posts from our last trip.  Eventually, I'll finish this particular London trip's specific details... but not today!

London: calling all the foodies

Last night we got in to London pretty late and basically just took the Tube to our hotel and got a good night's sleep.  Our flight by the way felt like no time because both Will and I slept almost the entire flight so it felt so easy peasey. 

Anyways, this morning we woke rested and ready to take on the day!  Since we were in London just two years ago, we're skipping the touristy stuff and just enjoying a few days in the city eating and shopping. The last time we came, we didn't love London. I appreciated that it was an awesome city with great food and culture but it felt like a NYC with a British accent. It was the first stop on a multi-city Europe trip and it just didn't seem "European" or different enough.  However, this time around, after being in Thailand, we embraced the Western conveniences and the diversity of food!! 

Love from Cairo

  

Will has always wanted to go to Egypt, like always.  And I've always wanted to go too but we've never quite found the right time.  Right after we got married the whole Arab Spring happened and Egypt hasn't quite made the news for such position reasons.  While we both generally think the media overhypes threats around the world, we also keep in mind that there have been cases when a random photographer or tourist get held as hostages and while the US is trying to bail them out, everyone else is thinking, "You just had to go there, huh?"  So yea, we never want to be those people so we've passed on Egypt many times before.  However, it didn't look like Egypt was going to be getting any better any time soon and from people I spoke to and the research I did online, it was starting to get less risky to go.  In researching all of the destinations we could go to with our credit card miles, we found that a lot of flights from Thailand to London naturally had a layover in Cairo.  This seemed like the perfect compromise. While most of the layovers were only about 4 hours, I worked it out with our United/EgyptAir points that we could extend the layover so it would be a full day (6am-6pm) without any additional costs!  It was perfect because while we didn't feel quite comfortable staying in Egypt for an extensive time on our own, a full day tour of Cairo was exactly what we needed to last us until that area got better and we could come back for a longer trip.  Cairo is small, all of the main destinations are a close proximity of each other, and we could knock out all the big attractions!  Since Cairo was a little intimidating, we decided to hire a tour company or something.  There were a bunch of companies that specialized in layover tours that picked you up and dropped you off at the airport but ultimately we decided on Egyptian Sidekick.  Egyptian Sidekick actual has an amazing premise.  Rather than being on a group tour with lots of stops at tourist trap stores you don't even want to go to, you're charged one flat rate for a half day or an entire day and you get to go where you want.  We did the full day which was $140 for the both of us and we got picked up at the airport by our private driver.  Along with him, we had a local Egyptian University student who spoke perfect English who functioned as our "sidekick": tour guide, negotiator, and general companion for the day.   It was amazing because we were able to go wherever we wanted and since we had a driver and a separate guide, the driver was able to just drop us off and we didn't have to worry about parking or waiting or anything of that and then later he would be back to pick us up wherever our guide told him to meet us.  While there was a slight debacle in meeting our driver at the airport (the reopening of the Suez Canal caused a ton of traffic and so he wasn't there when we arrived, and that was a mess), we got to see a lot in one day.  Here's a picture of Tahrir Square, the main meeting point for all of the demonstrations.

How much for that hammock?!

After yesterday's busy and tiring excursion, we decided to just spend the day hanging around Phuket and be lazy.  We started the day by ordering room service, just for fun.  We were kind of tired of eating Thai food all the time and were craving an American breakfast.  First I ordered waffles, and then they were sold out (Can't they just make more?!) and then I ordered pancakes and they sent regular toast (although they did bring the entire toaster).  Once I called to let them know I never got my pancakes, they came back with.... muffins?! Random!
         

Day Trip to Phi Phi Islands

This morning we were picked up by the tour company that we were taking to Phi Phi Islands.  Phi Phi Island is about an hour away from Phuket by boat and is the location where they shot the Leonardo Di Caprio movie, "The Beach."  When we got to the Marina where our boat was departing, they went over the plan and itinerary for the day and offered everyone motion sickness medication in case they needed it.

