Crystal's Tale of Adventure in Thailand!
Crystal we've had a lot of time of a lot of people talking about different trips I've talked about trips Libby gford talked about her trip and talked about her trip when do we get to hear from Crystal again yes finally it's finally my time to take over your ears and not have Joe go on all these tangents it's my turn to talk it's Crystal's big moment everybody we're GNA take you to the beaches we're going to go Halfway Around the World to Thailand woohoo where uh Crystal tied on a good time yes yes she did I like to refer to myself in the third person she hopped around three different little Islands so sit back relax because we GNA learn all about have you been to Thailand Joe I I've only been to the Bangkok Airport ah okay and I was there around midnight and I had some crazy Pizza while we were waiting for our connecting flight that was it did you did you have lounge access I did not ah you can get a massage but we'll talk about that inside of the show even if would have had lounge access because it was midnight I think all lounges were closed true yeah literally we landed at I think like 11:30 and our plane took off at 3:00 a.m. ah so yeah we're there in the middle of the night yikes we're gonna talk about our gear too so at the end of this episode yes and guess what it happens every episode so at the end of this one and every episode you're going to hear our gear of the day pick so if you're looking for Best in Class gear that's worth the price head to our Amazon page it's at stacking adventures.com /gd you'll help the show and help yourself Adventure betterer I like saying that be betterer yes foress funny like the worse and worser person ready for adventure from vacation to station and from the mountains to the beach this is the stacking Adventures podcast [Music] welcome everybody to the bestest show about travel around the world she's Crystal and I'm Joe and welcome to the stacking Ventures podcast every venture has a story and we are always hear your stories in fact if you've been to Thailand we're going to want to hear your stories in just a few weeks to that part of the world but Crystal what did you love love about Thailand the most ooh I wouldn't say being away from home cuz but I don't know just being on vacation but the beaches were nice the food I would say would be my top top going back looking at pictures I'm like why don't I eat like this every day because every meal there is something fresh on your plate and it's so beautifully colored so that's what I loved I loved how the food was just something fresh every single meal yeah but still looking at some of the pictures that you shared with our Facebook group The stacking Venture Clubhouse by the way if you'd like to join us over there you shared some pictures I would weigh 700 lb I would just eat and eat and eat it so fresh though it was really fresh and of course what I love to do you get to walk a lot too so there was lots of walking and lots of fresh fresh fresh food good point so so let's dive in why did you decide on Thailand I mean there's so many different places you can go why go to title end in 2019 so I'm a person who loves to hit the Easy Button friends of mine were getting married and so they're like hey we're getting married um you know there's a group of us going would you want to go and I was like uh Hells yeah I want to go um but you know of course you you plan it yourself I don't know when I get married husband I hope you're out there somewhere I wouldn't mind a destination wedding and you know obviously no gifts just because that way you all just get to get away there's no pressure um of like gifts and all this other stuff and the dinners and blah blah blah blah blah problem with the destination wedding is there is a little pressure to go you know what I mean like if Crystal goes hey I'm going to Thailand to get married I'm like oh now I'm going to Thailand whether I really want to or not well no you don't have to I mean it's I understand budget that's another thing I loved about Thailand everything was super cheap and even when I went back to look at the prices of the hotel tells cuz I'm like oh this was preco and you know it's got to be more now nope the prices are just the same as when I was there because even planning the trip so going hopping into planning it okay A friend in a friend of mine and I we both divided and conquered on booking different things like the flights it's like all right who has the most points or whatever for this or who can get the best deal for this or that cuz our flight it was direct flight well not direct it was Qatar airlines first of all if you have not flown one of the other airlines it's it knocks us out of the park well I'm not going to say because I've flown United overseas too and it's beautiful what was so good about it the uniforms like the presentation like there is just like visually just stepping on you're like oh my God they look so nice and then the the little welcome gift you get with the well I'm not going to well darn this is leading to my my hint of my gear but you like you get a toothbrush like you get these face washing cloths you get these socks to walk around you know if you want so they really want to make your flight comfortable and I am not afraid to admit I'm a middle seat kind of gal I don't I'm super tall I don't mind sitting in the middle seat so even in the middle seat like I was so like comfortable Prim proper just from like the welcome I got and the food the the menu items even on the airplane I was like whoa wait with with all that stuff that that bag of stuff were were you were you in business class no was not in business class Cann imagine that was in economy regular middle seat class yes like I I was like they oh my goodness the regular folks like this Amazon crystal in the middle seat in economy it was great and so Qatar airlines so direct from Dallas to Qatar was about 12 and a half hours um small layover in DOA and then from Doha to sorry if I'm mispronouncing this stuff to to Bangkok it was six hours so it was a good break you didn't get to spend any time in Doha then a little bit at the airport lounge the airport lounge was nice so having you know my my um Chase it comes with priority