Thailand: population close to 70 million / 513,120 square kilometers (to put that into perspective Canada has 37.1 million people / 9.98 billion sq kms).
Bangkok: 8.3 million
We started our adventure in Bangkok (5 nights @ Key Premier Hotel Sukhumvit - highly recommend it for the location, bed/linens and rooftop pool) where we enjoyed visiting temples (SO many temples on this trip), Chinatown, malls, the amazing street food, nightlife, markets, & a movie on NYE (we can't see newly released movies here in Moscow, so that was a treat and enabled us to stay up until midnight to ring in the new year at our rooftop bar - yay us!). We decided against fighting the crowds to see the main fireworks display because it would have taken hours to get back to the hotel. We're too old for that nonsense. 🤣
I will attempt to attach names to some of the temples, but just the major ones as I lost track of the names of most of them. Sorry!
When we arrived in Thailand with our diplomatic passports they said we need a visa, but Craig just said we weren't travelling on official business and they let us go ahead. Phew! 😌 We managed to get a Thai SIM card super easily and quickly for about $30 for 3 weeks with unlimited data. That came in very handy with directions and the "Bolt" taxi app.
We enjoyed exploring around the Soi 7 neighbourhood even with the all the craziness of the sex trade complete with lady boys and dildos for sale on the street (do NOT take a picture, they get angry and it's apparently 1000 baht - $40 Cdn fine).
 | | Our very first Thai Buddhist Temple complex was Wat Pho, (a.k.a. Temple of the Reclining Buddha) located right beside the Grand Palace. Wat Pho is one on the list of 6 temples in Thailand classed as the highest grade of the first-class royal temples. It houses the largest collection of Buddha images in Thailand (over 1000) including this 46 m long reclining Buddha. The complex is also one of the oldest temples in Bangkok (constructed between1688-1703). It also is regarded as Thailand's first university and a centre for traditional Thai massage. The complex covers 80,000 square metres |
It was tricky to get the entire Reclining Buddha in one picture because it is so long and in such a small enclosure
This area is called Phra Chedi Rai which contains the ashes of members of the royal family. I found this particular area to be really magical and because we arrived early, there weren't many tourists here yet, which made it all the more special
I really loved all these ornate Buddha statues here. Such incredible detail in them and in all temple decorations.
I mean, just look at the detail, its really amazing...as is my handsome husband!
Such incredible beauty all around. We found we enjoyed Wat Pho even more than the Grand Palace...although that may have something to do with less tourists at the time.
You could be a yoga expert Honey! ☮
I get a little kick out of languages because when you read this, it sounds like "what for".
Next up... The Grand Palace
There is a lot of gold in Thai temples! Everything sparkles with shiny surfaces, colours and shapes.
The Grand Palace complex was established in 1782 and has since been the official residence of the Kings of Siam (then Thailand) and it consists of not only royal halls, but also a number of government offices as well as the renowned Temple of the Emerald Buddha.
It covers an area of 218,000 square metres and is surrounded by four walls, 1900 metres in length. Friggin' impressive is what that is!
Everything is on such a grand scale that it's difficult to get everything in the pictures. I guess the Grand Palace was pretty "grand"!
I absolutely do love seeing incredibly beautiful architecture, but can't help but be a little disturbed by the amount of money spent on them during construction and for ongoing maintenance. It's hard not to think of different ways that money could have been spent. Not just here, but all around the world.
He had to test his knees bending down to get the top of the structure in the picture
He had the camera, so you're stuck with mostly pictures of me. Wasn't quite able to get the top of this one.
More incredibly beautiful architecture of the Grand Palace complex
I mean, come on! That's just insane detail! 😍
Grand Palace Complex con't
I was a little surprised at all the "scary" creatures in Thai temples. Lots and lots of these types of figures and dragons too were prominent. They were there in Sri Lankan temples too, but they didn't seem as prominent as here in Thailand.
I want this as a photo on my walls at home!
