Thailand - South

The beaches in Southern Thailand are amazing, truely paradise. I understand why so many people vacation there. We were there before the high season so it wasn't too crowded. We flew to Krabi and then stayed 2 nights on the mainland and 3 nights on an island. I definately recommend the islands. The beaches are a lot nicer. At the end, we rode a nice bus through Malaysia to Singapore. It was easy and Malaysia looked like a beautiful too.

Ao Nang
This is a small town on the coast near Krabi. The town is really touristy but we did manage to find a few good restaurants and an Irish pub. We took a day kayaking tour. The scenery is amazing here. Limestone cliffs rise up out of the jungle and the ocean. We kayaked through mangrove forests and into lagoons. The water is warm and clear blue. We saw a lot of monkeys and pineapple pieces from the guide coaxed them into the kayaks. It was madness but kind of cute. Who knew that monkeys could swim? We also swam in a fresh water spring at a local park. I made one good purchase here too, Season One and Two of Gray's Anatomy for $18. I can't wait to watch them and catch up with Season Three.


Koh Phi Phi
We took the ferry out to this island. There are many other breathtaking islands near here. Phi Phi Don is all tourists, so more expensive than the mainland, but still cheap for the beach. The beaches are beautiful. The sun is very intense though so be sure to wear sunscreen. The best restaurant in town is Papaya. The food is great, local and cheaper than the resort restaurants. I recommend going to the beach on the far side of the island from the ferry dock. I also recommend renting a longtail boat ride to Phi Phi Lay, the National Park island just south where "The Beach" was filmed. In case you missed that movie, it plays in almost every bar nightly. Try to go early in the morning (6 am) to miss the crowds and the fees. There is still a lot of construction due to the tsunami damage, but there are a lot of bungalows. PP Casita was nice and will be great once the pool is finished.


Singapore
It was nice to be in a familiar city. This was my third time there. I did some shopping, got a haircut and drank a lot of Starbucks. All the Christmas decorations were out since they don't have to wait until after Thanksgiving. I love the Christmas season, the lights, the flavors and the music. We also splurged on dinner and drinks...Asia Bar, Raffles Long Bar and seafood at East Coast Seafood Centre. The black pepper prawns and chili crab are scrumptious.

Overall SE Asia was a good time. I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving.

Laos

Laos is an amazing country. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Asian culture but wants to get away from the touristy parts of SE Asia. It is much less built-up and Westernized than Thailand and less expensive. A meal costs about 1 dollar on the street or 3 dollars in a restaurant. The food is really fragrant. The noodle dishes are similar to Thai food, but they eat sticky rice with their hands instead of steamed rice. They also have fresh spring rolls which are my favorite.
We crossed the Mekong River from Thailand to Houxai. After clearing customs, we boarded a slow boat to travel down the river for 2 days. It was crowded (about 100 people) and not too comfortable (definately buy a seat cushion), but the scenery was spectacular. There are a few small villages along the river, but it is mostly jungle and rainforest. The mix of trees is surprising. We stopped to spend the night in Prakeng, a village that exists solely for people on the slow boats to sleep. We paid a whopping $6 for a decent room with beds and a toilet and a cold shower. We even had electricty most of the night. The next evening we arrived in Luang Prabang, a larger town that was once the royal capital. The French influence is apparent in the colonial architecture. The downtown is a UNESCO site so it is well preserved. The royal palace is quite simple and modern compared to palaces in Europe, but it is ornate in the wall decorations. The temples are lovely here and are quite popular for monks. There are 500 monks in town. Each morning they walk several blocks through town collecting offerings of sticky rice and food from the locals. They wear bright orange robes with yellow sashes. It is a unique sight. The monks are friendly. We saw them shopping at the night markets and using the internet. The town does cater to tourists a little so we took some time to relax. I got 3 hours of spa treatment for $14, including a full-body massage, facial and reflexology foot massage. It is tempting to go every day, but I am constraining myself. Adam and I also took a Lao cooking class. We learned to make spring rolls, chicken salad, beef stew, chicken curry, ginger fish and steamed vegetables. It was delicious and really interesting. We also got a tour of the local food market. That was quite a sight. I wish we could travel to some smaller towns further south, but we are flying back to the southern beaches of Thailand tomorrow. I am so glad that I got the chance to discover this culture.