pass I know things have changed since then but the the airport lounge in Doha was really really nice even on the way back staying there we waited we waited out the TV room with the couch and everything because we had a pretty long layover coming back so definitely waited out that room because there's a whole bunch of different rooms there's like showers there's amazing food drinks all that in the Doha lounge and the Bangkok Lounge that's fabulous if you it took me the longest time to spring for the Air Airline lounge access it took me forever to do it um and when I finally did it when I finally did it uh it I'll never go back I will changing I will never ever ever go back because the the airline Lounge just it's such a nice respit um and what's weird is I have access to two three different lounges um Capital One but I have kind of a low credit card where I only get to go once a year or twice a year okay uh I get to go twice a year and then I I have access to the American Airlines Lounge which doesn't have great food I don't um and then I have access to the American Express Lounge through the stacking Benjamin's card that we have and I'll tell you the American Express Lounge has the best food and it's probably the nicest Lounge but Crystal it's always packed it is always packed and you go to the American Airlines Lounge the food isn't nearly as good but it's usually half empty when I go and and I actually prefer it's funny because I'm like okay I'd say nine times out of 10 now I go to the American Airlines Lounge so I'm thinking about actually getting rid of the American Express card because I I don't know except when I travel internationally but but you love the you love the priority pass Lounge in Doha right and I how do you have the American um lounge access I have I actually just upgraded to the Black American Airlines card I used to have the gray card but Cheryl got the black card okay and when she got the Black Card the the fee on that card is a monster monster fee um but it's worth it always right well here's the deal she gets upgraded every time we fly for free so one time she gets upgraded on a flight like from uh Texar can to Seattle and and and and there's a $900 difference right there wow so oh yeah I know it I know that's why love to talk about that I only have cards that have a fee because what you get is way more than that fee cuz my Chase the sa Sapphire Reserve is how I got airport lounge yeah if we didn't fly it wouldn't be worth it it wouldn't be worth it if we didn't fly well the well the reserve would because you get to use it for lots of points and stuff right did you did you pay for this flight using points yes yep I paid for the flight um I paid for the hotel and cuz we so three places I think I did I say the three places so went to Bangkok chupon chupon and Catal so those three different um Islands we went to and I paid for let's see I paid for the hotel in Bangkok with points that was the at mind executive suites that hotel was only 40 bucks a night and 40 bucks a night listen I thought it sounds like the sketchiest thing ever no it was well they were undergoing some Renovations but I thought and I thought are they giving us a discount cuz the renovations cuz that doesn't bother me at all like it was was just like the lobby area that was being renovated and so it's like sorry we're just going to have to you know you have to get free room service because we don't have like the breakfast area and I was like well boohoo thanks you know I don't have to like get half dressed to go down for some breakfast you know before I'm ready you know to miss out because I forget what the the time difference was but yeah so ordered room service every day for breakfast and the food was so good for the breakfast like wow I was having um like rice and stuff for breakfast but it was it was it was really really really good and there's some pictures too of some weird fruits that I'd never seen before but those were also good too but I also looked it up that hotel is still about 40 bucks a night also it still is now yes and it's right by the train so that was day one so day one um this is the photo this is in Bangkok yeah in Bangkok right by the train so you've you've you've taken this massive intern flight you don't have that long a layover in Doha and then you have 6 hours on another flight what time did you get into Bangkok oh that's a good question I don't know you don't remember I remember sleeping but I remember sleeping most of the time yeah was it night I think it was night good I went right to bed yeah yeah cuz I remember starting I believe starting fresh the next day that's a good question that's nice because that kind of helps you a little bit with your time hangover you you know when we went to Nal we got there at like midnight and it was so nice to go to bed right away after you know when we got there and the next day I just felt a Pang of of uh tiredness around 3 or 4 in the afternoon you know it would be like 4 in the morning our time uh but besides that it was good like I was I was pretty good because we got to sleep right away yeah Dubai is the only place I remember being super crazy crazy tired but the other places for some reason I don't remember the the time lag but that place was nice so the first stop hopped on the train because we were a few steps from the train it is cute cuz there's like a 7eleven and they give you um they give you your change in these stamps these super cute stamps with characters on them so if you have like pennies um of change they'll just give it to you in the form of stamps that are worth however much change you had left over but uh a friend of mine that was getting married the first stop was to get a suit a custom suit so went to the mall um what was the name of that mall it was something area 21 or something like that and for people who don't know southeast Asia is known for custom suits and being able to get this stuff really inexpensively my son was getting ready to do his interview when we were in Vietnam and he got an interview suit while we were in Vietnam I know I really wanted to get pants too I was like I wish that's one regret I wish I would have gotten pants mate cuz I'm super tall and I really would have benefited from a