From the Grand Palace we walked a short distance towards the Chao Phraya River to hop on a ferry to take us (cheaply) to Wat Arun. It was a lovely little trip along the river and then after Wat Arun we got back on the ferry to go to the fancy IconSiam Mall where we had a delicious sushi meal (not crickets). After that, a dip in our hotel pool to cool off from our day of touring.
These traditional long boats looked a little too tippy for my liking. I preferred the larger ferry, but it was great to see them and be on the water.
internet photo from wikipedia
Wat Arun all lite up (a.k.a. Temple of Dawn) has existed since the 17th century, but the spire (prang), encrusted with colourful porcelain, was built in the early 19th century
Wat Arun is not as well-maintained as some other temples, but beautiful nonetheless
It's tough to get the top of this in up close pictures. The height is disputed, but reports have it measuring somewhere between 66.8 m - 86 m high
It was a little busy here and people were just standing there, understandably enjoying the view, so we had to accept they'd be in our pictures.
Sushi from "Korean No. 1 Maki & Roll Restaurant" on the 6th floor of IconSiam Mall. I appreciated the whole meal, but can't say I loved those little bits at the bottom of the picture. The soup was too spicy for me. The white circle was a bizarre jelly texture and I can't even remember the square on the bottom left. Dessert of some kind.
In the sook area of IconSiam Mall we saw bugs for sale, but chose not to have crickets or silkworms for lunch (sorry Sandra & Alain, couldn't do it)
The next morning, we took the city bus to Chinatown. What an adventure that was! It was pretty chaotic with the street food, the strange items for sale and the maze of narrow alleys with thousands of people and little stalls. Apparently it comes alive at night, but it was plenty alive enough for us during the day. We visited the Temple of the Golden Buddha (Wat Traimit) - a Chinese-Buddhist temple - with apparently the world's largest solid gold statue that weighs 5 1/2 tons and dates back to 1872.
Chinatown gate with the temple on the left
Climbing up the temple steps
The Thai King and I (Rama X Vajiralongkorn). In case you're wondering why I'm wearing a scarf for a skirt...at the temples, you should have your shoulders and knees covered and I was wearing shorts, thus the reason to wrap the scarf around my waist and cover up my knobby knees.
Selfie pros we are not, but we're getting better
These were sold everywhere. Never did find out what they were. Probably some sort of seafood crisp.
Craig (a little blurry) enjoying some of his fresh mango pieces
Hectic Chinatown and this was in the morning. I can't imagine it at night when it supposedly "comes alive".
Some of the interesting street food found in Chinatown. We never did try any of the food sold in a plastic bag, but they did look interesting. I learned to spot those red peppers pretty fast after accidentally eating some!
This is one of the narrow maze of alleyways that I mentioned earlier from Chinatown in Bangkok. Generally, the stuff for sale in this market area was all Chinese produced crap that we don't need, so we didn't buy anything, but it was interesting to experience. Imagine trying to drive the GRAB moped through the crowd?
Probably delicious, but we didn't have any
The gate of the crocodile temple
They actually have live crocodiles here
Ring the bell gently it says...but even gently it was loud. Craig thought I would get in trouble, but he was wrong. It's what they're there for - to ring!
A nice relaxing dip in our rooftop pool to cool down at the end of the day. Ahhh...😊
Cool pose! They have some very fancy malls in Bangkok and most within a very short distance of our hotel (Key Premier Hotel Sukhumvit). I believe this was in Terminal 21 - walking distance from our hotel where we went for dinner.
For you Aunt Judy... two kitties snoozing on a canopy above the stalls in Bangkok
When in Bangkok, you have to experience a rooftop bar. We chose sunset at Octave in the Marriott Hotel near ours in the Sukhumvit region. We felt younger up here with the cool vibes, music and wonderful city views. It's not cheap at these bars though because they're a part of a big hotel chain, but they fill up fast despite the high cost.
