Koh Lanta - Beach Beach

Koh Lanta our little deserted paradise. One week of doing nothing but relaxing and whatever we feel like. The best part of the raining season in Koh Lanta, also called Lucky Lanta, is that it can rain but it's known to be enjoyable in all seasons. And it is!

We found this nice small resort with just 8 bungalows. All of these were merely 2-5 steps from the raging sea. We had rain for the first two days, still having fun in the very, very rough Andaman sea and swimming pool. After two days the sky's cleared and the sun, hot sun!, came through. 

With the sun up and the rain away it was time for all of us to explore the island by scooter! More small deserted beaches with white sand beaches. We put down our scooter on the side of the road, walk down the mountain, put the over grown vegetation on the side to be amazed by a small beach were most likely have been no people for quite some time. 

Our activity of the week, yes we did something, was a four island trip. We went snorkeling and visited islands. But one island we will never forget. We had to swim through a 80 meter cave while enduring the  high, rough, raining season waves. Cause the waves were so high we had to watch out for our lives while being in the cave. The cave had lower points, when a wave would come it smashed anything at that point against the ceiling of the cave. Nevertheless it was so worth it! It was completely dark and we just had one flashlight that surely didn't give enough light.

At the end of the cave we saw bright green lights of the sun and we came out in a small lagoon beach surrounded by the mountain walls! It was like being in the middle of a vulcano. No words for it. Just amazing! Unfortunately we could only spend about 15 minutes here because the waves got too high and otherwise we couldn't have gotten out of the cave. So again, we had to swim through the scary, dark cave. At the end the whole cave turned green from the light and it felt so magical!

 

Suburbs of Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai, merely our hub to Pai. But not to be underestimated. We stayed with the four of us in a family room in the suburbs of the previous capital of Thailand. The good thing of the suburbs is that there are only locals, nice food stands and some local shops. The only bad thing were the to rent a girl for the evening "shops". But yeah, that's also a part of Thailand.

Last year we went to the woman's prison or the so called woman's correctional behavior institution of Chiang Mai to get massaged. It sounds weird if you think of it, but actually it's a thing. In prison they learn to cook or massage and once they get out they can get these jobs. Also, they can keep the money they earn whilst cooking and massaging for when they get out. Still you know when getting massaged that this woman did something to put herself in prison and she is now massaging you. But yet again, best massage we ever had in Thailand. This says something since we get one on a daily basis in the last few weeks... Haha.

Furthermore we went to the night market to let the lady's shop for all their needs and let the men, my brother and I, go crazy.

 

 

We meet again - Elephants

When you come to Chiang Mai you will see a lot of tourist agencies offering elephant treks in the jungle. It's hard not to do one even though you have to think twice about doing it. You never know how these camps treat these elephants and of course it's not a lot of fun for the animals to have tourists sitting on them every single day.

We did this amazing elephant trek last year, in a camp with only 8 elephants where each tourists got one elephant and we had the feeling that the animals were not suffering. It was one of the best days last year so we also wanted Jelle and Hendrien to have this experience. Elephants are amazing animals, they are so huge and also scary but they are so friendly (especially when you have food!).

We got soooo lucky that we were the only people during that day who booked the full day of elephants. In the morning we gave them food, got to know them and learned how to ride an elephant and give commands. Even though Tom and I already did the same thing last year it was just as exciting. When Tom told the guide that he had the leader elephant 'Big Joe' last year, he gave that huge elephant to him again. Somehow he felt even bigger and scarier than last year. 

The funny thing was that everyone got an elephant that matched a little bit their personality: Tom - the biggest elephant, the leader, always walking in front making the others following him. Nina - the show off elephant that always tried to catch up with Toms elephant. Jelle - the elephant who didn't follow any rules and just walked his own way, always doing exact the opposite of the others and Hendrien the Mother elephant who was pushing her baby up the hill.

In the afternoon we went to the river and washed the elephants and played with them in the water. It was just us 4 alone which was amazing. I didn't regret it to come back here and enjoyed every minute. elephants are amazing animals.

 

The art of PAI

Pai, you beautiful Pai. There are so many amazing things I can write about this amazing village and it's surroundings in the north of Thailand. It's location in the middle of the mountains in the north, the Rice fields and all the different colors of the landscape makes it one of the best places in Thailand.

We went here straight from Bangkok in an overnight (first class!) bus to Chiang Mai (we didn't know it was first class when we booked it but it was a pleasant surprise!) and a minivan to Pai. We got lucky that during this time of the year the town is almost empty. You won't find as many tourists as during high season so we had this beautiful place (almost!) to ourselves. Just some Chinese found their way up there, as they are exploring all of Asia.

We spent our 2 days there scootering and exploring the landscape, the four of us on two scooters. Jelle, Tom's brother drove one scooter and Tom the other. On The road there were a lot of awhhh and waauwww sounds, as the surroundings are stunning. The mini grand Canion, viewspots, ricefields and what not.  ( last not least, Ninas favorite curry, only found in northern Thailand)

One year before around this time of the year we were in Pai as well, but we had to show this place to Tom's brother and mother, simply, cause, it's amazing. It was a shame we only stayed for a couple of days due to the tight schedule and the limited time of Tom's family.. But! We will most likely come back here soon, very soon.