We spent the first night in Bangkok, two nights on the island Koh Samui, and then the remainder of the 4 nights on Koh Phangan. Here is the pictorial story of my vacation:
The Tuk Tuk: public transportation! It's just about as safe as it looks...
Cruisin the street shops in Bangkok.
Christmas dinner at Subway! We had reservations at this great restaurant for a Christmas dinner, but our flight from China (layover) to Bangkok was delayed 2 hours so we missed our reservation! And when I say delayed, I mean we boarded the plane and sat on the runway for two hours due to "mechanical problems". Not fun! But insignificant compared to the TWELVE hours my friend Josh spent on the runway before his flight to India (no joke- they sat on their airplane without moving for 12 hours). Also, I got pretty sick on the flight from China to Bangkok, something I ate in one of my meals during the flight. I was already a bit nervous about finding food in Thailand due to my peanut allergy, so I suggested Subway for dinner and the crew went along with it! Like I said, just a wee bit different than the holiday meal I'm used to!
Bangkok airport- beautiful isn't it?
The beach out front of our hotel in Koh Samui- I don't hate it!
Carly, Bri and I on the beach. Rough life!
Inside the restuarant of the Koh Samui hotel.
Another shot of our hotel in Koh Samui.
Prayer offering area on the way to the elephant ride.
Look what we found! It was so incredible to see these animals up close and personal, I fed them bananas and had to wipe all the elephant snot off my legs! It was also amazing to feel their skin, I don't even know what I could compare it to.
Obviously he was ready for his close-up!
Our guide- he was awesome! And really nice to the elephants which was good. I hear if you go for an "elephant ride" somewhere random and off the beaten path they can be pretty harsh to the animals, but these guys just used words and vocal sounds to guide the elephants around.
I thought this was kind of a cool picture, can you get perspective? It is looking down from the top of the elephant so you can see the ear and behind it is one of his massive feet.
By the ferry dock for our 45 minute ride to the next island over, Koh Phangan.
The view right outside our bungalow on Koh Phangan. Our bungalow may have been ghetto (4 people in one room, a showerhead dangling by its last screw on the wall, a sink that just drained onto the floor instead of through pipes... ) but this view definitely was not. I could wake up to this for the rest of my life!
The guys playing some volleyball on the beach! We spent a lot of time just right out front of our bungalows, there was a nice beach with volleyball and hammocks hanging from coconut trees, why would you need to go anywhere else? :)
View from the restaurant we stopped at along the way to our island boat tour! It was absolutely breathtaking, I dont have any pictures that actually do it justice.
Would you like to take a little trip up to the "View PINT"? Haha some of the translations were pretty funny!
"Please Take Off Your SHOSE". Oops I must have left my SHOSE at home!
This is Utopia, the restaurant we had lunch at before our boat tour and also home to that amazing view shown a few pictures above.
The beautiful fall-away pool at Utopia, with Ian and the ocean in the background.
Just an example of the kind of roads around Koh Phangan, steep hills in the middle of the jungle!!
Beauty.
Finally, we made it to the boats! We took the traditional Thai boats to a snorkeling spot and 2 other islands close to Koh Phangan.
Snorkel time! Andy and I in the waters right off Koh Phangan. I saw so many different and beautiful fish boasting the most vivid colors! Rainbow fish, fish with neon blue fins, bright pink jellyfish... I could go on and on. They also had amazing species of coral, kinds that looked like a blanket completely covering the underwater boulders. It was all pretty amazing! And mom and dad you can attest to this, I haven't always been the biggest fan of snorkeling. I still get a little jittery when I get caught in a school of fish or something but I am much more daring these days, I really enjoyed it!
Some scenery along the way.
The guys!
We had an hour or so to kill on the first island and it wasn't the nicest weather, so we played a rousing game of "coconut ball". :) I played for a long time but I was out pretty quick on the first round, which is why I was able to take this picture.
I took this picture on our way back in from the boat tour. These are some Thai fishing boats docked and what caught my eye was the amazing colors. Each boat was very brightly painted!
My ride for the week! This was one of the things I wanted to do most on my vacation, rent a motorbike. Don't worry, I wore my helmet each time and never went over 90 kmph! ;) Riding through one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, topping hills to find amazing views of jungle and ocean, was one of the most freeing feelings I've ever experienced. It was a blast!
Quirky little art gallery I came across on the ride to the south part of Koh Phangan. I stopped here on the last day on the island and picked up a few gems to bring home!
So there's a glimpse into my 2010 into 2011 holiday season! I am in the process of retrieving everyone else's pictures so I will put some more up in the next week or so!
