It’s really quite difficult to know where to even start with this one, since the past 24 hours in Bangkok have been insane. I’ll do my best of trying to communicate the chaos, the charged frenetic energy, and fascination we’ve experienced here thus far.

We began the day with the quest to get our Visas for China obtained, since we didn’t do that back in SF. The trek of getting there alone was a nightmare, but got worse when we walked into the Visa room where there were literally hundreds of people all waiting for the same thing we needed. We grabbed a number to begin our time in line – we were 365, and they were on 150. The wait alone in this room of endless energy got me a little on edge. Just a little over an hour later we were ready to hit the streets, hoping for the best that we’d get our Visas the next day.

From there we walked to the subway, and took it to the last stop on the system figuring it would be an easy walk from there to the river, where we were then planning on catching a boat to the Grand Palace (we came up with this plan on our own). Let’s just say it didn’t quite happen that way. As we were walking in the direction we thought the river might be, this local Thai man named Nick started talking with us and led us to this local temple that he thought we just had to see. He must have spent at least 45 minutes with us showing us around, just chatting, (I think he liked practicing his English), and then he was off since his lunch break was over. He was so nice and hospitable, and although I kept waiting for the scam to come or for him to sell us something nothing happened – just a nice guy wanting to share some of his culture with us.

He suggested we take a Tuk-Tuk to get around town, a little mini open air cab/motorcycle thingy, since they are incredibly cheap and you hire them by the hour – we negotiated 50 Bat per hour for 4 hours, which translates to about $1 US/hour. We actually felt kind of guilty at how cheap this was, but that’s apparently the norm here.

I wish I could say that our driver alone was the only nut case out there when it came to maneuvering and driving about town, but really every single driver in Bangkok must have a death wish. Let’s just say that bungee jumping didn’t even come close to the fear we felt in the Tuk Tuk. Definitely fun at times, kind of like roller coaster fun, but mostly lots of “oh my god’s, I can’t believe he just did that!” The video clips hardly do the chaos of the drive justice.

The whole Tuk Tuk is a brilliant concept, although it would never work in the US. This driver takes us where we want, waits for us while we eat, see a temple get a massage, etc, and then takes us to our next destination. You don’t pay them until the end, so it’s blind faith on their part that we’ll return – that’s the part the sadly couldn’t fly in the states.

So with the aid of our speedy driver we managed to check out a whole bunch of temples, all of which were gorgeous and ornate, filled with lots of different Buddhas in different poses and stances, and all of which kind of began to blur together by the end of the day. The Grand Palace definitely stuck out as the most opulent of the temples we saw. It’s size, grandeur, and attention to detail was amazing. It even gave us some inspiration for some décor in our home maybe someday (minus the gaudiness!)

After about 4 hours of the pandemonium of the Tuk Tuk ride, we decided to get dropped off at the Skytrain, and take that back to our hotel to regroup and try and figure out a plan for a Thai massage (our attempts to find places earlier in didn’t come to fruition). We checked the Ananda Spa at our hotel, and low and behold they had availability for two 90 minute Thai massages for both of us that evening.

When they put us in a room together with two tatami mats on the floor, had us change into these weird looking outfits and then had two little, tiny girls come in who would apparently be our masseuses, we were a little skeptical. Let’s just say those next 90 minutes were pure ecstasy! The way I’ll describe this, since there are no words to explain how incredible this felt on our bodies, is kind of like spiritual experience. It was truly amazing. . .

We couldn’t get over the way these petite girls manipulated our bodies in positions we thought we’d never be able to get in– Jason apparently was hoisted onto his girls back and was air born at one point. Of course one of the greatest things is how cheap the whole experience was -- $30 US/person for a 90 minute Thai massage was a deal (although by most standards in Thailand this is considered overpaying). This was a really nice place though and so worth it (our second experience of Thai massage confirmed this!) We both don’t know how we’ll ever go back to the over-priced, Swedish massages we used to get at home.

So we were all tranquil and could have easily passed out from the total relaxation of the Thai massage we had just gotten,  and what do we decide to do with that calm state -- we get ready to go out on the town in Bangkok. That is certainly the quickest way to kill a soothing state.

The Sukhimvit area where we are staying is out of control when it comes to night life. There actually appears to be more going on at night in this area then during the day. From the hot trendy bars, to the international restaurants, to the bustling street vendors, and mostly the masses of ladies of the night crawling all over the place, this area was utter chaos. Add into the mix your random elephant here and there walking down the street, and you have a full fledged circus.

We had to do our part to take advantage of all this insanity, since we would only have one night in Bangkok (we’re so ready to get out of this place even after just one day). Let’s just say we ate it up, drank it up, mingled with the locals, fed an elephant, and even got a 1am massage. The hour long foot reflexology and back massage session seriously hit the spot at that point in the night, and for only $8!!!! Jason’s massage experience was definitely different – let’s just say he had to set some boundaries with his masseuse, and ended his whole experience early!

Although we were in desperate search of our late night doner kabob tradition to help ease the pain of all the festivities of the night, we had to settle for a 2am Subway sandwich. We were definitely done with Bangkok for that night, and it will probably be a long time before we hit up this very unique town again!