pair of like custom pants that's cool but yeah it was called terminal 21 at as AOK mall then we took the train again like the train was super easy obviously that was my next question yeah this the train was super easy um and they have a lot of things in both languages obviously too so that the train was easy you go up pay they even have which I wish we had it every well I guess most train stations here but food like there's tea like there's all kinds of knife snacks and food that you can buy there's like a little convenience well no at the train station the train station yeah like they had convenience snacks and all that like a little convenience popup store at the um at the train station and so then we went to I got a believe hold on I also got to believe Crystal that the the train wasn't expensive either no no very very nominal I don't even remember but it was it was like our regular commuter trains out here like a dollar or two beautiful and then we went to there was a weekend Market cuz yeah we did arrive on a weekend day um or that that you know our first day was um on the weekend so there was it was like a I can't pronounce it it's the chatu oh I'm looking at the picture chatt yeah chatt check weekend market and so that was cool because they had you know a whole bunch of different stuff whole bunch of different food they had this big huge huge bowl of like this rice that they were cooking and you that's how they served it you know to you from there they had these like they look like serpents on a stick definitely didn't eat that but like that what it what is the one thing they talk about Thailand street food the street food was really good I tried a lot of it even the floating markets like some of people you walk up and they are they're sitting in their little boat that's Tethered to like the sides of the area that you're walking around and that's you buy your food from there I bet the fish the fish is like freshly caught the freshest fish ever too well I don't know gree had the freshest fish too but yeah it it is it's like everything is just so like and it's I love how like prepared and like it's like a little presentation with it too like for people that don't go to the markets when you travel you really want to carve out time to do that you talked about going to the market also when you were in Tokyo I remember that's where you ran into meet s yeah the fish market it is I even like going to Farmers Market here so it's like picture you know the farmers market like that's just a routine a habit for a lot of people and that is like I'm glad that we have that here too because I didn't get into it till after being overseas isn't that wild that you you get into it all way halfway across the world and then go to our own Farmers Market but the cool thing about it is that that's where you see you see the locals you see the way people really eat you see what they do and uh and and you get to interact with with people and man it's so fun to go to the mark always now when we go Place places we find time for the markets and on uh places it's funny I think Jim was the one that told me I was pronouncing it wrong is it uh oh yeah Vier Vier yes I think it's Vier Jim we're saying it wrong again Jim is yelling at his device cuz we get it wrong but veter we're going to go with that for today uh and then he can he can tell me I was wrong um on veter you can find or even on trip advisor frankly yeah you can find uh these Market guides now they are taking you around to their favorite stalls which means they've been paid by these different stalls to bring you by and you're going to buy stuff but you know what they don't want it to suck and we generally we'll do that Crystal we'll get a guide and they'll take us around and tell us about the local Cuisines and what they eat I'll try crap that I wouldn't have tried in a million years by hiring the guy and and and and by the way those are we did that in Vienna we did that in Vietnam we did that in um oh we've we did it in Catman de um so just around the world seeing the different markets we didn't in Jordan we did in man Jordan went through the market so just all the different it's cool to see all the Local Foods and to just stick stuff in your mouth that you would have thought you would have done in a Million years okay yeah you keep it clean Joe but yeah that is funny and another thing that's on my list are the Christmas markets like I I have not seen any of the Christmas markets overseas so definitely that's on my list of seeing a lot of the Christmas markets well you know I'm booked to go again this year so ah nice I will be going at the beginning of December with uh my mom we're taking my mom my mom's first time ever outside of the US or Canada and how old she's uh 78 wow that's amazing and has never been and she's so nervous Crystal she's so oh yeah I cannot imagine all right good luck and you already know we're going to be floating down the Ry River and you already know how easy that is to go through Europe and once she gets there she's GNA go why did I wait so long like what was I doing yes yes oh gosh I am looking at I'm looking at I'm sorry I'm looking at your picture of the big bowl of uh of rice that they're in out that is that's a huge bowl of rice it is ginormous and so the things the other things to do besides the floating Market also like there um all of the the you know the traditional things like the big the big golden the Golden Palace is there you see like the Grand Palace and then the Golden Palace so there's this big giant Buddha and when I say big giant Buddha I would be interesting to see this interesting to see the stats on how big this guy is because he's l leaned on his side I put a picture of him leaned on his side and I would even say his bicep is taller than like what like five eight story building five oh goodness couple stories yeah he's really tall maybe four about four three four stories is this to you got a you've got a picture over a river of a temple that's all lit up at night is that the Golden Palace or Golden Temple yes I believe that is so we did a dinner boat cruise so that's another thing you have to have to do and if you can tell from the decor of like you know my play setting it looks pretty old the boat