A Sunday in Bangkok

We started off our first day in Bangkok in style...an all you can eat buffet  in the "Sky Lounge" overlooking the city, only accessible by those lucky enough to be staying on the top three floors...yes, I'm bragging a little! This was farrr beyond what had been my reality the last nine months!!

Breakfast View

Then we were off with overly stuffed bellies to the Chatuchak Weekend Market.

This map doesnt even do this monster justice! It covers 35 acres and includes over 5,000 stalls of merchandise. It would take days to make it through the entire thing. You can find everything from artwork, to sarongs, to spices, to the kitchen sink in this place! I had been waiting to buy souvenirs until my last days in Bangkok, because I knew I'd be able to find everything in this market and would be able to put it straight on the plane home!

 

Yes, I do own this hat now!

As we were leaving the hotel that morning, the conceirge informed us that there would be an afternoon tea and ball room dancing in the main room that afternoon. So we made sure to be back in time to check it out. Feeling very VIP at this point, we were under the assumption that this was offered to all of the people on the top tier, so we went right ahead and took part in the enormous buffet. While we enjoyed the free entertainment of watching Bangkok's elite twirl around the dance floor.

We headed back up to the room a little while later to get ready for our complimentary Happy Hour in the sky lounge when we received a call from the ballroom...apparently we had forgotten to pay for the buffet..."Umm just charge it to the room," I hear Aunt Margie say. Whoops...that popped our VIP head bubble...we still aren't sure how much that Uh-Oh cost!

Atleast we knew the Happy Hour was definitely on the house...

and with an incredible view and sunset!

Not really needing any dinner after our afternoon "snack" in the ball room we headed over to the Lebua State Tower, to have a drink on the rooftop, where a scene of The Hangover 2 took place.

There is a  small bar in the corner of the roof where they shove all of the tourist wanting to get a drink at "The Hangover" bar. We ordered "The Hangover 2" signature cocktail and enjoyed the incredible view of the city.

It was straight to bed from there...we had a long day ahead of us!



Bangkok's Shangri-La Hotel...a bit of an upgrade!

Aunt Margie had told me that she wanted to end our trip and my nine month adventure in style! She had booked a hotel right on the river for our last few nights in Bangkok...I had no idea what was in store for me! After a long day of ferries, tuk tuks and a flight from Phuket to Bangkok we finally arrived around 10pm at the Shangri-La Hotel!

Greeted in Style!

When we arrived they informed us that there were two locations of the Shangri-La and we were booked in the one next door. We really liked the looks of this one and didn't want to risk a downgrade moving to the other one. So after a couple of minutes of eye-lash batting and big Southern smiles, we had taken the upgrade and were being lead to our room suite!

 

 

 

 

 The suite wasnt ready since our booking was in the other hotel. So we got to sit and enjoy fresh dragon fruit and welcome tea, while a team of about 5 people we buzzing around us!

I then spent the next hour exploring the suite, opening every cabinet and closet. And then took a looong bubble bath, while sipping wine and watching a flat screen!
I could get used to this...

Last Days in Phi Phi...for now atleast...

Koh Phi Phi is made up of two main Islands: Phi Phi Don, where we stayed, and Phi Phi Leh, which is completely uninhabited. There are also many smaller islands surrounding the two larger ones.

We spent our last full day in Phi Phi on a speed boat with a sweet English couple, a lone Australian girl, and 5 of our closest Mesopotamian couples, taking in the beauty of the sights of both islands.

First stop, Viking Cave.

Then a quick swim in a breath-taking lagoon...

 A drive pass Mosquito Island...

on our way back to Maya Bay!

We enjoyed the beautiful scenery on our way to Monkey Beach.

 Where we ended up going twice, and Aunt Margie got to bring home a free souvenir...a sea urchin in her foot! She reallly wanted to see those monkeys!

Notice the Monkey in thr tree behind us!

Huge waves made our ride back to Phi Phi Don quite interesting...Our Mesopotamian friends weren't so keen on the Roller Coasterish ride...but we had fun with it! We got back to our hotel just in time for our last Phi Phi Sunset,

and enjoyed another huge seafood feast!

The next morning we were up bright and early for our last Thai Massage and to check out of our bungalow. We still had a few hours before our ferry back to Phuket so we decided to hike up to the viewpoint overlooking the island. It was a steep climb in hot tempuratures, but sooo worth the hard work and sweat!

We had a quick lunch overlooking the port and then we were off on the ferry back to Phuket.

Goodbye Phi Phi...I will be seeing you again one day!!

Third Times the Charm...Last time in Phi Phi

Coming off the ferry in Phi Phi felt a bit like coming home to me. After all, when you've been traveling for 9 months it's very rare to see a place more than once, much less three times. Although, this visit would be a little different than my last two...Immediately after walking off the boat we were greeted by this man,

were loaded onto a longtail boat,

and taken to Bayview Resort.

Where we had our very own Cabin waiting for us...

With the most comfortable bed I had slep in in months!

A far cry from the "Jail Cell" we lovingly refered to our room with concrete floors and no windows my last time here.

We washed up and treated ourselves to a seafood feast

Which was obviously terrible...

and of course a fire show!

The next morning we woke up and had a huge breakfast with a terrible view,

and hiked through the jungle to "Long Beach" for a morning of rest and relaxation!

 

 

After lunch we headed back to the hotel, to meet this guy

who would be our "Turtle Spotter" for the day. I hadn't seen any sea turtles on my scuba dives and was really dissappointed. So we jumped all over the sea turtle excursion offered by the hotel. We actally ended up getting to see two up close and personal! It was a blast!! Sea turtles are officially one of my favorite animals!

On our way to see some turtles!!

Also included in the tour was a stop at Maya Bay. Which is the area where the movie "The Beach" starring Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed. We got there very late in the afternoon, so most of the tour boats had already come and gone and we got to see it kind of empty. It was beautiful!

We discovered that our Turtle Spotter also moonlighted as a Fire Dancer, and he invited us to come watch him perform that night. So of course...we did! But first we stopped for happy hour on the beach at the resort...

Where we were joined by this little business man!

Still not too sure what he was selling, but we were ready to buy it!

After his performance

Aunt Margie's First Bucket!

We called it a night pretty early to get some good rest for our full day Island hopping tour the next day!