We took the 2 hr. long 0900 ferry ($13) from Krabi Town pier to Ko Phi Phi Don, our final beach destination for this trip. Ko Phi Phi is supposed to be the most beautiful island in Thailand and have some of the best diving so I decided to book 3 nights there to finish off our trip. The island has two emerald and jade colored bays separated by a sandy isthmus where the main town and bars are. Towering limestone cliffs line the coastline. I had reserved a sleep aboard boat that goes to Maya Bay, the famous postcard perfect beach used in the 1999 Leonardo DiCaprio movie The Beach. This beach gets a lot of tourist traffic during the day, but it is an uninhabited island so it is empty at night. The sleep ... read more

We flew Thai Airways from Chaing Mai to Bangkok and on to Krabi, where we got an airport shuttle to bring us to Ao Nang ($4.50). I couldn’t help but notice that our flight looked as though it was headed to Iraq, at least half the passengers dressed as Muslims. Krabi province is predominantly Muslim, and is one of the last safe places to go as you head south closer to the predominantly Muslim country of Mayalsia. There have been several terrorist bombings in recent years south of here in Thailand. I opted for this area over Phuket after hearing that the partying and crowds were a bit more laid back, and the beaches less crowded.Ao Nang is a beach town along the eastern coast of Thailand along the Adaman Sea. Krabi Province is famous for ... read more

We booked an overnight homestay with a local travel agent that included a full day and a half at a local Elephant training camp. I had originally wanted to visit the Elephant Nature Park, a sanctuary that rescues abused and retired elephants, and they do not ride them or make them perform goofy circus acts. Unfortunately the sanctuary was booked for months in advance (which is wonderful but a bummer for us) , so we settled on a small family run camp that came recommended by the agent. We traveled west of Chaing Mai into the mountains for about an hour and a half to the Chaing Siam Mahout Training School. A Mahout is an elephant trainer, and usually these men stay with the same elephant for it’s entire life, which can be anywhere from 80-100 ... read more

We saved the best for last, and coincidentally it fell on Valentine’s Day to watch sunrise over Angkor Wat. Angkor Wat is the heart and soul of Cambodia, and one of the most impressive structures that is known to man. It is the perfect fusion of creative ambition and spiritual devotion. It has never been abandoned and has been used as a religious temple continuously since it’s creation. Along with hordes of perhaps a few thousand tourists, we walked into Angkor Wat in the darkness, across the great causeway spanning two wats, or moats, guarded by large stone Nagas, the 7 headed serpent. Instead of standing with the crowds overlooking the pools in front of the temple to watch the sun rise(which was unimpressive due to it being overcast), we opted to walk through the building ... read more

We began our morning meeting with our tuk-tuk driver Alex and arranging for our transport over the next 3 days, ensuring that we had enough time to see every temple in the Angkor area. A tuk-tuk is the cheapest form of transportation in Cambodia and consists of a motorcycle pulling a covered open air carriage that can seat up to 4 people. Angkor is a complex that contains hundreds of temples built during the 9th century until the 15th century. It is considered to contain the most magnificent architecture of the ancient world and houses the largest religious structure in the world. Angkor was known as the Mt. Olympus of the Hindu faith and the abode of the ancient gods. Several god-kings ruled during the Angkor period spanning 600 years, each building temples in an attempt ... read more