Before heading back to Canada, George and I decided we wanted to take on one final adventure before returning to our normal lives. Last week, we packed up all our belongings, put them in storage in Perth, and then headed to our first stop on our international tour: Thailand!

Our main destination for our final travels this year is India. However, George found that the most economical way to get there from Australia was with a few stops in Southeast Asia along the way. Initially, we had planned just a few days in Bangkok, but due to a flight cancellation and other factors, we were able to reschedule to add an extra week to the start of our trip to see more of the country.

While George has never been to Thailand, I was lucky enough to visit before: for two weeks in 2017 as part of a larger trip (where I also visited Vietnam). This was one of my first backpacking trips and the first extended trip that I took by myself, so my planning processes then were very different from our trip planning this time around! Given that my last trip took me to Bangkok and the eastern islands, we tried to plan for some regions I hadn’t seen before for this visit.

Day 1-2: Arrival in Bangkok and Temple Explorations

Our flight from Perth (via Malaysia) arrived in the evening of our first day in Thailand, and we began our journey with a taxi ride to our accommodation near Khao San Road (KSR). After dropping off our bags, we headed to KSR for some street food and a walk around to soak up the atmosphere. While I had read that KSR has changed a lot since the pandemic, the main difference I noticed was that it was closely contained to one block, but was more lively than I remembered! There were streamers, loud speakers, and people trying to recruit you to their restaurant, bar, or shop everywhere. Another new addition to the street was the presence of many marijuana shops, as it is now legal in Thailand as of 2022.

We enjoyed Pad Thai and Pad See Eew at a street food stall with tables you could sit at, and the food was fantastic. The high density of the “new” KSR has been great for tourists in that competition is high, so costs are low. I think our whole meal, with us sharing a giant beer, cost $7 Canadian total, which hasn’t increased by much since my last visit.

After our meal, we wandered the street for a while and then found an off-road restaurant for a bit more food for George away from the very loud music. The portions can be quite small with street food! While we felt a bit old, it was also nice to get away from the backpacker and party scene and enjoy the food and atmosphere on our own schedule. The hotel room was also definitely an upgrade from my last memory of Bangkok, sleeping in a 12-bed dorm!

The next morning, we headed on foot to the area which held quite a few temples. Our first stop was the Grand Palace, but after seeing how many tourists and crowds were around, we opted to visit the less busy Wat Pho (Temple of the Reclining Buddha). This was a great fit for us as we were able to admire the architecture and colours of the temple without the thousands of tourists around us.

After spending the morning at the temple, we had lunch in an alleyway that held a few tables, a cooking station, and two items on the menu. We had the most amazing lunch of garlic chicken and basil pork on rice, with the woman running the food stand informing us of how to eat it properly (by mixing it together).

After lunch, we wandered back to our hotel before venturing out to watch a Muay Thai fight outside of one of the shopping malls. We took the public bus to get there, which was both easy and quick. We watched the fight for a little while before heading into the mall to check out a Japanese shop that caught our eye called Don Don Donki. I am not exaggerating when I say this was one of the most interesting shops I have been to. There were so many products and so many areas to explore!

After about an hour, we managed to escape the shop and headed a few blocks up the road to an outdoor night market we had seen from the bus. This night market was outside a different shopping centre and definitely catered to locals, with interesting foods and very low prices. After exploring the market, we opted for green curry and some noodles. The green curry was particularly fun as it was served in a bag with rice noodles wrapped separately. We were given bowls and put it all together ourselves. I should also add that it was delicious.

Our next stop on our journey took us onto the metro, which brought us to Sukhumvit Station, a huge intersection in a busy area. It was also home to a giant mall called Terminal 21, where we stopped in to take a look. The mall was enormous and had about eight floors. We went up to level five to check out the food court we had heard about, which serves street food-style foods at a subsidized price. It was after 9 p.m. at this point and we had already eaten, but we made a mental note to come back for a meal.

Day 3: Chinatown by Day and Night

The next day, we walked to the nearest boat dock and took an express riverboat down to Chinatown. We had read that Bangkok’s Chinatown was one of the best in the world, and it definitely lived up to our high expectations.

Our first stop was a trendy coffee shop George had found for me during his research called Song Wat Coffee Roasters. I ordered an iced coffee with orange syrup in it, which was a flavour profile I hadn’t tried before but really enjoyed.

Our next stop was a Chinese restaurant where we were excited to sample the dim sum. At this restaurant, we tried the pork siu mai, emerald shrimp dumplings, and roast duck on rice. We also tried a chrysanthemum tea drink that was a bright yellow colour – we saw that everyone else around us had ordered it and wanted to see what the hype was about. It was very sweet but tasty and reminded us both of buttered popcorn.

We started walking through one of the laneways of market stalls after lunch when we decided to stop for some more dim sum at a place that looked delicious. This time we ordered radish cakes and steamed buns, all of which again were excellent.

After our extended (and somewhat double) lunch, we explored the famous market stalls. There were many shops and stalls selling every kind of product imaginable, and we had a lot of fun exploring the various offerings.

After returning to the hotel for a rest and some air conditioning, we headed out to the Terminal 21 food court for dinner. The system they have there is down to a science: you load up a card with a money balance and use it for all transactions within the food court. The stalls themselves I would equate to an IKEA-level food court – tons of variety, though at this one, the food was made to order instead of cafeteria style of IKEA. The food itself was quite good but not amazing. We were happy to have the experience as the options and ease of ordering meant that we were able to try some fun dishes we hadn’t had before. You also couldn’t beat the price – each dish cost us about 1 or 2 Canadian dollars.

Our last stop of the evening was the Chinatown night market. The lights of the streets were beautiful, and each side was lined with food vendors. We didn’t end up staying as long as planned, as we found it quite hectic and busy. Still, we were happy to have seen and experienced such an interesting neighbourhood by both day and night!

Day 4-7: Bangkok to Koh Lanta

Our second stop on our Thai adventure was the island of Koh Lanta, off the west coast of Thailand. This island had been recommended to us by one of my friends, and we thought it would be nice to experience the beach during our travels.

We left Bangkok early on day four of the trip, arriving in the town of Krabi and taking a two-hour minibus trip (including one ferry) to where we were staying, in an area called Relax Bay.

We lucked out with the timing of our trip and the weather as we were technically visiting during the low season, meaning a higher chance of rain but also many deals to be had on accommodation. We stayed in a really nice beach bungalow that was the perfect mix of quiet relaxation with beautiful scenery.

We spent the next few days swimming, walking around, and exploring the island. The highlights of our time on Koh Lanta were probably the food – we ate at some amazing restaurants and were able to check off a lot of Thai dishes on our “to eat” list. We got caught a few times with the spice levels of some of the dishes we ordered (the green papaya salad specifically was so spicy that George lost his sense of taste for half an hour after eating it), but that was all part of the fun.

An interesting fact about Koh Lanta is that its population is predominantly Thai Muslims. As a result, there were some unique elements to the island (women wearing hijabs, the sounds of the call to prayer), which added to its intrigue. It was a very special place, and we were both very happy to have spent some time on Koh Lanta.

Next stop: Northern Thailand!

Now, we are in Chiang Mai for the next leg of our Thailand tour. This area is new for both of us and a place I regretted skipping during my last visit. Check back soon to find out about the delicious foods, and adventures that we encounter in this new region.

Thank you for reading!