was made out of wood also so I'm like okay we're about it's pouring rain so it was it was nice weather so we were there in September so it was nice and oh my God my hair the humidity got the best of my hair cuz day one it was laate last day fro but yeah I was like it's pouring rain and we're about to get on a a a a wooden boat but Had the Time of Our Lives you know they do a show on the boat um and the food was very good there were lots of food options too lots of drink options we rode in a Tuk Tuk so that's you know the you have to ride in a Tuk Tuk when you're there is it what a Rick Shaw is a the similar name of kind of yeah but it's like a it's like it's almost like the equival of a mullet where it's business in front party in the back it's it's motorcycle in front but it's a carriage in the back yes and I had some videos of us in there cuz they do they go crazy like they they loved us they loved like driving around in those little things it was hilarious it was definitely and then the different tuktok too like they have the Super Mario Brothers themed ones like they have all different theme ones too they had some furry looking ones at one of the places we stopped so it was itely hilarious but they were cute little coffee shops that we um would you know stop and just grab a bite to um and I liked also the pricing again pricing was super cheap to eat it's like they want to feed you they don't want to price gout you they just want you to eat eat something good and then you know spread the word about it if you can find a way to get there it sounds like that's the most expensive part isting yeah I don't remember how much the I'm going to look and then of course use Google flights to pick you know best dates then they had asiati that's their version of like a a Navy Pier of where like the feris whe is and then they have like all the other like attractions and again another Market restaurants and then a lot of other really really cool stuff we did another boat ride there's a picture of me with my life jacket I was the only one with my life jacket on but you know we we rode in a boat with the guy you know one guy pedaling us um from one place to another one part of town to the other because Bangkok it is it's surrounded there's a lot of water there's a really like long I think it's the river that's there so there's there's places on both sides of the river also so we were floating from not literally floating but we would go you know different sides also and the boat rides were pretty cheap too and so for part two of our trip was chupon and we took a hopper flight on over there and why did you decide why did you decide to go to uh uh champan that's where the wedding was ah so one of my friends was actually from there so we had an excellent tour guide from you know Word of Mouth also so I bought fabric of course while I was there um and a fun fact was I made most of the clothes actually that you'll see even the dress that I wore to the wedding is a dress that's cool yeah before we before we do this I got a couple more questions about Bangkok yep uh uh in that part of the trip did you feel safe the whole time you were there yes yes yes I did even at night they it is I mean of course we're talking 2019 they loved us they loved Americans I don't think there's that much difference between 2019 and 2025 yeah I don't think there's a difference but yeah I had a blast like everywhere we met and a lot of people I don't know sometimes people think you're a celebrity even though you you have not that look about you but it they were welcoming even I guess communicating was wasn't I don't even remember having like language barrier issues um at the different places I would say cuz everything is pretty Universal of you know where to eat I'm here to check in you know all that kind of stuff like all those processes were super smoothly even booking everything was super smooth yeah I finally got to the picture of the of the Buddha and you're right must be five stories tall six stories tall it's huge and it's long I wouldn't I would say a block long probably too that stretched out reclining yeah the feet are way way down there this picture is from The Head and the feet are way way way down there oh look how small the people are by the feet wow wow wow wow um last question about Bangkok was I had a friend that went there um maybe seven or eight years ago and she actually when she and her family her name's um Miata and I actually had done some writing for her when I was just transitioning out of financial planning and Miata when she went with her family Crystal she had a monkey steal her purse while she was in Bankok and she had to do the thing where you bribed it with a banana and it would drop the it yeah it would drop the purse to pick up the banana luckily it dropped the purse because I've heard that doesn't work a lot um but did you see any monkeys when you were there no I doesn't wonder I wonder where she was when that happened cuz we stayed pretty much Cityside cuz like I said the hotel was right by the train so in the mornings we would adventure for the day hop on the train and then make it towards somewhere else or towards the water and then either hop on a boat or do something else so yeah we I did not there was probably the the funniest thing was um in chupan like we um there was a dog that wandered like there were dogs and cats that kind of owned that Island cuz it was more definitely way more laidback but yeah they went wherever they wanted that's well chy was just in Turkey she's like there were cats everywhere were there were just cats that that everybody fed everywhere well the mus the music is coming up we're going to hear about chupon and we're going to hear about uh yeah that name by the way sounds like it's right out of a Marvel movie oh yeah katow that's my Marvel name we're going to hear about them after the break but the Midway point of the show is our Midway pit stop and this is like you know you're you're taking a pit stop halfway to your destination you're wondering what it's like when you're going to be there and for us we're wondering what the gear of the day is we have a whole page of gear that Crystal and I have already Road tested we've used it we know that this stuff works and