Welcome to the most beautiful oven in the world. Yes, that's right. Oven. Between the mid-day sun, light-reflecting water, and foot-burning sand, it was a fun but toasty tour around the Phi Phi islands (named after a flower that no longer exists). A quick note about speedboats...if they hand out sick bags and motion sickness pills free of charge, it's not just for show, it means it's going to be a really really bumpy ride.
Read MoreWe encountered a bit of Bangkok burnout while we were here, so we slowed down the pace a bit, and took to wandering rather than sight hopping. We hit a few more shopping malls than we'd like to admit and tried to find the cheapest places for fresh mango smoothies.
Read MoreThai food definitely has its own unique flavors and we were lucky enough to hit a local festival and sample some things not on the restaurant menus.
Read MoreWe arrived here just in time to take advantage of a free guided tour that showed us the highlights of Wat Phra Kaew, including the Emerald Buddha. There is an amazing amount of gold, glass, and glitter at this place. There is also an amazing amount of tourists milling about. The only way to get a photo that doesn't contain a clump of random people is to either do roof line shots or close ups. Fortunately, this is the perfect place to take those types of pictures.
Read MoreTemples abound here in Bangkok, but this one has a few extra things that make it worthy of its own post: A Thai massage school where we got a wonderful mind-numbing traditional Thai massage for $9. Slightly fewer tourists (few enough not to get shoved around by crazed selfie-taking fiends). Free bottled water. And cats..
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