Thailand - North

Thailand is refreshing after Africa. It is not perfect, but the good experiences are truely great. It is very inexpensive for lodging and food. The temples are really ornate.

Bangkok
The city seems so clean and quiet compared to Cairo. There is great street food everywhere for a whopping 50 cents. I love the noodle dishes and banana shakes. We had suits made, toured the Grand Palace and several temples, watched Thai boxing (kickboxing) and took a ferry along the river. We stayed in Khoasan Road, which is very touristy and mostly Westerners. It is safe though. I recommend getting out into other neighborhoods to eat though.

Chaing Mai
We took a night train north to this smaller city. The train was very nice and we slept well in the sleeper bunks. We stayed in an adequate guesthouse outside of the center square. The temples here are nice as well, especially the one on the hill overlooking the city. The food in the North is a bit spicier and closer to Lao food. It was nice to taste the difference. We took a two day hill trekking tour from here. The first day we rode elephants in the jungle and then hiked for about 3 hours. The elephant ride was fun but I felt bad for the elephants because they are chained up at night. The hiking was hot and sweaty due to the humidity, but the waterfalls were neat. We spent the night in a hill tribe village. The house are elevated so the animals are below and the people sleep above. It was a neat experience. The hill tribes are having a tough time assimilating into modern Thailand. They speak a slightly different language and I think there are some prejudices against them. We ate delicious food...green chicken curry and steamed vegetables with rice. The second day we hiked back to the road and then took a bamboo raft ride down a river. It was interesting. The raft is just 10 pieces of long bamboo stalks tied together. It is steered by a guy with another bamboo pole at the front. Unfortunately the river was a bit dirty. That night we rode to Chaing Kiang, which is on the border with Laos. There was a mix-up with our package tour so the guest house manager drove us there in his truck. It was a bit dodgy but we made it safely. It looked like a small touristy town but we didn't explore much because we left for Laos the next morning.

Egypt

Egypt is a busy and hot place. The driving and traffic is unbelievably crazy. You have to see it to believe it. The cabs are cheap and get you places, but you have to haggle and excuse their driving. The cars don't really follow the lanes and the drivers love to honk. The food here was surprisingly good. It was mostly grilled meats and vegetable casseroles (like Moroccan tangines).

Cairo
We arrived late at night after a full day layover in Dubai. We found a nice hotel in the embassy district of Zamelek. The next day we toured the Egyptian Antiquities Museum and saw the Pyramids at Giza. They were both good to see, but crowded with busloads of tourists. I don't know where they all came from. The best part about the museum was the objects from King Tut's tomb. The pyramids were impressive but overcommercialized. We hung out in Zamelek in the evening. Cilantro and Cafe Tabasco are nice cafes. Then we took the night train south along the Nile River.


Luxor
The night train wasn't too bad. We got some sleep and woke up to the sun shining on the green strip along the Nile River. Luxor is the starting place to see temples and tombs and to board Nile cruises. We walked around town and along the nice riverfront. It is super hot there. In the evening we toured Karnak Temple with a guide. It is huge with many pillars and obelisks and statues. It is not restored at all, but the ruins are neat. We also saw Luxor Temple lit up at night. It is in the center of town. The next day we took a guided tour of the Valley of the Kings, the Valley of the Queens and Hatchepsut Temple. It was so hot. The valleys were not very interesting since the tombs were all hidden. We walked down into several tombs. They were empty but the paintings on the walls remain vibrant with color. The temple was impressive because it has been partially restored by a Polish Missionary. That evening we took a mini-bus to the Red Sea. We were in a police-escorted train of over 100 tour buses and mini-buses. It was pretty crazy. They drive really fast too.


Hurghada
This is a newly-built Red Sea resort. We stayed in a hotel across the road from the beach and the Red Sea. I relaxed and sunbathed at the fancy resort next door while Adam and Conor went scuba-diving. It was great. We went out to a local restaurant for lamb kebab and to a pub for Stella and Luxor beers.

The last day we rode the bus back to Cairo and hung out in Zamelek before catching our flight to Bangkok, Thailand. Overall, I'm glad I went, but I don't feel the need to return. I recommend the Red Sea resort towns and the Nile cruises. My boyfriend, Adam, has a much more detailed blog if you want to check it out. www.adambuckfelder.blogspot.com I have been traveling with him since October 3rd.