Golden Week Adventures in Thailand-Part III, Bangkok

You can read part I of our Thailand trip here, and catch part II here.

After our amazing stay down on the beaches of the Andaman coast, we were actually excited to get back to Bangkok for a night and a full day as it's such a vibrant (and delicious!) city!

One of the highlights of this trip to the city was the amazing, amazing boutique hotel, Phra-Nakorn Norn-Len (Slow Life). With it's hand-painted rooms and halls, eclectic style, exceptional Thai massages, and simple organic meals, it is seriously one of those places that you hope will forever stay a best-kept-secret:

Although we took in most of Bangkok's main sites on our last visit to the city two years ago, it was still nice walking around and taking in some of the lesser-known wats (Buddhist temples) and scenes of regular street life:

In Bangkok, your mail is only going one of two places:

Heavenly street food REALLY comes alive during the night-time markets and street-stalls:

Asia has many, many markets, it's true. The undisputed king of them all, however, is Bangkok's weekend Chatuchak Market, which contains over 15,000 stalls (!!!!) over a 35 acre area selling everything. Seriously, everything. Clothing, food, massages, antiques, house-wares, art, jewelery, live animals, handicrafts, books, music, plants and flowers...not to mention the wonderful live entertainment and music!

There is absolutely nothing you cannot get here and, as this was our second time visiting the shopping behemoth, it comes highly, highly recommended:

Whew...after a shopping experience like that, it's ALWAYS definitely time for a Thai massage:

What a relaxing way to end our fabulous Golden Week journey to the Land of Smiles! As a bonus, it was soooo nice returning to Japan just in time for Spring flowers and sunshine rather than mountainous drifts of snow! Makes getting back into the swing of things just that much easier...

Golden Week Adventures in Thailand-Part II, Railey

To read Part I of our adventures in Thailand, head here.

After Koh Lanta, we journeyed to the little tropical hideaway isthmus known as Railey. This is the poster-child for the limestone karst-studded emerald waters of Thailand's Andaman coast:

At the end of the isthmus is the most beautiful place we've ever swam: Phra-Nang (Princess) Cave Beach:

The cave on the beach is said to hold the spirit of a drowned Indian princess...

...and many offerings (some downright amusing to say the least) are colorfully stacked inside:

The north end of the beach was our most favorite place for sunset-gazing and good conversation:

We liked that beach so much that we hiked there everyday that we were in Railey. It's best in the afternoon after the boatloads of Chinese tourists have left for the day:

Oh yeah...and we continued to eat, and eat, and eat...

After one more stunning color-show on the beach...

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..we were off the next day on a plane back to Bangkok:

And that's where we'll end our wonderfully relaxing vacation in the next post...

Golden Week Adventures in Thailand-Part I, Koh Lanta

For our last Golden Week vacation here in Japan, Jacob and I decided to head back to Thailand for a relaxing getaway on the beaches during low-season. We were long over-due for some quality time together since our job schedules don't always permit it.

First stop, the island of Koh Lanta in the Andaman Sea (next to its more famous cousin, Koh Phi Phi), and our cute little bungalow:

This is what you get in Thailand during the low season: a beach nearly all to yourself:

Okay, so the real reason we decided to head back to Thailand more than anything was the food! Thai food is the stuff of spicy, fragrant, flavorful dreams:

And did I mention the sunsets?

The best way to get around Koh Lanta is by motorbike, and we took many sunny adventure drives around the island:

Hmmm...what should we do today:

After a good five days in Koh Lanta, we headed on a boat off to the isthmus of Railey for a little more lazy beach life in the Andaman...