One Night in Bangkok…

…and the world’s our oyster. That was the theme song of our one night stay in Bangkok. Our flights from SFO to Bangkok went well with one exception. The chairs on the Cathay Airline flight to Hong Kong wouldn’t recline. This made sleeping a bit difficult. After Scott elbowed Russ to stop squirming around next to him in his seat, he decided it was morning and time to watch a movie. Fortunately Scott is forgiving and we landed in Bangkok with excitement and smiles. Bangkok’s airport is the self -proclaimed airport of smiles, and has many beautiful gardens.

With less than 24 hours in Bangkok we made it to our hotel, the Sleep Withinn, which was located one block from the famous Khoa San Road. It was right across the street from the first hotel Lee-Anne ever stayed in Bangkok (it's Lee-Anne’s third time and Russ’ second time in Thailand). Lee-Anne and Russ happily reacquainting themselves with the familiar sights, smells, and noises of Bangkok while Scott and Renee were enjoying – for the first time - the many wonderful sights and cultural aspects of Thailand’s capital city. Lee-Anne noted that it is like sharing her childhood home with her friends. We took a scenic stroll around the neighborhood (the university, outside of the royal palace, and the amulet market) We made a few purchases before treating ourselves to a Thai and Foot massages before passing out after a long couple of days.


Koh Samui and the Full Moon party

The next morning we were off to the islands of Thailand; Koh Samui and Koh Tao. Going to the beautiful, paradise-like, islands of Thailand was the main purpose of this trip. Our resort on Koh Samui was perfect…it had an awesome infinity pool (w/ swim up bar) and lounge chairs on a beautiful, white sand beach. We spent the whole day enjoying the warm ocean waves, sunshine, tropical drinks, and our companions. During our short one night stay on Koh Samui we only left our resort once…and that was to take a trip to the island of Koh Phangan for the infamous Full Moon party.

Since leaving San Francisco, Scott (a DJ), was really excited about visiting the famous full moon party. Fortunately for us, there was a taxi & speedboat service that took us from our hotel to the party for an evening of mayhem. The party was filled with people from around the world wearing bright neon colored clothes and covered in bright neon body-paint. Liquor was bountiful and supplied by what appeared as hundreds of small vendors selling small drink buckets filled with a mixture of booze, fruit juice, and Thai red bull. The beachside bars were surrounded by huge groups of dancers, frolicking away to music blasted by DJs and huge sound systems. Lee-Anne had been to the Full Moon party 9 years ago. The things that are different: more alcohol, more people, bigger sound systems, fire jump rope (for any drunk fool to jump in to), a clean-up crew (although severely outnumbered by tourists), and more expensive drinks. Scott enjoy shining a new powerful laser all around the party which he had purchased the day before on Khoa San Road. The cacophony of sights and sounds reminded us of the esplande at burningman. As the night went on, the drunken crowd became more obnoxious and more packed so we headed home around 1am.


Koh Tao

The next day we embarked on a ferry to our next destination for a week on the island of Koh Tao, or Turtle Island. We rented a private two-bedroom villa (http://www.kohtaoindigo.com/) that’s a short ten minute walk from Koh Tao’s Sawadee village and beach. Our villa is surrounded by beautiful, tropical vegetation and wildlife consisting of colorful birds & butterflies, geckos & lizards, and buzzing cicada. While here…we’ve been enjoying relaxing by our pool, walks along the beach, and inexpensive Thai massages. One of our highlights has been eating at restaurants on the beach, which have low tables where we sit bare-foot on cushions and enjoy paradise.


Tomorrow we will scuba dive in Koh Tao. Lee-Anne is already certified while Russ, Renee, and Scott will become open water certified scuba divers.