We left Bangkok March 9th at around 10am, stopping in Korea and Minneapolis on the way. We arrived in Boston around 12:30am on the 10th after about 27 hours of traveling. We were tired but ready to be home again.

It was a great two months of exploring new countries, cities and towns, enjoying some jungle and beach times and meeting new and old friends. If you happen to read the blog, feel free to skip the text and enjoy the photos – there was so much new for us to see and I couldn’t capture it all. Some parting shots…

Back story: We met Jarunee in 2020 in Phuket at the elegant Woo Galley/Hotel that we treated ourselves to in old town Phuket. She helped visit an original house/museum that was not open that day (she was married there!) when she heard us in the town saying we were disappointed. I noticed her guitar case and asked if she’d like to play music later in the evening. Mrs. Woo was also interested so we had a gathering in the lobby and sang and played for a couple of hours.

Today Jarunee Pimonsathean, her husband Mai and friend’s daughter (Ayaka) visiting from Japan picked us up at the hotel and took us to tour a bit of old China town. Both of them work in Community Preservation (which was why Jarunee was in Phuket in 2020) and know the area so very well. The markets, the remedies, the food was different than anything we’ve seen on our trip. I’ve been fighting bronchitis and laryngitis and bought Chinese remedies for both! I think they are helping.

Next we visited Mai’s childhood home where his father still lives and they stay many weekends. It was on a lovely street and the house was beautiful. Lunch from the market was interesting and good and it was nice to talk about random subjects. One interesting topic – their nephew won a Fulbright scholarship for school in the US, Canada or Singapore. Jarunee asked about the danger of gun violence in the US and whether it be safe given all the killings. It was on my mind too. 

OK – then we got out our instruments and had fun playing and singing (I didn’t sing). A few random songs were recorded in spite of me croaking some of it but the guys joined in and Ayuki sang … for us. 

A great day!

On the 4th we walked to the sky train station then to the river to a take hop- on-hop -off boat north to see various palaces and temples. We loved being on the river enjoyed the beauty/opulence of the Grand Palace site.

We continued up river to the area we stayed in during our 2020 trip. Bangkok was our last stop that time too. We walked to the hotel we liked but its not the same now since they’ve expanded. After that we took the boat back to the Sky Train stop and headed to the hotel.

After a good rest we took a taxi to another nearby Rooftop Bar. Definitely a winner. We visited the same place in 2020 and they we snotty and made Dirk put on long pants and wouldn’t let us walk around for all the views. Fortunately that has changed and its a much nicer atmosphere including tourists in shorts!

We are now in the very large city of Bangkok Thailand, our last stop on this years adventure. It’s quite a departure from some of the jungles and small towns we more recently visited. We happened to pick a hotel in the midst of other tall condos and hotels – but there is a nice park nearby.

Dirk enjoys having a drink at roof top bars, and this is the city for it. We found two nearby on our first night – the Muse Hotel, relatively low but still 25th stories high and the other on the 40th floor at the Kimpton Maal Lai Hotel.

Today we visited the Khoa Luang Cave  – a very large cave with multiple chambers that was a favorite of King Rama IV. It was beautiful, peaceful and cool on a hot day.

Later on I walked to an area of the town I hadn’t visited before. Glad I didn’t miss the river, shops and temples.

We got an inexpensive ride to the popular beach town of Hua Hin since others were returning there from their visit to I Love Phants Lodge. We walked the Hua Hin beach (pretty but many very large condos and hotels) but weren’t happy about the heavy traffic near us and no easy access to small cafes. Today we headed back to Phetchaburi so we could go up the local mountain and see the temples up close that were outside our window when we were here a few days ago. After we arrived off we went- and spent some hot hours looking at many 1860+ building, temples and summer palaces. We are tired now but are happily in the same room as before because of a cancellation (there are only 3 rooms)😀. 

The next day (March 1) we headed back to Phetchaburi so we could go up the local mountain and see the temples up close that were outside our window when we were here a few days ago. After we arrived off we went- and spent some hot hours looking at many 1860+ building, temples and summer palaces. We are tired now but are happily in the same room as before because of a cancellation (there are only 3 rooms)😀. 

