Sa wat dii kha, Thailand!

In September we went for a palace gazing, suntanning, eating infused week in Thailand. And it was lovely.

Last year we celebrated (albeit in a totally non-Muslim way) the end of Ramadan by staying in Jakarta, which was actually quite relaxing. There was no one here, the streets were empty, so the pollution magically departed with all the cars and people and we were left with sunny skies and quiet - quite a change for Jakarta! However, it was also a little depressing because all of our friends were off enjoying some wild adventure while we stayed here. So this year I really wanted to get out of dodge, and since Thailand has been at the top of our list for years that is where we headed.

We spent the first 4 nights of our trip in Bangkok. I was there in 2008 for a work conference, but I only saw a little bit of the city. The first thing you notice about Thailand is that you've arrived in a whole different class of place compared to much of Asia, certainly compared to Indonesia! The airport is modern and sparkly and huge, as if to puff out its chest with the knowledge that it is a regional hub. Continuing with its modernity is a fast, well built highway into town. Maybe because we're not used to reaching such high speeds here in Jakarta, or maybe because our taxi driver really was a bit of a maniac, but both J and I were holding on tight to our seats the whole way into town. So...maybe it's a good thing that we can't go so fast in Jakarta.

I had received a recommendation from a friend to stay at the President Park Suites while in Bangkok, as it was inexpensive and spacious. We had a huge 2 bedroom apartment for about $100/night, which included breakfast and a tuk-tuk shuttle to the nearest sky train station. It was very nicely appointed and evidently quite a find (2 other guests asked us how we found out about it).

The morning after we arrived we set off to see the Grand Palace. Much to the pleasure of the boys, we decided to take several different modes of transportation to get there: tuk-tuk, skytrain (a notable difference being the seats nearest the doors have a sign posted requesting those seats be reserved for monks), and finally river boat taxi. The boat taxi took us down the dirty Mae Nam Chao Phraya river, past some small houses and hotels and a few impressive temples, to where we exited for the palace. Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha) and the Grand Palace house a series of strikingly beautiful buildings, murals, statues, and grounds that are, well, fit for a king. The decoration on the outside of these buildings is incredibly intricate and spectacular, it is inspiring to imagine the amount of time it took to adorn these structures. We spent the whole morning wandering through the palace grounds until we knew the children were about to disown us. So off we went to lunch (I had a surprisingly good Thai meal at a nondescript restaurant by the pier) and then a taxi ride back to the hotel for LC's nap.

That evening we fed the boys and put them to bed and then left them with a babysitter (J, being the worry wort that he is, almost convinced himself that our sweet petite Thai babysitter was going to steal them while we were gone). J has a friend in Bangkok so we went out on the town with him. Our first stop was dinner at Cabbages & Condoms, a somewhat famous landmark in Bangkok. The restaurant was conceptualized to both promote family planning and to generate income to support various development activities in Thailand. All the flowers in the restaurant were made out of condoms, as well as a few "condom superhero" statues. The food was good and it was a fun experience, and all for a good cause! After dinner we headed to Patpong, Bangkok's famous red light district. We went to watch one of the famous Ping Pong shows. If you don't know what I'm referring to I'd rather not explain it on this mostly family-friendly site. I will just say that it was certainly an "interesting" show, J was very disappointed but we're glad we did it, and I doubt we'll ever do it again.

On our final day in Bangkok we hired a tour guide through Chang Thai Travel to take us to Damnoen Saduak, a floating market about 100 km from Bangkok. We aren't typically people who hire tour guides, as we enjoy just wandering at our own pace and know we'll remember very little from a tour anyway. However, on this trip we didn't want to hassle with transportation difficulties and didn't want to have to deal with figuring out what we're supposed to do. It was a bit pricey, but we're glad we organized the tour. A comfortable air conditioned bus picked us up from the hotel and a very nice lady who spoke pretty good English (both J and I were surprised that the Thais don't speak better English since it's such a popular tourist destination point and is a regional hub) provided us with good information about the sites we passed and where we went. On our way to the floating market we made a stop at a sugar cane plantation. They demonstrated how the sugar cane is produced, and let us taste this wonderful caramelized candy they make from the sugar cane. And of course we made the mandatory stop at a craft shop, which was full of tourists and random trinkets from Thailand.

