something to remember phi phi by

I didn't take much video with our camera during this trip, but the iPhone camera got a lot of action. So, here are some clips from the trip, set to Beirut (2007 Megan, this jam is dedicated to you) (also, Julie, I'm really sorry for inadvertently copying your whole video from last year??? I'm seriously so ashamed):

I used the Super 8 app to take the shots... which I'm not super sold on. Live and learn, people—at least the movie was good.

i'm on a boat

Disclaimer: if you're getting tired of pictures of sunsets, or of limestone formations jutting out of the water, then you might not be interested in this post. But if you're interested in pictures of monkeys eating watermelon... well, that's a different story.

(Please note—this is Viking Cave, where bird spit (!!) is harvested for bird's nest soup. Yes, that sounds gross [and expensive] to me too.)

Our last day on Phi Phi Don was my favorite. We booked a day-long boat trip around the islands in the area, and though I was a bit apprehensive at first (due to a history of motion sickness and my general state of exhaustion when I woke up that morning), it ended up being the best decision to spend a day on a boat. We had a hilarious crew, and their English was pretty much limited to "buy Coke and beer in the cabin," "I take your camera," and "cliff? jump?"

Some highlights, in easy-to-read bullet form:

• Snorkeling. SNORKELING! Ahh it was so fun. The last time I went snorkeling was when Robbie and I went to Kwajalein in 2008. Unfortunately, we don't have an underwater camera, but Emily does, and she took some great pictures from snorkeling in the same place. What I wish I had captured: me trying to swim away from a thousand of those black and yellow fish that insisted on swimming toward me. It's a myth that a school of fish will part when you swim toward it. Also, please try to picture us snorkeling over coral heads at low tide. Sea urchins! Sea urchins!!! TOO CLOSE!
• Maya Beach (on Phi Phi Leh) is pretty gorgeous, but unfortunately, it's filled with hundreds of people and speedboats, so we didn't really get to enjoy it as much as we did the other beaches. It's pretty packed because it was made famous by the Leonardo DiCaprio movie The Beach, to which I say—how can it be famous if approximately two people saw that movie when it came out?
• Feeding monkeys. Please note my intentional placement of the "BEWARE MONKEYS" sign near my completely freaked out smile/laugh after I gave that monkey a piece of watermelon.
• The school (sorry, I mean "smack," "brood," "smuth," "smuck," or "fluther") of jellyfish that everyone inadvertently swam through when we were getting back on the boat at Monkey Beach. It didn't hurt, but I did have some lovely red stings on my ankles. And I'm never getting back in the water again.
• The sunset. The captain dropped anchor for thirty minutes and we just enjoyed the sunset and some K-pop.
• The crew (as mentioned earlier). Aside from the ancient captain, everyone else looked twelve, even though they were all smoking and drinking beer. But they were just so nice and funny. A couple of them did some awesome cliff dives at the end. Maybe I should consider switching careers?
• The other tourists on our boat! Ahh I loved them. We met and chatted up a great older British couple that owns a B&B in Provence (umm okay, I'll go visit you), a Swedish couple that was actually Croatian, and a super nice Indonesian couple. Then everyone else was hilarious for other reasons, even though I didn't talk to them. The number of Asian women that would not get in the water? That made me sad, but laugh at the same time when I saw the look of fear on their faces when a twelve year-old crew member would kayak them to the beach. Surely you would want to learn to swim after putting your life in the hands of a twelve year-old.

By the end of the day, I was exhausted. But it was such a good exhausted. An exhausted that makes me really want to move to an island and spend my days snorkeling—which, if you grew up in Robbie's family, isn't that absurd of a thought. Be careful what you wish for...

an island in the sun

Ko Phi Phi—sigh.

This part of the trip is what I was looking forward to the most in our trip planning. Ko Phi Phi is the name of a group of islands off Thailand's Andaman coast. We stayed in the village Ton Sai on Phi Phi Don, which is Party City USA. Well, more like Party City Anywhere But The USA, because we were probably the only Americans there (lots of Swedes, Germans... the usual world travelers [AMERICANS NEED TO GET OUT MORE]). Apparently, during the rebuilding efforts after the 2004 earthquake/tsunami, lots of unregulated hotels, restaurants, and other touristy places have popped up on the island so it's a bit crazy in the peak travel season. We were a little nervous because our hotel booking on the more peaceful Long Beach was mysteriously canceled the night before we took our ferry to the island, but we ended up getting a nice, quiet hotel a little inland in Ton Sai and all was well.

