When our driver dropped us off at the river-city complex, we looked into finding a recommended tailor for Aron to have a custom shirt made. Unfortunately the spot mentioned in the article I had brought along was closed, but we decided to seek out another top pick near the Siam Centre (a huge shopping complex at one of the major sky train stops). It came to about US$50—we would pick it up when we returned to Bangkok on our way out of Thailand. Something really interesting happened while we were walking around this bustling area: the national anthem came on (it plays in public areas everyday at 8am and 6pm) and every person stopped and stood still to pay respect. We stood and joined—it was so remarkable to see such a busy sidewalk suddenly come to a complete standstill and just as suddenly come back to life with movement and chatter.

CHIANG MAI

We left our lovely Bangkok hotel in the morning, and headed to the airport. For our peace of mind, we had booked our flights within Thailand before we left the U.S., this time with Air Asia. In typical fashion, we got to the airport far too early, but this gave us a chance to sample ginger and lemongrass sodas–delicious when drunk together! The flight to Chiang Mai was smooth and I would certainly use Air Asia again.

Once we arrived in the small airport, situated among beautiful mountains shrouded in a light fog, we made our way to the taxi stand and bought a coupon for a taxi which would take us to our hotel, Rachamankha. 
Like all the hotels we stayed in, we chose this one after great deliberation, and when we arrived at the hotel I could see that we would not be disappointedwith our choice. The hotel is modeled after the viharn (chapel) of Wat Phra That Lampang Luang in the neighboring province of Lampang and the staff clearly tries to maintain a certain sense of the serenity one would expect to find at a temple. 

Exploring the hotel, we found they had a lovely library room with a computer and internet access as well as a complimentary bottle of Brandy and some snifters available for guests. Had my husband known this back when we were debating whether to stay at Tamarind Village or Rachamankha, I am sure there would have been little question as to which hotel we should choose! The pool was equally beautiful and serene, but a swim would have to wait until later. 

We arrived just as the elephants were taking their morning baths (and showers, as they would have it). It was amazing to see such powerful, large creatures being so playful and so obviously enjoying themselves. 

Next, the elephants put on a show, where they and their mahout (trainer) demonstrated both the tasks elephants were traditionally employed to do in Thailand—such as moving logs—as well as newer skills such as painting and playing soccer. Though impressive, I was happier watching them play in the water than performing for us. That said, we still maneuvered ourselves for a quick exit (our driver came over and pointed us in the right direction) after the show was over so that we could be first in line for the elephant ride. We climbed up bamboo scaffolding to a plank where we had easy access to the basket strapped onto the elephant’s back and stepped inside. That was the easiest part of the whole operation.

As soon as this amazing and huge animal started walking, I knew we were in for a rough ride. His giant strides would cause our seat to sway significantly back and forth. We held on to the edges, turned to each other and started to laugh! During his descent down into the river, I was sure we were going to fall off. His movements pitched us to and fro, to and fro, to and fro… until he was fully into the river. Being with the very first elephant in line was excellent, as it allowed us to imagine that we were exploring the terrain alone, forging through the jungle on an elephant with our mahout. Looking behind us, however, and seeing all the elephants in a line, trudging through the river was pretty neat too. After our ride through the dense jungle, and then alongside crop fields, having twice crossed the river

twice, we decided our elephant deserved some bananas.

So before we disembarked, we bought some fruit at a stand conveniently positioned on stilts so it would be just at our height. I had intended to extend the ple asure of feeding him, but before I could untie the bundle, he had felt them out with his trunk and just as swiftly placed all 5 or 6 in his mouth at once. Incredible.

Our mahout had taken us on a generally circular path, but for the last section we switched to a Brahma driven cart (it seemed sort of funny, but it was all part of the package). The last leg of our trip was a bamboo raft ride down the river. We had some curry for lunch and made our way back down to the river. Before we got on the boat, our guides insisted that we wear the pointed straw Chinese hats they provided. We acquiesced and settled onto the bamboo, peacefully drifting down the river. Our “boat masters” polled us through the slow sections, offering us opportunities to do the same.

