Trying Thailand

Our final stop on our trip was Krabi, Thailand. I was extremely excited for Thailand for one big reason... the chicken pad thai. In Daegu, my favorite restaurant was a small, hole in the wall, Thai restaurant called Hai Thai. If you are ever in Daegu, they have the nicest server and the best chicken pad thai I have ever had. I was also excited for the beaches because Thailand is famous for their pristine beaches and excellent, crystal clear water. Upon arrival, we could tell that Thailand was a third world country. As we rode in the taxi, many of the buildings were run down and many local shops and stands were open and made from wood and other scraps.

Soon, we began to notice the buildings getting nicer and more modern. Then we could see the beach and it was obviously very touristy. All of the shops were either bars, restaurants or souvenir shops. Usually, I try not to actively look for tourist traps, but in this case, I was still feeling ill and more western style foods and comforts were a welcome sight.

Day 1: We began our Thailand experience by booking a four island tour. The four island tour is exactly how it sounds. You get on a boat with other tourists and travel out to four different islands, each with something that makes it unique. Our first stop, was a beautiful beach that had a very interesting cave feature. The Phra Nang Cave is comprised of two small caves filled completely with penises. Yes, you read that correct. The caves were completely filled with phallic objects. As our guide told us, the fishermen would stop and give these phallic objects and carvings to a princess who would grant them good fortune and ensure a safe voyage. Strangely, the cave brought out a level of immaturity that I had thought I had left back in the eighth grade. I couldn't help but giggle every time I looked into the cave. Judge me if you'd like, but most people who were peering at these caves were having a similar reaction that I was. If you sneak past the caves, and walk into the ocean a bit, you can actually walk into a pretty cool little area with some natural rock formations and a bit more privacy than the jam packed beachfront. I tried my best to be a photographer and managed to catch some interesting photos.

Soon, we were back at sea again! Our next stop was extremely busy. I do not remember the name of the island but it was two very small islands connected by a very skinny beach. The beach was only about 6 feet wide. The longboats were pulling up to the beach on either side and it really limited available beach space. The beach was already busy with longboats and there were so many people that this particular stop, while beautiful and picturesque, was not a very enjoyable.

Our third stop, was at Chicken Head Island. It earned its name based on its shape. Here, we did not go to the beach but instead dropped the anchor off the island in the sea. Here we snorkeled and marveled at all of the fish we could see. The fish did not seem to mind and would swim right up to you as you made your way through the water.

Our last stop was at the largest island. Here, we were served lunch (chicken, and some fruits and vegetables) and then we lounged at the beach. While we lounged and soaked in the sun, we saw the fattest, most relaxed little monkey. He would stroll up to foreigners, plop down and wait to see if they would offer food. That night, we tried some chicken pad thai and relaxed along the beach.

Day 2: Today we took it kind of easy. We went to the beach and explored our area a bit more. At night, we met up with one of Zoe's friends from college. We were pretty aware of our area so we decided to meet her at her hostel and then go get coffee from there. Zoe's friend was staying in a party hostel. Her hostel was located on the third floor. The first floor, was filled with bars. Seriously, there were four or five different bars all playing different club music. Each bar, had a representative standing outside aggressively approaching people offering a free drink or tequila shots to go into their bars. They were handing out flyers and coupons. Due to my illness, we opted not to try any of these bars. These men were very persistent and tried everything they could to get you to stop for a drink. The second floor consisted of more bars and what I assume was a strip club. As you went up the escalator, there were strippers (again I'm assuming) seated outside of their establishment. Luckily, they were not persistent like the men below. Finally, we made it to the third floor. The hostel looked really cool. It had a rooftop that had ping pong tables, pool tables and darts. However, I could never stay in this hostel. While the entertainment looked great, they were also playing club music and would continue playing the music until after 3:00am. I would have lost my mind in this hostel and was quite relieved to be going back to our quiet accommodation.

Day 3: I have been anticipating this day since we started researching for this trip. Today, we are going to an elephant sanctuary. We started this amazing experience by feeding the elephants bananas. We learned a little bit about each of the elephants as we fed them. Most of the elephants were quite old. two of the elephants were partially blind and one of them had lost vision completely. The largest elephant was also the youngest elephant. If my memory is correct, I think this elephant was 30 years old. The trainers told us that this elephant had a lot of personality and liked to be a troublemaker. After feeding the elephants, we snagged a few pictures and then walked the elephants through the jungle to a medicine area. There were several packages that you could purchase. One of these packages included making the elephants medicine and creating paper from the elephant poop. We did not book this part of the tour so we made our way to a building where we were served fresh fruits. After we ate, we got to cover the elephants in mud! We would scoop mud from these large puddles and then take the mud to the elephants leathery skin. After the elephants were covered in mud, they made their way down to the river where we bathed the elephants with little buckets. The elephants loved it! They would lay down and roll around in the river. The big, young elephant enjoyed spraying people and swinging her trunk around.

Day 4: Alas, our trip was coming to a close. We had nearly 24 hours of traveling time ahead of us and we were not ready to go back to our regular lives. We only have about a month left of working in South Korea before we would be flying back home to Kansas City.