Not the greatest sunset we've ever experienced, but still a lovely one
The city all starting to light up for another wild night
On our last full day in Bangkok we got up early and hit the Chatuchak Weekend Market We also found a large gong mallet to replace the one that's gone missing. Great find in the enormous and excellent Chatuchak market! Best place to find all the treasures and souvenirs you want. Probably the best prices as well.
Fried squid eggs anyone? So so many unique items one can try when in Thailand
Scarves, scarves, everywhere there's scarves!
Lovely brass items in a little shop at the market. I would absolutely love to have the green Buddha, but it is on signs saying it's disrespectful if you are not a Buddhist. Plus, it would be difficult to carry back to Canada.
One of our souvenirs from Thailand - a brass bell with stand. It looks old, but I think they're mostly reproductions, although some of the Buddha statues do look old (see above picture). Not sure...🤔
I really enjoyed my first taste of coconut ice cream! So delicious and sold all around Thailand! 🥥
Craig enjoyed drinking Chang (meaning "elephant") beer (brewed in Thailand). He preferred it over the more popular Singha (meaning "lion" or a Thai mythical creature in the form of a lion) beer
 HAPPY NEW YEAR! After going to see the new Avatar movie, we managed to stay up until after midnight to have a drink at our hotel's rooftop bar! Cheers to all for a wonderful 2023!
Next we flew Bangkok Airways from Bangkok to Sukhothai (2 nights @ Sukhothai Garden Hotel - very basic, but clean and perfect location), which had THE cutest airport ever. It felt like arriving at a tropical hotel. Sukhothai is not somewhere most tourists go to when visiting Thailand as it's very small and out of the way. It is so worth it though for the famous and enormous Sukhothai Historical Park which has incredible ancient Buddhist temple ruins that we were able to ride around on bicycles to see everything.
The only complaint about the hotel was when booking Craig tried to reserve an early morning bus ride to Chiang Mai on Jan. 4th. They advised him to just book that when we arrive. Well, it was completely full and we couldn't get a bus out until 5 pm, so with the extra time we decided to get a typical, on-the-street type of massage. 1.5 hours for 400 baht each ($16 Cdn). It was a little painful, but a good massage.
Sukhothai: 37,000 people / 12 kms from historic city where we stayed
Isn't this airport quaint? We walked off the plane and were taken in an open-air trolley to here and our luggage was handed delivered to us outside. I don't think I've ever seen that before
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Our "garden view" room for 2 nights
Basic, like a dorm room almost, with super hard beds and not so luxurious pillows/linens (we were absolutely spoiled in Bangkok). Not only were the accommodations a huge change from Bangkok, but so was the area itself. A total 180 from the craziness and modern architecture of Bangkok. No obvious sex trade here or pot shops. Although that main drag was quite busy with traffic...especially when we rode our bikes there, but we discovered the back route, which also is where we got our laundry done for us for about the equivalent of $4.
The best part of visiting Sukhothai (translation "dawn of happiness") is definitely the massive Sukhothai Historical Park where you can rent unique golf carts or bikes to explore the area. Our B&B offered free bikes that we didn't even have to sign out to use, which was awesome and it didn't seem like we had to be concerned about them being stolen. If you want to learn more about the ruins of this park, you can visit:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhothai_Historical_Park
Shortly after arriving we hopped on our bikes and were immersed into the beautiful serenity of this historical site with the main temple ruins all lit up at night and that night there also was a light show set to music. The main temple, Wat Mahathatarea, was founded between
1292-1347.
Such a treat to be here and to look forward to seeing it and much much more in the light of day tomorrow. In Sri Lanka we were taught never to put your back to a Buddha, but in Thailand, they didn't seem to observe this practice at all. I still tried my best not to do it, and instead turn to the side.
I didn't realize until we saw them that the music was live by these 3 young men.
The next morning we set off on our bikes once again an rode past the main temple where Craig expertly navigated us to various parts of this enormous park. There are 193 ruins on 70 square kilometers of land (so I guess we didn't see it all on our bikes)! 🤣It is definitely worthy of being a UNESCO World Heritage site.
