Thailand

One of the best presents I got this year for Christmas was a trip to Thailand. Axel had to work and he helped tend the kids while my parents and I played for 5 days straight. Axel deserves some serious brownie points for this one. Did I happen to mention I married the best man ever????

I consider my parents my good luck charm when it comes to vacations. We have been to Israel, Egypt, Greece, Italy, France, Croatia, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, Bosnia, South Africa, Turkey, UAE, India, Nepal, Oman, and now, Thailand together. Every single trip has been magical from beginning to end. Thailand was no exception.

The entire trip was spend in my bathing suit, except for the occasional skimpy cover up. We never went more than 300 meters away from the beach. It was the perfect reward for living in chilly Kathmandu.

We spent 'One Night in Bangkok', which was really fun. It was amazing to see such a developed country and the food at the side of the street was like a delicious meal. We ran from one thing to the next and we left too early. I could have spent several days there, no problem. The following day we took off for the island Phuket.

Here's what we did:

1. We stayed at an awesome resort with beachfront property.

A room with a view

Over 5 beautiful swimming pools

2. We spent long hours on the beach.

This is what love looks like after 47 years.

3. We ate some of the most INCREDIBLE food I have ever tasted in my entire life.

4. We island hopped.

The movie 'The Beach' with Leo DiCaprio was filmed here

At the Phi Phi Islands

5. We fed monkeys.

It is funny that I can now recognize nice monkeys compared to the crap monkeys we have in Nepal.

6. We snorkelled.

7. We got to know the locals.

8. We witnessed the sex trade in a big way.

These pictures don't really show it, but we saw so many questionable scenarios. It usually involved fat, 40/50 year old, white males with very young Thai girls. It was everywhere. I was amazed at how blatant the Thai are when it comes to selling sex. It was the only crappy thing we saw the whole trip.

9. We experienced some holiday spirit.

10. We lived without electricity.

Ironically, the second night we arrived the power went out for several hours. We ate by candlelight and wandered in the dark. Everyone seemed to find it unusual. Me? Nah, it felt just like home.

11. We got manicures, massages, pedicures, etc. etc.

Thailand has the best massage parlors ever. They will give you an hour massage for 5 bucks. Every third store is a massage parlor. We took advantage of it--going about every day. I am sure there were some 'extra' massage services going on, but if you don't ask, you don't know.

12. We went to some fabulous shows.

Straight from the beach, we went to fantastic Thai show with dancing, magic and elephants. We enjoyed a full buffet dinner with sushi, pho, and every other food you could imagine. A truly magical New Year's Eve night.

Of course, the best part of the trip was spending time with my parents. They are so fun to travel with and we have created some of the best memories ever.

Until the next trip!