Thailand for Eid + WE'RE ENGAGED! :)

Sadly, it has been over a month since I updated, and there is just so much to share! To sum up quickly, being a classroom teacher is kicking my ass (tons of work, but also fun and rewarding); we decided to go to Thailand for Eid (since we aren't moving home so figured we should capitalize on the 5 day weekend - Muslims take luxurious breaks for their religious holidays. Americans should take a hint!); and while we were in Thailand we got engaged!!!! So, suffice to say, my 28th year is off to a fantastic start! Obviously there is much more to the story of my last 5 weeks than that, so let me enlighten you.

Once we concluded that we would not be moving home at the beginning of September, as originally hoped, Jared and I decided that we should embrace the best thing about living here and go on a trip for Eid. We had originally planned to go to India for a long weekend, but since we knew we were going to have a 5 day weekend, we figured perhaps we could go somewhere further and more exotic. So we debated the options, looked at some flights and settled on Thailand, a place that has been on both of our lists for quite some time. We planned to spend two days in the south in Krabi and two days in Bangkok. We figured this may be our one and only trip to Thailand, so we should try to see as much of the country as possible.

We took a red-eye through Mumbai and arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday morning, August 30th. In planning our trip we decided the best option would be to have our 'relaxing beach holiday' portion of the trip first since we would need to fly to Krabi and it may be more stressful to be having to fly back up to Bangkok to catch our flight at the end of the trip. So after a brief layover in Bangkok, we caught another flight on a small regional airline called "Air Asia" down to Krabi, a small beach town located on Phang Nga Bay overlooking the Andaman Sea. In planning our trip, we had been discussing where we wanted to stay and I had suggested a cheap guesthouse that was recommended in Lonely Planet. I was actually getting quite annoyed with Jared because he seemed really reluctant to book a place and I was getting worried we wouldn't be able to find a place to stay. Finally about two days before our trip he told me that he had booked the guest house, so we were all set.

Once we got off the plane in Krabi and were walking out of the airport, I asked Jared if we should head for the taxi line. As I started to head that way, he stopped me and said, "No, over here." Well, that was his first surprise for me, of many on the trip. He ushered me over to a private chauffeur who was holding up a sign with Jared's name. We were not in fact staying at the cheap guesthouse I thought, but instead at the five-star Phulay Bay Resort, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve. I was completely floored and speechless. What an amazing surprise! So, our chauffeur took our bags and led us out to a luxury van with white leather interior and lemongrass infused cold towels waiting (it's very humid in Thailand) and bottles of chilled water. I knew instantly that this was going to be a much different trip than I had been anticipating...

When we arrived at the resort, we were greeted immediately by a cool glass of lemongrass iced tea and introduced to our butler Judi who we were told would be taking care of us while we were there. Judi then walked us to her golf cart and drove us down a narrow path through the 32 acre compound to our private beach villa. With each passing moment this trip was getting better and better.

This pagoda is the 'lobby' at Phulay Bay. You walk on the elevated tiles through the water and are then greeted under the pagoda. So beautiful and completely unique! (Notice the 1,000's of tea lights lining the purple walls, a breathtaking sight when it's dark out).

To get to our Villa, Ocean Pavilion 67, you walked down a private garden path complete with a fountain and water features. Hands-down, this is the nicest place we have ever stayed. I really didn't want to leave...

The bedroom! It was the biggest bed I have ever seen... [And as a side note, randomly, one of my student's fathers is the executive chef that helped open the hotel, and so when he came in for conferences we were chatting and he told me that it actually takes two people to make these beds... not surprising.). And the benefit of us being short is that we actually slept sideways in the bed... I like the versatility.

The bathroom, complete with a walk-in closet/changing room on the right and then waterfall-style shower and private toilet room on the left. It just kept getting better everywhere I looked.

The jacuzzi tub, which is big enough for probably 4-5 people comfortably. Such luxury!

