Life and Style Madrid

I was really bummed to leave the beach (as usual) but I was excited to see what Chiang Mai was like. I was expecting a mini Bangkok, but it turned out I was wrong. Chiang Mai is much smaller and calmer and more like a large town than a small city, and I enjoyed it more than I had expected too. We stayed at the Tamarind Village, which was a peaceful and luxurious boutique hotel. It’s famous for the 200 year old Tamarind tree in the courtyard. Our room was super cute and I got a great night sleep after we did a 3 hour spa package (total cost for 2 people: 30 euros for a one hour Thai massage, 30 minute foot massage and one hour facial—AMAZING) the first day upon arrival at Khunka Massage.

Peaceful walkway entrance to the Tamarind Village Hotel

Obsessed with our sink at the Tamarind

The next day was elephant day, something Jorge and I have been excited for for months. We spend many hours researching a spot, because we really wanted to make sure we picked a place that treated the animals humanely and we finally settled on Ran-Tong Nature Park. Turns out we made a great decision. We arrived at the park and after learning how to command the elephants, we went down to meet them. My immediate thoughts: these animals are adorable, very intelligent, and SO BIG. They are so, so much bigger than I had never imagined, but gentle and funny animals. And boy do they love to eat. We fed them bananas and sugar cane, which they gobbled up. I’d never been that close to an elephant before, and at first it was a little scary but once you see how sweet they are, the fear melts away and you just want to hug them (well, if I could get my arms around one!).

Then came the time to ride them. You command the elephant to sit down (MELONG) and then you kinda swing your leg over them, and they stand up. I am so short I kinda crawled, not classy at all haha but really mounting an elephant is just not conducive to being ladylike. When the elephant stands up, it’s suddenly like WHOA…you fly up into the air and then you get accustomed to being up there. You don’t really realized how high up you are until the elephant sits back down again.

After the ride, (Jorge and I took turns going in front of the elephant) we had lunch, and chatted with the other members of the group. Then we got back on the elephants for a longer ride and headed to the lake to bathe them. This was absolutely amazing. The elephants LOVE the water, they lay down and roll around, and splash and play. It was so cute to see them just enjoying it. You just have to be careful they don’t kick or roll on you! I spent a little time with the baby elephant, it was adorable. It just sat there swinging its trunk all day “playing”. I was nervous to get close time more so for the mother—I was afraid she’d get possessive but it turns out she doesn’t—however the mischievous baby is another story. Watch him give me a playful shove in the video below!

At the end of the day I was honestly sad to leave, it was such an incredible experience. I really don’t know how people can harm or kill these magnificent animals, and if there is anything I can do to contribute to worthwhile organizations that are dedicated to rescuing and helping preserve this grand race of pachyderms, I will be doing so. These are just some of the million of photos, so enjoy the montage below!

The rest of our time in Chiang Mai was fun, but nothing could really top the high of riding a huge elephant through the muddy jungle. The following day we visited the Tiger Kingdom and while it was pretty awesome to hold the baby tigers and scary to be next to the big ones, I found it over touristy and not nearly as exhilarating at the elephants. That being said, I still want a baby tiger (finally, a cat I love).

We then visited the Wat Chiang Man Temple, which had a cool elephant shrine I really liked.

That evening, we walked through the night market and bought some stuff, and then met up with a friend of Jorge’s from high school. Ironically enough, Jorge hadn’t seen his friend in about 10-15 years, and they reconnected in Thailand! Him and his girlfriend were really nice and we had a great time getting street food with them and drinks at the (rundown but cool) THC rooftop bar.

Buddhist Lori!

Creepy butterflies at the insect museum

Our last day, we visited the Wat Chedi Luang temple and the insect museum, which was super creepy and weird but I enjoyed it and so did Jorge. It was really ghetto, just frames with dried insects everywhere. I have never in my life seen so many disgusting bugs. An interesting way to end out the trip.

As I sit on the plane and write this, we are headed home, and I feel genuine sadness. After 5 weeks in Asia, I realized that I adore that continent! I fear that no good can come of this, knowing myself. I have a sneaking suspicion that this will be just one of many, many visits to Southeast Asia.

I suppose this means the Life and Style Madrid will now return to it’s regular “Madrid” posts…but I do hope you’ve enjoyed following me through my unforgettable trip!

Ahora…la vuelta a Madrid! Un beso a todos.

We arrived in Koh Samui tired but happy. It had been an incredible two weeks touring through Cambodia and Vietnam, but I was totally ready for some serious beach and relax time. Anyone who knows me loves that my absolute favorite moments are passed lying in the sun, with a good book on my kindle and a little lounge music playing, cocktail in hand.