it's truly made our trips better you can find all of our gear the day and why we like it and what the potential downsides might be I like that we put that in there too Crystal about you might not like it yeah yep it's stacking adventures.com or gear of the day actually I noticed the official is gear of the week somehow we transitioned it over gear of the day but it is yeah they all work though so look at us so what's our hint Crystal stuff all right so our hint and I was making sure did I have this one before our hint is that it's something that you will need well you well okay I H to Ed it it being in like the welcome packet like when you get on the flight but obviously I've never gotten this on an American flight um but sometimes you get these little fancy little refreshing packets for when you land or for during the flight but this is something you can definitely use at the hotel you can use it at home um and this will keep you um it's like um it it kind of like helps to weed out distractions um um and to keep you your um your rhythm going that's a phone call if we want to take that Bo I know someone really wants to probably probably guess someone really wants to guess at our gear of the day so I would say it keeps you on your on your C rhy rhythms because it it helps with like distractions and stuff like I think I know what it is let me think about it during our break here and uh and we'll be right back BRB all right crystal your gear of the day was it's something to weed out distractions you can use it at home you can use it on the road um but it takes care of of uh distracting things yeah yep I think I know exactly what it is I'll give you my guess though at the end of the show ah okay all right so let's move on to where the wedding was uh uh and I'm seeing pictures of this little plane that you were on yeah super cute Hopper flight it's it's it's a commuter flight also so that thing the people you see people like they come off hop on and keep going and there's two doors another thing that why don't we do so if your seats a certain number you're getting on the back door if your seats a certain number you're getting on the front door and the same for exiting and it was so efficient I had that in Nepal the plane boarded and and took off so quickly yes cuz they do it like so many times a day like that flight went back and forth so many times a day and I think it was less than a 100 bucks also it was it was not super probably less than that I don't remember the exact number for this one but um we stayed at a resort it was called the Nana Beach Resort I don't remember how much this one was either but I've got pictures like it's a beautiful Resort but it was quiet it was this place if you're going for like the party life night life this was super quiet like this was the chill out like we're going to relax like very very chill and this is where the dogs were also cuz we walked and this is a good place for walking and exploring and first of all the rooms are breathtaking they're little houses that you get you're Little Villa cute little Villa yes like a whole bunch of different Villas there's a pool in addition to the beach and there's this really nice like where the food is was stunning like it's a place like with the pictures of the world and the elephants and all that stuff that's where the food was indoor out indoor it's indoor but it's it's just floor to ceiling walls and it's just amazingly beautiful I'm looking at a pool a picture of the pool it is a regular you know o um angular pool but it's angled toward the ocean and you're looking down down the spine of it to the ocean in the distance so I'm in the pool I'm enjoying the pool I've got this beautiful ocean with uh with islands around and palm trees just beautiful I could spend all day here looks like it was raining when you're taking the picture well some of the days it rained it's almost like how almost the Caribbean how it rains every day Monsoon and then Sun comes out but it didn't rain every single day just a couple of days it rained um and haha you'll like this I actually went to the National Park totally didn't know that I was at a national park so I did go to it's called Pac Nom National Park and they have this like really scary looking wooden bridge that you can walk across and it's long so I took um couple pictures on the bridge like literally the boards are not even the same sizes they're kind of staggered like it it it's it takes some bravery to walk across this bridge and so part of the wedding too like they take gifts to a monk and that was a funny thing because and you take gifts it's like normal things like toilet paper soap like a new um outfit like the robe the covering that they wear and in the middle of that ceremony of giving the monks the gift a dog just walks in and sits and like oh I watch too so that was another funny thing but the souvenirs but it was oh and then another highlight of the wait a minute let's go back to the bridge for a second because I finally found the photo of the bridge and the bridge looks sketchy very very sketchy but so sketch it was safe if I walked across that bridge any of you guys can cuz it's sketch time stand but it it was it was safe before we get to the before we get to the wedding which I want to talk about about here in a second I want to talk about some of these some of those because you were just bringing up some of the snacks and souvenirs yes you had for people that don't know Asia is known for wacko Kit Kats just wacko Kit Kats and I see you got a picture here with a couple weird ass Kit Kat flavors I can't even read what they are do you remember what these Kit Kats are well they had the purple sweet potato that was one sweet potato Kit Kat yes yep yep the purple the purple sweet potato it looks like purple poop it does and they had it was like the matcha that's the one with the green one look at the the nude the name of the mint is called nude I don't know that they knew that how that translate but it's like it's they little um they're essential oils inside of those little pellets and it's cute because you play a little game to get it to go to fall out of the dispenser it's like what you do that's funny that the little tablets are getting CAU in the letters right