View out to the Andaman Sea from the 'office' in our Villa. This is actually the resort where "The Hangover 2" was filmed, so our butler Judi was chatting with us about getting to meet Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis. I guess when they were filming they rented out the whole resort and closed it down to any other guests. A fun factoid, I thought.

And once I picked my jaw up off the ground, Judi was able to give us our 'welcome treat' called Miang Kum which was basically Thai lettuce wraps, but using bamboo leaves instead of lettuce. She showed us how to properly make them and then left us to enjoy our snack.

Jared enjoying the Miang Kum on our beautiful wrap-around porch.

The lovely presentation.

My welcome flowers that Judi gave me when we arrived. So beautiful and fragrant.

View from our porch out to the sea. Judi told us that the mini-bar in our room was actually free (naturally), so we could help ourselves to beer and soda. After our long over-night flight, we decided to veg on the porch for a little while and have a drink before exploring the rest of the resort.

Once we finally motivated, we decided that we wanted to spend the day just enjoying all that Phulay Bay had to offer, so we changed into our bathing suits and decided to try walking to the pool. Well, walking is kind of a no-no at this resort because it is so big, being 32 acres and all, so we kind of got lost and then one of the employees called Judi to come pick us up to take us to the pool. Oh well, I guess that's what a butler is for.

View from the pool area out to the Andaman Sea, with a Long Tail Boat passing by. Long Tails are the traditional style of wooded boat used in the region and actually reminded me a lot of dhows.

Another view out to the Sea from the pool with the limestone islands jutting up from the turquoise water.

Jared in the infinity pool. Phulay Bay is pretty close to heaven. We just kept saying that we are mixed up in how we do things, because this felt like a honeymoon before we were even engaged.

Another shot of Jared in the pool.

Self-take in the pool.

Another self-take on our way back from the pool. They gave me a beach bag and straw hat to use while I was there. I loved all the little touches like that.

On the porch of our villa with the sea behind.

After spending a couple hours at the pool, which included indulging in the pool bar (literally - the bar stools are in the pool, with the bar being one edge of the pool) and enjoying the local Singha beer, we decided to go back to our room to check out the waterfall shower before heading to the Beach Bar to watch the sunset with some cocktails.

Jared lounging at the Beach Bar. It had awesome beds/couches right on the beach. Pure Bliss.

This is the life.

Our yummy cocktails... Lemongrass Martinis. Mmm.The Thais looove lemongrass.

The beautiful Andaman Sea sunset.

More sunset.

Enjoying the sunset.

Yet another sunset shot. I was pretty enthusiastic about it, apparently.

Jared loooved the hammock.

Almost gone...

After we had fully embraced the cocktails and sunset, we decided to go into the little town of Ao Nang to do some exploring and try some of the local food. Taxis are not abundant around Phulay Bay Resort (it is gated, as you'd expect), so we had Judi arrange a local driver to drive us into town. Krabi is a pretty sleepy area after the sun goes down, so Jared was getting a bit sketched as we were driving through what seemed to be the middle of no where. All of the sudden though, we turned a corner and were in the middle of a cute little village right on the Sea. It was a little touristy, but we wanted to check out the local scene a bit. In Jared's panic that we would never get back he had asked the driver to come back for us in two hours, so we didn't have much time. We walked the strip, noticing that there is an inordinate number of Italian restaurants. I didn't know that there is a significant relationship between Thailand and Italy, but who knew? We settled on a small Thai restaurant on Seafood Street and sat on a deck overlooking the Sea. We had to go as Thai as possible, so enjoyed chicken satay, pad thai, and spicy beef. Delicious and with a large Chang beer to wash it all down.

The next morning, August 31st, we got an early start because Jared had arranged for us to go elephant trekking, something that was very high on my list of things to do in Thailand. So after a delicious breakfast buffet at the hotel, we were picked up by a driver from Nosy Parker's Elephant Trekking to take us into the jungle.

