At first, Chiang Rai gives us a somewhat sleezy view of Thailand and causes us to wonder if sex is bigger than scenery as a draw for tourists here. And in Chiang Mai the women are in every nook and cranny plying for business, but, we actually begin to like the place. Chiang Mai is OK. We take advantage of the inexpensive and excellent dentists here and get our teeth done (Highly Recommended!). After a winding road trip to the "mountain" town of Pai, which turns into a parade of tourists, we return to Chiang Mai joyfully, though only for a short stop, as the bus to Sukhothai is leaving in an hour.
Sukhothai is wonderful for cycling about the ruins of the old capital but holds little else for us, so of we go to the city we've dreaded....BANGKOK! Our upstairs front row seats on a double decker bus give us splendid views all the way, and we find that actually Bangkok is OK. Nowhere near as smoggy and chaotic as I had imagined. We find a nice spot downtown and commence to shop.
The Thailand of dreams comes alive as we fly into Krabi, the southern beach realm of the country. Limestone crags and hills pop out of the jungle and march into the sea where turquoise water laps brilliant white beaches. Ahhhh...now we've hit the spot to relax. We jam with some locals at the Joy Bar then head out to Ko Lanta for a beachside luxury hut and a week of doing very very little. We end up squeezing in a tremendous dive at Ko Bida and by the second dive, after four years, I'm (Bruce) back into diving! What a thrill. To swim with the fishes and turtles again. Sooooo nice.
Well, that spurred us on, and we book a three day liveaboard dive trip to the famous Similan and Surin Islands in the Andaman Sea. What a dream...and Phuket Divers and all aboard make it truly awesome. Just stunningly gorgeous sea life and after 9 dives we are both a bit pooped. Soooo, off we go for another week on a beach which will remain nameless to the masses, as it is truly what we have been looking for all along. $12/night in an oceanfront hut and a beautiful white sand beach to occupy the senses. We are really getting relaxed now. Laura's eyes were nearly teary on departure, but we boarded the boat to fly back to Bangkok, where we sit now awaiting a flight to Singapore. After trying to figure out where to go next and nearly booking a flight to Nepal, we decided that south is better than north right now and we'll wind our way up the Malaysian peninsula by train and back into Thailand for more beachlife!! And....our Visas run out tomorrow. Gotta go!
