4~26~01 to 5~21~01
Our Time in Thailand
We arrived in Bangkok, Thailand on April 26th. We spent a few days there exploring the city and adjusting to Thailand before taking the train to Chiang Mai, in the northwest. The area is famous for its trekking and hill tribes, so we figured we should go there.
I made these springrolls
At Doi Suthep, a temple near Chiang MaiAfter exploring the town, enjoying a cooking class, and not enjoying some food poisoning, we signed up for a trek. By this time, we had lost a lot of interest in trekking because of the cookie-cutter treks available. Every company offered the exact same activities in 1-, 2-, 3-, or 4-day lengths. We wanted to have some input in what we did or didn't do, but found that impossible. So, we signed up for the one-day tour wherein we would sample everything, but not spend a lot of time.
On our "trek", we rode elephants, visited two hill tribe villages (consisting mostly of souvenir stands), saw a mediocre waterfall, and rafted down a river on a flimsy bamboo raft that rode about an inch and a half underwater the whole way.
Our elephant and her trainer
She's used to posing for the camera
Yes, our behinds were wetAfter the "trek", we took a serious look at what we were doing. We decided that a) we needed to go where we wanted to go rather than where we "should" go, and b) we wanted to get the hell out of Chiang Mai.
The next day, we boarded a plane for Ko Samui, an island in the south of Thailand, off the east coast. We chose it because it was the only beach location to which we could fly from Chiang Mai. We had an enjoyable time there, although it is still very much on the tourist trail and most of the local colour has faded. While there, we were fortunate enough to attend the monthly Full Moon Party on nearby Ko Pha Ngan, an all-night dance party on the beach (more on that later).
Then, we made an unusual trek back north to a town called Yasothon in the impoverished northeast of Thailand. We went to see Bun Bang Fai, the Rocket Festival, where we heard the locals make and launch rockets of immense proportions (more later).
We made our way back to Bangkok and spent a few days there while we figured out what to do next. Finally, we hit upon an area in the far south of Thailand which still doesn't get very many tourists. We took yet another night train to a town called Trang, then headed to a nearby island called Ko Mook, hoping to find our own island paradise.
It was pretty close. Not only was it fairly far from the beaten track, but we came in the low season. There were only a handful of other tourists there, just enough to inspire a feeling of community, but not too many. We had a medium-sized bay to ourselves, complete with beautiful sandy beach, rocks to explore, and jungle backdrop.
We stayed in our own bungalow for just over four dollars a night. Luckily, the bungalow owners were good cooks, and we enjoyed tasty Thai food three times a day. They let us keep a tab, so for a few days we didn't have to worry about carrying money and could just wander around in swimsuits. 
Our paradise had a downside, though: the nights. As you might expect, there were mosquitos at dusk, but after an hour or so, they seemed to recede, so weren't a major problem. Other pests were more troublesome, however: rats! On our first night, we heard scratching noises on our ceiling and turned on the flashlight to find a good-sized rat walking along our wall. It meandered out of sight, and we tucked our mosquito net extra tightly under the mattress before going back to sleep. In the morning, I found bite marks on my soap. We talked to the other guests and heard some creepy stories about rats eating through bags and books and medicine. However, we fortunately saw no sign of rats (aside from some droppings) after that night. But that didn't stop us from worrying about it. Also, the lovely sea breeze that cooled us during the day tended to die down at night, leaving us sweating in our fan-less bungalows.
So we stayed only three nights. It was just as well, though - if there hadn't been a downside, we might never have left!