The hats that seemed so silly proved very useful when a gentle tropical rain began to fall. After an hour, we pulled over to a small ramp that lead up to where our driver was waiting for us. It was a delightful trip. The camp we went to has a good reputation for humane treatment o f their animals, and we never saw anything that would lead us to believe this is underserved, but one never knows what happens after the tourists leave and it is a concern. That said, the elephants seemed happy and certainly had a more full life than some we encountered in passing at other locations.

It was embarrassing, but our driver had actually let us borrow some money to purchase our entries; the camp only took cash and were a bit short. So after we stopped at an ATM, we thanked him heartily and said goodbye as he dropped us off in a shopping section of the city.

Chiang Mai is known for its wood crafts, especially its lacquer boxes, and Aron and I were excited to try to find some simple, sleekly designed ones like those they had at the hotel. To our dismay, all the boxes we found were designed for a different aesthetic and were heavily painted with flowers or animals. There were more stores further out and scattered around the city but we didn’t want to deal with arranging transportation and opted for an afternoon massage instead of shopping. We washed our feet, changed into the clothes they provided and split into our own rooms for an hour massage. After a wonderful hour, we were eager to get back to the hotel for a swim.

Back at the hotel, we enjoyed a delightful swim. The water felt wonderful and we relaxed by the pool for some time. Apparently, Angelina Jolie had stayed there a few weeks prior to our arrival, but we found the hotel to be very quiet and we almost had the place to ourselves. Aron enjoyed a quick brandy before we headed off to dinner.

For dinner, we had made a reservation at the restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi, just outside of Chang Mai proper. This was one of the newest hotels, built following recent movements toward vast, self contained hotels like the Four Seasons Tented Camp, Golden Triangle, outside of Chiang Rai. Our dinner was at Le Grand Lanna, a restaurant designed to mimic the experience of dinner at a nobleman’s home. It was a lovely wooden house, near the entrance, whose dining area was elevated with a view down to a reflection pond. The food was excellent, with a focus on traditional preparation and regional cuisine, and the service had the perfect balance of being available when they were needed, but not hovering or interrupting the meal. Some excellent live music accompanying performers dancing traditional Thai dances added even more to the evening.

After dinner, we set off to explore the hotel. Extravagance is clearly the rule at this hotel and a golf cart took us the drive up to the hotel to and to an exalted lobby (from where we could ask the concierge to call us a cab). We explored the lobby and looked off to some of the rooms, but barely scratched the surface of the property. Built to replicate a Chiang, a self-contained city, the 60 acre site contains multiple restaurants, self-contained wats, a working rice-field, and many different styles of individual rooms and cottages. There is also a cooking school, spa, and cultural center. It certainly seems a very luxurious option.

In Bangkok, we always opted for either a taxi or the sky train over the tuk tuks—a motorcycle fitted with a carriage-like seating attachment. They are a distinctive sight and a fun way to travel, but they can be less so in Bangkok where one is likely to be stuck in traffic (and its fumes). But in the walls of old Chiang Mai, we figured we could enjoy a relatively comfortable tuk tuk ride. It was a lot of fun to zoom past the old moat–which was used to protect the city from

the Burmese–in the open cab, and to get an up close look at street life and the other tuk tuks merging with us. We were dropped off at the Night Bazaar, one of Chang Mai’s biggest attractions, taking place every night in the heart of the city. Hundreds of years ago, Chiang Mai was a major stopping point for traders traveling between India and China; this led to the development of the market, which is still going strong. Today, one can buy just about any sort of forgery, from watches, to purses, to clothes at prices better than in Bangkok, though those with discerning eyes will quickly be able to tell the difference between these and the real thing. Of course, all the standard street market gear is available, but also for sale are a number of high quality wood carvings and other tribal wares (clothing, jewelry, umbrellas). Though the market technically goes late into the night, we found that many of the stores rumored to have the best goods had closed first, so don’t wait too long to visit. Chiang Mai offers several opportunities for cultural enrichment such as the Chiang Mai City Arts and Cultural Centre, the Hill Tribe Museum, and the Chiang Mai National Museum, but these would have to wait for another trip as it was time for us to fly south to Koh Samui.