 Wat Phra Phai Luang was built in the late 12th century. I loved these towers (called "prangs", but the don't look particularly stable. Probably, for historical purposes and for safety, shouldn't let people trample all around them, but I guess there's just so many of them to protect and that comes at a cost.
Wat Si Chum was built in the late 14th century and is a massive 15 meters high
Wat Saphan Hin (meaning "stone bridge monastery") is located on a 200 metre high hill ... not for the faint of heart in 30+ degree heat
Getting a wee bit tired at this point. Good time to pose for a picture to show the climb 
A nice solo traveler from Germany was kind enough to take our picture and we chatted about the various places all of us had visited. She was on a year long journey... there seemed to be a lot of people we met on this trip who were on a year-long journey, including one Canadian family of 5 who were homeschooling their children for the year of travelling.
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Ooh! A triple laterite prang (representing the Hindu trinity)! Wat Si Sawai - founded in the late 12th or early 13th century. Good job by Craig capturing the birds flying! 🐦At first it appeared like we could not go in this temple, but I decided to walk around to the other side to discover this treasure (below)
The serious photographer
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Craig was drawn to these fluffy weeds
Sukhothai is such an amazing historical area! If you're into seeing ancient Buddhist temples, this is a must see!
Craig took this photo for my Dad, knowing he'd like it. You could rent little cars like this to tour around the area... much easier than walking or bikes, but we chose the free bikes from our hotel.
I would have loved to have seen this area when all the palaces and temples were looking their best. They're still quite well preserved, but just imagine what they would have been like!Panoramic of Sukhothai main temple area
We had quite a bit of food for lunch and it only cost 140 baht ($5 Cdn). Coconut smoothie cost about $1.65. We absolutely loved how cheaply you could eat here.
This doesn't really show you that much, but he was so happy to pose for the sign picture, I just had to include it in the blog. 😁
Sadly we had to say good-bye to Sukhothai
When we were waiting for our bus to Chiang Mai (it was nearly an hour late), we decided to try some of these funny looking dough things. One was with a weiner in it and the other was chocolate. Interesting texture with the dough, but tasty.
From Sukhothai we took a 5.5 hour bus ride to Chiang Mai (2 nights @ BED Phrasingh). We liked the vibe there in Old Town and really enjoyed the night markets with all the street food. However, due to a plumbing incident with our room, (I shall not mention any names 🙊), they had to bring in the big trucks and we were moved to a sister BED hotel for the 2nd night - oops)! It was a pain in the ass (no pun intended) to move hotels, but it brought us closer to the night market.
Population: 127,240
The very focused tourist in front of our boutique hotel. It cost under $50 Cdn per night. Although not my favorite hotel ever, it was great value due to the price and location. It's also modern, clean with a pool and breakfast was included.
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The phrase on the building is "anything is possible in BED"... because that's the name of the hotel. They had a few of these types of sayings. Cute. 🤭
Can you spot us?
Wat Chieng Mun in Chiang Mai Old Town
We definitely saw a lot of temples. Ooops, backs to Buddha. The man working there took our photo and never said anything, but still...I feel bad doing it. I believe this is way out of order though - I think this is the crocodile temple of Chinatown in Bangkok!?
I am sure I have mixed up the order of these because we took so many the #'s started over and mixed them all up, but it's ok so long as I have the right location this time. lol
Namaste Cool dragons! 🐉 
Getting tired of temple pics yet?
Street food area Chiang Mai
Craig absolutely loved their green papaya salad. Too spicy for me, but a healthy and delicious salad
Next we travelled to the northernmost city of Thailand - Chiang Rai (nearly 4 hours / 183 kms from Chiang Mai) where we had an energetic guide named Charlie tour us around temples (the White Temple being my favorite - the outside of it), tea plantations and also the Golden Triangle where Thailand borders Laos and Myanmar.
