Thailand

April 12 – May 10, 2017

Sarah peeking out from our Bangkok apartment.

Beautiful downtown Bangkok. This photo taken between two of the largest malls I’ve seen in my life.

Taking the Bangkok bus. The people sitting next to us helped interpret to pay our fare.

Westerners pumping iron in Lumpini Park.

My favourite rooftop bar in Bangkok – Skytrain Jazz Club.

Lampang abandoned buildings.

Sunset near the Wang River.

Hot springs just outside Lampang.

Wat Chalermprakiat, hilltop temple ~ 70 km north of Lampang.

Wat Chalermprakiat.

Plant and flower shop along market street.

Local coffee shop, Lampang.

Asawin, local market in Lampang.

Giant billboard showing Thai King.

Love the stationary stores, Lampang.

Bridge across Wang River, Lampang.

Friday night market.

Taxi ride from Chiang Mai airport to the bus station to leave for Lampang. Much more fun than the sedans we’d been in so far!

Bus to Lampang. $4 for 1.5 hours, and easy to book and navigate!

Pick-up taxi ride to our guesthouse, where we spoke with the local woman who warned us against our 8-day stay.

Riverside Guesthouse! $29 per night including a wonderful breakfast, and very empty this time of year (it’s 37 C today, the hot summer season).

Cozy foyer all to ourselves.

Beautiful, peaceful dining area right on the river.

Breakfast by the river.

Reading by the river. I feel like I’m staying at an expensive resort, not a budget(ish) guest house!

Cool collection of old cars and motorcycles. I need to find out more about the history of this place……..the owner is Caucasian but I’m not yet sure from where, and has lived here for 30 years.

Motorcycle shed, full of old spotless Harleys and paraphernalia.

It has a very different feel than Phuket. Barely any tourists, and much calmer.

Temple at night.

Wonderful restaurant we found! Lots of locals and very little English spoken, but we enjoyed the most wonderful service and food, and the prices were about 1/4 of the beach towns in Phuket. $0.10 for rice, and about $1-2 for our entrees. We will come back.

So good, and not just for the price.

Our Kamala Beach Airbnb.

Relaxing at Kamala Beach, in the shade. I’m not used to the heat, even just 30 degrees!

John in the shade. The chairs and umbrellas are for rent for ~ $4 but the sand is fine too.

Dinner at a rooftop restaurant we found with reasonable prices, and we were somehow the only guests!

Songkran Festival, Thai New Years, on April 13. Locals and tourists alike celebrate by spraying each other with water and paint, from their cars, backs of pickup trucks and trailers, and the side of the road. It was so festive and cheerful, and in the heat we didn’t mind getting caught in it at all.

Locals at Nai Yang Beach dancing to Thai music in the street the evening of Songkran. They looked so happy and un-self-conscious.

Relaxing on our deck at our second place, an AirBnB near Kamala Beach where we will be for five nights.

View from our rooftop patio.

Blue building, middle left.

Simple room but with a balcony, great wifi and of course AC, and only $15 per night!

Road by Kamala Beach. Busier and more touristy than Nai Yang Beach but still quite peaceful.

Kamala Beach. It was quieter on this side of the beach where there weren’t waves as most, including John, preferred the waves and body surfing. I was happy under my palm tree.