Elephants!

The little stream we crossed on our elephant. This one is about to get a bath.

Getting Ready for his bath.

Our feet on Honey the elephant's back. Our elephant was named Honey and she was very sweet.

So when we first started our ride, we were both sitting in the little basket seat that Jared is sitting on, and the 'driver' was sitting on the elephant's head. But, once we'd been on for about 20 minutes, the driver hopped down to take pictures for us, and then asked if I would like to sit on the head. Of course I did! So I got to spend the rest of the time riding on the elephant's head. Jared seemed a little concerned though. He kept saying, "Jen, hold on. Are you holding on tight?!"

Another shot of us on Honey. The guide got totally carried away with my camera and took approximately 20 pictures (+ 5 videos) of us on our ride.

Yet another picture. I love love loved my elephant ride.

And another one. We walked through the jungle for about 2 hours.

Another with the convoy of other elephants behind us.

And another. I got more comfortable the longer I was on.

Part of me thinks that Jared really enjoyed being up in that basket alone with me 'driving'... It's kind of his style to be very regal.

Heading back in, with our guide riding in the basket with Jared.

And we're back.

After our ride we got to feed Honey pieces of pineapple. And when I say 'pieces' I mean quarters of pineapple, so that in the end Honey ate about 4-5 pineapples in one sitting.

Bath Time!

After our ride, we got to explore the compound a bit and watch some more elephants getting baths.

And meeting some of the other elephants.

In front of one of the older elephants. You can tell because of the coloring on the ears and trunk.

So cute!

Making friends with yet another elephant...

Jared in the rapids.

Then after making friends with every elephant on the compound, we got to go swimming in the river, which was only slightly sketchy, given that we'd watched multiple elephants bathed in it during the time we'd been there.

Playing in the rapids.

Checking out the rapids... Contemplating what might be in the water with us...

Climbing out.

After our morning of elephant trekking, we were hungry, so decided to have lunch at the Pool Bar before heading out on our private boat tour of the islands. My next surprise of the trip was that Jared had chartered a private speed boat to take us around to all the different islands in the Andaman Sea.

View from our lunch table of the pool and sea...

Jared at our table. After lunch we headed to the boat for what turned out to be a very special and memorable ride...

View of an island from the boat. In a way, the islands in the Andaman Sea reminded me a lot of the fjords in Musandam (in Oman), because they both jut up out of the sea into high vertical cliffs. But the islands in Thailand are a lot more lush and green...

Another island.

Entering Maya Bay, the beach where Leonardo DiCaprio's movie "The Beach" was filmed. Absolutely breathtaking.

Maya Bay is a protected lagoon on Phi Phi Le Island, with high cliffs surrounding 90% of the Bay and only a small opening that boats can enter.

Almost to the beach!

The water was the most clear clear turquoise I have ever seen.

View from the beach out into the Bay.

We were surprised the beach actually wasn't more crowded, although it was the tail-end of the rainy season. We were extremely lucky with the weather, however, and didn't get any rain while we were in Krabi.

It's a fairly small beach, but the amazing scenery is well worth it...

All the Long Tail boats lined up in Maya Bay. A more traditional option for getting around, but Jared chartered the speed boat so that we could cover more ground.

Another little private beach in Maya Bay. We contemplated swimming there, but then just opted to relax on the beach instead.

Heading out of Maya Bay. Sadly, there were so many islands we wanted to see that we didn't have as long as we'd have liked to luxuriate at Maya Beach.

In the Lagoon. Another protected harbor on the other side of Phi Phi Le island (the island Maya Bay is located on).

The Lagoon is equally beautiful to Maya Bay, but doesn't have a beach you can get to, so we had to enjoy the beautiful scenery from the boat.

Craggy rocks in the Lagoon.

On the boat in the Lagoon.

Our guide was cute and made us pose in a heart... Jared was super enthusiastic about this, as you'd expect, but he was still a good sport.

