The Road Less Traveled

It was long over due but after over 1 year of being married, Kim and I finally had the chance to spend 2 full weeks together. We decided to call it our "honeymoon" and go to Thailand...

The trip was perfect. We strategically planned the trip to include a little bit of what Thailand has to offer; a little R&R, adventure, and shopping. In between all that, we reunited with and met new friends. Like a perfectly written novel, there were highs, lows, but a happy ending! It goes like this...

We chose Thailand to escape the cold winter weather and hustle and bustle of Japan. We were able to use Kim's airline and hotel points for over 80% of the vacation. We decided to spend a few days in each Bangkok, Koh Samui, Koh Tao, and Chiang Mai. Although we were there for 2 weeks, it really was not enough to fully absorb what each area had to offer. BUT it was just enough time to cover most of the highlights.

Fortunately, our story starts off with a negative. We both got a really bad case of the stomach flu the very first day of being in Thailand. It pretty much wiped us out for 3 full days and took us almost a week to fully recover. I say fortunately because from that point on, everything was perfect.

We started off in Bangkok where we met up with some friends who now live in Dubai. They spent some time in Thailand so they knew a few of the "in's and out's" of the area. After a couple days in Bangkok, we headed down south together to Koh Samui. Kim and I stayed at the Renaissance Koh Samui Resort and Spa. It was a treat as out villa came with it's very own pool. We were still recovering from our stomach flu so we were only able to relax and do some light sight seeing.

KOH SAMUI

Coconut Picking Monkey

Releasing A Good Luck Lantern

You Guess...???

After a few days in Koh Samui, we headed off to the island of Koh Tao. It is about 2 hours away and only accessed by speed boat. There we stayed at the Coral View Resort. The name is a bit deceiving as it is quite far from a resort with no hot water and dorm room style rooms. But for $40/night, it was more my style. There really isn't anything to do in Koh Tao except relax, dive, and fish. Hummm... I think I want to live there.

KOH TAO

Before

After

Leaving Koh Tao, we were fully recovered from our sickness, relaxed, and ready to take on our jungle adventures in the northern Thailand city of Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai was a bit inconvenient on this particular trip because we were crunched for time and the next best way aside from flying is to take a 16 hour train ride. So, we took the 2 hour speed boat back to Koh Samui where we left our friends, took a 1 hour flight to Bangkok, and another plane from Bangkok to Chiang Mai. There are not many Western hotels in Chiang Mai. We found a place called the De Naga for $100 a night on the internet. It was a bit sketchy, not knowing what to expect, but it ended up being the most perfect place. Smack dab centrally located to the night market and other shopping destinations, CLEAN, and really friendly service. We spent 4 days in Chiang Mai and aside from shopping, we rode on elephants through the jungle, played with tigers, saw the native Long Neck tribes of Northern Thailand, took a bamboo raft ride, and went to see a kick boxing fight. Amazing place to be and I highly recommend a visit to Chiang Mai.

CHIANG MAI

Great times in Chiang Mai but before it was over, we stopped back in Bangkok for a few more days. It was New Year's Eve and we stayed at the Hilton with our room right on the river and directly in front of the fireworks! Kim's Aunty and Uncle live in Bangkok so they were nice enough to take us around and I had a friend who was able to join us and ring in 2011. It was a perfect way to end a great trip.

BANGKOK

So the story of Thailand ends with literally a bang. We hope to return again one day but there are many more new stories that we'd like to write. We've been fortunate to be on this road that has taken us on so many adventures where we've met up with old and new friends along the way. Hope to see you soon! Next stop Beijing, China!

Kim had a conference in Shanghai and we thought it would be a great opportunity to visit China together. It was an eye opener as to why China is what it is today and the vast possibilities of what it can become in the near future.

Kim has been to Shanghai before so I took the opportunity to sightsee on my own while she was at work. Shanghai is huge and there is so much to do. Our hotel was next to the famous Yu Garden.

It was convenient because there was a lot of shopping and entertainment in the area. If I wanted to go anywhere else, taxis in Shanghai are very reasonable. However, it is very difficult to get one and sometimes the wait for a taxi can be over an hour. Walking around the area, we were able to find many unique shops and restaurants. Bargaining at first was a little difficult because we don't know how to speak Chinese. It is amazing how cheap you can bargain for. Rule of thumb when bargaining in China is to start off at 20-25% of the asking price. It really depends on the shop and what you are buying but most of our purchases we bought for about 25% of their asking price. Be careful because often times there will be no asking price so you need to have a good idea of what you want to pay for something. We didn't buy much but saw a lot of interesting and unique "antiques" sold in stalls. We were a little skepticle to spend a lot of money on the so called "antiques". Although they look authentically old, most of it is fake. We found an old painting that we liked and the lady wanted 3,600 RMB ($600 USD). The lady said it was an "original by the artist". We bargained it down to 400 RMB but decided to wait to buy it because we had a lot of walking to do. Sure enough, we walked into another art store and saw the same painting hanging on the wall. Needless to say, we didn't go back to buy the painting. I suggest that if you want to buy anything in China, it is a good place to buy those things that you want but rarely use. We bought some computer programs and DVDs and a spare camera battery all significantly cheaper than what we would pay in the US and Japan. Don't plan on buying anything that you want to last a long time or feel is an investment.

Our main goal was to go to the World Expo 2010 held in Shanghai. The day we arrived, the World Expo broke the record for most people attending in a single day with 1.03 million attendees. We were hesitant to go because many people that have gone said it was a painfully exhausting experience. However, Kim and I did not want to regret being in Shanghai during the Expo and not taking the opportunity to see the international event. We went on a Monday afternoon and there was no line to get into the Expo. There was still long lines however at each of the Pavilions but apparently not as long as they usually were (2 hours to get into China vs. 4-6 hours). We decided not to waste too much time waiting in lines and our mission was to conquer the entire area to see all the buildings. We started off in the middle and by the time we made our way to the end of one side, it was dark and made for a good chance to see all of the Pavilions lit up as we made our way back to the other side. The size and creativity of the structures was amazing. It was obvious how much thought went into some of these buildings (China Saudi/Arabia) and how little effort went into others (USA). The overall feeling of the Expo was remarkable. So many countries participating and people from all over the world attending made for a feeling of excitement and unity. China did a great job of organizing the event so that it felt safe and clean. It will be interesting to see what they do with the structures after the Expo finishes. We were told that they are selling the structures to various investors. We were extremely happy that we had to opportunity to attend.

Another highlight of our trip was a tour of Zhou Zhuang. A small water village about 2 hours outside of Shanghai. The day we went was pouring rain and made for a miserable day of touring. The village itself was interesting. I've never been but it was likened to to Venice with a water boat cruise through the village. Check out the pictures below:

We managed to find some great restaurants along the way. We were hesitant to eat the street food that looked interesting but at the risk of getting sick we stayed away. Our favorite restaurant was a world famous restaurant called Din Tai Fung. Oddly enough there are several locations in Japan but probable not as cheap as in China. Our friend also introduced us to Di Shui Dong. A great place for spicy rips and cheap beers. Dinner for 2 and about a dozen beers was less than 20 bucks!