Temple Run

 Since Nic didn’t feel well after the speed boat ride to Koh Phi Phi we took a slower gentler ferry ride at 9am from Koh Phi Phi to Krabi. It took about 2 hours, but after the insane storm the night before the waters were calm and the sun was out. We sat up front and vibed out the whole time, and of course got sun burnt as heck. 

Once in Krabi we caught a bus for $6 to our hostel (ended up being a lot closer then we thought) and couldn’t check in to our room yet, so we rented a moped and set off on an adventure with no real plans. We rode from noon to about 5pm and out on approx 40miles, and got even more sunburnt because we didn’t realize it while sitting on the moped. We stopped and saw Wat Sai Thai (Reclining Buddha) off the side of the road, which was tucked under a mountain side.

From a distance the Mountain Buddha Temple was spotted so we pointed our compass in that direction. It was a blistering hot day and the hike to the top was one less desired but as always was worth the view once we got to the top. 

Once we got back to the hostel we showered, changed, and had plans to go to Wat Tham Suea (Tiger Cave Temple) for sunset then dinner. We heard this was a must do in Krabi but had little to no information about it. When we were driving up to it we realized that there was no way to drive up to it because it was on a rock monolith. We parked, and there were signs all over saying the “hike had to start before 5”, it being 520 we began the 1260 stair climb to the top. The stairs were probably the  steepest stairs I have ever been on and would say they rival the Stairway to Heaven in Hawaii, and Half Dome in Yosemite National Park in California. About 200 steps in we were drenched in sweat and had wasted the shower we took no more then an hour earlier. Again, it was worth the stress and strain to get to the top as this might be my favorite activity so far. We got to the top in under an hour so we had to wait another hour for sunset…. We played a game of cribbage and enjoyed the pleasant evening. Sun is down, now to make the treacherous hike back to the bottom, pitch black, and monkeys causing havoc all around us. It was very scary to be honest as the authorities in Thailand has said there is potential that the monkeys have monkey pox and if bitten you need to be rushed to the hospital for treatment. (Some airports are even testing for monkey pox now)  We did not get bitten but our jaws were sore from clenching in nervousness for the 30min hike down. 

We made it back to the hostel on the moped, and crashed due to the full sun of a a day. 

The next morning we crabbed a coffee and a pastry and made our way down to the pier and caught a long boat ride to Railay Beach. Although this area is connected to the mainland it seems like an island because it is surrounded by cliffs and can only be accessed by boat. After arrival we quickly rented a kayak and set off around the peninsula. Although some people said we could not do it in 3 hours (the length of our rental) we got back with 30 minutes to spare. We even stopped at a few beaches, went through a couple caves and took some nice pleasant swims to cool off. The ocean water is the warmest I have ever been in, it is hard to fathom. This was another highlight of our trip as it was so peaceful and beautiful. 

We had lunch on the beach, I went swimming in the ocean and played catch with a kid from Manchester. He even had a Culver’s football he got from his hostel , but had never heard of the midwestern fastfood chain. (Not sure how that football got to Southeast Asia… lol) and caught the Long Boat ride back to Krabi (which cost us about $30 for the day). That night we went to the local street food market and tried a bunch of different foods and as always had some goodies and some nastys. But overall was a great tastebud experience. 

See below bug buffet. (No we did not try those) 

That night we had to make an executive decision to fly to Bangkok from Krabi vs take the train as originally planned. This was due to the fact that our online credit card purchases  were getting cancelled by visa due potential fraud. So we were unable to purchase train tickets. We tried calling (with no cell service this is extremely challenging and expensive), emailing, and trying multiple cards it was inevitable, we had to fly to Bangkok, and we booked for  the next day. Part of traveling is having a flexible schedule. 

With 1 thing left to do in Krabi and a 3 year wedding anniversary to celebrate, we had to get up early the next morning to meet the Long boat driver at the pier so he could take us through the mangrove forest and to a cave. The mangrove forest was very cool with low hanging trees and lots of hideouts for bandits (not sure what little paths are for) our driver said if we had gotten to his boat 20 minutes later the tide would have been to low for us to make it through. Glad we are prompt people. Then over to the cave, again we did not know what to expect but it was worth the $12 long boat ride. In the cave they have excavated and discovered human remains from 1000’s of years ago. Some dating back 5000-10000 years ago. There were wall paintings and other items that were discovered when the cave was first  found in the late 1980’s. 