KOH SAMUI

Thai air offers direct flights between Chiang Mai and Koh Samui. I couldn’t help but feel excited flying into the island; the turquoise waters with interior jungle and the white sand beaches made for picture perfect views as we flew over. The airport was also everything you expect (or hope for) at a (cute) island airport. Trams picked us up from the tarmac and shuttled us to the terminal, a covered area with no walls and only one baggage claim station. We watched as a pick-up truck brought the bags over, backed up to the conveyor belt and unloaded before returning to the plane for another load. After picking ours out, we hailed a taxi to take us to the hotel.

We had chosen the Tongsai Bay Resort and Spa after much deliberation over whether to stay there or at Sala Samui, a slightly newer hotel with private pools for many of its rooms. Both are at the same end of the island, but TongsaiBay has a private beach, and we would have an ocean view and a large soaking tub to enjoy from our teak deck. The drive to our hotel took us past the busy main beach, Chaweng. Through the buildings we could see glimpses of the water and the sand, but the crowded and dusty main street made us think we had made the right choice to head for a more secluded location.

Arriving at the hotel, we were greeted, once again, with cool towels and cold herbed tea. The lobby was lovely, with large dropped lights in shades of pale oranges and reds. There was no a/c as the room was open to the outside, but there were many fans around which helped to make the high temperatures tolerable (it felt considerably hotter here, in the south, than in Chiang Mai or in Bangkok). Once checked in, we were driven to our room in a golf cart; another cart followed behind us carrying our luggage (yes, it was somewhat embarrassing). We climbed over some small staircases off the road to a private cottage. Opening the door to the room, were delighted to see rose petals on the bed and a bottle of champagne on ice. We were given a tour of the room and its features, but at times it was hard to pay full attention—I kept getting distracted by the view!

Stepping down from the main level, to the living room, we grabbed the ice bucket and the glasses and set ourselves up on the balcony. From our deck, you could see the entire bay and down to the beach where we would end up spending most of our time. On the deck and secluded from view, the deep soaking bathtub was equipped with great smelling bath salts, soap, shampoo and conditioner and was practically calling our name, but while there was still good light we wanted to explore the town’s main beach.

The hotel provided a free shuttle (otherwise one could take a taxi for about $10) a couple of times a day to Chaweng, and we just had time to catch the last one. The road was lined on either side with small stores selling tourist goods, as well as a few scattered bars and hotel entrances. We passed through one of the hotels and made our way out to the beach. Walking into the water felt heavenly; you could barely discern it, it was so warm. The beach was not too crowded, and had some nice looking bars for enjoying waterside cocktails. A few jet skis zipped far off shore and were available for rent. We strolled down the beach, checking out the hotels and noticing several that we had once read about.


We left the sand and returned to the road to check out where dive companies would be taking their clients, and inquired as to which tours were available to the nearby Ang Thong national marine park. In the end, we decided to go with Blue Stars for a trip to the marine park (primarily based on the boat speed to the park and the activities available once there), and Easy Divers ($43pp) for a 2-dive trip to Koh Tao. In between each activity, we would spend the days relaxing at our beach. By this point in the afternoon, we were thoroughly steamy, so we stopped for a cold drink before getting on the shuttle for the 20 min trip back to the hotel.

After getting so hot walking around town, it was wonderful to get back to the hotel and go for a refreshing dip. There were two pools available, an infinity pool where children were not allowed, and a free form pool with thatched umbrellas and a bridge crossing the pool (so one could sit in the water but not in the sun). Not wanting to miss out on anything, we explored both. This was both of our first encounter with an infinity pool and we loved looking out and seeing nothing but the ocean! The free form pool was also delightful, and we appreciated the option to stay in the shade. Ever since Aron did a dermatology rotation, he’s been a much bigger advocate of sun protection (rightly so) and we’ve both tried to consistently apply high SPF sunscreen and sit in the shade. We selected two lounges under a thatched palapa. Soon after we sat down, someone came over with towels and set up a small table between us with cold water and glasses. Despite our best efforts to stay protected, however, we were amazed (and a bit dismayed) when we found later that the reflection off of the sand had still burned the sides of our legs!

