Sabbatical Update: Trip Highlights

With Thanksgiving approaching and not being home or even in the US, I have spent the last few days feeling a little homesick. It seems a little silly to be missing home when I am currently sitting on a Thai beach enjoying a glass of wine and watching a beautiful sunset over the water. I mean, how can I be complaining about this?

But after being gone for 5 weeks so far with another 4 to go, I have been feeling nostalgic for ridiculous evenings out with my friends, long phone calls with my mom, my bed, and the Portland food scene (yes the food here has been good but keeping up on my Portland food reading makes me excited about all the places to eat when I get back). I also have been missing having a daily routine that includes working out and eating healthy on occasion, as well as not living out of a suitcase.

The other night, we stayed at SpicyThai hostel in Chiang Mai to make some new friends, we went drinking out at a really fun jazz club. After a few too many glasses of wine, I got all mopey about not having done everything I wanted to do on this trip so far. Some part of me was hoping I would spend every day waking up to a beautiful sunrise, working out and then writing a blog post or finishing yet another book.

Turns out this is only my third full blog post and I have only read two books in 5 weeks, which is about on par with when I am working full-time. There have been plenty of days where I couldn’t tell you what we did other than be lazy.

Now a few days later after the drinks have worn off and a good night’s sleep in a room without 6 strangers (yes we did an 8-man bunk room at the hostel!), I have reminded myself of all the amazing things we have done so far and how much more we can do in the next half of our journey. Plus I cannot forget how lucky I am to have this amazing experience.

So for your benefit as well as mine, here are a few highlights of all the cities we have visited, what we have been up to and what have been our favorite adventures along the way:

Japan

Tokyo – The awesome tiny bars, making new friends, and eating delicious food sums up our few days in Tokyo. {Read more here}

Kyoto – I loved Nishiki Market, a fabulous food market with nearly anything and everything you can imagine. The grounds at all of the temples were beautiful to see, especially the Silver Temple. I was super excited to see a few real-life geisha in Gion. Our dinner at Gogyo was still one of my favorites of our entire trip. I also loved getting to spend four days with my brother and his wife! {More about that restaurant here}

Nara – Spending the night in a Buddhist monestary and attending their morning services was an incredibly memorable experience. Unique and interesting situation in a stunning setting. We stayed at the Senju-in, just outside of Nara. I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Japan.

Nagoya – We enjoyed a short stay in this city, played tennis and ate great food – I am still having dreams about the ramen I got there.

Takayama – We were not thrilled about this mountain town. It was likely a nice area years ago but now is filled with tourists and tourist-trap type restaurants. But it was an interesting experience to stay at a traditional ryokan and really fun seeing the old traditional thatch-roofed houses.

Atsugi – We stayed on the Naval Base where my brother works for two nights. It was a great slice of Americana for a short bit. Plus we got to do some ass-kicking (literally) Crossfit WODs on base and go to my brother’s favorite restaurants nearby.

Thailand

Phuket – I just couldn’t get into Phuket. Very touristy, not great food, and to me, intense situations where people would physically grab you to have you come into their bars at night. Freaked me out, as well as saddened me due to the mistreatment of women and poor economic situations these people were in. On the positive side, we got SCUBA certified in Phuket where we saw tons of fish and other sea creatures (totally recommend Kata Scuba). We also had a super entertaining night playing Connect Four and Jenga with two Thai women at a bar (yes we lost!). Definitely not an experience I’ll ever forget!

Bangkok – We headed to this bustling city for a full week, in part because Brice’s parents were also there when we arrived. We rented an AirBnB condo in the same building as where my in-laws live part of the year. It was a fantastic escape from the city. We had a day that was very “Portland” – we watched the Ducks game using my father-in-law’s VPN, I made breakfast, we went to Crossfit Ten500 and we watched a movie. Sometimes simple days like that are fabulous when traveling!

