I wanted to give you a look at what Christmas looks like- S.E. Asia Style! Me, Karen, and a friend from The Village back in Dallas, Val, who also now lives in Wenzhou China, traveled south of the Border for Christmas. Last Tuesday we loaded our backpacks and were on our way to Thailand! Our first stop was the Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport and from there we had to catch a taxi two hours south to our first beach destination, Pattaya. We arrived there about 3:30 am and awoke to find our friend Val who had safely made it the night before! It was Christmas Eve our first full day and we decided that exploring our litte town and relaxing on the beach would suffice. The next day, Christmas Day, we decided to go out on the scuba diving boat for an all day adventure of diving and exploring 2 hours south off of the coast of Thailand. The diving company, Mermaids, took us to two private islands and we even had a chef on board to cook an authentic Thai Christmas lunch-it was AWESOME! The price for the boat all day, the equipment, food, and rentals was about thiry dollars! Can't beat that! For Christmas dinner we went out to a nice dinner and then proceeded to go to bed early-little did we know that the TV in our hostel had a few ENGLISH Channels and for the first time in six months I got to watch CNN-IN ENGLISH!! (This kept us up late many o' nights!) The next few days were spent Elephant Trekking, Para-sailing, getting henna tattoos, reading, reading, and more reading (excellent recommendation, The Shack, by William P. Young), relaxing, market shopping, and consuming tons of great street Thai food! Of course I got to work on my tan as well :) After 5 nights in Pattaya we headed north to Bangkok for 2 nights/ 3 days to explore and see what it had to offer. We stayed in the BEST hostel I've ever stayed in-in the entire world (HQ Hostel). It was so modern and urban and even offered free internet, CEREAL FOR BREAKFAST (that was the best part because in China we can't get cereal), DOWN COMFORTERS, and it was located in a great area of Bangkok. We spent the next few days going to markets, to the Grand Palace-where King of Thailand and all of the government officials reside, taking boat trips up the river, going to an English FILM, eating blizzards from Dairy Queen, going to bookstores (ANOTHER HUGE PLUS!), and buying groceries that we cant get here in China (see the picture below). We left Bangkok with a great tan and a heart full of joy-thankyou Thailand for a great Christmas! I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! Love you all!
street food
Grand Palace
Monks in Training
Val and I
At HQ-sporting our new fisherman pants!
Being culturally sensitive with Ronald!
First A&W in SIX MONTHS!
Pink Taxis in Bangkok
Oh oreo blizzard, how I have missed you!
Goodies we can't get in China!
In our Dorm at HQ
Parasailing
The Parasailing team~
Back the basics while elephant trekking
Dive site #1
Christmas Day Diving
Wearing one of my favorite things, my pack, always means traveling is ahead :)
Henna
Weird picture of this baby in our room
Outside our hostel in Pattaya
Christmas Curry Dinner
HUGE strawberries at the airport!
Bangkok street food~
He/Shes always have the BEST FOOD to choose from!
saying goodbye to the King and his palace!
Centuries of stories painted on the walls of this palace!
Travel buddies :)
traveling is by way of Tuk-Tuk or Baht Bus
Sunset in Pattaya
Me and Val-Love her and am so thankful she lives in China!!
Street food in Pattaya!
Good Morning!
Disclaimer: all of these pictures would not be possible if it weren't for my awesome roommate, Karen or my amazing travel buddy, Valerie. They take all the pics and I'm using hopefully with their permission :)
2 comments:
Wow - those are amazing!! Looks like you are having a great time!!
Holy cow. Awesome. Jelousy is rising up in me. You are missed.
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