Chiang Rai population: 69,888
Feast your eyes on Chiang Rai's White Temple (Wat Rong Khun) The entire complex is a privately owned art exhibit and the artist has a unique take on things and a sense of humour too. The weather on our trip was awesome, but incredibly hot (daytime highs of 33 + humidity - although the humidity was definitely much much worse in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia which sucked all the energy out of me).
As you approach the temple you see where the artist painted a red fingernail on the hand giving the finger as they decent into Hell (marked by a !). This whole creepy area represents people in Hell with others rising up to heaven in the temple.
Within the temple there are many strange paintings to represent the good and bad of humans - such as Superman, Elvis Presley, the burning Twin Towers in NYC, etc. These paintings are opposite the Buddha and meant to show that people should free their minds from bad intentions and that violence, greed and hedonism is the wrong way of life.
This was one of the busiest temples we saw on the trip. Everyone wants to visit it apparently. Tricky trying to get a photo without other people in it (I tried to blob them out, but it doesn't look great). I found the design intriguing, beautiful, but also gaudy at the same time. All the reflective surfaces were incredible and placed there by hand. The artist is still apparently building here and doesn't expect to finish until 2070! You can kind of see all the tiny reflective pieces in this picture as well as Craig's sunglasses 😎 If not for the thousands of tourists, this would be a peaceful place 
A separate gold temple within the White Temple complex
 That's the bridge you enter the temple from
Craig saying good-bye to his transformeresque friend
Next on our whirlwind tour was a tea plantation (I forget the name of this one). It's in Singha Park I believe. Beautiful area.They had these beautiful wildflower fieldsLunch was included in our tour and was it ever amazing! Pad Thai, cashew chicken and delicious Tom Yum Soup. Very delicious, but SO much food.
Craig tried the popular Khao Soi soup the next day and enjoyed that also. Food has been awesome on this trip!
Museum with the famous Jade Buddha (Wat Phra Kaew). It's made from Canadian Jade. It's famous as this is the original home of the Emerald Buddha (now in Bangkok).
The Temples in Chiang Rai are definitely unique and this one is very ornate and very blue. I loved the inside the most. This is Wat Rong Suea Ten (a.k.a. The Blue Temple). It's a new temple as far as Thailand goes - building started in 2005.
Charlie & I admiring the workmanship
The blue hue is very mesmerizing
The white Buddha inside the Blue Temple was completed in 2008
Goooong! 🎵🔊
I match the blue temple
This is often referred to as Chiang Rai's "Big Buddha", but it's actually a representation of the Goddess of Mercy. The proper name is Wat Huay Pla Kung. The complex also has a 9-storey pagoda. The best view from the goddess is from her left eye slit
Definitely impressive. You can see it from afar too because it's huge and up high on a hill 
Huge dragon at the bottom of the staircase to the GoddessInside the goddess is all white and intricately decorated
Craig captured a butterfly in the shot! 🦋
In the same complex, perched up on a hill is the pagoda I referred to. Very colourful!
In temples, there are offerings. Mostly we see flowers, which is beautiful, but is a waste. Here, the offering was bags of rice that go to children, which is more useful and practical. It inspired Craig to make a donationFor the one night in Chiang Rai we stayed at Le Patta, which was very nice for $87/night. It was close to everything including the clock tower and the park that had the flower festival.
We lucked out that this flower festival was on during our 1 night in Chiang Rai and that it was within walking distance from our hotel. It was incredible These are all real orchids!Cinderella's carriage at the flower festival
We hit up the food market there where Craig tried the "spicy sausage". Maybe not the best idea, but he enjoyed it at the time. lol
Also within walking distance of Le Patta hotel was the clock tower that has a 5 minute light show a few times a night. Charlie had said we could see it from the rooftop bar, but we could only see the top third of it, so we paid our bill and ran down to catch the rest of the show.
First a blue temple, now a purple one?!
We had the unique opportunity to visit the Golden Triangle. It is where the borders of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet at the Ruak and Mekong rivers. With all that is going on in Myanmar, the border is currently closed. The term "Golden Triangle" was coined by the CIA because opium used to be traded for gold here. This is a large opium-producing region in Asia. After Afghanistan, Myanmar is the 2nd largest source of opium producing 25% of the world's opium.
