Favorite Photos from Two Months of Travel

At the main temple of Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Since we've been on the road for just over two months now, I wanted to share some of my favorite photos from our trip.  Taking pictures is especially fun with such beautiful subjects.  I hope you like these!

Settling into Krabi

Before leaving for Malaysia, Eric and I spent three weeks in Krabi, Thailand.  Krabi has a lot to offer — the food, the short distance to multiple islands, lots of great expats, lots of great bars — but it's not a big city.  It's an easy place to start to feel settled.  During our few weeks, I noticed that I was starting to set up routines.  I had my regular coffee place, where whenever I walked in the woman knew I'd want a cappuccino to go.  I had my regular soup lady, who had the best dumplings.  We picked out our dim sum place after branching out to restaurants with inferior bao buns.  I could walk around town without getting lost and I knew when the local general store closed for the night.

Speaking of finding familiar things on the road,
Eric found this Michigan t-shirt at a night market in Krabi.
Also pictured: the best soup.

Monsoon Season

I have been caught in the rain in the United States before, arriving home with waterlogged shoes and clothes that drip-dry in the tub for hours.  In Thailand, I have found a whole different level of storm.  Walking along the street, the feeling of a few raindrops on my face will send me sprinting for an overhang.  The storms don't ease you into things — there are no light drizzles that gradually turn into rain over the next twenty minutes.  Nope, it's dry to soaked within a minute.

A thunderstorm yesterday afternoon, as seen from outside my room

 

The wet season in southern Thailand starts at the beginning of May and goes through November.  Depending on where you are, it will creep in, growing more and more intense as the months progress.  So far some days have been gray and cloudy while others have been bright with the occasional fifteen minute downpour.  I'm not sure what to expect as the season progresses.

I'm Here for the Food

Eric and I are still in Krabi.  The small town is known as a short stop before heading to the islands, but it has proven to be an easy place to stay for a while.  There are many reasons for this, including cheap accommodation and a lively expat community, but I have to admit that the food is a major reason I'm happy to stick around.  I know, I know — the food all over Thailand is delicious, so why should Krabi stand out?  Let me show you.

Noodle soup with sliced pork and dumplings from a woman's street stall

Budget Traveling in Beautiful Places

In the past week, Thailand has proven to me that its beaches are not over-hyped.  From Krabi, Eric and I took a day trip to Railay Beach before spending three nights on Koh Phi Phi. 

Morning in Krabi

Eric already put up a great gallery of photos from our early morning in Krabi, but I wanted to share a few of my own.  

After our night train, my sleep schedule was out of whack, and I found myself wide awake much earlier than usual.  Eric and I took advantage of this to explore Krabi before the bustle of the day began.  We started at the waterfront, where the sunrise over the Krabi River seemed to draw a line down the center of the sky.

Night Train to Southern Thailand

On Monday night, Eric and I left Bangkok for Krabi, a town on the southwest coast of Thailand.  After a few weeks in the city, I was ready to see some beaches.  We decided to take an overnight train.  I love train travel and am always disappointed that it costs so much more to take Amtrak than Megabus in the US.  The buses from Bangkok were also cheaper in this case, but we agreed that we'd rather spend fourteen hours on a train than cooped up on a bus. 

The Bangkok train station, complete with gardens and water features.