so think about that that little thing think about that little game I I played a little bit when I was a kid when there was like the marble remember there was the marble and you're trying to get it all the way around it's a maze it is pry much a maze so you you have to get the little pallet through the maze I don't want my mints frustrating Crystal but they were good cuz it was just essential oils so there were like peppermint um I forget get the what are other yeah you've got green ones you've got a a pinkish red one oh a raspberry it says okay oh and there's another one here what's that one this one is peppermint yeah yeah and the lace they had different flavors of the Lays I bought the Sweet Basil flavor and those are really really really good see that sounds like something I'd eat here yeah yeah yes why don't we have these I guess at the International Grocery Stores they probably have those but yeah they had some really cool flavors let's talk about the wedding this this this beautiful outfit that you're in for the wedding is this what they made locally well no so I made that but the sash that I have on is what they give locally and what they make locally and speaking of making locally we made fabric so I made um I designed my own fabric scarf which you know I have it here too but super cute I put Tha I had them write my name in Thailand 2016 on it so at the there's a a picture of like a before and after of when so you use uh you use wax and you use different paints um to to make the different patterns like it's the melted wax and you you draw the the patterns with the melted wax and that kind of protects the fabric from being dyed so that's how we made this super beautiful like this is my favorite I always get a compliment when I wear it too but yeah made a super cool but kn you Crystal you're in heaven making this stuff yeah I I'm surprised my head did not explode well and and and this is another important thing when you go to other parts of the world take your favorite hobby oh look at that Thailand 2019 my name yeah that's my name in Tha it looks like aana aana yeah sorry no no your name looks like aana the word Asana yeah yeah so I thought that was cool that was like that was so memorable that made it really really memorable and special too so I recommend that too um well and that's what I was saying was that when you go to these other places one thing that we've learned as well is take whatever your hobby is and go see how people do that hobby wherever you are crystal you know me I go to board game stores around the world and generally I can't buy anything because the rules are in a different language but we did we had this game when we were in Peru we have this card game that llama card game that people bought from our gear of the day we bought uh a deck there cuz we forgot to bring it and I actually bought it and gave it to my other friends and I taught them how to play it so they wouldn't need the Spanish rules got um they'd just be able to to learn from me and we played that game every night after we were done we go to the beautiful bar at the hotel and play rounded two a llama with a drink before we all headed to bed now you're G to get me into card games now well I just really like the fact that you went did fabric you know uh uh Cheryl has done some pottery in these different places we've gone where they're really good at Pottery uh I know in Peru they had they also had uh people that did uh made all kinds of blankets and stuff you would have love that um but just see how it lines up and go on those specific tours and see how people around the world are doing the same stuff you're doing it really I don't know it makes you remember that we're all more alike than we are different 100% And then getting around town that was also nice because a lot of places we went on foot but then like that fabric Workshop we we had a car for that and the hotel arranges that stuff too if you want to go somewhere yeah very very helpful wait a minute you had a car did they they had a driver for the car us up yeah no like it was like a a uber but it was more like van style like want go right no no no definitely no and then of course they had a floating Market there but then from chupan we went to Kau and that one was a speed boat so that was another super cool because that boat wait a minute before we get to the speed booat why did you decide well can we talk about the wedding first before we exit a little bit because I'm I'm I'm seeing they have this wedding all set up like right on the beach oh yeah stunning beautiful flowers yeah just this beautiful like windowed area with the flowers on both sides of and flowers across the top and uh a little white table and the beach and an island way off in the distance what a beautiful place to get married yeah beautiful and the it was quiet so we had the place to ourselves to that also made it more intimate it made it a lot easier for Logistics and all that other stuff because it was it was it was perfect and then there was a bar somewhere over there because I I had a I don't know if I included the picture of the alcohol it was King thong was the the name of the oh I did I saw an empty bottle Hong thong it was called Hong thong I thought you empty the bottle you didn't empty the bottle that bottle was just at the bar I helped no no no no no I helped I helped with that you did your for that country oh my goodness and also by the way before we move on there was a pizza place with uh some weird pizzas that you had one night it looks like shrimp all over everything oh yeah that was delicious so there is a mall also um out there they ride a lot of those scooters cuz I had a picture of the lined up of how many there's like more scooters than cars and the mall was super they had a Kentucky Fried Chicken like they had all that stuff at the mall also but yeah we went into town to the mall and that was pretty funny but we ate at a pizza place that it was it was amazing pizza too like and I was like okay why would I come here and not have you know Thai food every time we were like you know what let's see how they do pizza and yeah they're shmp on their Pizza I totally agree after a few days of just consistently you know I don't eat one consistent food here