Snorkeling Around Koh Tao (Thailand)

AMAZING. The island of Koh Tao is the "it" spot for scuba diving in Thailand. People from all over the world to this tiny island and stay for months to dive. Sadly we did not have the time to go through scuba diving lessons and everything that comes with it so we opted for the alternative, snorkeling. A boat took us out to several locations around the island where we were able to explore the beauty beneath the sea. Unfortunately, the majority of sites we went to -because they were closer to land rather than out in the middle of the ocean- did not have much live coral. There was however countless varieties and colors of fish at the snorkeling sites that were memorizing and certainly made for a great time. I would go back to Koh Tao to try out scuba diving because Koh Tao is one of the best places to view whale sharks! That would be awesome to see.

 

I don't have any snorkeling photos because I don't have a special waterproof camera, but these are some of the shots I took from the boat of Koh Tao.

 

 

Chao Phraya Dinner River Cruise

My family and I met up with some family friends who were also in Bangkok and we enjoyed a lovely dinner cruise on board a traditional Thai teak boat down the Chao Phraya River. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the boat and the set up because of the lack of light but I did manage to photograph the nights menu along with some of the dishes. The food, which was unfortunately lacking in flavor, sounded a lot better on the menu than it tasted in real life. However, the night time view of Bangkok from the river, the beautiful traditional boat, the fragrant flowers that decorated the boat, and the superb hospitality of the waiters made the experience memorable. I wasn't paying much attention to anything around me but apparently our dinner was accompanied by a traditional Thai dancing performance.

 

Shrimp Tom Yum

Chicken satay with peanut sauce (Indonesian peanut sauce
is better in my opinion)

Appetizers

Seafood

Assortment of desserts

 

Beijing Tour Day 1 (Beijing, China)

Today I visited the Panda Zoo, a pearl store, Olympic Park, the Lama Temple, and a local Hutong where I also had for the opportunity to have lunch at.

Panda Zoo:

Pearl store:
We had to stop at one of these government regulated stores as part of the tour, which is apparently rather mandatory for tour groups. I question those who buying anything at these places as they are drastically overpriced and try to scam you, but hey, then again many many tourists fall for it, even people who were in my 3 day tour group. However, it was pretty cool to see how fresh water pearls are produced and how to tell the difference between real and fake pearls.

Now you know why fresh water pearls are cheaper than ocean pearls (ocean pearls only produce one pearl while freshwater ones can be manipulated to produce up to a hundred in one oyster)

Olympic Park (Birds Nest and Water Cube):

Lama Temple:
Old Buddhist temple. I'm sorry but by this point in my journey I was too templed-out to be fascinated by the detail in the temple (then again, once you've seen the temples of Angkor, Borobudur, and ones in Thailand, nothing can compare).

Hutong: The Hutongs are small neighborhoods in Beijing that are characterized by their narrow alleyways and compounded homes. We were taken into a Hutong by a rickshaw driver and brought to a small home where a local family had prepared lunch for us.

On the rickshaw with another person from my tour (a Canadian actually! lol)

Some dishes from the meal the homeowners prepared for us

We had lunch in someones bedroom. There was a bed in the corner and clothes and shoes hidden under the bed. Very unique experience.

Mt. Merapi Volcano Hike (Jogyakarta, Indonesia)

Jogyakarta sits at the base of Merapi volcano so it was impossible not to visit it. Merapi is currently, and has been for the past several years ranked the most active volcano in the world. In 2010 Merapi blew up and caused widespread destruction. The volcano itself has also changed as the top of Merapi blew off when it erupted and now has a large gauge on it's south side which you can see in my pictures.

We began the 6 hr hike at 5AM (we were suppose to leave at 4AM but it was raining) hoping to catch the sunrise but we unfortunately missed it because of the delay. I was a bit disappointed we were unable to climb further up the volcano because of the toxic gas, but I was still happy to be way above the cloud line. It was however amazing to see how fast plants are able to grow back when just two years ago every on the volcano was destroyed by the volcanic gas, ash and lava. I was told that you are able to hike further up the volcano from the north side so I will certainly have to put that on my list for next time.

All the greenery you see is brand new within the past two years since it exploded in 2010





Night view. You can still see the  smoke coming out of the volcano.



Hiking through the new brush and dead trees

Dead trees from the last eruption

Gorges carved by the hot lava when the volcano last exploded. You can see the solid lava in the 'river bed'

Solid lava

My hiking group