Site Moved...

As I have run out of free photo space, I have moved my blog to Wordpress.  If the site doesn't automatically redirect you to the new site in 6 seconds, click on:

http://thelittleyarisdiary.wordpress.com/

Bye bye blogspot...

Making New Friends

OK, not so much the human kind, but the four-legged ones.  For some reason we always get 'accosted' by dogs when we're traveling.  

Last year, it was the german shepherd who decided to tag along on our 12-mile run in Cafayate.  

This year, it was the hungry little mutts in Phuket who wanted a piece of my breakfast danish.  J was bringing the danish back to the room, and the dogs quickly followed him back onto the hotel grounds.

Now these dogs have the life.  Mocha would love to be a beach bum...

Novotel Resort Panwa Phuket

Please visit new site: 

http://thelittleyarisdiary.wordpress.com/2011/01/11/novotel-beach-resort-panwa-phuket/

Dining On The Beach

One would often see in movies or romantic getaway brochures of couples dining on the beach, and invariably one would think, 'How romantic'.  While in Ko Phi Phi, we go the the chance to dine on the beach for the first time.

First off, one can't possibly pass up the opportunity of swinging on a swing on the beach...

 Romantic beach dinner

Romantic, until the mosquitoes came out in full force and we were practically eaten alive.  I was so busy scratching and chasing away the mosquitos I could hardly enjoy the meal.  I couldn't get out of there fast enough.  So at the end of the day, we've both agreed that dining on the beach is overrated, unless you pretreat yourself with DEET beforehand.

Thai Name

While we were walking on the grounds of Holiday Inn Phi Phi we saw signs with inscriptions of couples' names along with dates of their wedding, honeymoon, anniversary, etc. and cheesy phrases like 'we complete each other'.  A few of them had their 'Thai' names inscribed, which got me thinking...


Me: I wonder what my Thai name would be...
J {without missing a beat}: 'The-woman-who-eats-too-much'.


Spoken like a true romantic...

Holiday Inn Ko Phi Phi

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http://thelittleyarisdiary.wordpress.com/2011/01/08/holiday-inn-resort-ko-phi-phi/

Ayuthaya

On our way from Chiang Mai to Bangkok, we stopped by Ayuthaya to check out the ruins.  This used to be the capital of Siam in the 1350-1760s before it was invaded by the Burmese, and is now one of the UNESCO world heritage sites.

After getting off the train, we had to take a short ferry to get to the old city.

 'Houses' along the banks

 Our 'ferry', 20 bhat (66 cents) per person.

Wat Mahathat

 The 'wrapped' buddha head in Wat Mahathat

J and I made the faux pas of posing in front of the buddha status...numerous times.

Wat Ratchaburana

 With the most intact prang, where the king's brothers were cremated.

 The prang.

Going down into the crypt.

Both of us were walking through the park with our packs on.

 

By the time we got to the 3rd ruin, the sun was ablaze.  So instead of going in, I just snapped a picture of the Wat Phra Shri Sanphet from outside the wall.  Moving along...

Wat Chaiwatthanaram is located outside the park, which meant we had to take a tuk tuk, and me watching J torment the drivers with his low ball offers.  

This is the most intact temple of all ruins.

 All the buddha heads were chopped off, a very curious thing...

J & I breezed through this UNESCO site in 2 hours.  We would have lingered a bit longer had we not have to carry our 20+lb packs.  We both agreed that it was impressive, however, still not as impressive as the ancient city of Ephesus.  On our way back to Bangkok, we took the 'snail rail' and got tickets for 3rd class sans ac.  Two tickets cost us 30 bhat ($1) for a 1 1/2 hour trip.  Where in the world can you get train tickets for 50 cents?!  Granted we didn't get a seat until half way into the ride.

Sitting on wooden benches.