Sabai sabai

Ever since I visited Thailand two years ago, I’ve been eager to return, and it has proven to be everything I’ve remembered. It is so good to be back!

Our flight was uneventful, despite leaving from India at 1:30 in the morning, so we got almost no sleep. Again, we swore off red eye flights for good. The good news is, we shouldn’t have to set foot in the airport for at least another 6 months, as we cycle across the land borders in Southeast Asia.

Our bicycles were not on our plane when we landed, but the excellent Thai Airways staff immediately flagged us down with a sign with our names on it, so we didn’t even have to wait around. They had us fill out a form, and then delivered it for free to our hotel 6 hours later, completely unharmed. It actually worked out perfectly because we didn’t need to find a big taxi, and we took a nap to catch up on sleep in the meantime.

Our first hotel was nearby a bicycle shop for a tour company that I used two years ago to do a 10-day supported cycling tour of Thailand. It was that tour that prompted me to plan this around-the-world trip, so I was happy to do some shopping there, replacing my torn and worn out cycling jersey, helmet, and gloves. In India, we wore cargo shorts and a sports tee shirt because we didn’t want to offend local sensibilities against wearing tight fitting clothes, but in Thailand I think we’ll be okay again to wear our more comfortable Spandex cycling clothing.

We then embarked on an amazing relaxing 10 days of island exploration and vacationing, using up the rewards points that we’ve been accumulating on our travel credit card for this trip. We did three very small bicycle rides around Phuket and discovered that the hills in Phuket are stupid steep and the humidity (due to the out-of-season rain we were also getting) is intense. I did get Steve to agree with me though that cycling in tropical rain is super fun, so I think we’re going to do just fine as we get more towards rainy season around May/June.

We ran into two cycle tourists from China on one of our short rides around Phuket. They were also hating the steep hills and were adjusting their derailleur to better shift to their granny gear.

Amazing views near Kata Beach.

Kata Beach Viewpoint

At the Big Buddha there were many monkeys. They were fearless and would try to open purses and even bit a woman. One made a lunge at Steve while he was taking a photo. But yet, he still thinks he wants one!

Next, we visited an orchid garden and fed some birds. This stuff is super touristy, but it’s really hard to avoid the tourist trap places in Phuket, which is incredibly built up and has a huge well-oiled tourist industry, so we just went with it. We will get away from this stuff once we leave the island.

Elephant statues at Promthep Cape Viewpoint.

Wat Chalong Temple at sunset.

We also reconnected with some friends who live here and met some of their friends.

And got a little crazy for a few days on Phi Phi Island.

The drinks come in buckets on Phi Phi. Yikes!

Thai food is my favorite cuisine of all time, and it hasn’t disappointed. Even the mediocre Thai food we’ve had has been yummy.

Som tum, Papaya salad

Pad Thai may be basic, but it’s still amazing, and we eat it quite often.

On Patong Beach (of all places), there’s a beachside restaurant with some of the best squid dishes. I remembered it from last time and returned, and it’s still amazing. We asked for it spicy and it was like a cozy campfire in my mouth, so good.

The crab curry was super tasty but so much work cracking those claws.

Tom yum flavored EVERYTHING!!

Okay, so now we are itching to get back on our bikes. Our clothes are starting to get too tight. One more day visiting with a friend from California who happens to be in Thailand, and then we hit the road towards Myanmar!