THAILAND

Overview

Thailand is an extraordinarily beautiful country that offers nearly everything travelers could ask for. On this trip, we made three separate visits - first, we spent the first week of our trip in the islands relaxing and recovering from a few hectic months preparing for this trip and for our wedding; second, we spent a couple of days in cosmopolitan Bangkok, relaxing and recovering from six weeks in India; finally, we spent our last week of six months in Asia savoring the amazing offerings of Northern Thailand before leaving the continent for South America.

Even though Thailand has clearly been discovered by tourists, it is still one of the top destinations in the world; it has some of the best beaches in the world, gorgeous mountains dotted with rice fields, a world-class city in Bangkok, arguably the friendliest people on this planet and probably the most interesting cuisine (especially if you like spicy food) you can find. Also— and somewhat unbelievably–it is still dirt cheap. Outside of 5-star hotels (which are - admittedly - very expensive), nice hotels can be found for under $30 and incredible meals are available for under $5. With all of this on hand, what more could one want?

 Places We Stayed

Ko Phangan/Ko Samui

White Sands Bungalows: We’ll always remember our bungalow at the White Sands fondly; it was the first place we stayed during our six months in Asia! (It was also Shanna’s first experience with spigot showers and with geckos in the bedroom…) Two iguanas lived in the shower, but this place was literally a few steps from the beach so, at $9 a night, we couldn’t have asked for anything better!

Santhiya Resort: The fact that we were given “welcome massages” and a “welcome cocktail” within five minutes of arriving at Santhiya should have tipped us off that we were staying at one of the nicest places on earth. And we were. We paid about $100 a night to stay here, but we’re pretty sure the prices were at their lowest because the hotel had just recently opened. Our pictures of the infinity pool, which overlooked the turquoise Gulf of Thailand, are good candidates for our screensavers once we get back; it was amazing! The hotel has its own private beach and a dock you can swim to, and it’s walking distance from all of the other bars and restaurants. If you’re going on your honeymoon soon and you ask us what we recommend, we’ll most likely direct you here.

Chaweng Villa Resort: This place ($50ish a night) is very centrally located (just steps from the Ko Samui’s main strip). We liked our bungalow, which was situated in a nice garden just a few steps from the beach.

 

 

 

 

Bangkok

Baiyoke Sky Hotel Ahh, the buffet breakfasts here were fantastic, and the building is the tallest in all of Thailand (kind of a cool claim to fame, especially given that Bangkok has some pretty huge skyscrapers). The rooms (about $100 a night) had the sterile feel that’s typical of big hotels, but they were clean and comfortable.

 

Oriental Hotel The nicest place we have ever stayed in our lives, hands down. Someone should write a poem about the buffet breakfast, the pool is inlaid with gold tiles imported from Italy and every floor comes with its own butler–enough said. We’ll remember the Oriental for the rest of our lives and have vowed to return here on our 25th anniversary. We got a night’s stay here as a wedding gift–good thing, because the prices are too astronomical to even put in print.