Thailand
Amber and I went to Thailand last year, and it was one of those fundamentally life-changing trips. Neither of us had ever been to Southeast Asia, so we tried to do as much as we could in a relatively short amount of time.
We flew into Bangkok, then hopped on a plane to head north to Chiang Mai. It is a beautiful mountainous city in northern Thailand. The city has numerous historical Buddhist temples in the area, which was the primary reason we decided to start our trip there. It is home to over three hundred temples! I think we visited seven or so, and each one was uniquely stunning. As a photographer, I really took my time photographing the temples we visited.
We spent a couple of days at the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, which is an elephant sanctuary, rescue, and rehabilitation center that is run by a legion of dedicated employees and volunteers. We learned all about Asian elephants (Elephas maximus). It’s an immersive experience that really highlights the need to protect those majestic animals.
Still buzzing from the Elephant Nature Park, we got on another plane and flew south to the islands. Our first stop was the island of Ko Yao Yai, which is an island the Andaman Sea, halfway between Phuket and Krabi. It has incredible sandy beaches, mangroves, and small fishing villages peppered throughout the island. It is a tropical paradise! Although it’s a small island, the biodiversity is off the charts. As a gecko enthusiast, I was excited to hear tokay geckos (Gekko gecko) calling at night. We explored a lot of the island. We did a canoe trip through the mangroves and saw so many beautiful birds and reptiles, including the Asian water monitor (Varanus salvator).
After Ko Yao Yai, we decided to be a little touristy and spent a couple of nights at the world famous Railay Beach. It is a small peninsula between the city of Krabi and Ao Nang in Thailand. The high limestone cliffs attract rocks climbers from around the world. We spent our time there eating incredible food and lounging around the beach. There are macaques all over the area, and we made the mistake off leaving some food outside of our room that attracted a gaggle of those little food thieves. To be fair, they were in the area long before all of the annoying tourists.
We finished our trip in Bangkok. There are about ten million people in the city and almost seventeen million people in the area. We both said we could easily live in Bangkok when we retire. Progressive, clean, beautiful, and the people are super friendly. It was a great way to end our trip.