Thai Travelers, with a Malayover — HaffsWay Around The World

“Just wanted to give a quick shout out to two of our readers, Martin (one of Laura’s mom’s good friends) and Grandma Jean. Both are bravely fighting personal health battles, and we are sending lots of warm thoughts from abroad their way. Please keep these two in your thoughts & prayers as they heal! ”

Before we arrived in Thailand, my knowledge of it was fairly limited. I imagined jungle and beach and rice field, and thought of it Asia's Mecca for college backpackers- a place for young groups of girls and guys to flock to get their hair braided and get drunk on the beach for cheap. As it turns out, there's a bit of truth to that picture. More strikingly, though, is how unfair that oversimplification turned out to be, and the variance and extravagance among the places we visited made it clear to me why so many tourists (of all ages) make it a priority to visit.

As was suggested by those in the know, we spent only a day in overwhelmingly busy Bangkok, primarily ducking out of the rain and tackling planning and administrative duties. Aside from some tasty street food, Bangkok provided us a jumping off point- and a new experience for both of us- in hopping aboard the night train to Chiang Mai. What began as two benches facing each other when we boarded was eventually adjusted transformer-style into a moderately comfortable bunk bed, and most importantly of all we crammed the cost of transportation and lodging into one activity.

Chiang Mai is situated in the Northern highlands of Thailand, and as such provided us with some of the best outdoorsy activities in our time here. One of the primary pieces of tourism there is elephant engagement, though there is substantial disagreement on what the boundaries on this should be for the sake of the animals themselves. What we read, as well as what our guide taught us, indicated that riding the elephants is both bad for their backs and also problematic in terms of torturous training to get them to willingly take riders. Many 'elephant sanctuary' operators had as many opinions about how things should be done, including one of the largest across the river from us that permitted riding, all of them claiming to have the elephants well-being in mind; ultimately we opted for a company that did not allow riding, but rather an opportunity to feed, bathe and walk with elephants instead. Needless to say it was pretty cool, though even there we had our doubts about ideal conditions being available to our large gray friends. We can at least hang our hats on simply refusing to sit on their wrinkly necks.

Oddly enough, a part of that same elephant adventure in the northern jungles was both a guided hike up to a waterfall pool and a bonus casual go at whitewater rafting. At this stage of our tour, I've started feeling the unfortunate consequence of waterfall fatigue- still worth visiting, but diminishing returns on awe in most cases. The rafting however was an unexpected adrenaline jolt, particularly since our raft was only directed through flurries of rocky cascades (and the occasional floating elephant pie) by the two of us and our masterful guide. So with arms sore and our pachyderm crush pacified, we ended this busy day by embracing Chiang Mai's variation of a couple American classics: southern-style barbecue and jazz. Forced to live vicariously through social media posts about the 4th, it was the best we could muster up - albeit on our July 5th- to celebrate America's birthday.

Oh yeah- a part of our eco-journey in the jungle was planting trees, too. Hooray environmentally friendly activities!

Chiang Mai's other sterling highlight for us was its breadth of cultural history, most spectacularly in the form of elaborately adorned Buddhist temples. Since we happened to be in town during the full moon, we got to witness the hoopla concerning a high frequency of Buddhists undertaking the ceremony to become monks. One thing that stood out to me amid the friendly tranquility of these sacred sites was a sense of religious harmony among a fair bit of diversity. Buddhism was predominant, but there were still notable contingents of Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity. All comfortably commingling and coexisting side by side. The simplicity of it gives off pleasant vibes, and the hand-painted signs containing proverbs like "selfishness is the father of all evil" amplified the Buddhist themes of seeking wisdom and inner peace.

After three busy days in Chiang Mai, we flew south to Krabi, one of Thailand's seaside destination towns. A bit more condensed and laid back as compared to Chiang Mai's chaotic streets, Krabi still had its share of surprises. The first of these being a casual Wednesday morning parade past the cafe we were having breakfast.

Krabi itself lacks the towering jagged shoreline the area is known for, but provides an ideal jumping off point to the wondrous Railey Beach- which most certainly does. Over the better part of an afternoon there, we took a stroll on the beach, explored a mighty cave, watched high ropes climbers have a go on the world-renowned cliffs, and visited a sacred beach cave statue believed to enhance fertility upon the offering of a phallic object. We even managed an ill-advised jungle hike/climb through mud and humidity up to a viewpoint- in flip flops (whoops!). As if our time there wasn't action packed enough, our fun-loving longtail boat taxi captain decided we needed to race a fellow operator back to shore. Our eventual team victory was worth a bit of saltwater spray to the face.

Krabi's other major highlight is their massive night market. From apparel and all types of souvenirs to an impossible amount of eclectic food to try, we couldn't get enough of it. Fried local fish, mysterious skewers and a booze-injected ice cream cocktail were a few of our favorites. The live entertainment stage provided everything from somewhat cringe-worthy karaoke to a fan favorite fire dancer. Between the crowded atmosphere, the people-watching, and preponderance of food on a stick, I couldn't help but draw comparisons to the state fair. Except almost everything cost 50 cents to $3, and, most shockingly, the market runs Friday through Sunday ALL YEAR ROUND. It must be quite the grind for some, but paradise for finger food enthusiasts like myself.

After Krabi, we took a few hours' minibus ride across to Ko Lanta Island. There we found some much needed R & R along the beach, in addition to some of the best food we ate in all of Thailand. From pad Thai to bacon wrapped shrimp to green curry, we ate very well for very low cost the entire time we were there. While in Ko Lanta, we stayed at a lovely little eco-resort bungalow, and elected to do our own small part to preserve its beauty by picking up trash along the beach (which it sadly gets absolutely bombarded with). Maybe in reality it just made us felt good to do something positive and productive, but three hefty bags less garbage along a 100 meter stretch of shoreline counts for something- even if that something is just inspiring another or highlighting what an extensive problem it is.

We even found ourselves a site clean up manager in the process

As we went about planning the various stops of this crazy tour, a lot of consideration was given to limiting flights (and of course their costs) and making the most of each. Because of this thought process, we next found ourselves in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. We planned it as a three day layover before moving on to Nepal as little more than an afterthought, and left blown away with how much it had to offer. A huge cosmopolitan city and surrounding area that has still retained a pretty distinct sense of culture, Kuala Lumpur impressed in both its urban landscapes as well as its green spaces. More tasty street food, quality public transportation and even the reasonable availability of good beer (!!!) made it seem like an extremely livable place to me.

Petronas Twin Towers, which nightly host a coordinated light-music-fountain show (working title)

My favorite part of KL (as its known) was easily Batu Caves- both a geographical and cultural wonderland that rivals any lone attraction elsewhere in our travels, in my opinion. Hundreds of steps reward climbers with a pair of shockingly vast caves (one which houses 200,000 bats- yes that is the correct number of zeros). On top of that, there's the second largest statue in Asia housed out front (the Hindu God of war). And just to keep things interesting, there's more of Laura's favorite furry friends scampering about on the hunt for food- and mischief.

A stalactite-framed shrine at the top of the caves

Back in the city center, one must-do is either of a pair of towering skyline views (sidenote: you know a city is pretty significant if it supports two enormous lookout tower tourist traps). The one we opted for, KL Tower, even required a route through some treetop bridges to access it from where we were. Urban Jungle met regular jungle, right there in the heart of the city, and the contrast and preservation of places like that is what makes this massive metropolitan mallscape so much more. Now, Nepal!