Arrival in Chang Mai!

We made it 16k to a Wat on the hill overlooking the city (These were the stairs we had to walk up to the temple) too bad the pollution/rice burning is so bad right now there isn't much to see.

Today we rented a scooter for the day and battled the traffic in Chang Mai...

The trip concluded with some bamboo rafting,

Brandon did a good job stearing us through some tough rapids...

after running us into a few rocks first that is.

Last day of the trek... the guy behind brandon was our second guide, super nice but didn't speak much english - I think "waterfalls", "hello", and "bit further" were then only things we got out of him after hiking 4 hours the second day... we just followed like good americans. : )

Our accomodations that night. If you can believe it,

this is nicer than where the villagers sleep which

is in bamboo huts on the floor near a fire (to keep mosquitos away)...

Drinking with locals on our second night of treking, much different than the first night but pretty freaking cool... we were the only two and Ping Pong took us to the neighboring village where we sat and took a shot with some old-time Thai people... I'm talking the ones who smoke tabacco out of bannana leaves and make chewing gum with bananna leaf, tree bark, a splash of tabacco, oh and lime stone to top it off... seriously. Needless to say we didn't try that one. Great people and very friendly.

Our treking leader - "Ping Pong",

He not only showed us the sights but also introduced us to

"moonshine" (rice wiskey) mmmmm....

The treking group for night 1... good mix of French, German, English, and American

We played some fun multi-cultural games around the campfire that night.

We passed through a lot of fields, the villagers grow rice (of course), corn, soy beans, basil, mixed with water buffalo, pigs, chickens, and cows...

All up hill the first day - that smile is JUST for the picture...

Brandon's face is more reflective of the reality of this situation.

More waterfalls, but always appreciated... especially when hiking.

Brandon leading the way - sketchy...

We went on a three day trek which started with elephant riding!

We love Chang Mai, people are nicer, nature is more beautiful, there is some culture, and the weather is a bit cooler. Finally what we came to Thailand for....

Outside of Bangkok - Kanchanaburi & Ayuthaya

Biking around the ruins of what used to be the capital of Thailand... Ayuthaya. Very cool! But we had to hit a local swimming pool later that day to cool off.

Ruins - much prefered over the temples (Wats) which all look the same to us....

Biking ( Brandon, Franz-Josef, and Jesse)

In Kanchanabury (which we found to be mostly a

tourist trap, but at least we were trapped with some cool

travelers) we enjoyed our trip to the 7 falls the best -

this pic is looking down into the national park.

Swimming in the falls - if you wern't quick to get out

of the water the fish would suck on your feet (not a fan!)

Tiger temple... tourist trap but still an experience...

At least where we stayed in Kanchanaburi was

awesome - A house on the River Khwae

Our first experience "river rafting" pretty chill...

Ride on the "death train" (built by WWII POWs)

River Khwae bridge and tracks

(also where we spotted our first elephant)

This floating market was the first tourist trap we encountered.. and while it only sells goods to

tourists now it is still quite a sight and indicator of what used to be.


We finally made our way out of Bangkok... to the Kanchanaburi Provence and then to Ayuthaya. Kanchanaburi was quite the tourist trap because it's difficult to get around without a car - we joked that they trade tourists like the stock market....and it's pretty accurate. Ayuthaya was better and we met some cool Austrians/Germans on the trip and traveled with them for a few days so that was nice.

Arrival in Bangkok

After a 25 hour trip that included transport by car, bus, train, plane, and finally a taxi - we made it to the lively streets of Khao San (backpacker's spot in Bangkok). After walking around a bit and smelling all there is to smell at 3am on a street with very interesting street vendors, drunks, and stray cats we found a simple guest house ... Rainbow Guest house (very simple!)



Our first day consisted of the usual - observing the people, trying some authentic food, getting a feel for the con-artists, and visiting a few temples ("wats"), oh and walking A LOT! Perhaps the most important was Wat Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace. Afterwards we took a tuk tuk (motor taxi) to the shopping meca called MBK and Siem Square... we had to keep reminding ourselves that we're traveling for 10 weeks, and to pace ourselves. We are off to Kanchanaburi tomorrow for three days of activities then up to Chaing Mai (and around) for treking, elephant training, rafting, and zip line!! We'll keep you posted : )