The Travellers Thread

[unccrombie]

Originally Posted by aeroshady

Weather and everything was good? Any advice?

Define good? 90-100 with 80% humidity. No advice outside of the usual "go do" things. We were in Bangkok for 3 days.

[aeroshady]

Originally Posted by unccrombie

Define good? 90-100 with 80% humidity. No advice outside of the usual "go do" things. We were in Bangkok for 3 days.

We are starting in Bangkok for a few days as well. Than on to Cambodia and finally on to a live aboard boat for several days of diving.

[aeroshady]

Leaving for Thailand in just about 48 hours now. Seems surreal to say that!

[aeroshady]

Currently in München on my layover to Bangkok. Rough flight on an Airbus A350-900 from Charlotte. Very little space in economy and a very large man next to me taking up more than one seat. Person in front of me also reclined all the way the entire flight which didn’t help. Love being in Germany so I can practice my German skills even if for a short few hours. Little to no sleep but very excited to get to Thailand!

[dmbfd15]

Damn how was Thailand? Sounds like a fun place to travel but I admittedly know nothing about the country.

My wife surprised me with flight tickets to Destin in mid August. Excited but I told her she should have pushed it back two weeks so we can go right in the middle of hurricane season . Have never been but apparently we’re meeting friends.

[aeroshady]

Originally Posted by dmbfd15

Damn how was Thailand? Sounds like a fun place to travel but I admittedly know nothing about the country.

My wife surprised me with flight tickets to Destin in mid August. Excited but I told her she should have pushed it back two weeks so we can go right in the middle of hurricane season . Have never been but apparently we’re meeting friends.

Basically, our trip was split into 4 very different legs, each about 3-4 days.

1. Bangkok: Big city experience, but we stayed in a local's house that they also use as a hotel which was really cool. We got to be a part of a Buddhist ceremony for the water festival which was such an authentic and great experience. Went to a lot of nice restaurants, took a Thai cooking class which was cool, and got to see a lot of cool temples.

2. Siem Reap -Cambodia - Angkor Wat. Amazing to see all of the temples of Angkor Wat. It was probably one of the most amazing sites I have ever seen in the world. What really stood out was that you could be at a temple with 100's of other people and still find yourself alone exploring it. They are really worth seeing once in your life. Siem Reap the city was a mix of young travelers, hippie types, and old white men that are there for some less than desirable reasons. You can easily find yourself in the wrong bar...

3. Similan Islands - Dive boat trip - My favorite part of the trip, but also the biggest letdown. Living onboard a dive boat for 3 nights and 4 days was such an amazing experience. Getting to know your fellow divers was so much fun. We were all around the same age and really bonded with each other. This made the trip more and more fun as it went on. The negative side of this was that the diving was very underwhelming. It was supposed to be some of the best diving in the world, but honestly, it was the least impressive I have ever experienced. Some of that was seasonal, but some of that was false advertising. To make matters worse, the scariest dive incident I have ever had happened on our last day. We hit an extremely dangerous up current that was impossible to fight. It shot all of the diver up to the surface at extremely dangerous rates. I was at 75ft when we hit it. I swam as hard as I could to fight it, but I got shot to the surface from 60ft to 0ft in under 15 seconds. I am so lucky I didn't get bent from that.

4. Kao Sok National Park - The Avatar mountains! We stayed in an overwater bungalow for 2 nights and in the elephant sanctuary the other night. This was a very special place. Got to feed and learn about Asian elephants (with an ethical conservation minded place) and got to see wildlife all over the park. It was a very cool place to see and easily the most scenic water area I have ever been.

Overall, it was an amazing trip. I would recommend it and I may go back again one day. That said, timing is also everything. When we planned that trip, I was so excited for it. By the time we actually went I was already caught up in the holiday season and focused on that, so it felt weird to go to a tropical foreign land like Thailand. As a result, there were several times I felt worn out and wanted to get back home. I don't believe I would have felt that way if I was there even a month earlier.

[aeroshady]

I should also say that I am leaving for Sweden and Norway in under 30 days! This trip the timing is perfect as we are trying to see the Northern Lights. This is a trip we have been planning for almost 14 years and I cannot believe it is finally happening! I can't wait to be in Svalbard!

[SmoothG]

Aero, you've been to some amazing places lately and have more coming up, very nice. Sounds like you had some interesting experiences. Post a picture or two of you have some favorites. Ill have to live vicariously through you for now. What were your favorites from your Asia trip? Anything underwhelming or exceded expectations? Your upcoming trip sounds incredible too. I've seen the northern lights, but nothing like I imagine they will be there. I'm intrigued by Svalbard, look forward to hearing about it.

[dmbfd15]

Had anyone been to Frankfurt? American Airlines has been playing with non stop rates from DFW and $550 round trip is super enticing

[TypicalBilly14]

Has anyone been to Greece lately? Any idea on what a 2 week trip from the states would run, including airfare and hotel? Wife and I would like to go in 3 years for our anniversary. Thanks.