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Hi again,
Going from Luang Prabang to Bangkok was like super sizing your meal x100. There's still lots of temples and monks around, but they're covered in glitzier decorations. And the town is a huge international city. But the monks still go out in the morning to get their alms. And you can still get around on a river (the Chao Praya). We stayed at a great hotel, the Arun Residence, right on the riverbank, getting ferry rides right near the hotel. We spent our first day wandering the bigger wats, seeing amazingly large temples housing amazingly large gold and emerald buddhas; the Royal Palace; the Khao San road (briefly). That night we went to Sirocco, the restaurant on top of the high-rise seen in The Hangover Part 2. The first hour was great, v glam, great view. Early in the second hour it hammered with rain, doh! Our second day we were so templed out we went to Bangkok's upscale shopping mall district, hung out in air-conditioning, ogled boutiques and had steak at an American style restaurant. After much culture and Asiana we enjoyed it to a guilty degree.
But it's safe to say we're both fonder of the out of the way destinations than the big cities in Asia. So we were pretty happy to move on to Koh Samui, to down our tourist tools for some beach time….to watch the ocean drift past our bungalow, to go for walks on the beach or swims in warm ocean currents, to laze on the verandah, eat good Thai food. All things Thailand is famous for. To be fair, on Koh Samui we did do a Thai cooking course (which was awesome), a return trip to Koh Phangan for Geoff (and a first time for Gi), and a day trip around the Ang Thong Marine Park on a speedboat with some pretty funny Thai guys. The beaches in the park, in particular, were amazing. But we could rhapsodize all day about this stuff. Check out the photos, please, just look. Not much more to report really, for now. Except to say we both love Thailand. Lucky we're now in Bali - but that's for next report to tell… Oh, and Gi has a new nickname for Geoff which we won't publish here.
Hope you're well wherever you are…
xgngi
- comments
Jim I totally agree that the out-of-the way places are lovely and the big cities in Asia are a lot of work. Love all your photos and blogs.