PreRAMBLE...

I decided to do the Thai trip recap in spicy sections, beginning with Bangkok & running through the rest of the country. Unfortunately, (or maybe fortunately for you!) I won’t go through every last grain of fried rice & curry. And I’ll only post a handful of the pics I took, such as the one above of a Buddha & blue sky near the Burma/Laos border. Thailand is a dazzling kingdom with adventure (of all kinds) behind every corner. If you want the real experience, I say navigate from this blog & get to kayak because my bad grammar & sprinkling of photos won’t do it justice. Amanda was my voyage companion, so check out her blog for another summary & more pics.

Prior to the trip, we did minimal research & I’m proud we pulled it off without a Lonely Planet or much internet time. Much thanks to those who exchanged emails & gave us helpful ideas! We did sketch out a basic itinerary & booked a handful of hotel rooms to get us through the 2 weeks. An untimely time to go, since was over a very busy tourist season for Thailand. On top of it being their popular cool season, we were there over Christmas & New Years. We were there during the peak part of their high season. Prices were more expensive at the paradise-looking beaches, but we did not have a single issues with rooms, flights, or any other big ticket items.

Since T-Land was the first place I’ve seen glorious American fast food in a few months (Dunkin’ Donuts, KFC, Starbucks, & every corner flashing a 7-11), I’ve decided to compare our travel circuit to a Big Mac:

Starting from the bottom:
1) Began with a nice breaded base of temples & palaces in Bangkok
2) A heaping all-beef dose of Chiang Mai
3) Cheesed it up with treks to Chiang Dao, Phrao, Christmas in Chiang Rai, and the Golden Triangle
4) Back for a little more beef in Chiang Mai before…
5) Breezy cheesy day of flights (Chiang Mai ->Bangkok & Bangkok ->Krabi)
6) Lettuce chill out with the beautiful beaches (Ton Sai, Railay, Phi Phi)
7) Topped it off with shopping & a sesame-seedier night in Bangkok.

I know, I forgot one ingredient – the secret sauce… That must be all the spontaneous side trips, chance meals & meetings, & the unpredictable lands we saw over our 2 weeks.

So….. “Do you want fries wit’ that?!?"

(Now I realize after typing all this that I haven’t even gotten us to the airport yet! I’ll put a filter on it & get to the posts. Note: photos captions with red text are ones that I suggest opening up, as they are the best pics. Once again, please peep at Amanda’s recap for better details & a different take on the trip!)