End of Thailand

During the past few weeks we have become experts on Thailand's beaches. We worked our way from Bangkok down to the Andaman islands of Ko Phi Phi, Ko Lanta and Ko Lipe and then over to the Gulf of Thailand for almost two weeks on the large island of Ko Samui. On each island we rotated hotels and beaches to get different experiences in both the tourist scene and in local island life. The relaxation of island life was extremely refreshing after our hectic travels and adventures over the past three months.

However, you can only spend so much time at the beach reading, tanning and eating (and eating some more)! We are now back in Bangkok and will be leaving for home tomorrow. Our first flight is four hours to Shanghai where we will spend a 16 hour layover exploring the city. The next morning we will have a 15 hour flight to JFK and back to the States!

Below are some photos of the past few days here in Bangkok. Yesterday we took a Thai cooking class where we learned how to cook pad thai, spring rolls, coconut fried bananas, and massaman curry. We hope that we can recreate some of the amazing cuisine we have stuffed ourselves with here in Thailand back home!

Today we went to the Bangkok zoo which was so great because we were allowed to get extremely close to some of the animals and actually feed the elephants and hippos! Tonight we went to get a few drinks with some American friends we met at the cooking class on the 55th floor of the ritzy Centara Hotel. It was a nice way to end our stay here in Thailand. 

Making pad thai

Fresh chicken

Fresh seafood

Our teacher explaining Thai vegetables

Becca going shopping

Can you do this in America?

Or this?

55 floors above Bangkok!

Our pad thai friends

Goodbye Thailand.

Thai Cuisine

Here is a collection of photos from the delicious array of Thai food. Pad thai and fresh mango smoothies are the best! Last night we went to a Thai Boxing match. Have a video of an awesome knockout but the internet is too slow to upload. Will try again in the States.

Only 2 weeks left!

Hungry for turtles?

Pad thai

Matt tried the middle bug

Thai pancake

Chaweng Beach, Ko Samui

Thai Boxing

First round was between two 10 year olds

Bungee Videos

Becca's Jump:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if6z9Zzli-Q
Matt's Jump: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iliEKntapU8


Still don't know how we jumped...

Nepal Bungee and Beaches!

We finished out Nepal with a.... JUMP! We bungee jumped off a suspension bridge spanning a 500 ft valley. It was terrifying but so exhilarating. We both did something called a "bungee swing" which is bungee but in the seated position and allows for a longer free-fall (6 seconds). Matt did the normal bungee as well. The shock of actually leaving that platform to fall into empty space still is with us a week later. YouTube "Last Resort Bungee Nepal" for some good videos of what we  did. 

500 ft. drop. Supposedly the 3rd highest bungee in the world...

Now we are in Thailand, in particular, on the unreal island of Ko Phi Phi. The waters are crystal-clear turquoise blue and sheer rock faces jut out into the ocean. We have been beach bums for the past few days, soaking up much needed sun and relaxation. Today we went on a snorkeling trip on a long boat to the surreal Ko Phi Ley.

Not sure what our plans are next. Feels nice. Most likely we will visit a few more islands both on the Andaman   coast and on the Gulf of Thailand. We might also cross the border into Malaysia for a week or so. 

Our bungalow is the one on the left... we were the only ones at this resort.  Paradise.

Sunrise from our bungalow patio.