Our first AirBNB rental. A cool studio!

Our first few days in Koh Samui were spent catching up on sleep and exploring some of the beaches on the island. We started off on Bophut beach, and then visited Chaong Non and Silver Beach the following two days. We also checked out the walking street in the Bophut Fisherman village, which was more like a night market. We chose to stay at a cool studio apartment near the airport in the North of the island, which was a very cool space…pool table included. Several lizards also included. In fact most of our stay in Asia included un-bargined for wildlife (foot long geckos, giant bugs, terrifying spiders and what I swear was a crocodile but apparently not).

My favorite thing to do: LOUNGIN

Silver Beach

Silver Beach

sunset in BoPhut

Anxiously awaiting the arrival of my very best friend Marisa and her husband Eric, we then checked into a two bedroom house we rented in the Mae Nam area of the island on our fourth day there. The house was entirely made of wood and a pretty cool space, although the house manager Ron was pretty lame.

Marisa and Eric arrived in tow with their friends Danielle and Jeremy and Jorge proceeded to lead us on a wild goose chase to find a bar I had selected for us to visit for dinner and drinks. As we walked through the jungle, I silently cursed Jorge for yet again getting me lost…and then finally, we found it!The funny part is, once we’d found it, we were greeted by the owner, Pui, and it was like we were home! A warm welcome made our jungle hike suddenly forgettable, and Nature Bar became our hangout spot for the week. The owner Pui and his girlfriend Noi were totally awesome and made our stay unforgettable.

The teak house we shared with Marisa and Eric

Hanging out at Nature Bar

Nature Bar

Kayaking at Anthong National Park. Part of the movie “The Beach” was filmed in this cave.

The group

During the week, we hung out on our local beach and Nature Bar, rented scooters and headed again to Silver Beach and to The Cliff Bar for pricey drinks with a great view, and also day a day excursion to the Anthong National Park, which included kayaking, snorkeling and a boat ride to the archipelago that conveniently made Jorge and I seasick, as the boat battled a rocky sea. We also got a few massages, set off those flaming lanterns, and accidentally went to a lady boy brothel to karoke.

Jorge and I (my arm looks extra skinny in this pic thats really why I posted it)

Antics.

The group at The Cliff Bar

Marisa and I

The most memorable parts of the week were simply spending some well needed time chilling on the beach and enjoying some quality time with Marisa. We’ve known each other since the sixth grade and she’s been an influential person in my life pretty much ever since. One of the things I adore about her is how no matter what is happening in my life, turbulent travels, job changes, moving across the nation or even the world, Marisa is a constant. She is home. She’s the sister I never had, someone who I know will immediately ground me and take me back to a safe and happy world of happiness, humor and comfort. She’s one of the people I miss most at any given time in my life, and we don’t get to spend nearly enough time together, so I was really happy we had this wonderful vacation together.

Aww.

A quick lantern wave

Ready to light them

All good things must come to an end, and our whirlwind week with Marisa and Eric flew by. We headed to Koh Phangan on the ferry and I kept my chin up, knowing I would probably see Marisa this fall and of course, headed to tropical paradise, I couldn’t stay down for long.

The glass cottage: our magical beach hut

The view from our beach bungalow!

Koh Phangan is, in all honesty, heaven. At least the heaven I hope to enter someday (fingers crossed!). Tropical paradise. White sands, palm trees, clear water for days. Pure perfection.

We arrived and were immediately picked up by the owner of our AirBNB rental, The Glass Cottage.

The Glass Cottage. This is the stuff dreams are made of people. I can’t believe I stayed in such a peaceful zen place. A small bungalow made entirely of glass, with incredible views of what was pretty much our own private beach. So romantic and tranquil! I could just curl up there staring at that view and never get tired of it.

Bottle Beach perfection.

We just couldn’t stay out of those crystal clear waters!

Most of the time on Koh Phangan was simply spent lounging at various beaches, snorkeling, reading my kindle and floating in the arms of mi amore, Jorge (sorry to get cheesy, but this cottage was romance inducing, as I previously stated). We did make an exception to our relaxing routine to hit the Full Moon Party, which was insane.