Another Lagoon shot.

Some bamboo scaffolding was set up in the Lagoon... It is used for collectors to climb up and gather swiftlet nests that are built on the roof of the cave. Swiftlets are small birds in the swift family found in Southeast Asia, and their nests are edible since they're made of solidified saliva. They are collected to make bird's nest soup. A weird little fact.

Our next stop was Ko Phi Phi Don (also known as Phi Phi Island). A bit more touristy with backpackers, but known for it's breathtaking cliffs and crests.

The Harbor was full of Long Tail boats. We took 30 minutes or so to explore the small island, but it was full of cheap guesthouses and internet cafes so we didn't spend a lot of time before heading back to the boat since we were much more interested in seeing more islands than seedy backpacker spots.

I can't remember the name of this beautiful island, but we were able to swim in and explore. It was almost abandoned and had long stretches of pure white sand. Just lovely. We couldn't bring our cameras to shore though, since the boat had to stay out quite deep.

Bond Island (I think...)
Mosquito Island. We opted not to take the time to explore this one...

Chicken Island. Can you see how it got its name? (Hint: look at the 'head' on the right side)

I like this picture. It basically epitomizes the topography of the Andaman Sea.

Railay Beach... It was low tide so lots of boats were anchored close to shore.

Jared on Railay Beach. Since the tide was so low it was really rocky (and Railay Beach is known for being a favorite of rock-climbers because the craggy cliffs are perfect for traversing). We enjoyed frolicking among the rocks.

The low-tide rocks. We made a game of hopping between the rocks while exploring.

So we kept hopping between the rocks until we got to a fairly isolated spot and were basically all alone. Jared seemed to be getting a little agitated, and I asked him what was up. He said that he really needed to use the bathroom, and was annoyed that some Indian woman was standing about 10 feet from us staring at us. So we kind of just hung out until she moved along. Then I told him to go hide behind a rock and pee, but just then another very old woman (Jared keeps calling her an octogenarian, but she can't possibly have been that old, although she was quite slow moving) came along. So he was even more agitated as we waited for her to pass so that we were all alone. Once she was gone, I told him to go hide behind a rock, but when I turned around he was down on one knee... with a ring in his hand. :) He said he could not imagine a more perfect spot to do this, and would I marry him. Of course I said yes as my eyes began to tear up, and then we hugged and kissed and soaked in the moment...

A self-take in the spot where he proposed. Right after I said yes...

My beautiful ring. It is perfect. I love my fiance. He did a very good job indeed.

Heading back to our boat with our crew (we had a captain, a 'helper' who handled the anchor, etc. and a guide... all for just us, Jared did it right).

Unbeknownst to me, Jared had told Judi that he was going to propose while we were out on our boat ride, so when we got back to Phulay Bay, Judi had a red rose waiting for me. We went back to our room to relax before dinner, and then headed out to a celebratory dinner at the Thai restaurant Sri Trang at Phulay Bay where we had celebratory cocktails (the cheapest bottle of champagne was $300 so we opted to save our champagne toasting for when we got back to Dubai) and a feast of Thai food. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

And my perfect day somehow became even more perfect, when Judi picked us up after dinner and had this tray of chocolates waiting for us for dessert. The giant heart-shaped one had a decadent mango filling that Jared was obsessed with. I cannot remember a day better than that.

We were really bummed out the next morning when we had to check out of Phulay Bay, but we had a limited amount of time in Thailand, and I was excited to spend some time in Bangkok as well.

Before we left though, as needed to get some last minute pictures of the absolute bliss that is Phulay Bay.

Chomtawan, the Beach Bar. Where we watched the sunset the first night...

A (blurry due to the humidity in the air) photo of the lagoon behind Chomtawan. Everywhere you turn in Phulay Bay is an ethereal experience.

One last picture on the Phulay Bay beach.