For dinner, the hotel had three options. We were going to dine beach side, but the main restaurant (up on the hill near the lobby) was offering a traditional Thai tasting menu accompanied by a live performance of traditional Thai music and dance. Though the hotel

offered a golf cart to come to your room and to pick you up, Aron and I love walking and figured we could walk the short 5 minutes to the lobby. However, I’ll admit that this wasn’t always the case, as we did get warm on the walk and found it difficult to cool back down during dinner. On this night we stayed hot from our walk for a good hour before a slight breeze picked up and we cooled off. We arrived just after sunset and found a table we liked and settled in. The tasting menu was delicious, with both familiar and new Thai dishes, mostly in the Royal Thai style popular in the capitol. Soon after we sat down, the entertainment began, which featured impressive dancing and music. As they finished their last piece, I noticed some lightening in the sky; a few minutes later I felt a drop or two on my hand. Not too concerned with the light, warm rain, Aron declined the waiter’s offer to come inside the lobby. “No! Big rain coming now!” she said. “Ok,” he replied, and we moved inside under the shelter of the roof. 30 seconds later the rain began to fall in sheets! Fortunately, we were done with dinner and the rain passed a mere 10 minutes after it started.

The next day we were picked up in a van to be taken to the docks for Blue Star tours. The Van ride was a harrowing trip, and though Aron has had similar experiences in other countries (lots of blind passing, bumpy roads, etc), even he noted that this was one of the most stressful car rides he’d had. We arrived at the boat and settled in for the 1.5 hour boat trip to the marine park. The boat offered some delicious fruit and some bad coffee, and having had to arisen earlier than other days, and having missed our hotel’s breakfast, we took advantage of both.

Once at the park, the company divided the participants into two groups, those who spoke

German (the majority) and those who spoke English. The German-speaking contingent took out the kayaks first, while we donned our snorkel gear. The water did not have the best visibility, and to really enjoy the little live coral there was one had to get very close to the coral. For that reason, it was nice that it was so shallow but while it was fun to be in the water, the snorkeling was pretty underwhelming.

Next it was our turn to use the kayaks. Aron and I shared a kayak and followed the guide out to some of the islands. We found it best to be either in the very front, or the very back of the group, as it seemed most people preferred to clump in around the middle, which of course led to a few crashes and less idyllic views.

After seeing the atolls from a distance, it was even more impressive to see them up close. Towering, in some cases, a hundred feet above the sea, they often had near vertical walls and washed out bases that allowed us to actually go underneath them (legend has it that pirates would evade capture by hiding next to these giants) The guides took us through a few shallow caves where it was easier to reach up and pull oneself along than to paddle. Aron and I took turns using the camera and paddling. Aron wanted to be the chief photographer, but I think that was just so that he didn’t have to paddle as much.

After an excellent tour, we pulled up onto a nearby beach in order to see where an interior saltwater lake had formed. It was a steep climb, mainly up but also down stairs that functioned to separate those who were in shape and those who were not. Unfortunately, swimming in the emerald waters is prohibited, but it was beautiful and we found it interesting to note the sea cucumbers and anemones visible on the lake’s edge, despite the lake having no obvious connections to the sea. Climbing back out of the lake, we made another brief climb to the ridge’s peak for an excellent view of the lake and the surrounding islands.

Back on the beach, Aron had a cold beer before we paddled to the next site. And after some paddling, the best thing was jumping out of the kayak and cooling off in the temperate waters. Before we left, we had some fun jumping off the upper deck of the boat.

The next day was a day designed for relaxing. We had breakfast as usual at the hotel restaurant with a view looking over the water. Though they offered made-to-order eggs, etc., they also had traditionally Asian options such as porridge and noodles. But our favorite feature was probably the fruit table. When we walked in to the restaurant, we were invariably greeted by an enthusiastic, effusive staff person, whom we came to know as “the crazy fruit lady.” She manned a three-table set-up of fresh fruit and blenders; you had only to point to a jack fruit, coconut, dragon fruit, lychee, or any other tropical variety sitting out, then request that she either cut it for you or blend it in a smoothie (or both), and she would prepare the most wonderful plate or drink for you! As we ate on this particular morning, we were amazed to look out to the tree trops and see two men climbing the trunks of coconut trees without any support or equipment in order to cut off the coconuts. The staff clearly regarded this skill as commonplace but, for Aron and I, it was astonishing!