I didn’t really drink much or get too crazy because of all the horror stories I had read about people getting robbed and stuff, but it was definitely an experience to be there, and watching the sun come up on the beach was special! (I am sure it would have been even more special if I was “on” what everyone else was, but you know me…not one to get too crazy these days!). The party was fun, an experience for sure, however I think I would have really enjoyed it more in my late teens or early twenties, those carefree youthful days! Of course, Jorge loved it. I had to talk him out of jumping rope on the fire rope though, thank god. I mean I really didn’t want to miss quality tanning time the next day tending to burn wounds at the hospital, so I was relieved when he actually listened to me.

My favorite experiences were snorkeling at Mae Haad beach and taking the water taxi to Bottle Beach. Bottle beach is so remote that there is no road to get there! So you have to arrive by a wooden boat. Magical! The snorkeling was amazing, the water is shallow so you have to be careful not to cut your stomach on the reef but I saw some amazing fish, some bigger than a foot long! I don’t know much about fish species…but I saw stripes, solids and polka dots! I also loved eating extra spicy fish at the Beach Lounge restaurant, which is rated number 1 on Trip Advisor in Koh Phangan, and for good reason.

Lounging at Beach Lounge!

Besides the energetic the full moon party, the island of Koh Phangan holds memories of a calm and beautiful natural spot that can rejuvenate anyone of any ailment. After my five days there, I felt inspired…calm, de-stressed, and ready to channel my inner fabulousness once again! Isn’t that what vacay’s are for?!

We ferryed back to Koh Samui, spent a day at the Nature Bar and the beach, and then headed to Chiang Mai…the last stop on our Asia itinerary.

I have been wanting to visit the Angkor Wat temples and Terracotta Army since the Asian history unit in my language arts book in 4th grade. Also, growing up watching the amazing kids game show “Legends of the Hidden Temple” also contributed to my intense need to see ancient ruins live and close up.

Seeing the Teotihuacan pyramids outside of Mexico City contributed towards feverish love for temples and ancient ruins. Macchu Picchu is also on the list. For now, the Angkor Wat Temple trip has turned reality and here I am in Cambodia.

Flying into Siem Reap was just about one hour on the lovely low cost carrier Air Asia. After an uneventful flight (though secretly rather petrified a rougue Russian missile may launch my way…I know, I know, I just don’t like flying okay) we landed in the tiny but international Siem Reap Airport.

Major points for me, as I insisted Jorge and I do our E-Visas pre-arrival. We swooped past customs as an uninterested officer simultaneously watched youtube videos and made sure I wasn’t a threat to the country, all while a HUGE line queued up at the “Visa Upon Arrival” counter.

This is one of those types of situations where everyone makes fun of me for being overly organized, and I of course, have the last laugh. MUHAHAH.

Anyway, our Tuk Tuk driver, pre-arranged with our hotel, was there waiting for us, and of course Jorge couldn’t contain his excitement about getting to ride in a Tuk Tuk. I too found it entertaining, however my bottom less so. Driving through the dusty town was crazy. Seeing how people carry EVERYTHING on bicycles and motorcycles is crazy. Bamboo sticks, huge baskets of straw and fruits, entire families (max we saw were four on one motorcycle, I have seen up to six in Morocco though), babies (of course no helmets on anyone) and even a ladder. There are no traffic lights and it isn’t uncommon to see people driving on the wrong side of the rode.

And this man has a restaurant as a side car…amazing

We made it to the hotel, the Siem Reap Evergreen, which was charming and boutique-like, my favorite style of hotel. The staff was welcoming and quite charming really, and helped us organize our visit.

After lunch, a pool dip and a nap, we wandered down towards Pub Street and the night market, which was just a little too touristy for my liking. However, I did enjoy the night market and look forward to wandering through it more during my visit. We headed back home early to get some rest for our first day of temple exploring, Indiana Jones style.

Getting the three day temple pass  ($40 pp) seemed to be the best decision, and we also chose to do our visit via Tuk Tuk. For just $15, we had our driver for an entire day, choosing to see as many temples as we could. Sunset and sunrise visits were $5-10 more and so was seeing some further out temples.

Day One at Angkor

The first day we started off with the famous Angkor Wat temple that everyones seen the photos of. It was super crowded and busy, and while I found it awesome, I realized later on that it was actually my least favorite. After getting to see some more deserted temples further out into the jungle, I realized that all these temples I’d never hear about were even more awesome.

Adorable yet naughty monkeys sharing stolen goods

I kinda want a baby monkey!

We also loved the wild monkeys that run around. They are so cute, but they are naughty little creatures too! We saw one climb onto a moving Tuk Tuk and steal a girls bushel of bananas. It was hysterical, but I certainly held on a bit tighter to my bag after that!

