Phuket-->Chiangmai-->Bangkok-->Nepal

Hey everybody!

Well, Grace and I thought that we should put an update up here before things get internet-less here in a day or two.

We really enjoyed out time on the beach in Nai Yang.  the sunny weather, the white sand, the warm water, the beautiful fish, and excellent food.  It was with a sad wave that we bid the beach adieu.

We went to the train station, got on a bus for 6 hours, then after arriving at the Surat Thani train station we sat for 5 hours waiting for our train, and then took the night train to Bangkok.  Grace loved the upper bunk.

We got to the Bangkok train station the next morning and got on a 12 hour train to Chiangmai.  We left Phuket at 6:00am and arrived in Chiangmai at 10:30pm the next day.  Quite the trip.  Thankfully there is a coffee shop about every 100ft and the coffee is quite good.

Another thing that Chiangmai is known for are its Wats; which are buddhist temples and they are (generally) open to the public.  Similar to cathedrals in Europe.  They draw all kinds of people simply because they are old, beautiful, and interesting architecturally.

There is quite a bit to see and do in and around the city as well.  For instance, this cat is near one corner of the old city and outside the Catmosphere Cat Cafe...

You can go and catch very large Mekong catfish... (this one was my largest at just over 30 kg)

Or.. there are always more Wats for visit.  Wats, wats more... bwahaha.

We really loved Chiangmai.  It was our favorite of all the places we went in Thailand, and that is saying a lot.  But, we only had so much time and had to move on.  So we went to back to the Bangkok train station via another 12 hour train ride.

The guy who owned the apartment we were staying in through Airbnb (which is awesome btw...) actually worked 10 mintues from Grace's parents house for a summer while he studied abroad, and he invited us along with a friend of his to go see some tigers and a floating market.  How can you say no to that?!

So we went to the floating market, which is basically a small to medium sized canal lined with shops and the entire waterway is clogged with boats full of people buying and selling to and from people on the boats and along the edge of the canal.  Basically pandemonium.  

Then we went and got to pet tigers at the Tiger Temple.  WE GOT TO PET TIGERS

Grace wanted to confirm that we could in fact touch the tigers, which were all sleepy from the first round of tourists... er... because it was hot.

I know I didnt catch him by his toe... but I did try and make him pay $50 every day.  Still waiting to hear back, but no money so far...

Then on the way home we stopped by the Bridge over the River Kwai.  Yep.  The same one from the the old black and white WWII movie with Alec Guinness  It was rebuilt after it was taken out during the war, but parts of it are original.  We watched the movie with Dad as a kids, and so it was awesome to see it in person.

We did see more stuff in Bangkok but nothing came close to that day as far as pure awesomeness and photo opportunities.  With our visa almost expired we hit the airport in Bangkok and after a 4 hour flight, an 8 hour layover in Mumbai, India, and another 2.5 hour flight, we made it to Kathmandu; the capital of Nepal.

From the roof of the place we are staying you can see the peaks of the higher snowcapped Himalayas poking out.

And that is where we are headed next.  We are going to be doing some trekking (like adventurous hiking... in the himalayas)  and will post more when we get back!

Singapore-------> Malaysia-------> Thailand

Hello Everyone!

It has been a while! We hope you all are well and enjoying 2015! It has been an eventful couple of weeks for us. On Dec 31st we left Singapore and took a train up the Malaysian Peninsula.

We originally planned to spend a couple of days in Kuala Lumpur but when we arrived it was raining and HOT. When we asked our taxi driver if he thought it would blow over he said " No, it has been raining for the last three days." So we said, "Take us to the airport please!"

After a night in the AMAZING Kuala Lumpur Airport we left for sunny Phuket.

Phuket has been wonderful! Thanks to the wonderful Kottner family we had a lovely guest house lined up in Chalong Phuket for a couple of  days. We learned how to use public transportation (a true adventure I assure you) and how to eat like locals.

Our hostess even brought soup to our room one night when I had a disgusting cold and gave us exotic fruits to try.

 Again, thanks to the Kottners, we had the opportunity to teach english for a week at a school on an island called Koh Yao Yai, about an hour off the coast of Phuket. As you may know, Chris and I have no teaching experience so it was quite the adventure!

We taught every week day from 9am- 11:15am. Our students varied in age from 10 to 17 and were such a delight. The real english teachers at the school took wonderful care of us and even brought us breakfast every morning. Chris is still craving more roti, (which are thai pancakes). =)

We had a lovely bungalow and our very own scooter for the week. As you can imagine Chris enjoyed the scooter very much and we drove all over the island.

 We saw farms and mountains and sunsets we could never imagine. We met some of the kindest and gentlest people we could ever hope to meet. We ate some of the spiciest Tom Yum (a traditional fish stew) we ever hope to try.

We learned a lot about ourselves ( it turns out Chris is a wonderful teacher and I should never be left in charge of the slides =D) and Thai culture. We are so grateful we had the chance to meet all the lovely people at the school and hope to see them again someday.

After a wonderful week on Koh Yao we headed back to Phuket to a quiet little beach called Nai Yang.  We love it here.

Today we snorkeled for hours and got spectacular sunburns. It turns out even two weeks in Hawaii can't get you tan enough for the powerful Thai sun. =) Thankfully we have plenty of aloe. Tomorrow we will rent an umbrella and drink cold coconuts in the shade. There is even an amazing pizza place here, so what more could we ask for?

We hope you all are well, we miss you lots!

Love,
Grace

A little taste of Koh Yao