Asia, Stop 6: Railay

Thailand....

Thailand has been a dream destination of ours for a few years. Since we were trying to see so much in this three week trip, we only had about 8 days in Thailand. We knew this was not "enough" time, but we viewed it as a sampler, so that we could get a taste of the country (both literally and figuratively) and perhaps see where we would like to come back to in the future. At this point we had been traveling for two weeks and knew we would be ready for some relaxation. We chose to go to Railay Beach based on recommendations from multiple friends who had been there. Many islands in Thailand are known for there beauty, but equally known for their party scene! We were seeking someplace more quiet, with less to do and more of a chance to just be. That is exactly what we found in Railay.

Although Railay is not an island, it is a peninsula that can only be reached with a long tail boat. So it has the isolated feel of an island, but is also a quick boat ride from a bigger city. We loved our time there, which mostly consisted of just laying by the pool and taking advantage of the delicious food, cheap massages, and beautiful views! 

The only part we did not enjoy was the time we spent sick. Sadly, both of us fell sick with a pretty nasty case of what we think was food poisoning. We had the same symptoms, and it only lasted about 48 hours for both of us, but we don't know what caused it! Regardless of feeling horrible for part of the time, we were thankful to be in such a beautiful place.

The first evening, we stumbled upon this sunset. We quickly fell in love with Thailand.

                 

Slightly scary...

We headed straight for the Mango Sticky Rice!

Railay is so small that it has only one main "walking street" with cafes and a convenience shop

Massages were about the equivalent of $4-5. Unbelievable!

One day we took a boat tour around the Phi Phi Islands. This is the famous Maya Bay (where "The Beach" was filmed)

The sunset/boat combination is just screaming to be photographed!

We love you, Railay!

Asia, Stop 5: Penang

After Vietnam, we went to Penang, Malaysia to meet up with Rachel's cousin Janeen who lives there. We hadn't seen her for a couple of years, and it was so good to reconnect, to learn about her life, and get to ask real questions about the lives and perspectives of Malays.

Janeen lives in a beautiful apartment complex outside of the main city of Georgetown. While we spent much of our time outside of the Georgetown, we did go to the historic center one day, and learned so much while there. We wandered the streets and observed the many different cultures represented in the city, most notably the Islamic influences. We learned all about how the government is official Islamic and enforces Islam for the local indigenous population, but is very tolerant of the cultures and religions of foreigners and non-native people living there. In fact, we were very surprised to learn the official language of the island was English! 

The city is famous for its street art, which can be found everywhere. Some of it is really amusing!

Penang is world famous for it's street food. Everywhere you look you can find small restaurants with chairs set up outside. The food is cheap, diverse, and full of flavor! We were told that the mainland does not have the same level of diversity or development, but that this island is unique in this way. We enjoyed almost everything we ate... with the exception of the infamous fruit Durian, in the form of a cream puff. Although Durian is known as the "King of Fruits" in SouthEast Asia, we have yet to meet a single person who admits to liking it. We had to try it just to satisfy our curiosity, but once was definitely enough!

 Sitting along the water is wooden passageways and clusters of houses built on the sea. The houses were built on stilts and inhabited by the Chinese immigrants who worked on the port many years ago. Although not used in the same way now, the Chinese community continues to reside here, and now many tourists stroll down the Jetty, observing this interesting style of life.

Our last full day in Penang, we hiked through the national park to the beautiful Monkey Beach. Besides observing (and actually trying to avoid) the monkeys, we also ate some delicious beach food, drank fresh coconuts, climbed rocks and played on the rope swing. It was a lovely day! 

We ended 2015 with a fun evening of card games with Janeen's friends, and then went to her apartment's roof to watch the city fireworks. It was a great way to bring in the New Year! 

We are so grateful for Janeen's wonderful hospitality and the chance to experience this beautiful island.With one more trip to the rooftop for a morning view, we said goodbye to Malaysia, and set off for Thailand. 

Asia, Stop 3 & 4: Hanoi, Ha Long Bay

We left from HoiAn on Christmas Day and headed north to the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi. We arrived to drizzle and an old town packed full of motos and nonstop honking. We struggled to get in the "Christmas spirit", but with our few hours out exploring in the evening, we did find an amazing little coffee shop where the entire place was covered in post-it notes! They even had pens and pencils for writing and posting your own around the place. It was a very western cafe, complete with peppermint hot chocolate on the menu. That was the only thing that day that did feel like Christmas. Our time in Hanoi was short, because we were really just based there before going on our cruise through Ha Long Bay. On the morning of the 26th, we headed out to sea.

Ha Long Bay, located in northeast Vietnam, is one of the new 7 natural wonders of the world. After being there, it is no question to us why that is! The emerald waters and limestone islands are truly a sight to see! Based on recommendations from friends, we chose to do a two night, three day cruise around the bay (which is the longest option.) There is a large variety of quality of cruise companies that offer to take tourists throughout the bay. We chose a mid-range one, which included all meals, a cave tour, an island visit, and multiple opportunities to kayak. 

This cave has only been accessible to tourists for about 50 years. The formations inside were all carved by water, making them uniquely shaped. Though neither of us would say we are especially interested in seeing caves, we both really enjoyed walking through this one!

Since we did the longer cruise option, we were taken further back into the bay where there were less tourists and boats around. We got to kayak through small tunnels into beautiful lagoons, stop at pristine beaches, and lay on the sunbeds on top of the boat (although not in the sun...) as the boat cruised through the large limestone formations. We even stumbled upon a family of monkeys and were entertained for a while just watching them play and scurry along the side of the rock.

It was overcast for almost our entire time on the sea, but we got about 7 minutes of sunshine one afternoon.

As always, one of the highlights of traveling is the people you meet along the way. On the cruise, we just so happened to be seated next to two Australian couples who were also traveling through Vietnam. We immediately "clicked" with them and stayed up late talking and laughing around the dinner table. The next morning, we went kayaking together and then spent the four hour drive back to Hanoi chatting as if we were old friends! Once we returned to Hanoi, we realized that our hotels were only a few doors down from each other (what are the odds?). This was great, as we all wanted to continue hanging out, so we hit up the well-known Cong Caphe to try the infamous Coconut Coffee Smoothie, and then joined the locals at a corner bar for fresh beer (16 cents/pint!!). We loved starting a friendship with them, learning about their lives and experiences, and have now officially put visiting them in Australia at the top of our "to-do" list.

 

Overall, our experience in Ha Long Bay confirmed that it is indeed one of the most beautiful spots on Earth. We would recommend going in warmer weather to take advantage of the opportunities in the bay, but any time of year it is guaranteed to be breathtaking.

 At this point, our time in Vietnam had come to an end, and we were ready for our third asian country, Malaysia. Tune in next time!