We staked out our favorite spot under a palm tree at the beach. It was a lovely day, mainly spent reading books and magazines, punctuated by refreshing swims. The hotel has kayaks and a small sail boat on hand for guests and Aron went out with a staff person for a sailing lesson (all equipment and lessons were free of charge, or included in the cost I suppose is more accurate), while I grabbed a kayak and followed for a bit. Once they were clear of the cove, I headed back in and followed the shore of our hotel’s bay. I was able look up from the water and see the edge of our room’s deck.

For lunch, we stayed beach side at Floyd’s bistro and discovered what was to become the lunch for the rest of the trip: the chicken satay sandwich on multigrain raisin bread. It was amazing. Fortunately, Aron continued to try different menu items that looked interesting, and I would branch out vicariously; however, he inevitably try to steal half of my sandwich, always preferring it to the other things he tried.

That night, we decided to venture out of the hotel to the Fisherman’s Village, a smaller town than Chaweng, known for good seafood served fresh from the fisherman’s boats. We ended up choosing one of the several restaurants overlooking the water. Most had similar menus and looked equally nice. A common theme amongst these restaurants is for you to choose a whole fish from a table of ice, after which they prepare it for you as you like. Aron chose to do this, while I had the shrimp Curry. Both were very good, though I kept expecting the curries to be spicier—they were clearly tamed for Western palettes almost everywhere we went. All the restaurants here were open air and, without a fan, even a few iced cocktails couldn’t quite cool us off, so we were glad to return to our A/C-ed room. I should mention that we smothered ourselves in bug repellent throughout the day, and this contributes to some discomfort with the stickiness of the heat.

Alternating adventure days with our beach days, we were set to go to Koh Tao, Turtle Island, for some diving the next morning. We had booked with Easy Divers, and were picked up in a private car that drove safely yet efficiently to a small collection of huts.

Here we had a truly terrible breakfast of white bread and under ripe bananas. (We had gotten up early for breakfast at the hotel, but our ride was also early, so we left without seeing the fruit lady.) Fortunately, the trip went nothing but up from there. Twenty minuets later, the express shuttle pulled up and, after walking down a floating walkway, we boarded a large commuter boat. It was clean, fast and efficient, carrying a mix of back-packers and locals to Koh Tao and beyond. We got off at the docks on Koh Tao and knew immediately that this was going to be a great dive. Looking down, the water was crystal clear and you could see giant brain coral coming up from the bottom and reaching to the surface—it looked so much better than at the marine park, surprisingly. We knew we would share a boat with another company, but I hoped it would not be too crowded. I was very pleased when we pulled out of the dock with only 1 other client and 1 other dive master on board.

Though Aron has seen sharks many times while scuba diving and snorkeling, I had yet to see one, and was a bit nervous to see one on this dive. Seeing reef sharks is not uncommon in these waters, so I prepared myself for this possibility. Nonetheless, I was excited; and diving with just Aron and the dive master made the dive so much better.

Once in the warm, clear water, it was only a few moments before we were descending to the coral. Most of the reef lies fairly shallow, somewhere between 30 and 60 feet, which makes for better colors on the reef (the red light is absorbed as it passes through the water) and for a longer dive. It seemed as though thousands of fishes were swimming in and out of the coral as we approached. Christmas tree worms were plentiful and were fun to scare back into their holes. There were also many large anemone and clown fish—great to interact with. It was an excellent dive! We surfaced and made our way back to the docks for a Thai buffet. The food was good and plentiful, the restrooms facilities basic but workable. While our food digested and the nitrogen left our bodies, we walked out to the cove on the other side of the island and admired the light turquoise waters which had no greater depth than 5 feet for the entire circumference of the cove. After our walk, we got back onto the boat and headed minutes off the coast for the second dive.

We were enjoying the fish and the reef when I turned to see a turtle coming to investigate us. He left almost as soon as we saw him and I figured we had scared him off. We went back to enjoying the reef, but a few minutes later he was back again. We swam to keep up with him and were amazed at how comfortable he seemed to be with us. Hovering next to him, we watched as he snacked off the reef, a bite here and a bite there.