We also visited an opium museum in this area and the market where we bought a hat, some material and some Burmese jade jewelry.
Across the river is Myanmar It's a beautiful area. Too bad it's so tumultuous.
That blue gate is the border crossing to Myanmar.
A random sign within the market telling you the way to get to Myanmar. Very interesting to be so close to this country in such a period of unrest. 
Border crossing to Myanmar. Not today Charlie!
Continuing on our guided tour (for $225 Cdn. we hired Mr. Charlie for 2 full days of sightseeing - chaleechiangrai@hotmail.com. He picked us up at the bus station, toured us around to many fabulous places and fed us 2 wonderful lunches and dropped us off at the hotel. Absolutely worth it! There's no way we would have seen everything we did on our own during the short time we were there. Starting from the White Temple and ending at this tea plantation (below) are all the sights we saw in our two days with Charlie.
Next stop on the tour: Choui Fong Tea Plantation
Pickers in the tea fields
It's a beautiful area and a HUGE tea producing region
💗
After 1 night and 2 wonderful days of touring Chiang Rai, we were back to Chiang Mai (for 2 more nights at BED - plumbing issue fixed).
The next morning we were so fortunate to spend some time with 2 female elephants through "Blue Daily Elephant Care Sanctuary". They picked us up at our hotel, so it was very convenient and overall we were pleased with the experience. The particular guide we had was not the best, but the interaction with the elephants was amazing. Pardon me, there are a TON of elephant pictures. There were just so many I liked, I couldn't limit them.
First, we mashed up their food with this contraption. The balls contained grains, seeds, bananas, etc.
Time to get my hands dirty
At first I was a little hesitant because they are powerful creatures! They could easily knock down that little fence and squish me like a bug, but they were just interested in the food. They know the drill, they do this all the time and they KNOW it's feeding time! We each took turns feeding them some sugar cane and bananas and then we went all for a little stroll together with the handlers
Not surprisingly, Craig was at ease and a natural with them. I didn't realize it at the time, but the light had shifted and made for this glow in the pictures, unfortunately, but you can still see the joy on Craig's face!
Their trunks are very strong and have a powerful vacuum to slurp up water or pick things up to eat.
I couldn't believe these huge animals could walk up this very narrow path
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She decided she wanted that particular leaf. The handlers tried to discourage her, but she was too quick. The owners of the land don't want the elephants just eating freely or there'd be no vegetation left!
She looks pretty happy stealing that fresh leaf!
The younger one would hoard things in her mouth. If I gave her a banana and then went to give her something else, the banana was still there, whereas the grandmother would eat whatever I gave her right away
Hello beautiful ladies up close and personal! If we stopped, they were right there behind us. We were always in front of them because they don't like people being behind them since they can't see back there.
Just out for a walk with some elephants...no biggie
Back over the creek we go. She looks like she's smiling when her mouth is open. I wonder what she's actually thinking? She may not be happy here because there was a backhoe working nearby and both elephants were really scared by it - they ran past the area closest to the machines.
No more barriers... just me standing between two elephants! They seemed so sweet. We stopped to chop up some bamboo & sugarcane so the elephants could have another feeding session (an adult elephant can consume up to 600 pounds of food in a day)!
Craig chopping up some sugar cane
Beautiful scenery and a peacefulness walking here with the elephants 🐘☮🐘
The handlers demonstrated to hug the elephant's trunk and leg for a picture, but you can see the size of the handler compared to Craig, so he doesn't quite look the same hugging the trunk or leg. The elephant even seems to be laughing with/at Craig! It's easier to hug her leg when you're my height Cutting bamboo is hard work when it's that thick!
I'm not sure what we were doing here. I believe he was just trying to get me to pose between the elephants and he would grab me and place me there
The pictures are a little out of order, but they're still awesome because elephants are so amazing!
