Thailand

Adventures, Thailand

KohTao 17 1024x683 - Island Hopping in Thailand

After spending two weeks in cities and mountains, I was excited to explore the beaches and islands to enjoy some much needed relaxation and get some scuba diving in. I’d heard so many wonderful things about Thailand’s beaches that I couldn’t wait to get there…so much so that I was ok with booking a 6:30am flight out of Chiang Mai to Krabi.

Krabi- Ao Nang

I didn’t really know much about Krabi before booking my ticket other than I’d heard people telling me it was better than going to Phuket, which apparently is now overrun with tourism and hard partying. Thankfully four girls from my hostel were also on my flight and happened to all be staying at the same place in Krabi, so I decided to tag along. I found out that they actually weren’t staying in the town of Krabi because it’s not on the beach, but about 20 minutes away in a town called Ao Nang. I hopped on the bus with them and headed down to the little beach town.

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Adventures, Thailand

IMG 5104 768x1024 - Elephant Heaven at Elephant Nature Park

When I was little I used to see the elephants in the circus and was totally mesmerized by them. I rode them at summer carnivals and always dreamed of riding them through the jungles of Asia. What I didn’t know was how harmful each of these activities were to them.

I knew when I was planning my trip abroad that I wanted to do some volunteering. I love animals, so I started researching what my options were. After reading some articles, I realized that everyone was giving the same advice about picking the right elephant park to go to. “Don’t go to places that let you ride the elephants” and “Make sure you know where your money is going” were all too common to see.

As I started to do my own research around elephants in Thailand, I quickly learned there is a dark side to elephant tourism. Illegal logging, street begging, circus performing and elephant trekking are just a few of the abuses elephants are forced to do. They are beaten, speared, burned, whipped, malnourished, and most work to their death.

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Adventures, Thailand

ChiangMai 9 2 1024x768 - In The Mountains of Chiang Mai

I just got back from a week with the elephants and didn’t have much wifi, so I’m catching up on some posts! Truth be told I was kind of excited to leave Bangkok. It’s such a big city completely filled with tourists, and coming from New York City this was the last thing I wanted to deal with. So I was really excited to make my way to Chiang Mai, as it’s surrounded by the mountain ranges of the Thai highlands.

I arrived in the late afternoon to my hostel and decided to relax for the rest of the evening and plan my next day. Saturday morning I woke up early and wanted to go explore the Old City, which is surrounded by a moat. Within the Old City there are many temples, so I just wandered through for a few hours and ate some delicious noodle soup called Yen-Ta-Foo. I walked over to Wat Phra Singh, which is the most revered temple in Chiang Mai, located on the western side of the Old City. I walked the grounds for a while and admired the structures and monks walking around.

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Adventures, Thailand

Bangkok 1 2 768x1024 - Bangkok, Can I Get A Wat Wat

Somebody please pinch me because I still can’t believe I’m here. After a 15 hour flight to Taipei, Taiwan, a 3hr 45min flight to Bangkok, 2 train rides and a tuk tuk ride, I made it to Bangkok in one piece. With a population over 8 million, Bangkok is a huge city, and with only a little over 2 days to walk around I knew I couldn’t waste time before exploring.

After settling into my room at the hostel, I decided to stroll around for a few hours before I ran out of steam from traveling. My hostel was located just off the infamous Khao San Road, which is a backpacker’s heaven.

Bangkok 2 1024x683 - Bangkok, Can I Get A Wat Wat

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