Friends, here it is.

My LAST travel journal post about my AMAZING trip to Thailand! It has been just short of two months since I returned and I hope that you have enjoyed hearing and seeing my trip as much as I have enjoyed reliving it through these posts. Even after looking back, it is really hard for me to pick a favorite part, but overall I am so happy that I got to share this experience with my grandparents and Aunt Diane.

Overall my only complaints are my really bad sunburn (somewhat my fault) and that I got really sick when I came back from a virus we think I got over there.

(Side note: I mentioned in my very first post that for the sake on journaling I would circle back to this. Basically, a week after I returned I became really sick with a fever, headache, body ache, extreme fatigue and rash. Except for one experience in college, it might be the most sick I’ve ever been. It landed me in the emergency room, which then led me on a trail of different doctor’s visits because I had low platelets. They could never quite tell me what I had but after about three weeks I was finally back to normal.)

ANY WAY.

For my last post I am pulling together the rest of the pictures from the trip that are more candid and didn’t fit into any particular other post very well. This also includes pictures from our dinner cruise in Bangkok.

See below to see the rest of my posts from my entire trip!

Travel Journal: USW South Asia Board Team to Thailand and the Philippines

Travel Journal: Wat Pho, Wat Arun and the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand

Travel Journal: Pak Khlong Talat Flower Market in Bangkok, Thailand

Travel Journal: Chatuchak Weekend Market and Jim Thompson House in Bangkok, Thailand

Travel Journal: Thai Cooking Class and Elephant Rides in Phuket, Thailand

Travel Journal: Koh Hong Island Excursion

Travel Journal: Karon Beach Sunset in Phuket, Thailand

Dinner Cruise

On one evening in Bangkok, we did a dinner cruise on the “Grand Pearl” on the Chao Phraya River, which included a full meal. The food was good, but not great. After we ate we moved to the top deck for a better view. Overall we had a good time, but we weren’t raving about it. I liked the music and atmosphere up on the top deck, but my family would probably say that the music was a little too loud and didn’t fit with the beautiful scenes we were taking in.

Our ship.

I bought the ceremonial picture they took before we boarded the ship. So this is a picture of that picture, which is why it is a little lest sharp.

View of the Grand Palace from the river.

View of the Wat Arun temple from the river.

Misc in Bangkok

My Grammy’s name is Gloria Jean…

This was a piece of artwork that I was in LOVE with and want to recreate someday. All of those books are different kinds of dictionaries in different languages and some for specific subjects.

Everyday while we were in Bangkok we would return to the hotel in the late afternoon and relax with a Diet Coke (or on this day for me, a Corona) before we headed upstairs to freshen up and head to dinner.

On a plaza outside one hotel we passed was probably a dozen or so fun, motivating phrases engraved into the sidewalks. I took pictures of almost all of them, but this one was my favorite.

Aunt Diane

These brooms were used to street sweeping.

Sisters.

Misc in Phuket

In Phuket, my Aunt Diane and I went parasailing on Karon Beach. When I was a kid I went parasailing at Wallowa Lake (in Oregon) and we both launched and landed on the back of the boat. Here things were much less formal, so after we were all strapped in we just started running on the beach (which was pretty comical because my Aunt is even shorter than me) and were eventually lifted up. What was crazy was that one of the guys in the picture road with us…just hanging out on the ropes not connected to anything, and would sometimes lightly push his foot into my back and ropes to steer us. It was so much fun to see that view and relax up there. And it was really cheap.

While we were out doing some shopping we stumbled across this place that gave fish pedicures. So as you can see in the pictures, you sit with your feet in the water while little fish nibble away at your dead skin. And the reason there is no picture of me? Because while I am all about trying new experiences, there was no way you could have paid me to do that. I am WAY TOO ticklish. My Aunt Diane thought it was the best thing ever, while my Grammy liked the results, but couldn’t stand to watch it happening.

Definitely watch this video for a good laugh!

Since I traveled to Guatemala almost two years ago and bought two small pieces of local paintings off the street, I have decided that I want to do that in every country I visit. In Thailand it was a bit harder to find something I liked, but I finally found a group of brothers selling their paintings on our last day. It was definitely worth the wait. When I finally get the canvas restretched I will probably share it on Instagram.

Well, there you go.

Thailand is a beautiful country with such a rich culture and traveling there with three people that I love so very much was an experience unlike any other.

Thank you to my Grampy, Grammy and Aunt Diane for sharing this experience with me.

I would definitely recommend it for vacation and have already had a few people ask me for advice on traveling there, so I would be more than happy to chat with anyone more!

**********

Cheers!