Today we joined a full-day tour of the Thai Wildlife Rescue Center after waking up to Gibbons calling to each other in the woods near us. I walked to get closer to a few elephants in the large open field near the Gibbon’s island (gibbons won’t cross water).

We saw many rescue animals that had either been pets or in captivity in cages, and learned much about how badly elephants, bears and even tigers are treated. Most of the animal are in large cages rather than wandering free because that couldn’t survive on their own without rehabilitation. Gibbons are slowly trained to live up high in their very tall enclosures, to enjoy swinging, and will be released when ready. 

Elephants that are non-aggressive roam freely – others have large fields with tall walls if they can’t be trusted. We actually had to move quickly to walk away from their only male elephant that likes to pick up rocks and throw them at people. (We learned how baby elephants are trained to follow their keeper is horrifying – I won’t go into it here.)

One good result of Covid is that some zoos had to shut down and find alternative locations for some animals and the Wildlife Rescue was able to raise the money needed to build facilities for two that we saw – tigers from Phuket and a chimpanzee that had been caged for more than 30 years!

It came across clearly that the guides and volunteers are very committed to the welfare of these animals. Oh – the man that created this refuge along with a few others is still very involved – Edwin Wiek – he is here and we’ve chatted with him – he’s Dutch!

We stayed at the lodge the next day until a ride was available and again walked and enjoyed seeing the gibbons high in their large, tall cages as they prepare to be releases at some point (if possible).

From our Bangkok hotel we got a ride to the nearest bus station to join a van to Petchaburi – a small city near our next destination which is one of the two Thai Wildlife Rescue home for elephants and other wild animals. 

A women on the bus that lives in the town helped us get a taxi truck to our “hotel” once we were there. It’s a 3 room hotel and very nice with a deck on the top floor. (DAAD FAH House and Cafe). We walked around the area to find a laundry and lunch and enjoyed the local temples. Later I searched for dinner and ended up with delicious street food. There’s more to explore here after we visit the Wildlife Rescue.

The manager got us a taxi van to drive us an hour to the Wildlife Rescue and here we are. They have a lodge and additional separate cabins, and as I type this early morning I hear gibbons calling to each other. After lunch yesterday we walked back to our treehouse cabin to see two elephants right in front. We walked trails and saw many gibbons in large cages and more elephants and other wildlife.

The full day tour starts in a few hours – I’ll have more to say later. I’m just so amazed that we are here and that this place exists to support elephants and other animals without using them for entertainment.

We opted for van travel from Koh Chang, across the ferry and all the way to Bangkok – a 4+ hour trip with two short ‘necessary’ stops and it took it us to our one night stay hotel – the V20 Boutique Jacuzzi Hotel. Funny name but nice small hotel with a HUGE salt water aquarium wall.

After a rest we walked to the beautiful park somewhat nearby which included crossing two pedestrian bridges over busy highways. The very large Chatuchak Night Market was at the end of the park and we wandered there for a while, finally eating at the food court. We took a tuk-tuk back since it wouldn’t be fun trying to find our way in the dark and we were tired!

This morning we head to the bus station and Petchaburi…!

We moved to another hotel/resort (K B Resorts) further south but still with a sandy beach and another nearby waterfall! This waterfall was also dry except for trickles that still filled a cooling pool which we reached after following narrow, up and down trails for a while. Repelling was also required! The swim was refreshing and being damp helped us survive our next challenge – climbing a high steep hill to reach a cafe called “The Mount”.  It was beautiful up there with views of the mountains and ocean…

The Mount – Great Views

Otherwise we’ve been relaxing, swimming, walking around the touristy roads (that’s about all there is) and checking another village that’s a mountain away (we took a taxi truck). 

Also one last day of beach photos and  today that includes an elephant swimming at our beach. (There are many elephant camps on Koh Chang – and it seems that each have 4 – 7 elephants. We haven’t participated here… 

Tomorrow we are heading to Bangkok for one night, then to Phetchaburi and then to the Elephant (and other) Wildlife Refuge where we will also stay for two nights!