Finally we arrived at a small "port" beside a canal, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. We quickly boarded a long boat for a ride through the canals, passing rice fields and river houses along the way. It was very interesting to have a glimpse of life on the water...the front doors of all the houses faced the canal and all had some sort of pier for people to dock their boats. There were several general stores along the canal that also faced the canal, as arriving by boat is the main way to approach the shops. The we arrived into "town" - the main market area that is built along the canals. While you can access the shops from land, the main way is definitely by boat. There are shops built on land, but there are also women selling produce and snacks in boats tied up to the piers. There was abundant color and activity and it was a lot of fun!

The following day we returned to the airport to take our Bangkok Air flight to Ko Samui island, which is on the Eastern side of the Thai peninsula. We also considered going to Phuket or Krabi on the Western side, but because we went during the rainy season we heard the Eastern side is drier. I think we made a good decision as it only rained twice while we were in Thailand and both times was at night. The flight down to Ko Samui was an easy 1 hour, and Bangkok Air was great for a budget airline (they fed us and gave the boys nice toys!). We had learned beforehand (I love Trip Advisor!) that taxis on the island were expensive so we were prepared. We were able to bargain only a little though, so our 10 minute drive to our hotel was still far overpriced.

Ko Samui is a fairly big island so there are many different places on the beach to choose from. I spent quite a bit of time on Trip Advisor and Lonely Planet trying to decide which beach would be best for our family. I finally decided on Choeng Mon beach, which turned out to be a perfect decision! I can't imagine a better beach for a family with young children. It was very quiet (maybe even quieter than usual since it was low season) with very few hawkers. The sand was soft and very clean, and the water was clear and very shallow and calm. It was beautiful and peaceful and perfect! The boys had such a great time playing in the sand and the shallow water, and we had such a nice relaxing time watching them and reading! There were only a few hotels on the beach (none of them big high rises), as well as a few beach front restaurants. We ate fresh seafood on the beach a couple times, and enjoyed the quietly lapping waves. I also had a couple massages on the beach which were wonderful.

The hotel we stayed in was very interesting. It's called the Imperial Boat House and all the suites are located in these old rice barges that have been converted to hotel rooms. There was a porch and living room upstairs, and a bathroom, sitting room and bedroom downstairs. It was a bit old and the bathroom could use remodeling, but there was plenty of space for us and it was "fun"! There are also 2 nice swimming pools for when we wanted an alternative to the beach.

One day we rented a car to drive around the island. We drove the whole circumference so we were able to really see that we picked the perfect place to stay. We drove through Chaweng town/beach, which is the major beach on the island. We didn't see the beach, but the town was pretty awful - totally overbuilt and crowded and probably very noisy during peak seasons. We drove to the southern part of the island to a hilly area where they had elephant trekking. J and C got up on one elephant and LC and I on another, and then we walked through the forest for about 1/2 hour. This was my first time ever riding an elephant so I thought it was pretty neat! As is often the case for C and LC though, they're too young to know that this is actually a very special experience! Their view of normal is going to be so warped after living in Asia for so many years! After our elephant trek we tried to find a waterfall, but after hiking up with the boys for 20 minutes, with no idea how much longer it would be, we decided to turn back. En route back to the hotel we found a British pub to have lunch. It was a cute place facing the water, but unfortunately their burgers were disappointing.

That night we headed to Hat Bo Phut for dinner. It used to be a fishing village that has been transformed into a trendy little area filled with boutiques and restaurants. It was very cute with many great options for dinner. We decided on a sweet little Italian place facing the water, and although we had a good time J and I wished we had had some couples time. It would have been a fun area to go out in and have some time together. But oh well!

All in all it was a great trip and I'd love to return to Thailand again some day. I'd like to see Krabi (which is supposed to be breathtakingly gorgeous) and go up to Chiang Mai in the north to have more of a Thai cultural experience and to visit some of the hill villages. Visiting Bangkok and Ko Samui was a great vacation with the kids though!