6/8 - Koh Si Chang

Hi All,

If you're looking for the archetypes of Thai islands life sweeping sandy beaches, coconut groves - you won't find it in this sliver of green of the island, instead you can find here a fishing village atmosphere, gentle green hills, studded with Chinese and Thai temples and beachfront remaindered at a stately royal palace.

The way to Koh Si Chang:




In Koh Si Chang, there are many Limestone caves where people go to meditate and One Vipassana Monastery for doing it right (on their belief)



This island is so small so we could covered it in only one day, All the hot spots could have been explored by a motorcycle which we rent and no doubt it was interesting.





Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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4/8 - Koh Mak

Hi All,

Just a few kilometres south of the main land yet a million miles from its heavy urbanisation lies Ko Mak, undoubtedly a peaceful and relaxing place. A tropical haven for those who like the quiet life, it has so far escaped the grasp of the major developers and remains a small slice of an island locked in time.



Coconut and rubber tree plantations cover a vast proportion of the island, interspersed with patches of lush virgin forest. The population now numbers upwards of 600 people.



We arrived here in the low season and felt like Robinson Cruso on an isolated island, there were only us, some locals working in their places, and the sound of breaking waves.
Koh Mak is a very small and a flat island, therefore it is an easy to explore by foot, In the low tide we could have crossed to the near island and circle it for 3 hours walk, the other days we walked towards the other side of Koh Mak along coconut plantations and sandy beaches.



It was our last opportunity to lay down, do nothing without any worries ...

Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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30/7 - Trat

Hi All,

For too many travelers, all they see of Trat is the shiny new bus station before they are shunted to the islands. We decided to stay for a longer time and explore this city.
Definitely - a wise choice!



We have heard about the exotic night market here and the reality was better than our imagination. The variety of food stalls amazed us, everything was delicious, all was colorful, and the prices were ridiculously cheap.



The town itself is a nice place to relax and explore together, before heading to the island, we shopped for a bit, since the prices here are much cheaper than the Capital - Bangkok.

Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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29/7 - Nang Rong

Hi All,

The reason we came to Nang Rung was to see Phanom Rung temple, this complex is the largest and best restored of all Khmer monuments in Thailand, and as our travel guide book defines it "it has a knock me dead location", which you can see Cambodia's land from there.

Phanom Rung:
Phanom Rung is a Khmer temple complex set on the rim of an extinct volcano at about 430 meters above sea level. It was built in sandstone and late rite in the 10th to 13th centuries. It was a Hindu shrine dedicated to Shiva.



There are another more temples in the area, such as Meuang Tam which has also been built by the Khmer people.



It is a funny story how we met Ning and Poom - 2 local young nurses from the area, they were helping us to lift our motorcycle on a truck after we got a flat tyre.
We were lucky to find someone who brought us with our motorcycle to a near by garage to fix the tyre.



We spent 2 nights in a row with those 2 girls while having dinner (one in a restaurant the second at their home), trying to communicate with our Thai and their lack of English ...





Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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25/7 - Chinag Khan

Hi all,

Traditional timber houses line the streets, old ladies sit nattering in their shadow and the Mekong river drift slowly by, Chiang Khan has an image of a northern riverside town, pretty and peaceful with photogenic views of the river, rice fields and the mountains of Laos beyond.



No doubt, this was one of our best places to visit and not only because of what has already been written but because of the people we met as well.
Some of the experiences we had been through include:
- Interacting with a monk in his residency in an isolated place.



- Getting lost with our motorcycle and getting unexpected help from a Kiwi man (Clynt), he was surprised to see us as much as we were to see him. His family came to visit his Thai wife family in this remote village. They were kind to us and we got an invitation to their family dinner.



- It was the first time for Efrat to work in the rice field among the locals.



- Communicating in Hebrew with a local farmer which worked in Israel for a 4-5 month, he was so funny and spoke Hebrew pretty well.

- Meeting Unchalee (a teacher) and her family, she invited us couple of times to have dinner with her while sharing nice and interesting conversations.



Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

---

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20/7 - Back to Bangkok

Hi all,

Before going further more and exploring North East of Thailand, we stopped for a while in the capital, Once again we met Yair (whom we first met in Lijiang, China) and his friend - Nava who came from Israel.
With them we went to the Weekend Market and spend wonderful time over there, did some shopping and shared few laughs.





Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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19/7 - Sangkhlaburi

Hi All,

Sangkhlaburi, a sleepy town of 15,000, is located 340 km northwest of Bangkok in Kanchanaburi Province.
Most of Sangkhlaburi's population includes many ethnic groups such as the Mon, Karen, Burmans, Lao and even Burmese Muslims from Arakan state in western Burma. The ethnic conflicts of earlier decades have largely been sorted out. Sangkhlaburi now guarantees a peaceful multi-ethnic environment.



Sanghkhlaburi is set towards the end of one of Thailand's western border, nestled on the low hills edging Vajiralongkorn Lake, and is surrounded to the north and east by higher forest-covered limestone ranges. The outlying area hosts Karen and Mon villages, caves, waterfalls and jungle.



To explore these sights we rented a motorcycle for 2 days, riding among the peacful villages, trying to contact with the locals (the language barrier was very hard), stopping in secluded places, admiring the temples and of course visiting Tree Pagodas Pass, which remark the official border with Burma. Unfortunately these days the border is closed for forigners and local at once, altough we found it breached and many people from either side went through each direction without any problem.



Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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14/7 - Back to Bangkok

Hi All,


It is nice to feel back home, to soak up the atmosphere of freedom, doing anything you want whatever you want whenever you want it, just name it: Thai massages, drinking wonderful fruit shakes, excellent food from the street, huge shopping malls, 7 Eleven of course, you can find here big variety from everything.



We arrived here on Efrat's birthday after a long long night - the flight from Kunming was delayed, KhaoSan Road (backpacker's heaven) welcomed us at 3 A.M.It took us an hour to find a vacancy (all guest houses here are full), tired and exhausting we went to sleep. After getting up, it was a good time to celebrate Efrat's birthday in a cinema ("Hanckok"). The next day we treated ourselves with facial treatment and Thai massage.



Now after spoiling ourselves we were ready to go and explore the unfamiliar Thailand, starting at Sangkhlaburi and the border with Burma (Myanmar).

Have fun,
Efrat and Yoni.

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