My quads are still burning after this vertical walk!

Back to the temples. Most of the temples in this area are from the 12th century. Most were originally created to honor Vishnu (Hinduism) and then later turned Buddhist, which I found extremely interesting. The next temple we saw was the Banyon group, which is actually a complex of several temples requiring you to walk through the jungle to get to each of them after the first.

A Banyon Temple face carving

Day One at the Banyon Temple

The main one was amazing, as it had a ton of faces carved into the rock. They really must have copied this one from “Legends of the Hidden Temple”(LOL). Following that were some more pyramid like structures, and then a terrace like temple honoring elephants. I had minor heatstroke in these temples, at this point it was well over 100 degrees and soooo humid. It finally started to rain a bit, which was actually pleasant as I was dying.

We had a brief lunch, where I tried the Chicken Amok, a type of curry that has spices and coconut, pretty good!

Jorge “meditating”

Jorge climbing, typical

Me thinking I am an explorer…LOL

The last temple we hit was my favorite one, Ta Phrom, also called the Tomb Raider temple. This one is pretty famous for the trees literally growing in and out of the temple. It was so fun exploring this temple, we actually got lost within in several times, finding doors and openings and climbing over rocks and running over a jungle bridge. I really felt like a kid, exploring this giant temple, running around in the rain, getting all muddy, and not even caring! Jorge, in typical Jorge fashion, insisted on climbing on every single rock and having his photo taken, which I of course whined about but this is secretly why I love him. I discovered a creepy looking lizard snake creature hiding under a rock, which was awesome (I am my father’s daughter, after all). There were many times were Jorge and I were completely alone in areas of the temple, and all we could hear was jungle sounds. I tried to close my eyes and just listen and smell: the rain, the insects, the birds. These are the kinds of things people dream about and here I was, living it!

The famous tree at the Tomb Raider temple

We finally got a solid pic of the famous photo that everyone has seen-the huge tree enveloping the temple when our camera died. Good timing though! Absolutely knackered at this point after nine hours of temple viewing and heat in major humidity, we headed back to the hotel where I promptly dove into the pool.

The jungle bridge!

We headed to bed early, as we had decided to do the sunrise tour the next day and had to be up at 4:30.

The so-called sunrise at Angkor

I actually don’t think I have ever been up that early in my life (not counting airport runs and staying out the night before). It was suprisingly not that bad, perhaps the excitement masked the exhaustion? We got to Angkor with about a million other people and then slowly realized that due to the cloud coverage, there wasn’t going to be a sunrise. One moment it was night, the next it was cloudy. Voila. We laughed about it–oh well! There is nothing you can do about weather, and continued on our tour. We did the outer circle of temples, which was cool, but not as amazing as Ta Prohm in my opinion. However, we did see a few that involved more water, one called Prean Khan that was pretty nice. We were the only people there, so it was like we were exploring on our own which was so cool. Another was super tiny, but we had to walk for awhile on a wooden bridge, which was also unique.

Jorge being Jorge

I couldn’t believe it…a deserted temple!

Trees and temples grow together!

This will look fab in my bedroom!

Epic, truly epic

In the last temple, there was a vendor selling handmade paintings on rice paper, and Jorge and I picked one out for our bedroom. I am really excited to find a frame and put it up…and I know that every time I see it, I will remember this epic adventure I have been able to embark on.

We also had a nice chat over a coffee with our Tuk Tuk driver. He explained to us that he grew up on a rice farm and now has a family and they live in the village of Siem Reap. His kids go to public school, which is only three hours a day, because there are so many kids (and so few schools) the kids go in shifts. The teachers work all day, six days a week and do two/three shifts of kids a day. Most people can’t afford private school ($8-10 a month) so this is just how it is. His dream is to own his own Tuk Tuk (he uses one that belongs to the hotel), but they cost $900, so many a few years from now.

The amount of poverty here is extreme. Little kids selling things and people living in unsanitary conditions are the norm, but I must say, I envy them in a way. They seem so happy and free, you often see kids simply playing with leaves and rocks, adults napping in hammocks, and people smiling and laughing. They have simple, happy lives, work and eat off the land, and life is good for them, despite the fact they don’t have iPads or fancy cars (isn’t this the Buddhist way, after all?) If only Western life was that simple!

We ended up heading back to the hotel around noon, but considering we’d been temple hopping since 5 am, we thought that was enough. Tomorrow, we are going to take a break (we don’t want to get temple burnout–apparently it’s a “real” condition) and head to the markets. Wednesday, we will use the last day of our pass to see more temples via Tuk Tuk, and then Thursday, it’s off to Vietnam.