Packed up and flight to Bangkok the largest city in Thailand, my phone took a crap after Railay so after arriving we went straight to Apple to get it repaired as trying to do anything without a cellphone was deemed nearly impossible the previous 24hours. Plus it is the only iPhone store in Southeast Asia. Yes nicolette could have shared, no she did not want to for the next 2 months. We had our special anniversary dinner at the local mall while waiting for my phone to get fixed.

After the phone was remedied, we went for a walk to see a temple but it ended up being closed, however along the way we saw some other cool temples and buildings and realized we were no longer in the Thailand countryside. 

Day of the Temple Run, we were out of the hostel by 9, and started walking, first temple; Sri Maha Mahamariamman Temple was a 45 min walk, looked closer on the map… but it was smaller but extremely intricate and colorful, very different to say the least, at this temple was also the first time they verified our vaccination card since boarding the plane to Phuket Thailand from Singapore. 

Discouraged by our lack of of judgement of the first walk we took the sky train to the next temple called Wat Inthram Worawiharn it had brilliant marble flooring surrounding the temple but radiated heat like nothing we have felt before. It was next to a school and hearing the laughs and giggles from the kids inside got us through our temporary heat exhaustion. 

Hunger and thirst starting to settle in just after 11am we were well on our way to the next temple when we spotted a massive gold buddha when crossing a bridge. So we stopped and got 2 pastries (no idea what they were but were buns that had peanut butter and chocolate inside them, I’m still having flash backs to the amazing flavor) then continued to the big shiny guy called Wat Pak Nam. The gold features throughout the buildings and the size put us on our heels it was something I have never seen before. 

From the 3rd floor of the temple at golden Buddha we saw Wat Kuhn Chan, another set of buddhas, figurines and temples, so of course we had to walk over there to check that one out. This one was lined with tons of colored mirror mosaics that glistened like mad. 

Running out of time and energy we had to catch a Tuk Tuk to the Grand Palace and the emerald Buddha before they closed. The Grand Palace was built in the 1700s by King Rama I and had been added on and extended since. It is completely surrounded by a 12ft tall 3 foot thick white wall. The worst part about visiting the Grand Palace at 1pm in the afternoon, is having to wear pants and long sleeve clothes in 95deg 80% humidity (per weather.com feels like 108deg) weather. We did not abide by the rules the entire time with concerns of heat stroke lingering. That being said we walked through the majority of the facility and wished the whole time it wasn’t so hot out. Some of the areas inside had A/C so we took our time through those sections. 

In the same vicinity of the Grand Palace was also Wat Phra Kaew the Emerald Buddha, so we swung in and saw him also. He is the most treasured and coveted Buddha in Thailand, the statue was originally in Northern Thailand but one of the kings thought he was better suited for the south. No pictures were allowed and you could not point your toes towards him. So I walked duck footed across the lane. 

Needing water, a real meal, and some A/C we walked and found a rooftop with a good view and decided A/C was more important at that point of the day so we walked to the most perfect and delicious spot called 6 on Sixth. It was likely our best meal in Thailand thus far and it was well deserved and consumed. With a total bill of $15 we also didn’t argue the price. 

Healed from the wounds, we had more temples to hit. So we crossed the canal by ferry and walked around Wat Arun, there were lots of signs for pick pockets but luckily pocketman was present. (If you need the inside scoop on pocketman just ask sometime). This temple was extremely tall and was covered in what looked like broken plates used as mosaics. It was another unique medium for builders to use. 

With one last temple on our list for that day we headed to Reclining Buddha called Wat Phra Chetuphon. We arrived at 430 and it closed at 5 so we hustled through it quickly to see the coveted buddha. 

Absolutely exhausted from walking 20 miles in the dead of heat and seeing 8 different temples. We spoiled ourselves and caught a TukTuk back to hostel to shower and lounge before finding dinner. We told a few other travelers about our day and they said we were totally mental and Idiotic, I simply just said “we are running out of time”. That evening we went to Khao San Road which is the large foreigner party street to find dinner, it was far to loud and we did not have the energy to battle with the swarms of people, just off the main drag down a side street we found a perfect spot to detail and laugh about the days activities. 

Because we did too much on Day 1 of Bangkok and didn’t really have plans for day 2 we slept in till 9am. We grabbed the metro to the train station where we finally got tickets for an overnight train to Chiang Mai. (Finally not frustrated about that whole ordeal) We caught the train to the ferry we had used the previous day however we jumped on a Long Boat to take us on a canal tour. We didn’t have much expectation but turned out to be quit the experience. We saw large variation in homes along the canal as well as MASSIVE SWIMMING LIZARDS that looked the size of Komodo dragons. We were in these tiny little boats practically on the waters surface and these things were every where. I asked Nic how much it would cost for her to swim across the 15ft wide canal, “I wouldn’t do it for less then a million, you could die in there”. The hour long tour was about $30. 