And with one last glimpse of the beach we were off to the airport in the luxury van and headed to Bangkok...

And... We're not in Krabi anymore... Our first tuk tuk ride in Bangkok.

Jared love love loved the tuk tuks.

So we arrived in Bangkok at about 1pm and then took a taxi to our hotel, the 4-Points Sheraton. Not quite as luxurious as Phulay Bay, but still not too shabby. After settling in, we decided to take a little walk to get oriented, and ended up a little bit lost. Oh, and it started to rain. Luckily we had brought our umbrellas, but it was a stark reminder that Bangkok had us now.

The rain started to come down actually quite hard (read, it was pouring), so we decided to regroup with a little taste of home, and stopped into McDonald's (sadly, I can now say I've been to McDonald's in 3 continents and approximately 10 countries) for a large fries. Since we had such a short amount of time in Bangkok, we had booked a bike tour and a cooking course (at the recommendation of my uber-knowledgeable friend Beth). We knew that we would need to take the Sky Train, one of Bangkok's multiple forms of public transit, the following morning to get to our cooking course, so decided to try taking it to begin heading in the direction of Grasshopper Adventures, where we were meeting for our night bike tour.

We took the train as far as we could and then got off and caught a tuk tuk to take us the rest of the way. Unfortunately, rush hour traffic was so dense that in the end we had to abandon the tuk tuk and walk the rest of the way, with a little help via phone directions from the tour company. We finally made it and despite some concern our tour would be canceled due to the rain, headed out on our night bike tour just as the rain was letting up.

Beth had recommended we book a night bike tour of Bangkok with Grasshopper Adventures because she said it is the best way to see Bangkok in a limited amount of time. And it was... We got to visit all the temples at night when they are all lit up and beautiful, but when there are no crowds of tourists to hamper the experience.

At Wat Arun, the temple of the dawn. The first stop on our bike tour, in front of the royal palace next to the temple 'guards' that protect the Emerald Buddha housed inside the temple.

The Royal Palace at Wat Arun, with the demon guards flanking its entrance.

Another view of the palace 'guards'.

Wat Arun, the temple of the dawn. All lit up at night.

Another view of Wat Arun, absolutely stunning.

A Christian Church that we passed on our bike tour.

Night Markets are huge in Thailand, and specifically in Bangkok. We passed several on our bike tour.

Street Food: Thai Soup

More street food: Pad Thai, which I was absolutely desperate to try.

Jared at the Flower Market. The next stop on our bike tour was the 24 Hour Flower Market, which apparently is at it's busiest at this time of night.

View of the Flower Market. I was a little obsessed with the Flower Market and got completely carried away with my camera...

Chains of marigolds for devotees to leave at the temples.

Bags and bags of flowers... Most likely for use in worshiping.

More fragrant flowers, for use in worship.

Once we passed the 'religious' flower section, we started to see some extremely unique flowers, unlike anything I have ever seen anywhere else.

Dragons made of flowers.

A tuk tuk passing through the flower market. So Thailand.

The ladies working away in the flower market.

Roses, roses, roses.

Such beautiful roses.

50 for 30 Thai Bahts = 50 roses for $1 USD. I kept saying that if I lived in Bangkok I would have my house full of fresh flowers at all times. They were so cheap! I was desperate to buy some, but couldn't possibly justify it.

Yellow daisies. Even cheaper than the roses.

More daisies.

Are these even flowers? So pretty though.

Balls of flowers. I absolutely could not contain myself with my camera.

Yet more flowers I have never seen anything like before in my life.

Orchids! Orchids were the big draw of the market, but still ridiculously cheap.

More orchids.

A rainbow of orchids.

Another market view. I think I took as many photos at the flower market, as the elephant guide took of us on our elephant trek. I was a little shutter bug!

This photo was meant to capture my fascination with how close those two trucks are parked together. Oh Thailand.

