My coworker Michelle and I bought a Groupon for a trip to Thailand. The Groupon included airfare, transportation to and from our hotel, and 7 days in a hotel. It was such a good deal! Normally I would have been nervous to buy a Groupon for travel, except that my friend Brooke and her husband bought a similar Groupon last year and loved it. I would definitely buy a Groupon for travel again, even for Thailand again because the best way to describe it is "everything is heart eye emojis."
Day 1:Wildlife Friends Foundation
After arriving in Thailand at 1:00 AM, we left bright and early the next day for Petchaburi to volunteer at the Wildlife Friends Foundation.
The Wildlife Friends Foundation is a nonprofit rehabilitation center built on donated temple land. The organization has the following goals:
- to rescue captive wild animals and rehabilitate them
- to campaign against all forms of animal abuse and exploitation
- to provide veterinary assistance to sick or injured animals
- to educate and encourage people to appreciate, understand and protect wildlife
- to rehabilitate captive wild animals and release them back into the wild
The animals at the Wildlife Friends Foundation mostly live in enclosures with limited human interactions. Some are too old, injured or accustomed to humans to be released back into the wild. Some of the elephants fit those categories and are cared for by volunteers.
As soon as we arrived, several of the dogs that live on the grounds ran over to Michelle.
The elephants need to be taken on walks and enticed with treats just like dogs. They are also so slobbery like dogs.
The organization has also rescued many bears from performing or being kept as pets. I love this picture of a sun bear eating papaya because it proves that I am not the only one that likes it.
Day 2: Touring Bangkok
On our way to the Grand Palace, we were told by our taxi that unfortunately the roads to the Grand Palace were closed. Luckily he could drive us to a floating market (more than an hour away). We declined and got another taxi driver to take us. One of the most common scams in Bangkok include saying that a close location was closed and then offering to take you to a much farther one.
We were advised to visit the Grand Palace as soon as it opened and I was glad we did. It was quite busy in the morning and by 11:00 AM, the amount of people touring had at least doubled.
Our next stop was Wat Pho and the traditional Thai massage school located on the grounds. After flying for over 17 hours and having my ankles swell like balloons, the massage felt amazing. Even if it had just been 30 minutes in the air conditioning, it would have been worth it.
Day 3: Phuket and Phang Nga
We woke up early to fly to Phuket. You might be sensing a pattern that explains why I am still tired a week after this trip. On top of needing to get up at 6:00 AM everyday, we would often wake up at 3:00 or 4:00 AM and be unable to go back to sleep. The time change was rough.
Our flight on Bangkok Air was the nicest flight I have ever taken. They brought us a fruit platter and fruit juice even though it was only a 50 minute flight.
Upon arriving in Phuket, we took a taxi to the boat dock in Phang Nga. We arranged for a local long boat driver to take us around the national park. The limestone cliffs were breathtaking.
The driver spoke limited English. We knew that we were going to a cave, but did not realize that we would be hiking to a cave. We were wearing our swimsuits and swimsuit coverups because we had imagined a day at the beach. I am sure that we seemed very much like crazy Americans as we hiked around in our dresses.
We stopped for lunch at the island shown above. The whole island including the mosque above are built on stilts. The restaurant had amazing views.
Michelle took this amazing picture of James Bond Island.
After touring Phang Nga National Park, we traveled back to Phuket to stay in an Airbnb. The Thai family that we stayed with were so kind and accommodating. They lent us bikes to ride the beach for the sunset and their 15-year-old son rode along with us to show us the way. It was so idyllic to ride past ponds with lily pads and all the palm trees. When we got to the beach, their son looked up at the clouds said, "oh no that's bad. We have to go." It instantly started pouring down rain. We rode the whole way back in a rain storm, completely soaked, and loved every minute of it. The family felt so bad and apologized profusely. I explained that I used to live where it would rain a lot and then I moved to a a desert so I loved getting rained on. The rain always fills me with happy nostalgia.
Day 4: Ayutthaya
After flying back from Phuket, we took the train to Ayutthaya, the ancient capital of Siam. It was the capital for over 400 years until it was ransacked by the Burmese. The capitol then moved farther in land (Thonburi and Rattanakosin) which are part of present day Bangkok.
Day 5: Bangkok
By the 5th day of waking up early and traveling all day, we were excited to enjoy our hotel pool and to spend more time in Bangkok. The hotel that came with the Groupon was surprisingly nice. We also were flying to Beijing that night so it was nice to rest and fill up on Thai food. I had to refrain from posting pictures of all the amazing food.
Day 6: Beijing
We flew through the night to get to Beijing so we were quite exhausted (a common theme for this trip haha). We struggled trying to find the right line at customs to be allowed to leave the airport on our layover. I was impressed with the beauty of the airport. I loved the statues and orchids.
We arranged for a tour to take us to the Great Wall during our layover in Beijing. It was colder (note the blanket in the first photo) and more of a workout than we imagined it would be. It was such a nice break from flying. I loved seeing all the fall colors.