We should have gotten more pictures of the 4 of us 😕
We were supposed to go swimming in that little pond with the elephants, but this gal went in and then ran out, nearly running me over in the process. Guess it was too cold for her! But she's always ready to eat!I just loved this time with the elephants and sharing it with Craig this time made it even more special 💕
They were trying to show us the elephant's teeth. They're very big, but flat
Weee!Craig was all calm and relaxed despite having two several ton animals behind him
They wanted to bypass the food in my hand and get it straight from the basket!
I really like this candid shot. 😍 Ok, enough of the elephants...hope you enjoyed seeing them though!
 Like my t-shirt? $3 and it's such a nice, soft cotton. This was us, very relaxed after our truly enjoyable 3-hour spa experience at Kiyora Spa in Chiang Mai. Thank you for arranging this pampering experience my Love! Definitely not your cheap Thai massage on the street, but much more relaxing. We had a coconut body scrub, body wrap, Swedish massage (we didn't want to be contorted with a Thai massage) and finally a herbal compress followed by mango sticky rice and tea. I spared you from the picture of Craig in the mesh underwear they had us put on that you could see through. 😱🙈
We really enjoyed our time in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. I recommend you make the effort to travel to both these places when in Thailand.
Next up, Phuket
We stayed at Hotel Indigo near Patong Beach. This area was the perfect location. Just far enough from the craziness to be quiet enough at night. Phuket is, after all, known for the nightlife (Bangla Road is all bars and sex clubs where you are constantly asked if you want to see a ping pong show - look that up if you don't know what that means). We just enjoyed the beach, the food and the pool mostly and were barely awake to take part in any of the crazy nightlife! lol 👴👵
Population: 79,308We absolutely LOVED the fruit smoothies in Thailand and we certainly had several on this trip. I think my favorite one was the blueberry one at the airport, but the coconut or mango ones were great too.Craig, the hunk, went all out and got us another swim-out room. This was much better than the one in Chiang Mai because we basically had it to ourselves. It was nice and quiet and only for guests staying in the 8 or so rooms like ours. The pool here was quite a bit warmer than in Chiang Mai because we were now in the South of Thailand. It was VERY refreshing to go for a dip and we also used the rooftop infinity pool because that's where happy hour was at the bar! Craig in his happy place laying in the heat frying his lily-white skin! Gives you a better idea of how the rooms wereGood lap pool!   Cheers!
Guy cutting down coconuts behind our hotel - without a safety harness This picture was taken with me on ground level and Craig in the rooftop pool! Very cool.
Rooftop pool/bar area - to the right of the picture is where Craig was in the picture above
Yummy mango margaritas at our rooftop bar!
We enjoyed 2 lovely mornings on the beach, bobbing in the ocean. Patong Beach is a really popular and gorgeous area with soft white sand (not even hot on the feet) that continued into the water. It was so smooth to walk in with no rocks, shells or seaweed!
All of a sudden these parrots were flying around. At first we thought they were just wild, but there was a lady on the beach with a bunch of them.
This is the famous Bangla Road. A great place for people watching, but even early in the evening was a little too hectic for us to stay long He's probably thinking of the ping pong shows! lol  That can't possibly be her real hair can it??? 🦁A great rib dinner at Naughty Nuri's where they claim to be "possibly the best ribs in the world". They were pretty finger-licking good
We were sad to leave Thailand, but the 3-week vacation wasn't over quite yet. We still have Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia ("KL" for short) We were truly spoiled for 4 nights at the lovely Shangri-La Hotel in a premier selection suite (861 square feet / 80 m2!) that was fabulous and included private check-in/check-out, buffet breakfast, access to the Horizon Club Lounge with afternoon tea and evening cocktails. There were also so much food available here we sometimes skipped a meal because we were still full. Population: 2 millionOur hotel from the street with the KL Tower (we called it the CN Tower as it reminded us of the tower in Toronto). It had a little light show nightly at 8 pm.We really enjoyed our Suite, which was quite luxurious and largeThe Pavilion mall was all decorated for the Chinese New Year - year of the rabbit. It's a very high-end mall with Gucci, Dior, Jimmy Choo, Prada, Furla, Versace, Burberry, etc. as well as some stores we can actually afford such as the Korean natural cosmetic company Innisfree (which I bought a black tea kit. I fell in love with their products when I was gifted a green tea travel set at a Korean reception).
