Eric Stahl

Southern Thailand

(No pictures since our camera died...)

About a week ago we flew from Phnom Penh to Bangkok, then down to Krabi in the far south of Thailand on the Andaman Coast. It was the King's 80 birthday so EVERYONE was wearing yellow... except for us.

From Krabi we took a boat to Ko Lanta where we stayed for two nights. Ko Lanta is a great island if you are looking for a really quiet, uncrowded place to relax and hang out. From Ko Lanta we took a ferry to Ko Phi Phi, which is beautiful and had amazing snorkeling but was too much of a young spring-breaker scene for us.

Yesterday we took a ferry, bus, and ferry to Ko Pha Ngan on the Gulf of Thailand side. So far this has been the best island for us (thanks for the pointer Daria).

Overall I'm glad that we saved the beaches of Thailand for last, but I'm also a bit board with sitting on a beach. The previous two months of being crowded on broken down buses, slugging it out through gnarly jungles and personally experiencing so many local cultures was far more rewarding.

Southern Thailand has natural beauty but is completely overrun by the tourist industry. It's a great place if you are looking for a beach. It's not a great choice if you really want to experience Thai culture.

We only have until the 22nd so it's really winding down now. I'm sad to leave but will be happy to be back on the home front.

We will be back in San Francisco for the holidays and then up in Tahoe for the month of January to start the job search and hopefully do some skiing.

See you soon!

posted by Eric Stahl @ 7:10 AM