On the beach :-)

After 4 days is the fairly intense hustle and bustle of Bangkok, we are now being very lazy relaxing on the island of Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand. While we have left the details of much of our current trip open for improvisation when we get each new place, this was one stop on our itinerary we knew we just wanted to chill out on the beach ⛱️ and enjoy Norma's specified beach trifecta: a hotel room, pool, restaurant, and the beach all within 50 meters or so.  On this, our chosen accomodations at "DDHut Koh Tao" seem to have pretty well hit the jackpot :-)
We'll definitely be adding this place to our list of spots in Costa Rica that have met Norma's exacting standards:-)

So far, all we're doing is migrating between "stations" here at our hotel, and taking a few walks along the beach to check out the local food options, etc.  The food here is wonderful, and surprisingly cheap too.  Our lunch yesterday was outstanding (a spicy Thai chicken & veggie stew with coconut sauce & rice, and a spicy veggie soup!), and cost about $12.50 US, including a couple of ice cold beers.  Given the consistent 85F temps, the cold beer here is really nice...
So... We'll be here for another four days, and our one "planned" outing will be to do a snorkeling cruise around the island.  The snorkeling here is supposed to be among the best in Thailand, so we can't pass that up :-). More on how that goes in a few days, and then head north to Chiang Mai. Until then, cheers from the beach!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Yes- we survived Saigon and the Scooterpocalypse!

Image
Saigon is big, busy, loud, stiflingly hot, and absolutely over-run by scooters, but still worth a visit... but 3 days was plenty! We learned a lot about the craziness of the 20th century here (and our uncomfortable role in it), layered on top of what we'd already seen in Hanoi and Hue.  I'm still amazed at how open and friendly everyone here is, but I suppose the obvious growing prosperity here has bred a very forward looking optimism.  Architecturally, Saigon is a blend of modern, French colonial, and a bit of traditional Vietnamese, with a strong NYC like feel to the central city.  There were several good museums, a really nice botanical garden, some great downtown avenues, and even more great food, at crazy cheap prices.  So no complaints, other than the heat.  95-100F at high humidity just isn't much fun for wandering around ba city on foot!   so... Tomorrow we are ...
Read more

...on to the Mekong and Laos!

Image
Having spent 7 days in Chiang Mai doing typical city things, mostly on foot, we began our nest part of trip with a 4 hour van drive to Chiang Khong, on the Mekong River along the border with northwestern Laos. We left Chiang Mai relatively early (8:30) after yet another wonderful breakfast at our hotel, and were quickly out into the Thai countryside. Initially, we drove along the flat Ping River valley through rice paddies and various exurban commercial sprawl until reaching the mountains that frame the valley and much or northern Thailand. After several winding hours of driving, we first reached a new "Wat" or Buddhist temple, completed only 15 years ago named WatSang Karw Photiyan. This included a rather striking garden full of ferns and orchids. Our guide, Suzy, was very helpful in explaining many of the traditional design elements in the temple and their significance in Thai Buddhist culture. After seeing this new Buddhist temple, we...
Read more

On to Chiang Mai

Image
We'll, we've been exploring Chiang Mai in the north west of Thailand now for three days, and thoroughly enjoying the change from both Ko Tao and Bangkok.  Bangkok was a typical Southeast Asian capital city - big, chaotic, bustling with energy and very hot and sticky ;-), Ko Tao was a typical beach town- very much like some of the places we've visited in Costa Rica. Chiang Mai is a busy city - the largest in the north of Thailand, but much less sprawling and developed in comparison to Bangkok.  More importantly, it's in the foothills of the Himalayas, so it's quite a bit cooler here!  Most days do far it's been in the high 70's to low 80's(F), so much more comfortable than at the beach or in Bangkok, where it was a humid 90F+ every day... We're staying in a small hotel in the old city - about a mile square area surrounded by the protective most built in the 14th century.  While much of the historic architecture has been lost, the many rema...
Read more