Highlights of this segment included spending the day at Long Beach and concluding our sunbathing session with a Thai massage on the beach, THE BEST PAD THAI that I have ever had (at a restaurant called Papaya—for like two bucks!), mangy cats galore (except for the fat, clean ones at Papaya—they must be happy because they get to sleep in the fridge), and general laziness. Since we were still pretty jet-lagged at this point, we'd wake up at 5 am, watch whatever movies were on TV (there were like eight channels—two dedicated to American movies, and the rest dedicated to soccer), have a huge leisurely breakfast at the hotel, and then spend the rest of the day at the beach. Pretty much my ideal day.

Oh, another highlight that truly wasn't meant to be one—fire dancing is apparently a big thing on Thailand's islands? And when you hear that, is your mental image of traditional dancing you might see at the Polynesian Cultural Center? Or is it of a guy dancing to "Smooth Criminal" and lighting a spectator's cigarette with his spinning balls of flames? (Guess which one we saw.)

ao nang

After Bangkok, Ao Nang was our launching point before we left for the islands. We flew into Krabi airport and didn't roll into town till late afternoon, but we still put on our bathing suits to make sure that a warm beach in February was actually possible to experience. (It is.)

We didn't do much in Ao Nang but it was still nice and relaxing. It was our first hotel experience in Thailand and I just can't say enough good things about Thai hospitality. We stayed in a place called Cozy Place (seriously) and it was clean and the staff were so nice. My only complaint is that because Krabi is in the Muslim part of Thailand, there are speakers everywhere blasting the calls to prayer from the mosque. I was jolted awake twice from what I thought was a man with a megaphone inside my room: once during a jet-lagged nap, and once at 5 in the morning. Kind of funny/frightening.

After a stroll down the street (yeah, there's pretty much just this one street in Ao Nang) and some tasty curry for dinner, we bought some kerosene paper lanterns to light and send off over the ocean. Robbie is all about lighting things on fire and sending them in the air, but I was content to hold a lantern for two seconds before I freaked out because of the wind and handed it back to Robbie.

Next up: Ko Phi Phi!

"scientific dogs who sniff... and smell...": the grand palace

The Grand Palace is the other hot spot to hit in Bangkok, and it's totally gorgeous. It's been the official residence for Siamese/Thai royalty since the 1700s. I don't know much information about Thai royalty outside of my vast knowledge of The King and I (don't those statues remind you of the titular scientific dogs who sniff and smell [please be as obsessed with that clip as I am]?) but from what I understand, the palace is really only used for ceremonial purposes now and the king lives elsewhere in Bangkok. Now, the king—that's the subject of a whole different post. I am fascinated by him. There are huge shrines to him throughout the city. It is a punishable offense to speak ill of the king in Thailand. He is also apparently a very nice man, and an accomplished photographer and jazz musician as well. I would like to meet this man.

Moving on.

Unfortunately, it was approximately 90 degrees with 90% humidity by 11 am on the day we visited the palace (right after our visit to Wat Pho, since they are next to each other) and I thought I was going to pass out, especially after we finished our entire Nalgene bottle full of water in 10 minutes, so I didn't get to enjoy our visit as much as I would have liked to. The heat exhaustion was exacerbated by lots of incense wafting from the buildings and huge throngs of tourists. Thank you to all of our friends/guide books that warned us of the "wily strangers" standing outside who would try and convince us that the palace would be closed and that they could take us somewhere else. Super shady? That's what I thought. Also, thanks to everyone who told me to bring my own sarong so that I'd meet the pretty strict dress code and not have to stand in line to borrow one. Please write down that information if you plan on going in the near future. And bring lots of water.

wat's up?

Wat Pho, home of the Reclining Buddha and birthplace of Thai massage (the non-scandalous kind), was one of the major tourist sites we saw in Bangkok. I knew nothing about Wat Pho before we got there except that there would be a giant Buddha, and it did not disappoint—the Reclining Buddha dominates the scene (and is also extremely difficult to photograph). Unfortunately, it's the only thing you have to pay for in Wat Pho, which is a bummer. However, this first of many subsequent Buddhist temple visits really made me want to learn more about Buddhism. It is still completely baffling to me and it's been a while since I read Siddhartha in high school (and I didn't really get it then either).

Wat Pho is also home to lots of mangy stray cats (I hope you noticed the one hiding in the planter) and cute little school children learning at the feet of monks. One of my favorite parts about Wat Pho was happening upon a group of monks chanting with several worshipers gathered at their feet. It was a pretty surreal, amazing, and spiritual experience.