The ride back was easy; we slept and reviewed the photos we had taken, and then were dropped off directly at our hotel. Our dive master was excellent and we would definitely recommend this company for divers in Koh Samui.

Stopping at the concierge, we enquired about reservations for dinner at a place called Poppies which our guidebooks said had good food and which was described as romantic. We hopped into a golf cart for a ride back to the room (by this point we had learned how useful this was to keep from over-heating, and the staff never made us uncomfortable when we took advantage of the service), where we could freshen up, and relax in the tub before heading out again for the evening. The price of a taxi from the hotel to various destinations was fixed, which reduced the stress of bargaining, though it may have ended up costing us a dollar or two more. When we got to Poppies, we were greeted by the hostess and soon “Tongsai Bay Room 12” was seated by the beach. Torches and a beach-side location definitely added to the aesthetics of the location, but the live music, a terrible jazz cover singer, and bright electric lights definitely took something away from the romantic potential of the meal. The food was good, but pretty standard, and though it was perhaps a dollar or two cheaper than the food at our hotel, it was a wash after the cab ride. Though there were many more restaurants to try on Koh Samui, we decided that we preferred to stay at the resort and leave the food exploration for more exciting places like Bangkok.

Our last full day in Koh Samui was spent primarily on the beach. Inspired by our previous kayaking, we took a double out for a little exploration. Going left around the edge of our cove, we found a small and completely unoccupied beach. We paddled our boat to shore and enjoyed the peacefulness of the area. The hotel did not allow any motorized water crafts, so there was nothing but the sounds of the water and the breeze to fill our senses. After paddling back to the hotel’s beach, we took up station again at our favorite spot and did some more reading and napping.

Later, we had fun going out for a sail. Leaving the beach was slow going owing to the wind being blocked by the land surrounding our bay, but once we cleared the rocks we did make some progress. I think Aron had fun sharing with me what he had learned the day before. On the way back in we virtually inched through the cove. I joked he hadn’t really learned how to sail, but he assured me that we were just in a no-wake zone.

In the afternoon, we managed to move the 100 feet from our beach chairs to the beach bar. There, the hotel provided complementary drinks for a guest social hour. Though we had been devout attendants of this throughout our stay, this evening’s drinks were especially delicious: they had filled a large bowl full of fresh coconut juice and coconut meat, which they then served on the rocks and spiked with rum for those who desired it. Aron stuck with the gin and tonics or Thai whiskies with coke, I though the coconut juice was perfect! I am not sure how much we socialized during those hours, but we sure had fun!

Later that day, we had decided to treat ourselves to a massage called “Return to Prana,” specifically designed for couples. We passed the spa (and heard it calling our names) every day as we walked from our room to the beach, and thought it looked beautiful! At first I read the description to Aron in jest, but the massage caught his interest and we decided to treat ourselves. Though we considered other spas on the island, going to the hotel’s spa would allow us to return to our room without any of the stress or hassle involved in negotiating a return cab to the hotel. The staff was very welcoming and did their up most to be discrete throughout the experience, and we both felt very comfortable the whole time. The massage was unique and much more involved than the other massages we had experienced in Thailand. We were the only ones in the spa, and commenced our return to Prana with a herbal steam sauna, followed by an open air shower. A salt scrub with herbs individually chosen to “help woman and to help man” came next, followed by an open-air milk bath and tea with cookies. After the bath, we went back to the massage tables and were soothed with an aromatherapy Thai massage. It was pretty wonderful—all two and a half hours of it.

The next day, with great reluctance, we packed our bags and made our way back to the airport for our return flight to Bangkok.

