New Year's Eve, Chiang Mai

To all the naysayers we met earlier in the trip who told us Chiang Mai was not a fun place to spend New Year's Eve, you were so wrong.

It was the first time any of us got tipsy (interpret that as you will) since being in Asia. We kicked off the evening with a dance party and photo shoot in our hostel room and then hit the town in the cleanest backpacking clothes we had.

We were really excited to ring in the New Year!

This top bunk will be hard to get into later in the night

We also took some festive silver sporks with us to spread cheer to strangers we met throughout the night.  Said strangers did not seem excited to be given a spork (even after I told them you could run over it with a tractor!) and I have made it my personal mission to show everyone how useful sporks can be.

A spork can also be used as a hair pick.

Sporkz 4 Life

Had to give our masseuse from earlier in the day a spork!

His Happy New Year hat is much cooler than mine.

Ashley traded this man a spork for an extra shot of bourbon.

Thousands of lanterns carrying New Year's wishes were being sent off into the sky....it  looked like you had zoomed in on floating stars. People were spilling out of the bars lining the streets which made it difficult to get a drink. We stopped at the first place we found empty seats only to realize why the bar was empty: the stools were bike seats 4 feet off the ground. Quite uncomfortable no matter how much you've had to drink. We did manage to pick up a French friend though.

When you wish upon a lantern....

Bike seats: don't like them on a bike, don't like them as a stool.

We ended up at Zoe's corner, a little plaza with bars full of expats and fellow travelers. We rang in the New Year with fireworks, more lanterns and some Gangnam Style. The rest of the night we spent dancing to Nirvana and No Doubt at a bar playing the 90's Greatest Hits. Aside from losing a flip flop and walking home half barefoot, it was one of the best New Year's Eves ever.

Happy New Year!!

-Kim

From Phuket with Love

Phuket, Thailand: Dec 26th to Dec 30th

We loved it here!  Being in Phuket was like having the best summer day in Seattle over and over again.  Just normal and relaxing and perfect.  And thanks to some tips from friends back home we made a great choice right off the bat by deciding to book our hotel in Karon beach instead of the uber-touristy/ping pong showy Patong beach area.

Karon Beach

We walked a million miles a day up and down the beach and through the awesome little town.  We drank $1 fruit shakes and fresh coconut water like it was our job.  We swam and body-boarded (new favorite activity) in the salty crystal clear water.  And we tanned on the packed yet perfect beaches on our $3 beach chairs that they refused to barter with us on- that were totally worth it.

We got Thai massages. We got TONS of sleep, and watched lots of movies--have you seen that movie frmo about 5 years ago with Paul Rudd and Michelle Pfeiffer, "I Will Never Be Your Woman"? Well if you haven't you should. If it's on one of the 3 English channels in Thailand it's got to be on Netflix. Go watch it now please, it's hilarious. It's all three of our new favorite movie (sorry to call you out Kyle).

  

We enjoyed the heavenly air conditioning in our cheap guest house.  We snuck into a fancy hotel pool down the street!

Sneaking into the fancy hotel pool!  We are rebels I tell you.

We ate lots of delicious Thai food and surprisingly, some delicious Russian food as well, because as it turns out Phuket is pretty much "little Russia".  I'd say 80% of the tourists were either Russian or Polish.  Thanks to Anna I was able to tell them I love them and say 'good' in Russian.  Specibo, Annichika!

On our last night on the island we took a tuk tuk to the crazy Patong beach area so we could see what it was all about.  Just like we had heard, it was pretty insane.  It felt a bit like being in Time Square to me, with all the billboards and McDonald's and people trying to sell you things.  Fun for a night but definitely not for our whole stay.  We ended up having dinner and a giant tower of beer at a little restaurant in some alley where we played cards (Kings) and laughed so hard *someone* might have peed their pants.  Then we headed back to the main road to explore, got caught in a giant rain storm- watched every single person run for cover- and in true Seattle fashion- danced through the streets in the rain instead.

Main street in Patong

Tower of Chang beer

A lively game of Kings

Dancing in the rain

We've learned you can't always trust other peoples' advice, but just in case you trust us, our advice to you is when you go to Phuket, stay in Karon Beach. :) You're welcome.

-From Ashley with Love

Head to Toe in a Bungalow

Koh Jum, Thailand.  December 21st-26th.  4 nights, 1 bed, 3 people, 1 mosquito net, 7 cockroaches, one love. (see Reggae reference below).

Koh Jum is SO BEAUTIFUL.  It's a remote island just a couple hours boat ride from Krabi with about 6 different bungalow resorts lining the empty beaches, a tiny adorable town just a 20 minute jungle walk from the resort with the most friendly locals in the world, and an off the beaten path feel.

Giddy after jumping off the ferry onto a long tail boat that would take us to the island

      

Kim & Kyle walking to the beach to enjoy sunset with a Chang

It was almost everything we hoped it would be in terms of relaxation and beauty, but we just could never get 100% comfortable there.  I'd say for me it started with a conversation I overheard on our first trip to town to get water.  We trekked through the jungle behind the bungalows until we popped out into a little town with a small school, 5 convenience type shops selling the same things, and a few homestyle (as in out of someone's actual home) restaurants.  As we walked up to one of the shops there were some travelers hanging out having a beer and I overheard one guy say to the other "so mate, were you ever able to get that sn@ke out of your daughter's room??"!!!!!!!!!!!  WHY OH WHY DID I HAVE TO HEAR THIS?  I wanted to run away and cry but I was scared that anywhere I ran I'd trip on a $nake or something- plus I realized I was on a tiny island and there was nowhere to escape to.  I guess this is that part when traveling makes you stronger?  

After the sn@ke-conversation-incident I was permanently a bit on edge, but Kim and Kyle aren't scared of them, so they were doing just fine.  It wasn't until we got back to our room and Kyle opened his backpack to find 7 cockroaches scurry out that he was pretty rattled too.  Kim held strong until she had a bug fly in her eye, a giant flying creature land in her hair, and got a slew of mosquito bites within a 15 minute time span that night.  On top of the critter-stress we were all under, the icing on the cake was realizing that the three of us were going to have to sleep head to toe in our two person bungalow.  

We three thrifty individuals thought we could save a few bucks by getting just one bungalow and adding an "extra bed", but since the extra bed turned out to be a blanket on the wood-planked-cockroach-ridden floor, we realized none of us were trying to sleep there.  That left us one option- and it was a very uncomfortable sweaty awkward option.  The three of us, for four nights, crammed under the mosquito net in one bed.  Did I mention how hot and muggy it was??  Ok just making sure you get the picture.  

Our Christmas in paradise wasn't exactly what we anticipated, but we made the best of it and ended up having an awesome time (when we weren't applying bug repellent or trying to sleep).  In true summer camp fashion we made some great friends and learned some new games.  And also like summer camp- it all culminated in a Reggae Night Party where we danced our faces off with all our new friends until the wee hours of the morning.  One Love!

Awesome Reggae band complete with matching mustaches

Let the dance party begin!

The most eclectic group of people all celebrating together 

Time for bed!