My artsy orchid shot. Last flower picture, I promise. :)

The next stop on our bike tour was Wat Pho, one of the biggest temples in Bangkok. It is also the national headquarters for the teaching and preservation of traditional Thai medicine, including Thai massage. These stone inscriptions show yoga and massage techniques that continue to serve their original purpose as visual aids.

More massage 'visual aids' in one of the two massage pavilions on the complex.

Wat Pho, with its four burial stupas of the first four kings of the Bangkok kingdom.

One of the 'guards' of Wat Pho.

Posing with the guard.

The beautiful gold doors to one of the stupas.

Artistic Shot looking up. The amazing thing about all these temples, is that they are all covered in tiny tile mosaics that are just amazing if you look at them up close.

View of the Wat Pho grounds, which cover 8 hectares.

The giant demon 'guards'. Jared was enamored with the guards because our guide told us that the Chinese didn't know what demons looked like, so they modeled them after the European colonists. So basically, they all look like Christopher Columbus.

Christopher Columbus demon #2

Christopher Columbus demon #3

And finally, Christopher Columbus demon #4.

Our tour then concluded by passing the Royal Palace and through Sanam Luang which comes to life in the evening with an impromptu market. There's lots of junk and trinkets for sale all laid out on simple mats - a true flee market.

Exhausted after our bike tour, we took a tuk tuk back to area near our hotel, Sukhumvit, in search of some dinner. We accidentally wandered into the red light district which seemed to be full of the infamous ladyboy prostitutes and strip clubs everywhere, so made a swift exit. I wanted to take a picture, but Jared convinced me that wouldn't be the best idea.

Jared stopped for some street food (Beef Ball Ramen) before we headed back to our hotel to check out the rooftop bar. It was pretty quiet, but a great spot to veg. There was a 2-for-1 beer deal and we ordered some apps to share. A relaxing way to end our first day in Bangkok.

The next morning we had to get up bright and early to take the Sky Train to our Thai Cooking Course at the Silom Thai Cooking School (another recommendation by my dear friend Beth). We were greeted at the station by Nusi, a rail-thin flamboyantly gay Thai man who led us (and the rest of our group) to an outdoor market to buy all the ingredients for the day's cooking.

Red and Green Thai Curry Powder. An essential ingredient when making your own curry paste (as we would later find out).

Prawns + a poodle. Don't think the dog was for sale though. It immediately called into question the hygiene of the market we were shopping at though...

The coconut grating machine. Grated coconut is essential when making your own coconut milk (another thing we would soon learn).

Nusi, intently explaining the different between Thai Basil and the three other kinds of basil the market sells.

Fresh Herbs!

Nusi, explaining to us the importance of bamboo leaves in Thai cooking.

Market view.

Another market view.

Once we had acquired all our ingredients, Nusi then led us back to the cooking school (which seemed to be located in his house) and set us all to work preparing our ingredients.

Jared chopping ginger and shallots.

All the vegetables ready to go! And such a pretty display. It helps to have a gay chef.

We did all our prep work sitting around rattan mats on the floor. We used the bamboo plates to prepare our personal ingredients and grabbed what we needed from the basket in the middle. Quite a different cooking experience.

The ingredients for our first course: Tom Yum Koong Soup (Hot & Sour Prawn Soup).

Jared getting ready to cook his soup.

Cooking away.

The cooking school. There was a row of burner stations along the balcony and then the prep rooms and eating area were in rooms behind us.

Another shot of us cooking our soup. I loved the aprons they gave us to wear!

The finished product: Tom Yum Koong Soup. Delicious. My second favorite course of the day.

Prepping our second course: Pad Thai Sai Kai.

Course 2: Pad Thai, my favorite course of the day, and so much easier to make than the Pad Thai recipe we use at home. We'll be trying this next time!

Course 3: Green Papaya Salad. Actually very spicy, but refreshing. My least favorite course of the day.

In the dining room getting ready to enjoy our green papaya salads.