BANGKOK

We returned to Bangkok without a hitch; we felt like old pros as we walked directly to the cab pick-up spot and drove into the city. In fact, we had spotted the hotel when we were getting the massage at Ruen Nuad, so we had some idea where we were going this time. After negotiating the price (well, I guess we’re not such pros after all), we exited the cab and entered the very sleek lobby of the Metropolitan. We had debated the merits of staying at this hotel versus those of the classics like the Oriental or the Peninsula and felt, in the end, that our tastes were best matched with the more modern Metropolitan. The hotel clearly had an emphasis on style; the lobby was similar that of a W hotel, but a bit less harsh, perhaps. We checked in were shown to our room. They too had responded to our note that it was our honeymoon and had champagne on ice for us along with some assorted tropical fruit. The room was beautiful, as we expected, though very different than the other hotels we had stayed in; this one clearly had a more urban, minimalist aesthetic.

Having had such an amazing experience at Roti Mataba, we set out to try another recommended street food spot. This one was directly across from a Wat known for its cartoonish decorations. Unfortunately, the food here, while very good, was not quite as amazing. On the other hand, they had big, cheap beer to help cool us both down and it was nice to return to the drink prices of Bangkok after a few days of resort up marking. (And we needed the beer—it was hot! We couldn’t help but laugh as Aron’s shirt, whether from the heat of the day or the heat of the curry became more and more visibly wet while the locals seemed cool as cucumbers.)

We had so little time and so many interesting things left to see in Bangkok. We decided, however before we had even arrived that we would return to Ruen Nuad, our favorite massage location. Fortunately it was just a short walk across the Silom Avenue from our hotel. Given the great prices and wonderful experience we had before, we decided to do a one hour foot massage followed by a one hour traditional massage. We changed into their spa wear and sat back to

enjoy the warm, soft, soapy water and the masseuse’s technique. After an hour Aron and I moved to the individual huts where we were thoroughly worked out. During the sessions, the sounds of thunder and the pounding rain outside only added to the appeal (and it had all passed by the time we left). I am sure the fact it was to be our last Thai massage and was our last full day in Bangkok contributed to our feeling it was the best massage ever.

We headed back to our room to enjoy that post-massage bliss before heading back out for the

evening. We decided to roam the night market in Bangkok and seek out any last minute gifts or interesting objects to take home—surprisingly, we were only leaving with a shirt each at this point. The markets in Thailand all carry similar objects for similar prices, so there were few surprises (one of the few being a modern furniture booth). But the market looks great at night and there is still something exotic about being there. We finally had a chance to sample the infamously stinky and spiky Durian: this fruit has an odor so powerful that it was been banned by many hotels. Some even say it smells of rotting meat. Aron has a particular interest in trying new fruits, but as soon as we learned of its reputation, we both knew we had to try some. The purveyor of the fruit donned her heavy gloves to protect her hands from the spikes, and began to hack away at the fruit. Saccular, glistening fruit pods were exposed and collected in a bag. We found the descriptions of the fruit to be grossly exaggerated and thought the fruit quite nice.

Our last stop before heading back to the hotel for our last night was to the sky bar, Vertigo, at

the Banyan Tree next to our hotel. This bar is an open-air bar, 820 feet above the ground, offering amazing views of Bangkok. We enjoyed a cocktail as we watched the car lights trace lines across the city and felt the wind blow around us. Eventually we found our way back to the hotel to do a little dancing in the Met Bar and to enjoy the suite’s amenities on our last night.

The next day, before we left, we did had time to enjoy perhaps the best breakfast we’d had throughout the whole trip—and that would be saying a lot, because we had some amazing ones. The room’s price included a breakfast at Cy’an, the hotel’s restaurant. Lovely fruit bowls, granola and yogurt were set out amongst fresh cut prosciutto and various pastries, available for those who wished. But one was also invited to order off the

menu; I chose a wonderful waffle with passion fruit puree, mango and shreds of fresh coconut while Aron was tempted by the cinnamon French toast. Both were superb!

Leaving the hotel was a sad affair, as it meant the end of the trip. We took care to spend all of our baht excepting the cab fare, and made our way to the airport. Our only conciliation was that we would be flying business class on Singapore Air. We settled into the seats and kicked back to enjoy the amenities, drink some champagne, and reflect on the amazing trip as well as look forward to the wonderful life and union that lay in store.

There may have been some hesitation to choose to go to Thailand over more traditional honeymoon destinations, but after experiencing this amazing country, it is hard to imagine having gone anywhere else.

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