I adore the Cambodian food, culture and people. They are friendly and kind, and are proud of their jungle land! I love it here, and I think everyone should see these temples in their lifetime, they are truly a marvel.

Until Vietnam!

After a long but relatively smooth flight, we arrived in Bangkok fairly exhausted and jet lagged, but excited. First item of business, get to the city center. I had mapped out directions, but in typical fashion my phone wasn’t working so we were on our own! Through some serious gesturing with some nice Thai airport workers, we got a handle on the situation.

We took the airport train into the city center and then the BTS above ground subway system to the Chong Nonsi stop, and walked over to the W Hotel. We found out our regular room was upgraded to a suite, (SWOON) and it had the most amazing bathtub I had ever seen.

The amazing bathtub at the W Hotel Bangkok.

The view of a coming monsoon from our window at the W Bangkok

Two baths and one nap later, we woke up ready to hit the city. First we strolled around in our neighborhood (kinda the finance area) and had lunch at a yummy secret spot called Fueng Nara. After some delectable Thai food, (spicy for me, nonspicy for Jorge!)We started off by taking the subway over to the free ferry to take us to the Asiatique Market. It was clean and tourist centered, but we still loved walking around and seeing everything. We then got foot massages (30 min for about $3 each person) that were to die for, and headed back to the hotel.

The Grand Temple

Jorge being…well, Jorge.

Day 2 started with exploring the temples. It was about 100 degrees and excessively humid, and in out of respect for Mr. Buddha, you have to be wearing long pants and a shirt covering your shoulders to enter most temples, especially the Grand Palace. When we finally entered in the main temple, I was happy to sit down among the other tourists, locals and Buddhist monks praying. I stretched my tired legs out in front of me, only to immediately be reprimanded by a stern guard “don’t point legs towards Buddha. Shows disrespect”. Oops! A dumb American tourist error I suppose! I aint mean no disrespect Buddha!

Us at the Reclining Buddha

Although I thought I might literally die of heat (this coming from a girl who sweats it out daily at Bikram yoga!) the temples were stunning. After the Grand Palace (and almost getting scammed by annoying tour guides outside the palace lying to us and telling us the palace was closed and we should go with them…we suck and weren’t prepared!), we headed over to the Reclining Buddha, which I actually liked even more. It’s a huge gold Buddha lying down, and it’s just so different from anything I have ever seen.

Pool time at the W Bangkok.

After sweating out literally my own body weight, we thought it was time to head back to the hotel and enjoy some pool time and a mini nap, which was marvelous after the hot day.

In the evening, we braved Chinatown and some street food (yes, still alive and so is my tummy-for now) which was rather dirty and overwhelming, but I am glad we experienced it. I was surprised that I didn’t see the typical fried bugs and stuff, it was really mostly noodles, rice and fried dishes. There were a lot of locals there and not as many tourists as I had expected.

My incredible rice/chicken/basil/ginger dish at Tongue Thai.

Day three started off with lunch at a restaurant I had researched called “Tongue Thai”. I had spent some time searching online for the perfect lunch spot, and it certainty paid off. For the equivalent of about $8, Jorge and I shared some kind of fried noodle appetizer, followed by Pad Thai for him and some sort of Spicy lemon ginger chicken for me. Jorge got a coke, and I opted for freshly squeezed watermelon juice, which really hit the spot! Finally, fresh pineapple and watermelon for dessert ended the meal on a great note. The presentation was gorgeous and the waitress was super sweet–this place was an amazing find.

We then headed over to Khao San Road, the famous backpacker street, where Jorge and I used our freshly learned bargaining skills. We ended up getting 4 tank tops for about 8 euros. Not really sure if we got cheated or not, but it seemed a good price and it had started off much higher! We also enjoyed some more 30 min massages (this time only 2 euros each) and tried Thai beer-both Singha and Chang (I prefer Singha…lighter and crisper!). Here I got my wish, I was repeatedly haggled to buy friend scorpions, which I politely declined each time, but not before morbidly staring at the fried creatures.

Jorge posing on the commuter ferry!

Bangkok is a huge, dirty, crowded city…but I must say, I kinda loved it! I went with low expectations and ended up really enjoying it. The ferry boat service was super fun and cheap, and we ate amazing food for super cheap as well.

I wouldn’t hesitate to return to Bangkok again, especially if I needed a layover somewhere in Asia. It’s a great destination to visit for a few days.

Stay tuned for Cambodia!