Thoroughly enjoying the free food and drink at the Horizon Club Lounge.
The KL Petronas Towers. 88 stories. 451.9 m/1483 ft high. Construction started on April 1, 1994 and completed on January 1, 1996. It was plagued by construction issues, but the 1st people moved in on January 1, 1997. They are the tallest twin tower buildings in the world.
No straight hair for me here as the annual average humidity is 81%. It was SO hot here I felt completely drained of energy.
Next adventure was to go see the Batu Cave Temple. it is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside of India. It's interesting that we went from Thailand (where 93.5% practice Buddhism / 5.4% Islam) and now, in Malaysia the religious demographic is 63.1% practice Islam and only 18.7 practice Buddhism). It is quite the switch within the same vacation.
The Batu Caves entrance is quite impressive, but inside I was disappointed to see it dirty and it seemed in a state of disrepair. The monkeys were plentiful in the cave area - the 1st monkeys we had seen on this trip and also the last.
Stopping for a break from the climb in the energy-sucking heat/humidity to enjoy the colourful steps being repaintedHere's how colourful the steps are normally picture from Pinterest.com It's quite a huge cavern. There are other caves where you can explore and do rappelling or spelunking Monkey in the Batu Cave  I liked the peek-a-boo hole in the top of the cave
The twin towers lite up at night were lovely to see and it was a WEE bit cooler. There also is a light show in the fountain similar to Dubai or Las Vegas.The next morning we took a taxi to see the Thean Hou Chinese Temple, which was very popular for wedding photos
The temple was all decorated for the new year 
We then went to the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park, which is a 20.9 acre peaceful and shaded from the sun bird sanctuary. It was nice for a break from the city 
That cheeky owl was winking at me! 🦉😉 A maze we discovered at our hotel. Spot the Craig!
Next stop: KL Tower I recommend making a trip up this tower for the great views of the city. It's a little hazy, even first thing in the morning, but it was as good as we could expect. Great views! We tried to go to that black tower, but it was still under construction  You can challenge your sense of vertigo by stepping into the sky box. I was surprised I wasn't as badly affected as I thought I would be. I was quite proud of myself!The tentative first shots standing on a glass floorHe didn't seem afraid at all
It's not necessarily the height I fear, but the possibility of the glass floor breaking! There's the Shangri-La Hotel... my right foot is pointing to it
Getting fairly comfortable up there  Laying down was a weird feeling, but not bad
I laid on my back on the artificial turf to get this shot...forgetting it had poured rain earlier and I got soaking wet We enjoyed our time in Kuala Lumpur. Only a bit of rain (we were never out in it), but otherwise, fantastic weather for the entire vacation!  Dinner @ Pier 12 Seafood Tavern is highly recommended! The food and service (by Faruk) was amazing. Lamb shank and jumbo prawns (possibly the best prawns we've ever tasted)! After our amazing dinner, we enjoyed the lights on the KL Tower (right next to the restaurant) Bye bye Kuala Lumpur. Time to head back too Moscow  This definitely helped to make the very long journey back to Moscow a more pleasant one.
This was one of our top 5 vacations! We both really enjoyed it and I don't think at any point did we wish we were home. Being together 24/7 for 3 weeks is a good test for a marriage and we passed with flying colours. Perhaps this was a little taste of what retirement can be like for us!?
Next travel adventure is a cruise out of Portugal with really wonderful friends from the last time we lived in Moscow. Can't wait to be reunited with them all and meet 2 new friends who will be joining the group.
I wish travel therapy was covered by health insurance! Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer. Enjoy life to the fullest!
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