Krabi Town, Returning to Bangkok, & A Brain Scan

Finishing our Krabi Tour in Krabi Town 

Krabi Town is the capital of the Krabi province, located a bit more inland along a river. It's home to many markets and the famous Tiger Cave Temple, a Buddhist temple located on top of a mountain. We were here for 2 nights in between island hopping and returning to Bangkok. 

The red marks the Krabi Province

The highlight from this leg of the trip was our hostel and the people we met. This was our first hostel experience in a while and we picked a great social hostel and made so many new friends! The first night, there was a pool party where we met a couple guys from Saudi Arabia and had the best time talking to them! I learned so much more about their culture and religion. One of the most interesting takeaways was learning about their diet. Muslims are only allowed to eat what is known as "Halal food," food that follows Islamic law. This includes fish with scales, milk and eggs from permissible animals, and animals (excluding pork) that are blessed and then slaughtered in the most humane way possible by a Muslim. The animal must be healthy and alive when slaughtered. I knew animal welfare was a huge part of Islam, but I didn't realize the extent of it, and it has inspired me to seek out Halal food whenever possible. It was a beautiful cultural exchange we shared with Monta and Ali. 

Halal food symbol

The next day we went to the Tiger Cave Temple with a few people from our hostel. It was a grueling 1,260- step trek to the top in 90 degree weather. I was struggling SO hard and questioned if I would make it at some points. I was going the same pace as a German girl I had befriended, and at one point, I looked at her and said, "I started my period this morning so this is rougher than it should be" and she told me she was in the same exact situation, so it made sense why we were so in sync. Women are connected on such a deep level. I later found out she had also moved to India for 5 months at a young age, so we were connected in a lot of ways! 

Small part of the Tiger Cave Temple with an incredible mountain view

The next day, Atticus and I headed for the airport for our flight back to Bangkok.

Return to Bangkok 

The best part about returning to the same place is the fact that you have a chance to scope it out and plan what you want to do when you return. But the actual best part about returning to Bangkok was returning to Rosanna and Carlos’s hospitality and cozy home. It truly felt like returning home after an epic yet exhausting adventure. 

We returned with a list of things we wanted to accomplish. Here is what we did:

1) Tuk Tuk Food Tour - This experience was highly recommended to us by Rosanna and Carlos and was one of the top highlights of our entire Thailand experience. We were guided through Bangkok's incredible food scene with an amazing local, Kat, who introduced us to things we never knew existed and taught us about the history of Thai food. We were on the tour with a group of people from all over Europe. The tour started with a family style meal of papaya salad, spicy shrimp soup, spicy duck salad, and grilled pork jowl and BBQ chicken with sticky rice. I was full after our first stop lol oops. Then we were taken to Banthat Thong, a newer district known for food, where we had mango sticky rice, pomelo salad, and a couple exotic fruits I cannot recall.

If anyone knows what this is called, please let me know. It looks like garlic but it's a fruit!

Then we went to an award-winning restaurant that served fried noodles. We got to see the behind the scenes action where the food was being made over fiery charcoal grills outside. This was our favorite dish!

Next, we stopped in Chinatown where we had a plethora of street food: Thai crispy pancakes, coconut pancakes, baby pineapple, and fried sweet potato balls! Then we took a break from eating and went to a bar that overlooked a beautiful temple, Wat Arun, where we enjoyed our choice of beer or mocktail. Then we headed to our last stop: a 24-hour flower market where we did a lotus flower craft and had our final snack: grilled chicken and pork on a stick. I'm not kidding when I say I looked 5 months pregnant when the tour was over. Skipped the first trimester and went straight into the second. We were hurting, but it was all so worth it! 

Wat Arun in the background

2) Walk Duke - Duke is a beautiful sheepadoodle that belongs to Carlos and Rosanna. I love him, and the thought of walking him through Bangkok excited me as much as the trip itself. The experience felt like guiding a miniature horse through a big city and I loved every second of it! He was such a good boy! This was actually the only time I've ever seen a dog on a leash. I have seen so many people running through cities with their dogs off leash. Or even better... riding their motorbike with their dogs running by their side. It's truly a different world over here. 

3) Chatuchak Weekend Market - This is an amazing weekend market that satisfied all of our shopping needs. We spent hours here and found a lot of souvenirs. It's the kind of market where you can find a ton of counterfeit name brand products and haggle. At one point, someone wanted $20 for knock off RayBans and Atticus got them down to $3. We shopped till we dropped... I fell asleep on the subway on the ride home. 

4) Foot Massage - Thailand is known for cheap massages. When I was here in 2018, I got a traditional Thai massage and absolutely hated it. My body was contorted in ways that were anything but comfortable and it scared me away from getting foreign massages. But luckily, we were introduced to the foot massage thanks to Rosanna and Carlos. It might be called a foot massage, but it's actually much more than that. If you don't like pain, opt for this instead of the traditional Thai massage. 