From the canal tour we ventured to Chinatown and were were thoroughly happy when the market streets were no wider than 2 people and was fully shaded. That excitement quickly dwindled when we hit the fish and raw meat section. The smells were something from a horror film but it seemed like we were the only ones that noticed. There were full squids, items that looked like intestines, as well as slugs or large maggots the size of my arm, and other unidentifiable objects, good thing they weren’t flying. 

With the original plan to eat in Chinatown our stomachs were no longer hungry so we cruised to the flower market, the aroma here was much more pleasant and every color known to man kind was under those canopy’s. Not sure where all these flowers end up but they were as beautiful as they come. 

Nicolette thought she needed a new dress for getting into the temples. As they are quit strict as stated above but she did not find anything she liked so we grabbed a bite of food in the Air conditioned mall. Food was sub par and was insanely busy. We went to the hostel to change and shower and hit a rooftop bar for sunset and happy hour. It’s always fun to see different cities sky scrapers and this rooftop bar showcased the surrounding area very well. We were there for just over 2 hours and got some great views, Before we were off to a night market that ended up being closed, so we went off to bed. 

A few nights previous we chatted a guy named Dan over some beers from outside London that was staying at our hostel so he joined us the next morning to a floating market, and the market that was closed the night before. We caught a TukTuk to the floating market but then had a hell of a time trying to find one back so we started walking ended up on a bit of a highway and then grabbed a taxi for about a 1/2 mile before dropping us at the train station. We got ourselves in a pickle but panic grabbed a cab when we could have just walked it out. Both markets were a bit underwhelming so we headed back to the hostel to shower, and pack up before taking the train to Ayuthaya. 

Arrival into Ayuthaya we had plans to check on a few temples before nightfall but we got into our hostel and two gals from Wales were there, Zara and Leah. They were an absolute riot with so many questions about the USA and we sat and chatted them for 5-6hours before they caught a night train up north. Nicolette said she hadn’t laughed that hard in a long time (obviously my jokes aren’t funny anymore). After they left we talked with the owners of the hostel, Goong and his wife both have lived here their entire lives. Goong said he never came to America because he is scared of flying, but did recognize Mount Rushmore from his grade school text book. They kindly made us dinner and showed us on a map some of the temples we needed to see the next day. We also played a game of cribbage and I ended up winning. 

TukTuk Temple Tour for Two Travelers began at 8am the next morning. We had a guide that took us around to 10 temples over 4 hours. It was hot, beautiful and very incredible. Most of the temples were built in the 1300’s and were ransacked and damaged by the Burmese in the 1600’s and then most were rebuilt in the 1700’s only to be damaged again during other conflicts. The city of Ayuthaya was the original capital of Thailand during those times and was placed here because it is surrounded by a river for natural protection. To see all the temples was 220baht and to have to driver for 4 hours was another 700baht for a total of about $30US dollars. Absolutely worth it. 

Temple 1: Wat Maheyong

Temple 2: Wat Yai Chai Mongkhon

Temple 3: Wat Suwan Dararam (which the Queen of Thailand was meant to be there the same day as us) 

Temple 4: Wat Maha That

Temple 5: Wat Ratchaburana

Temple 6: Wat Phra Si Sanphet

Temple 7: Ancient Palace, this was built and destroyed in the 1800’s but buddha still stood, so they rebuilt the palace around Buddha. 

Temple 8: Wat Phra Ram

Temple 9: Wat Thammikarat

Temple 10: Wat Chaiwatthanaram

Although 10 temples seem like a lot, there are more than 40 in the area. Ten temples in 4 hours was plenty for us. We told our TukTuk driver we were hungry so she dropped us at a restaurant, so we walked down the street to a food cart. Guy at cart said “you get noodles” and then said “pork or beef” me thinking, I haven’t seen any cows or pigs since we left America so I responded “chicken” he said “no chicken” so Nicolette doing what she loves to do, said pork without consulting me. Luckily it was delicious and we devoured it without any issues. 

We got back to the hostel around 2pm where we booked our last few stops in Thailand and packed up our things to catch the overnight train to Chiang Mai. We also played a few games of Cribbage and had dinner with the hostel owners again and met some other solo travelers Sarah from Amsterdam and will from English Riviera. 

For desert that night was the lychee fruit, alarming and sweet. They are in season and extremely popular in the markets.