Fist Pumpin' Our Way Through Asia: Part One

After 18 days, 9 cities, 3 countries, 2 SARs, loads of new passport stamps and a whole lot of fun, I have returned to Suphan for a whopping 36 hours before I head back out on a new adventure. So between post-travelers depression and pre-travelers anxiety, I'm a bit of a disorganized mess. Mai Pen Rai- just let it happen. Megh's visit was a complete success and it was really hard to say goodbye at the airport. It was so amazing to have a familiar face (and a redheaded companion) to join the awesomeness that is Asia and to show off our new lifestyles. The past 3 weeks were full of silly antics, lots of characters, new friends, new food, new forms of transport and a little too much fist pumping. 

Stop 1: Thailand. (Suphan---> Bangkok---> Koh Chang)


We were super excited to show off Thailand to Megh since it is so near and dear to our hearts. And although we spent a mere 4 days here, we got a lot accomplished. Megh was able to hit up some of the more touristy spots (JJ Market and the Grand Palace), while also experiencing the more random aspects of Thai traveling. 


Highlights:
*Showing off the Suphan 'hotspots,' which basically consisted of the Dragon and our favorite food vendors. Within a few hours, Megh already had boys wanting to be her boyfriend... Breaking hearts all over the world. 
*Khao San Rd. The most overstimulating street in the world did not fail us. Lots of breakdancing, live music and some interesting attempts at pick-ups. 
*Koh Chang: We stayed in an amazing hostel, with a room overlooking the water. The only way to access the hostel was by a hefty walk along the beach. Any room with a mosquito net and a balcony on the water for $8 a night is a winner in my book. The owner (dubbed Mr. Whiskers) provided endless entertainment with his mumbled English. He was convinced he knew how to speak the language and insisted on telling a lot of jokes, but we literally had NO idea what he was saying and just smiled and nodded. 
*Banana shakes. Obvi. 
*Elephant rides! This was elephant number 4 for me, but the novelty has not wore off. Koh Chang provided a beaaautiful trek through the jungle. And I got to ride my elephant bare-back- Booyeah!

*Fish spa: Megh wanted to get the full Thai experience, so she braved it out and dipped her feet in a tank while little fish nibbled away at her toes. 

Not so highlights (but still completely awesome): 

*Taking an overnight bus to Trat to catch a ferry to Koh Chang. It sounded perfect- Arrive in Trat at 5:30 and get the 6am ferry to the island. Well...things changed when we were awoken by a nice little leg squeeze from a woman on the bus at 3:45am telling us we had arrived. After rubbing my eyes to make sure I wasn't still dreaming, I realized that we had been dumped off on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere at a small travel agency with about 5 stools and a desk. About 30 minutes later, we were piled into the back of a songtaew, with our luggage thrown on top of the truck, and driving for a solid 40 minutes to the pier. The 4:45am arrival didn't do much for our 6:50am ferry departure time. After a breakfast of Pringles, Goldfish and Pocky, I took a nice cat nap on a bench before finally getting on a ferry and making it to paradise. 

*Massages. Massages are always an excellent idea after a lazy day on a tropical beach. The 3 of us geared up and picked the most legit sounding masseuse - Cookies Massage II. We requested oil massages and the women promptly told us to take off our clothes. Usually, you're given some sweet flowy shirts and pants, but Cookies wasn't so into that. After some confusion, the three of us were stripped down and getting our oil massages. It would have been all swell and dandy if there wasn't a full-on parade occurring outside. And still, that would have been A-Okay, but the women were so giddy for the festivities going on outside that they decided it was a great idea to open up the curtains to reveal wall to wall windows. So while they smiled and cheered on the parade happening out on the street, the three of us nervously giggled and hoped to God that no one peered into the window to see 3 basically naked farang all oiled up. Good times...good times had by all. 

*Monkey-dog interactions. After our elephant treks we sat and enjoyed some fresh pineapple but were horribly distracted by an aggressive monkey and a submissive dog. I'll leave it at that....and just say that I am forever traumatized. (And Jason- no, I do not have any pictures). 

Our sweet hostel in Koh Chang

Swing on the beach!

Suay Maak

Eek!

Part One of our journey was wild, adventurous, sweaty, relaxing, oily and delicious. We had no idea what to expect from the next leg of our travels, but we packed up, songtaewed it, ferried it, mini-vanned it and eventually made our way to the border of Cambodia. That in itself was an adventure. Ill put up a new post every couple of days to share the rest of our journey with everyone, so be sure to check back in! But for now, I need to unpack, do laundry, re-pack and then I'm headed up north to Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai and Pai to celebrate Songkran. It's gonna be a wet one!