like today for lunch I'll probably have Mexican food you know a couple days ago I had Italian food like even here I don't I'm not eating what's American Burgers and barbecue right right so french fries every day I don't know um but seeing how they do it like just looking at this it looks like this blend of what they've taken to be quote American mixed with traditional thae stuff to your point shrimp all over everything I'm seeing wings and french fries and uh noodles and sauce noodles and sauce it's crazy shrimp yeah yeah it's funny when we were at the Bali airport uh I had heard because a a friend of ours who lives in Bali told us he goes he said have you had um Pizza Hut like I'm not getting Pizza Hut while I'm in B Earth they had one the airport and our plane was delayed by 3 hours so Crystal we went to Pizza Hut it was amazing that's they had all kinds of different uh Gourmet uh spaghetti dishes and all of these Italian food dishes they had steak steak at a Pizza Hut a Pizza Hut that's highend high-end mixed drinks at the Pizza Hut in the airport it was really good it was crazy I would not have expected that yeah that's probably like the goto I will include pictures yet because I took pictures of their menus too and it was pretty funny it was totally different food now why did you decide to go to Kota after the wedding well a friend of mine wanted to dive cuz she loves diving and that's supposed to have like amazing breathtaking diving um and the group they went too um so we took a speedboat over and even the speedboat that was not expensive and that was another one you just um you walk up pay right there and then you're on your way I don't know how many tax they had right yeah but it's it's speed though it's not it's not your grandma's Water Taxi like it was fast like that sucker like once they turn the Jets on like we were like your face flutters if you're on the top deck like on the cartoons like that seriously what happened if you're on the top deck when it started to go fast wow but Kau was beautiful we all stayed so this was the one that I booked with um All Points the jamama Kiri yeah Jam Kiri Resort and Spa and this place okay this is another one that I thought okay this is only cheap because you know it's a you know low travel or something but it's still around the same cuz this place was $144 a night um let's see was it 144 I I I just pulled this up Crystal this is is a really small island off the coast oh yeah it's tiny it is it is a small island but like I said the diving is bread taking over there I believe it and it has a cool sounding name so the hotel was amazing um got a massage obviously at that at that place uh the were do amazing right right twist my arm But the rooms hardwood floors like that room was the best room probably ever and and the food like if you see like where where the breakfast was it the place was huge and the palm trees and the water in the back like the food spread every day was just there was no reason to leave the hotel well can we talk about just the pool you've got pictures of your drinks and you're sitting by the pool and they have this natural looking rock pile but beyond that it looks like a piece of it's almost infinity pool because I see that there's chairs on the far side of the pool that must be looking the other way out at the ocean yep and I I put a picture of the um all the like the water sports too so actually on the ocean they had a station for you to do all the water sports that your heart can desire and it was free and I hate that I didn't do those because in Antiga did I started every day with water sports but here I didn't because I was still scared because it was the ocean ocean and I was like that water looks deep yeah man the restaurant inside there this looks like the the buffet breakfast yes everything laid out M and just views right from the place the windows all open and the palm trees and I could just imagine the breeze coming in just stunning what Heavenly way to start your day sunrises sunsets and like I said this was $144 a night like where can you get this over high high high place please tell me like I really thought cuz I was like okay they're filming um it was White Lotus in Thailand I was like there got to be at this Resort not even realizing that this isn't even considered highend it gets even better how is this right and so that was cool another funny thing about the island was there's this big pig that just lives on the island the restaurants leave a bowl out for him or her whatever and yeah that was part of the night life and because they had a daily shuttle that went into down town and it went from um yeah the resort to um what's the word they call it mayad is the the main uh Square in the town how far how far away was downtown I would say about it took like maybe five minutes it was super close but it you so hilly it was some of it cuz we even walked cuz our friends were at another Resort and then our other friends were at an Airbnb and so we walked to our friends Resort um but we got on that shuttle to go like into town to meet up with our friends that were at the Airbnb cuz their Airbnb was right in town but the hills like I'm surprised at the shocks on the hotel shuttle because the hills were so steep though like going up and down from the hotel even the stairs I was so mad we didn't find out there was a shortcut to get to our room till like the last day and I was like well why did he bring us this way on the first day cuz I was like oh man we got to walk up those stairs cuz you walk so far up and then you walk back down and I was like why do I have to go up to come back down oh you're getting your daily steps definitely got our daily steps but that was cool so then going back home we book ended it we bookended the trip with Bangkok so that uh they could pick up suits and all that other stuff and then we had another Night in Bangkok which again I cannot believe that hotel was 40 bucks a night and then how did you get though from uh Kau back to Bangkok because I'm looking you've journeyed quite a way south of Bangkok on this trip like you start in Bangkok which is north and then uh and then you kind of made your way further south so now you're quite aways from Bangkok how did you get back there