I found it part divine, and part not so divine. Thailand is around 70 million, 90% buddhist and the second largest economy in southeast Asia.

We flew into Phuket and drove about an hour and half to our destination, Kata Beach. The taxi driver let Jeff connect his playlist which we cranked. He has awesome eclectic taste in music. Once checked in, we tried to find the beach. Due to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, there was a massive wall most likely built to save lives in the event of another. My bff, Melissa, lost her dear friend Carol in that tsunami and I remember it well.

The place reminded us of Myrtle Beach. Very crowded, very hot and humid, full of cheap tourist items for sale. Every tourist was wearing the same white hooded shirt with the same elephant pants. It was hard to cross the street, we were tired and kind of not impressed. We found a huge night market and had a very authentic dinner. Thankfully Connie spotted THE BEST coconut ice cream place which we went every night.

We made the best of it. I found a yoga place that seemed nearby. Started walking through the crowded streets and then my map app started having hiking symbols. It was kind of a road that was vertical, not horizontal. I would have been very uncomfortable to be in an automobile on this road. I kept going and found this adorable small hotel with rooftop yoga. The instructor was amazing. The guests couldn’t believe I walked there. Coming down the road was equally challenging. Then I booked a 2 hour thai massage that changed my life. This woman manipulated my body in ways hard to describe. It felt like a workout and I truly think she got about a decade of stress out of me. I thought I might be covered in bruises the next day, but no. It was amazing.

Jeff found a beach to run on and was happy, Connie found the good restaurants to eat in.

We still had time to kill before our plane to Chiang Mai. We decided to book an excursion to Phi Phi Islands. Should be beautiful. The itinerary was a series of stops including an island that The Beach was filmed. Leonardo DiCaprio made a movie at Maya Bay on the Andaman Sea. We had never heard of the movie before, but evidently thousands of tourists have. It was drop dead gorgeous. However, so many visitors came that it killed the coral reef and seriously damaged the entire place. They closed the beach and recently opened it. The boats of tourists would drop people off for exactly 40 minutes, you were not allowed to go in the water, but you would take your selfie and then back on the boat as quickly as possible. It was depressing. The good news is the locals are making bank from tourism now that covid is not as big a deal. Bad news is the ecology takes a hit (says this super privileged tourist)

Our guide, Mr. B described the hardship of the pandemic and how he invested in water buffalo to sell milk to get by. He was happy to be back on the boat and touring.

One more day in Phuket and we needed to see Old Town. We jumped on public transportation which cost about $1. It was like a big truck with a roof on it. Lots of people and took about an hour and half to get to old town. It was very hot. Very humid. Very smelly. Very loud. There was an aroma of diesel fumes, sewer, and a touch of the duran fruit. OMG. The duran fruit is fascinating. It’s a delicacy and yet has been described as smelling like sulfur, sewage, honey, rotting onions and stale vomit. YUM

We got to Old Town and it was worth the trip. Lovely boutique stores, amazing architecture and a very cool vibe.

We had made reservations at a 5 star for our last night and had to jump back on the bus. I can only describe that as hell.

Getting to Chiang Mai was very refreshing. Located in northern Thailand, the air was fresh, the heat was dry and there were not so many crowds. Our hotel was adorable. Cheeva Dee! I grabbed one of their bikes and explored the city. It took me to a beautiful old buddhist temple. I really bonded with this place. Sat under the 7 buddhist statues and wrote blessings to Zafer and my Dad. It was really beautiful and peaceful.

Connie did a lot of research on the elephant tours and chose Elephant Nature Park. She chose well, as the founder has won many awards around the world for her work in creating this elephant sanctuary. There is a documentary about her called “Love and Bananas”. Many places still exploit the elephants with touching and riding. This place was more like our Tiger Rescue at home. We did however get up close with these massive animals. At times our guide would look at us nervously and say move away, they are headed towards us! Again, makes me sad that we are taking all the wildlife habitat and creating so many endangered species.

Found another yoga place which was hilarious. Every yoga has been very different. This one was a bit ocd. The instructors hovered over you, but you could tell how much they cared. They even tucked you in with a blanket during shavasana.

I talked Connie into another Thai massage. This one was different. We both felt very sore for the next few days, but we had a blast. For some reason, there was a lot of information about Women’s Correctional Institutions and also places that had these women doing massage services. We didn’t see any info on men. Maybe the men are very well behaved in Chiang Mai? Maybe the women take all the rap? Not sure, but our thai massage outfits felt like correctional institution wear.

The famous soup in this region is called Khao Soi and Connie was dead set on getting the most authentic version. We walked down tiny alleys until we found THE PLACE. They only served one thing. Khao Soi. It was in their garage and it cost $2. It was delicious.

The Flower Festival was stunning in Chiang Mai and I had to text Emily Fuller, our local flower queen. PBO should have a flower festival..,or The Plant to be specific! Connie’s family runs a plant shop in Winston Salem, House of Plants. We were all in awe of this huge park full of flowers.

Sadly, our time in Chiang Mai was over. I highly suggest this place. We just scratched the surface. Ancient history, fabulous food and the kindest gentlest people.

On to Cambodia. But we’ll save those stories for next blog. Some are hard to hear.