Just when we were starting to recover from the jetlag of traveling back from the east coast, we were on a plane bound for Asia.  Total travel time was about 18 hours and included a stop in Doha, where of all places, we ran into an old friend from Potomac, MD. Once again, we were reminded how small the world really is.

 

Phuket, Thailand

Phuket proper is a busy beach town known for its nightlife, and while we have been known to enjoy a good party or two, we opted for a quiet locals-beach, Nai Yang, about an hour away.  We know – we’re such adults now.

We arrived at 6:30 in the morning and decided to spend the day reading on the beach [read: napping] while we waited for our friends, Brandon and Eleanor, to arrive.  Oddly enough, when we booked this trip, we had planned to spend Christmas all by our lonely selves; however, we soon learned that our pals were also planning a trip to Thailand around the same time.  They were kind enough to adjust their trip to include a few days with us.

We were all fading fast by late afternoon, but we wanted to force ourselves to adjust to the new time zone.  Consequently, we (mostly the girls) decided that a night out was in order.  Lady Boy Shows (not far from what you think they are) are supposed to be famous in Thailand, so despite a bit of moaning from the boys, we headed into Phuket proper for a transgender extravaganza.  We didn’t do a ton of research, and in the end, we regretted the excursion for a few reasons: 1) the cab ride there and back was not only long, but legitimately, white-knuckles-on-the-handle scary, 2) we expected something a bit risque, but it was really nothing more than a caricature of the Rockettes show, and 3) we ended up paying about $30 a person, and most of us slept through the majority of the show.

The next day was Christmas Eve, and we spent the day chilling on the beach – we swam, we SUP’d (standup paddleboard), we went for walks, we napped, we drank frozen cocktails, and we were merry.  That evening, we walked to town via the beach (thankfully, we remembered to bring the flashlights because there were crabs everywhere) for a fantastic dinner at Black Ginger.

On Christmas Day, we said farewell to Brandon and Eleanor, as they headed to their next destination, and then we were off for a day of sightseeing.  Our tour had many positives (feeding monkeys at Wat Suwan Kuha and canoeing through sea caves), but a couple of the stops were extremely touristy (an ancient Muslim floating island and the James Bond Island).  Though it wasn’t a perfect tour, it was a great way to get out and see many of the islands, and we’re glad we did it.  That evening was one of our favorites – we walked to town and popped in and out of bars (nay, huts serving beers) before heading back to the resort to Facetime with family back home.

 

Bangkok, Thailand

We weren’t really ready to give up our R&R in Phuket, but alas, Bangkok was calling and we were excited to see our friends, Eric and Danielle, who recently moved there.  We know that this may come as a shock, but guess what? – Bangkok is a big dirty city.  In many ways, it reminded us of New York: it can be intimidating if you don’t know where to go, it has awesome food and drink if you know where to find it, it smells like trash, and the big attractions are swarming with tourists.  We had only planned for a little over 36 hours in the city, so we focused on the “must-see” attractions.  After indulging in the world-famous Bangkok street food scene (found some excellent vendors down by the Victory Monument), we visited The Grand Palace (very cool architecture and home to the Emerald Budha) and Wat Arun (nothing really special about this one but still pretty neat).  Unfortunately, the weather was uncharacteristically cold and rainy, so instead of visiting another temple, we chose to get massages.  For a whopping total of $40, we each got a 90-minute massage, and those tiny (but shockingly strong) Thai women worked out any remaining kinks from the eighteen-hour flight over.  The massages were absolutely fantastic and honestly one of our favorite “attractions” in the city.

 

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Chiang Mai is a small town located in northern Thailand known for its surrounding jungle.  Early on our first full day, we loaded into a van to begin our trek into the jungle. We made one stop at a local market (where our guides stocked up on food) and another at a waterfall (where Chris and Eric both braved the chilly water for a quick swim) before we started the hike.  In total, we ended up hiking about 10 miles during which time we learned a little about the jungle and got some pretty fantastic views.

After a full day of hiking, we were well into the jungle and hunkered down for the night in a few huts/lean-tos on an elephant sanctuary.  Where our “hotel” for the night lacked in amenities (running water, beds, electricity), it more than made up for in charm.  Our guides cooked us an absolutely delicious dinner, and we spent the night drinking and playing card games.  Even though our guide spoke almost no English, he (re)taught us the game of spoons.    He also introduced a new high-stakes element that we loved.  For each round, the winner had to (nay, got to) spread charcoal soot from the dinner pan on the loser’s face.  As evidenced by the picture below, some of us fared a little better than others (our guide was definitely cheating).  Around midnight, we had finally consumed enough beer to sleep on the floor in our huts and so retired with full bellies, happy hearts, and faces smeared with soot.