5) Self-guided food & city tour based on Vikki’s recommendations - Vikki is my wonderful sister-in-law and her parents are who we stayed with in Bangkok. She lived in Thailand throughout high school while her parents completed their first assignment at the US embassy. Talk about a cool high school experience! Vikki gave us a list of things to do and one day we decided to go on a food tour based on her recommendations. We started with soup dumplings at Din Tai Fung! I actually just found out this is a worldwide chain and there are 20 locations in the US!

Din Tai Fung soup dumplings and steamed buns

Then we went to Cabbage and Condoms, a unique restaurant established by the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), a very successful nonprofit, development organization that was originally created to promote family planning. The founder, Khun Mechai, recognized that Thailand's rapid population growth (average of 7 children per family in the 70s) was preventing the country from living up to its development potential. He believed birth control should be as accepted and accessible as vegetables in a market, which inspired the name of the restaurant (Cabbages and Condoms) that helps fund the organization. The PDA has expanded and is now involved in community empowerment, water resource development, environmental conservation, sanitation, HIV/AIDS education and prevention, etc. There are unique sculptures made out of condoms all over the restaurant and instead of mints at the end of your meal, you are given condoms. They also have a gift shop, ice cream shop and coffee shop. It's an impressive complex that is doing great work! The food was also delicious.

Condom art

Then we went to Terminal 21 Mall- a modern mall in city center that is based on an airport. Each floor, even the bathrooms, has a different country's theme. The food court had every Asian food known to man and we had some delicious ramen to finish our DIY food tour. 

6) Khao San Road - I could write a whole blog post about this place. Khao San Road is the setting of Hangover 2 if that tells you anything. It's a strip of bars, dispensaries, tattoo parlors, food stands, and people trying to sell you laughing gas, sex shows, and bracelets that say outrageous things (see photo). It's an otherworldly experience and something every Bangkok visitor should experience once.

Cracking up at the madness of Khao San Road
The bracelets I mentioned...

We people watched, tried crickets, and ended the night at the last place Vikki had recommended, Shosana, a restaurant that was only a 2-minute walk from Khao San Road. This restaurant used to cater food for her school's sporting events and she spoke really highly of it, so we had to give it a try! It was one of the best meals we had in Thailand and we enjoyed talking to the owner about how we ended up there. 

Bug, spider, scorpion, snake food stall! Crickets are yummy btw :)

Delicious Pad Thai and Panang Curry from Shosana

7) Cooking lesson with Gita - Gita is a lovely lady who helps cook and clean for Carlos and Rosanna. During our first stay with them, we asked if we could join her while she cooked one day. She was thrilled about our request and we had the best time learning how to make one of the most famous Thai dishes- Pad Thai! It was delicious and the best last meal we could've had before heading to Cambodia. We loved spending time with Gita and learning a bit about where she is from, the neighboring country of Myanmar.

Homemade Pad Thai

Bangkok is home to many temples and the famous Grand Palace. I did a bunch of temple exploring back in 2018, so I wasn't really up for it again because most attractions are packed with tourists and it's a one time thing in my opinion. Atticus had a temple exploration day on his own and loved it! I love temples, but I much prefer the local, less trafficked ones. 

Wat Pho
Reclining Buddha, located in Wat Pho. Atticus intentionally including tourists taking photos to capture the reality of these places.

Hospital Experience 

I went to a hospital twice in Bangkok and had the best medical experiences I've ever had in my life. I went the first time to see a doctor because after fighting intense congestion for over 2 weeks, I wanted to be seen before entering less developed countries. Just to clarify, this was not an emergency room scenario... I made the appointment online a couple days in advance. It was a regular doctor visit but took place in a hospital. The doctor was very friendly! She said I was dealing with a sinus infection and prescribed some things to help. She was concerned about the frequent headaches (and occasional migraines) I mentioned getting and suggested an MRI of my brain. She was able to get me in the next day... In the US, you'd have to wait for days, but probably weeks and maybe even months. The total cost of the MRI visit was less than $800. Obviously this wasn't cheap, but it was a fraction of the cost of what it would've been back home. I was relieved when my brain scan came back normal; however, she was able to show me how inflamed my nasal passages were and it made sense why I hadn't been able to breathe out of my nose for so long! 

Pre-MRI

The customer service at the hospital was absolutely phenomenal. The vibe was calm and welcoming. It felt more like a resort than a hospital. Medical tourism is very popular in Thailand and I can see why... You pay a fraction of the cost for better care. Both of my visits were fully covered by my travel insurance. Travel insurance is essential when traveling abroad! I went with Faye and I highly recommend them.

Links:

Accommodation from Krabi Town: Pak-Up Hostel Krabi Town

Bangkok Food Tour