Chiang Mai

Our last stop in Thailand was Chiang Mai up in the north. Here we spent five nights and even though this is the fifth largest city in Thailand it felt very cosy and friendly and ended up being perhaps our favourite place in Thailand.

The old town is surrounded by a city wall and water and inside there are temples, small markets and of course a lot of restaurants, accommodations etc.

On our second day in Chiang Mai we attended a thai cooking class on an organic farm outside the city. All participants chose 5 different dishes they wanted to prepare. This means we learned to make 10 different dishes.

In the middle of the cooking class we had an one hour siesta in the hammocks. That was nice.

One day we rented a scooter and drove up to the mountains. First we visited The Bhubing Palace, the royal winter residence with a big park including a rose garden, a tropical jungle and giant bambu.

Then we continued up the mountain roads to a small hill-tribe village called Doi Pui. Very touristic but a nice drive and lots of beautiful handicrafts.

On our way down from the mountains we stopped on the main attraction: the Wat Doi Suthep temple with stunning views of the city and surroundings.

In town we also tasted the best roti (pancake) with condensed milk so far during this trip.

Bangkok vol. 2

After some days doing nothing at Koh Samui we headed back to busy Bangkok, not just for one night, but for four. This time we mainly walked the streets of the old town and Chinatown.

First we went to see the giant reclining Buddha in Wat Pho.

In the park around the tempe there were also all kinds of statues and pillars, which are very typical for temples at least here in Bangkok.

5,5 tonns of solid gold. The Buddha, of course. This is located in Wat Traimit, near Chinatown.

Here's an example of how the thais organize their electrics. We were surprised there weren't more power breaks in the city. They were quite common on the islands, though.

As we have pointed out earlier, there's a lot of cats and dogs running free in Thailand. Here's one "selling" coffee.

One night when we strolled down the streets of Bangkok old town we happened to stumble over some kind of street food festival. Unfortunately we had just eaten, but we sat down for a while to watch an artistic thai movie about the problems of plastic waste. The movie was really fun and well made and somehow reminded us of Amélie.

Lumphini Park is perhaps the most famous park in Bangkok. There's an artificial lake in the middle of the park where you can rent swanboats for only 40 bath / 30 min.

Last but not least an example of how great thais are for coming up with ways to earn money. Here's a pre-wedding STD-test package. Thais sure are very romantic.

Koh Samui

After a sudden change of plans, we left Koh Tao a little bit earlier than intended and instead we spent some time on the northern part of Koh Samui.

The northern part is much calmer than the very touristic sights on the east coast. This is the main street running along Big Buddha Beach.

Big Buddha Beach with a swing that was a perfect place to sit and read for a while while gazing over the ocean.

Green fish curry with heart-shaped rice <3

Near our hotel there was a big temple called Wat Plai Laem surrounded by a pond with big fish and some turtles. The temple itself was very colourful and cheerful, but quite artificial and seemed like it was built mostly for tourists.

Koh Tao

Even though Koh Lanta was a beautiful island with a lot of things yet to be explored, we still felt the need to get moving again. Our next island was Koh Tao which is situated on the east coast of Thailand, a little bit further up north from Koh Lanta. We managed to get a direct transport from Koh Lanta early in the morning and arrived on Koh Tao in the evening.

First we had to find somewhere to sleep. A friendly local came to "help" us with that.

We stayed most of our nights in a bungalow at AC Resort. They had a pond with carps.

Look! Fish!

Sairee Beach - the main beach on Koh Tao, located on the western shore.

There's a lot of cats and dogs running loose all over Thailand. Usually they are mostly sleeping.

Fruit stand along the road towards the southern part of the island

This is the reason we came here: Malin wanted to become a certified Open Water Diver! She enrolled on a course with Phoenix Divers and Ville took a scuba review course and tried a fun dive with them as well. Koh Tao is the main diving island in Thailand. There's a lot of dive centers and the prices are low.

The big boats in the back are all for diving! We used the red one in the middle.

Koh Lanta

Bangkok was a really quick visit this time. We'll come back there later during this trip. Instead we took a flight down to Krabi and Ko Lanta to meet up with Jaakko and Anna.

We stayed at Klong Nin Beach, in the middle of the west coast of the island. Photo by Jaakko.

Sunset at Klong Nin beach. The sunsets over here are fabulous!

Tom Yum of Thailand. First noodle in a cup during our trip. But not the last...

Also, first but not last banana pancake on this banana pancake trail!

Last monday the four of us rented two scooters and went to explore the island. First stop: Ko Lanta Old Town:

Sundrying chili at Ko Lanta Old Town

Next stop Klong Jark Waterfall with a trekking through the jungle:

Jungle chair along the path

The rather small but nevertheless beautiful Klong Jark Waterfall

Bats at Khlong Jark cave

Curious George

Not all traffic in Thailand is as hectic as in Bangkok!

Tuesday was our last whole day on Ko Lanta and we spent most of the day snorkeling around Four Islands with a lunch break at paradise on earth, Ko Ngai. Both photos by Anna.