Will took one but I didn't as I don't normally get sea sick.  As we were departing, it was starting to rain a little so we put our water ponchos on and got on the boat.  It was one memorable boat ride.  Through my trip research, I knew that this boat ride could be a little bumpy.  I had heard that the route to Phi Phi was often a little choppy during the rainy season and that some companies didn't even do routes to this island during the season and instead went to many of the other beautiful islands around.  However, I also knew plenty of companies still went and I searched #phiphiisland on Instagram and saw lots of fun and beautiful pictures being posted on a daily basis so I figured it couldn't be that bad.  Well, I was wrong.  The boat ride was BAD.   And this is coming from someone who is very laid back, adventurous, and not a worrier.  And while I was never truly in fear of my life or anything, I did think it was a possibility we could flip over and so I did wear my life jacket, just in case we went overboard.  This boat ride was no joke.  It was pouring once we got out on the water and while the boat was covered, we were hitting such huge waves that it bucket loads of water were being slapped across my face every 5-10 seconds as we made our way through some treacherous waters.  It felt like the Perfect Storm.  The water was so bad I had to keep my eyes closed because otherwise my contacts would have probably fallen out.  About 45 minutes into it, I was feeling like shit and the rain had stopped so I finally opened my eyes.  Everyone around me (who started the boat ride happy and laughing), looked miserable and at least half of the boat had barf bags in their hands.  The site of everyone else being sick and the ridiculous ride made me reach for one and I got sick as well.  Eck!  I looked at Will (who wasn't sitting next to me since we were last on the boat), and he looked miserable.  It was officially the worst transportation experience of my life.  However, as soon as we approached "monkey island," the water was calm, the rain had stopped, and everything looked beautiful.  I looked out of the boat and saw the most adorable monkeys running around a little uninhabited beach and while I was so excited to see them, I was still feeling nauseous and didn't have the energy to find my camera in my backpack (which was SOAKED).  We just drove by the island but didn't get out because apparently the monkeys are pretty aggressive.  There were a few people who were on the island trying to feed the monkeys but most of the other boats were just getting close by like ours, just to get a picture.  Since I didn't get one, here's one from google.  This is exactly what it looked like.  :)

After leaving this, we went to an area around Phi Phi Don and went snorkeling.  While Will and I have both scuba dived before and loved it, we had never snorkeled.  It was way more fun than I thought and there were so many beautiful fish.  We originally planned on using Will's iPod as our underwater camera since we got this waterproof pouch to swim with but his iPod died from water damage in the ridiculous boat ride over.  And this is with his iPod in his pocket, under a water poncho!! Anyways, all we had left to take pictures was my iPhone6 and since I actually use that as my phone, I didn't want to risk taking pictures of fish with it so we don't have any. :(  It was really fun though and I'm all about snorkeling again now.  It's just so much easier than scubaing and takes so much less time and set-up.

Fancy in Phuket

This morning, we woke up and took a taxi to the airport.  We had an early flight to Phuket which is an island to the southwest.  Here's an aerial view of some of the islands!

 Once we arrived to Phuket, we took a minibus (which is basically a shared ride in a van), to get to the Patong Beach area which is where our hotel was.  In doing my research, I knew what ended up happening next.  The minibus driver drove like a maniac, between lanes and in the shoulder, honking at people to get out of his way.  He made great time in getting to a tourist office where they we were all made to get out and hear their offerings on tours and excursions.  This finally made sense to the other people on the bus who were panicked and wondering why the driver didn't ever ask what hotel they were going to.  While this is an annoying ploy, it's a brilliant sales scheme especially since the minibus is the only way to get to your hotel unless you want to take a taxi which costs 5-6 times as much.  Knowing that they did this quick stop sales scheme, I told Will we weren't going to book anything and that we'd politely decline and get back on the minibus to be on our way.  However, I also did research on how much excursions should costs and after Will did some hard bargaining, we actually left booking a tour.  It was a better deal than expected and since we were already planning on going to a tour office to book our excursion to Phi Phi islands for the next day, it got that task out of the way quickly.  Next, it was back on the mini-bus but this time we got on buses based on our destination.  This ride wasn't that much better though.  For the first drop offs, the driver dropped the people off in the rain and pointed in the general direction of their hotels and told them to walk a few blocks.  I guess all the one way roads doesn't lend itself to door to door service.  Luckily for us, we were let out right in front of our hotel, although on the main street and not in the pull through.  Oh well.  We were finally there!

While our hotels in Bangkok and Chiang Mai were nice, the Grand Mercure in Phuket definitely exceeded our expectations.  The lobby was open and beautiful and had a fun, modern design.  While checking in, we were greeted with a welcome drink and a little cream puff to nibble on.  We were then notified that we got a free upgrade to a room with a patio with sunchairs and private pool access.  Score!  We felt like honeymooners!