Day two of the trek was equally fun.  First, we were able to feed and pet two elephants (aged 28 and 30) who live in the sanctuary.  Fun facts about elephants: they can live to be 70 years old and pregnancy lasts 22 months.  After the elephants, we hopped on a hand-made bamboo raft and navigated our way down the river.  Our guide steered the front (by steer we mean mash bamboo poles into the river bed) while the boys manned the back.  Danielle and Sarah just tried to keep their balance and stay on.  We arrived back at the hotel tired, stinky, and thankful for a real bed.

The morning of New Year’s Eve was a lazy one; we slept until nearly ten and chilled by the pool for a few hours.  That afternoon/evening, we went to a Thai cooking class where we learned to make a variety of local dishes (Tom Yum Soup, Penang curry, fried spring rolls, and mango sticky rice to name a few).  Sarah obviously excelled in the kitchen, and Chris (despite claims of not being able to cook) proved to have formidable knife and cooking skills.  That said, we don’t expect the household dynamic to change much.

 

 

Following the cooking class, we made a quick stop at a fantastic jazz club for some libations and entertainment before heading out into the streets for lanterns and NYE celebrations.  Though Chaing Mai is a small town, their festivities were big.  Hundreds of thousands of lanterns illuminated the sky for hours, people set off fireworks in the streets, and the party raged well past 3-am when we finally called it quits.  We have never been big on New Year’s resolutions, but Sarah is going to try to buckle down on her German and Chris is going to try to read… more.  Read more.

 

Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Vietnam

For our last stop, we ventured further east to Vietnam.  Here are a few fun facts:

• Their currency is called the Dong (we obviously made endless jokes about this) and is not worth much.  The 4 million Dong we got out of the bank is worth about $90.
• They have two seasons: hot and really hot
• Scooters are the main form of transportation.  It’s not uncommon to see two, three, four, even five people on one.  They even use scooters to move materials such as dishwashers, ladders, palates of eggs, etc. It’s also crazy that anyone under the age of seven is not required to (and rarely does) wear a helmet.  Seeing hundreds of babies and toddlers without helmets on scooters weaving through the most chaotic traffic was simply mind-blowing.

On our first full day, we treated ourselves to another 90-minute massage (similar in price but different in technique) and wandered through the labyrinth that is the Ben Thanh Market.  For the evening’s food and entertainment, we went on a “foodie” tour by scooter.  It was quite the adventure – zooming in and out of traffic on the back of a motorbike driven by a tiny Asian woman and eating all sorts of interesting foods.  We had many foods that were “normal” like pho, crab claws, scallops and grilled prawns, but we also had some food that pushed us out of our comfort zones.  We tried grilled frog legs (both with and without skin), goat breast, banana wine, and the weirdest of all … duck embryo.  We each took a bite of the bird fetus to say that we had tried it, but we couldn’t really stomach much more than that.

The following day was our last day in Asia, and after having read raving reviews, Sarah booked a walking tour of the city.  Though the tour was one-on-one (we each had our own guide which was completely unnecessary), the tour itself was not very good.  Their English was quite poor, they didn’t seem to know much about the history of the city, and they weren’t able to answer most of our questions.  We also visited the Vietnam War Remnants Museum which was also quite off-putting.  We found it to be very biased and painted American soldiers as criminals.  We suppose it’s important to see other viewpoints, but we were both pretty eager to leave.

Not wanting to end our trip on such a downer, we decided to get pedicures and chill at the hotel rooftop pool (it was especially hot – around 95 degrees) before boarding the last flight out of Saigon (on that particular day).

 

Final Thoughts

This was our first time to Asia and also one of the first times that we have felt the impossibility of fitting in.  No matter how many Thai or Vietnamese words we tried to learn, it was horribly obvious that we were tourists.  Chris’s Hawaiian shirts obviously didn’t help.

This trip was also a glimpse into what real poverty looks like.  We learned that most Thai and Vietnamese people only make about $200-$300 a month – where we spend that on a hotel for an impromptu ski-weekend.  We left feeling humbled and thankful.

While we really loved this adventure, we are glad to be back in a place that’s clean, a place that has an abundance of drinking water, a place that values order and rules, and a place that’s always clean and green.