same way so we we we hopped on the same speed boat back to chupan and then our we took a flight from the commuter flight yeah yep that commuter flight must have been 30 minutes flight yeah it was super super short I would say I think or maybe maybe 40 no probably about 30 yeah cuz I was like yeah we got up and came right back down but they still gave us water these cute little water bottles but there was there was it was like two you know two it was very small but yeah it was but it was full you make me want to go there Crystal I know like I'm ready to go to like changai or and all the other place because just looking at how cheap the hotels were and I thought I was like this has got to be just because you know it's the remodeling and no that's the prices even now so I'm I'm planning another trip my friend Chris who has traveled the world he's my mountain climber buddy that really is responsible for me kind of even being here today uh and getting out of financial planning Chris I asked him out of all the places he's been traveling the whole world what's his favorite place and he said Thailand without a doubt it's Thailand it is fantastic he absolutely has loved every time he's gone there and uh has had a wonderful wonderful time uh going there and thought that it was really cool my my uh sister-in-law and brother-in-law also very much uh love Thailand however they had gone uh more Inland the opposite way uh uh when they've gone in fact like Chang ma um up in the northern uh Thailand that area they've been to and I wonder how different that is from the beach experience that you had ah true true true we i' love to hear from some of our adventures like what was what Thailand Adventures have you had heck it doesn't even have to be that it can be uh Cambodia Vietnam Lao um which are three countries I've been to maybe in the future we can talk about my experience going to those three countries you would head to stacking adventures.com my story if you we would love to hear your story please do we're going to do that in about four weeks so you've got few weeks yeah I love listening to those it's so so so fun to hear you do a very good job also like shout out to our listeners for I'm like I feel like I'm all over the place rambling when I tell stories but you guys like do a really like very good job like I'm very impressed I think they're teaching us yes I think they are teaching us how to be better storytellers what was what was the national park that you were in in Bangkok oh yeah it was Pac Nom National Park gotcha and what was it known for for that big Buddha I don't know I like I said I didn't know I was in a park but no I think it was the bridge and stuff but yeah I don't know what it was known for yeah so I wish I'd known now that I have a podcast I will pay more attention like I can't wait to go somewhere now I'll be so thorough in my documentation yeah where is your next trip to I don't know you don't know you don't Travel con I'm going well I'm going home to Chicago and then I'm going to Travel con in Tuscan and Tucson Arizona Tu yeah you're you're and you're going to tell us about swaro National Park yes and I'm going to if you are going to be at Travel conon please let me know also cuz I want to do some popup interviewing of people you you have to make time I don't know if you already have your tickets but I hope you make time for my favorite museum in the world called the desert Sonora Museum which is out there as well so I love love love love that place and I'd love to get your take on it so great times it all right every so make sure you get us your stories and yes please Crystal time for our gear of the day oh yes this is clearly clearly this gets rid of distractions it is it's the uh the it's the mask yes it's the mask this is from one of those packets too at how fancy it's funny cuz I brought mine home as well H yeah actually so when I when I yoga at home I use this too because my again my shade is stuck at half Mass so I wake up and do yoga and so when it's time for the like the reflection part I put this over my eyes I thought you were going to say earplug so that's a good one that you no but they do give you earplugs too A lot of the time in those yep I got earplugs too which I don't use but yes you guess see I made it too easy that's fabulous uh we'll have a good mask however if you take an international flight a lot of the time they will give them to I'm surprised you got them in economy that's really cool that is super cool when I've in business class I've gotten them I don't remember getting a mask when I was in economy and toothpaste and toothbrush that's that's fantastic and socks yeah the socks I was like this has got to be some sort of mistake the socks I got in premium economy again I don't remember getting them in economy that's funny wow good stuff and by the way putting the socks on is great because you know a lot of people when they're sleeping they want to take their shoes off and if you take off your shoes and you got your bare feet that's disgusting pass anyway don't do that all right everybody coming up uh next week we got an adventure that we're going to keep a secret and mostly because our guest couldn't make it I was like did you get the email okay yes it's so we're going to be figuring it out Crystal and I between now and then we do have the the rum coming up we' like to work five weeks ahead but I just found out Crystal Our Guest cannot make it that we thought that was was coming up we've had especially had a hard time with these uh Disney experts which is we were going to do planning the best Disney trip um how that would work and we've had had a heck of a time getting the Disney experts to be able to come they are super busy right now with lots of changes going on at Disney so uh anyway neither Mike Raman or or Lum Mello is able to make it so we'll see what's coming up next week but I know it's going to be something good and it's going to be another story from another adventure huge as huge well thank you Crystal for the story I'm no no no thank you for listening I'm so excited to to head back to Southeast Asia yeah all right fun I'm Crystal and he's Joe you tricked me we'll see you next time keep it thanks for listening [Music]
2025-03-15 07:01