 

Playing with Elephants & Relaxing at the Spa: My Favorite Day of the Trip

Today was the day that I was most excited about during this entire trip!  When I first tried to sell Will on our Thailand trip, I explained that the appeal of Thailand was that it had three distinct experiences.  Bangkok: urban city fun, Phuket: island hopping and beach relaxation, and Chiang Mai: nature love and elephant fun!  Now I've been to all three cities before and I have done my share of animal/nature excursions so I was excited to share those with Will but upon initial research, I realized that I was in a different place then when I went to Thailand 13 years ago.  When I came to Chiang Mai last time, I came with my dad and was on a pre-arranged tour where activities included elephant trekking (riding) in the jungle, cuddling baby tigers (yes, this is a legit thing), and playing with monkeys dressed in basketball jerseys.  However, now that times are changed and I'm older and able to take charge of my own itinerary, it is important to me to be a responsible and ethical tourists.  Therefore, I did a lot of research on the ethics of all of this ecotourism.  If you do this research, you'll be horrified.  You'll realize that the conditions of these elephants is awful, they train them through a heartbreaking procedure called Phajaan (where they take baby elephants away from their mothers and torture them to break their spirit), and that they have to drug the tigers to sedate them just so you can bottlefeed (or overfeed) baby tigers who poorly taken care of.  Now to be fair, it is easy to have a "don't be mean to animals" mindset when you only look at things from a Western lens.  America doesn't have this issue since we don't have many wild dangerous animals roaming around since we've already destructed their natural habitats long ago.  The Thai government used to allow elephants for logging but has since outlawed it (which is a good thing) but has not provided resources for them and so they have become repurposed for tourism.  I don't think using tourism to provide for these animals is necessarily a bad thing but it definitely needs to be done in an ethical way.  Now, that I'm off my soapbox, I can tell you that we passed on the "tiger temple" but did get to enjoy the beautiful elephants at an awesome rescue where we just got to hang with them and feed them and bathe them.  There are definitely elephant parks that rehabilitate rescued elephants and have ethical experiences.  No rides and no performing tricks. If you ever go to Asia, please make sure to support these organizations. It was an awesome day.

Chiang Mai: from the city to the jungle

When Will and I woke up this morning on the night train, you could already tell we were close to Chiang Mai. Outside our window it was such lush jungle greenery that Will and I joked was probably filled with those snakes we learned about at the Snake Farm.

Since we arrived too early to check in, we took a songthaew to our hotel where we left our backpacks.   A songthaew is basically a mini jeepney (Filipino bus) which is a pick up truck with two benches in the back and a roof covering. They are used as a bus or a shared ride.

From our hotel, we took another songthaew to Doi Suthep which is a large temple in the mountains.  

Will wanted to chronicle the underarm hair of the lady next to me. 

Once at Doi Suthep, Will and I were feeling nauseous.  We really didn't eat dinner on the train last night except for some junk food snacks and we didn't eat breakfast today. Plus, the roads were crazy winding up the mountain so we were feeling a little sick. This was easily fixed with some snacks.  We got some delicious pork skewers, yummy corn on the cob, and some mango. 

Now we were ready to conquer Doi Suthep. It is famous for its massive stairway up but it really wasn't too bad. It was really peaceful and beautiful up there. 

Neverending Market

This morning Will and I both woke up insanely early at like 5am. Neither of us knew why since we didn't go to bed particularly early but for some strange reason, we woke up wide awake. We goofed around and talked and giggled and it was the perfect example of why my husband is my best friend. 

Moving on, we got our stuff packed up because we were checking out this morning. We weren't leaving Bangkok until 6pm this evening but after breakfast we left our luggage at the front desk and went about the last thing on our Bangkok to-do list: the Chatuchak Weekend Market. We took the subway to the stop where there is also Chatuchak Park (which is actually really pretty and had tons of people picnicing with friends).  And walked around. 

This market was massive. I've been to a lot of markets in my day and this one was huge!  They even give you a map that breaks down all the sections and how the booths are organized. We ate lunch at another outdoor makeshift restaurant that I just love about Bangkok and it was of course delicious!  We also got a million snacks and desserts like normal and even bought some souvenirs. Normally I'm not into all the junk they sell at these markets but I got a fun tote bag/cinch sack, a top, and a dress. And of course, everything was so cheap!