Our next course, was Green Curry with Chicken, which was made entirely from scratch, including making our own Green Curry paste.

Getting ready to make our Green Curry with Chicken.

Course 4: Green Curry with Chicken, probably my third favorite course of the day.

Course 5: Dessert! Banana in Coconut Milk (we also learned to make coconut milk from scratch, a potentially useful skill).

5 Courses, and 6 hours later we left Silom Thai Cooking School completely stuffed and completely sick of Thai food. We had been trying to eat as much Thai food as possible since we arrived in Thailand, but I think our cooking school experience put us both completely over the edge and craving nothing but western food (once we finally regained any semblance of hunger several hours later)...

After we left our cooking lesson, we decided to head to the Jim Thompson House, which was also recommended by my friend Beth. Jim Thompson was an American silk entrepreneur who revitalized the Thai silk industry after WWII and built a beautiful home in the middle of Bangkok that he subsequently filled with his extensive collection of Asian art. It's a unique structure that he built by collecting various parts of derelict homes throughout Thailand and had them reassembled into one house. The house in and of itself is beautiful and unique but it's allure is added to by the fact the Jim mysteriously disappeared in 1967 while walking in the Cameron Highlands of western Malaysia and his whereabouts have never been discovered. Our visit had to be a little bit rushed though, because Jared needed to head back to the hotel for a conference call that afternoon. I didn't mind too much because it was kind of nice to veg a little bit before venturing back out for the night.

Elephant bushes! Elephants are a major theme throughout Thailand, so I stocked up on my fair share of elephant souvenirs.

Bubble Tea! You can't go to Southeast Asia without having bubble tea. Jared had never tried it before, so I had to introduce him... We enjoyed the name of the stand... "Bubble Boy"...

After a couple hours of veg time at the hotel, we decided to venture back out and headed to China Town to check out another part of the city. We took the subway to Hualamphong and then took a tuk tuk the rest of the way. We pretty much experienced all Bangkok has to offer in terms of public transit: Taxis, tuk tuks, the Skytrain and the Subway. Both of our personal favorite was the tuk tuk.

Our tuk tuk ride through China Town.

Bangkok's China Town.

Jared, who has obviously watched way too much Andrew Zimmern (a la Bizarre Foods) or Anthony Bourdain, was hell-bent on eating insects while in Bangkok. And if you're going to eat insects, China Town in Bangkok seemed as good of a place as any. The proprietor of the stand seemed a little suspicious of Jared's intentions, but Jared had no reservations and dug right in.

Yum, crickets! Jared asked for a mixed bag, which had a combination of crickets, grasshoppers, and larvae.

And Jared, being the good guy that he is, refused to let me take his picture until I tried a grasshopper myself. I have to admit, despite the initial gag-reflex when you think about what you're eating, it wasn't all that bad. All I could really taste was fried crunchiness.

Mmm. Grasshoppers. Jared seemed to really enjoy it and devoured the whole bag, larvae and all.

After our insect eating adventures, we decided to try a couple other (less exotic) street foods from China Town, including some different varieties of spring rolls, which we enjoy while taking a tuk tuk ride back to the subway. It was getting late so we headed back to Sukhumvit and ended up at a 50's style American diner eating pizza for dinner. Not exactly the classiest end to our trip to Thailand, but we enjoyed it.

The next morning we unfortunately had to fly back to Dubai early via Delhi. In keeping with the theme of the whole trip though, even our 9 hour layover in Delhi was memorable. We saw Chelsea Clinton and her husband (who cut us in line at security, thank you very much) and then subsequently ended up hanging out with them for an hour in the airport lounge. I was desperate to talk to her, but Jared told me to leave them alone (I was admittedly, openly staring at them).

We made it back to Dubai no problem and had absolutely the best trip we've ever taken! I am already mentally planning our next adventure... But for now, I will bask in the joy of our amazing trip to Thailand...