But we also did do some exploring of course. My in-laws took us to some delicious restaurants and gave us insider tips around the city including hooking us up with a great tour guide for the main temples and taking us on the river taxis down the water.

We even did a “pre-Thanksgiving family dinner” in Bangkok, enjoying a meal at the top of the Banyon Tree hotel. Set 60+ stories up, Vertigo is an open air restaurant with a 360 degree view of the city. While a bit expensive, it was fantastic and beautiful up there. I totally recommend it.

One of the days we were there, I treated myself to a fantastic cooking course with Sompong Thai Cooking School, where we made Panaeng Curry, Pad Thai and Papaya Salad. That was one of my favorite days in Thailand so far and some of the best food I have eaten.

Chiang Rai – I LOVED our few days in northern Thailand. We spent two nights at a beautiful, peaceful resort (A-Star Phulare Valley), just laying by the pool and reading (that is where I finished book 2 of 2, ha!). It was secluded but lovely. Then we splurged and spent two nights at Anantara Elephant Camp.

I really wanted to make sure if we did an elephant exursion that they are treated well. Unfortunately that is not the case in most places in Thailand, which makes me really sad. So it was worth it to us to spend more money making sure we were at a location where the elephants could roam free, not have too many riders, and be well cared for. Anantara did just that. We had an INCREDIBLE few days, riding bareback through the woods, watching three young elephants play through the jungle like puppies, and feeding the elephants sugar cane and bananas. If you visit Thailand and have money to burn, I 100% recommend this resort. If you don’t (which I totally understand), please be sure to at least find a location that treats these large, wonderful creatures with respect and love.

We were staying so far north, we were in the “Golden Triangle” where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar all meet. We did an awesome tour to both Myanmar and Laos for the day. It was an incredible experience learning about both cultures, hearing about the comparisons to Thai culture and seeing where the villagers lived (in Myanmar, they live in small huts that were built on stilts to prevent flooding during the rainy season). It was especially interesting in Myanmar (previously known as Burma) as it only recently opened up to tourists. It is still very cut off from the rest of the world, very poor and still dealing with internal fights between ethnic groups. There are a lot of conflicts between the local “Chan” people and the Burmese.

Chiang Mai – After splurging in Chiang Rai and wanting some more social engagement, Brice convinced me to stay three nights in an 8-person dorm at SpicyThai hostel. After getting over my germaphobic issues, I had a blast. We met great people, had lots of fun travel talk, went on an epic 10-mile hike through the jungle, and experienced the Chiang Mai nightlife. Definitely some really fun memories from that portion of the trip!

I also found the best little cafe – Bird’s Nest. After 3+ weeks of Thai food, I was craving some sandwiches or really anything Western. This place had delicious eggs, homemade bread, and sandwiches. Plus all of the honey, jam, peanut butter, vegetables and herbs came from their organic farm nearby. I even met a local there who just got back from 6 months in Portland! He lived just down the street from me in the Pearl. Such a small world!

Koh Samui – We decided to ignore the weather reports and head back to the beach. We featured to Koh Samui for a few nights and took a diving trip. Discovery Divers was fantastic! Totally recommend them. I had a total panic attack going down for our first dive – the visibility wasn’t great and with no reference points on the way down, it just seemed like a scary giant abyss. Fortunately our guide was fabulous and patient, and calmed when down when I was sure I wanted to come back up. After my panic subsided, I had a great time seeing tons of fish, shrimp and coral.

We found Kohinoor, a delicious Indian restaurant in Bophut’s Fishermans’s Village. We loved it so much, we went back two nights in a row.

We were not huge fans of our first hotel so we decided to switch it up and move to the other side of the island for the next few days. Our new place, Muang Samui Resort, is gorgeous and set right on the ocean. I definitely recommend it.

We have even found an ex-pat bar that is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey, stuffing, pecan pie and more good stuff! While not the same as celebrating the holiday at home, this all sounds pretty good to me.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! xoxo