As we were descending on the airplane into Chiang Mai we noticed how hazy is was outside -- you could barely see the mountains and landscape.  I immediately thought of LA and the smog, and the problem Chaing Mai was experiencing wasn't too far off from that.  Apaprentely during this time of year (summer), the farmers utilize the slash and burn technique to clear out their land.  We also heard that one way people hunt animals is by smoking them out of the forest.  Whatever the cause, Chiang Mai was smoke ridden.  You could not only see it in the air, but could feel it on your eyes and skin, and definitely the smell of burning was strong.  Both Jason and I seriously considered getting masks to put over our mouths like many of the locals do, but thought since we were only there for 3 days we'd be fine.

That aside, we really enjoyed Chiang Mai.  There was much less of the chaos we experienced in Bangkok.  It was more of a ...controlled... chaos.  Don't get me wrong, this isn't some little village (it's 1/10th the size of Bangkok, which has 9 million people), but there was more of an authentic Thai feel. We felt things were much more accesible, the people were very friendly, and it was just easier to get around.  We also found better street food vendors here.

We stayed in the center of the city at D2 Hotel, which was in the heart of where the night bazarre was located.  Basically, this night market opens up at night (fancy that), and has every thing you could imagine you might want to buy or eat.  We spent partsof all 3 of our nights in Chiang Mai wandering through the market, eating much of the street food, looking at all the different things, and we even got a leg massage our last night there.  Really fun experience, and great friendly people all around.

Of course we couldn't go without the full Thai massage experience in Chiang Mai (figured we got to test them out in every town we're in), and were referred to Legends Spa.  Here we got a 2 hour Thai massage and hot stone treatment which was incredible.  These Thai people really know what they're doing when it comes to touch and massage, since again we were put into a state of utter bliss from the experience. Although again we may have paid a little more for the massage, it was definitely worth being in an incredibly beautiful atmosphere at Legends Spa ($100 US total for both of us). 

Our last full day in Chiang Mai we decided to do a day tour to some of the more remote and scenic areas.  We ventured out to an elephant camp, where we got the chance to ride on an elephant.  I won't say much about that, since the commentary in our video clip gives you a taste of it.  We also took a beautiful hike to Maewang Waterfall, where we got to enjoy the beauty of our surroundings. 

From here we went to a Karen Village, and learned about the people and their culture.  I even bought some bracelets from the children (less about the bracelets and all about supporting the people), who live in absolute poverty).  We had a delicious Thai lunch at another little local village.  Our last experience of the day was bamboo rafting down the river.  This was quite an experience.  Basically these hobbled together bamboo rafts carried us down the river, which Jason and I took turns steering in the back using long bamboo sticks to propell us. 

We definitely were quite sad to say good bye to Chiang Mai, as we really feel like we got to know Thai culture and people more here.  Although it's quite far and remote, I think we could both see coming back someday to visit this beautiful place.

Lets just say Phuket was not what we expected it would be. The images I had in my mind of a tropical oasis, secluded with few people, and beaches that you had to yourself was certainly not what we arrived to. Kamala Beach, where our Hotel Layalina was located was considered the least of the chaotic areas, which we were surprised about. The main analogy to describe Phuket was like a Cabo San Lucas, or a Waikiki Beach – there were tons and tons of people crawling all over the place, especially Scandinavian tourists. Half the restaurants were European or Scandinavian food catering to that clientele, and it was difficult to find anything that felt truly authentic to Thailand.

Coming from Chiang Mai, where we experienced the deeper culture of the people, we were quite disappointed to arrive to what could no better be described as a zoo of tourists. Now, our hotels location on the beach was lovely, however the fact that every person walking by the beach esplanade could see directly into our room was a little uncomfortable. I guess that’s what you get for being right on the beach.

I’m not saying we didn’t enjoy lounging on the beach, swimming in the warm water (which we actually discovered was littered with garbage on a swim during low tide), relaxing by the pool and reading our book, but it certainly is not somewhere we would rush back to. The constant stream of vendors trying to sell goods to you while we were trying to relax in the sun was quite annoying. I’m not against supporting a community, but when it’s in your face all the time, it just a turn off.

The highlight by far of our 4 days in Phuket was going on a day trip on a fast speed boat out to the Krabi Islands. This was a wonderful excursion, and gave us that feeling of the beautiful Phuket we had expected and yearned for. From our swim in our private island lagoon, to the picnic lunch on the beach, and the swim and attempt at snorkeling in a secluded bay, this was true paradise.

Now although we had initially thought that Kamala Beach, where we were staying was a little over-run with people, it didn’t come close to the complete insanity of Patong Beach (one beach south of Kamala). We spent one night wandering around the very flagrant area of Patong. The hardest thing by far for me to take in was observing all the ex-pats with very, very young Thai girls. There is a definite seedy undertone or should say overtone to the scene in Patong – sex, drugs and more sex and drugs seem to rule this area. It’s quite a turn off.

I would certainly say that if we were to return to Thailand, we would go to the more remote islands to check those out. Although I can’t complain about our killer tans, I don’t think Phuket will be on our list of “must returns” in the near future.