Oh how Ich Liebe Deutschland und Ostereich!

What a busy but wonderful week catching up on life and friends in Germany! And then Ischgl!!!! Erika and I prepped lots of birthday stuff for Angi (including successful pad Thai!) then it was party time! Thanks to Gabe and Amanda, I had full gear (awesome!) and it was sunny and warm to board. And party. Mariah Carey sucked (such a diva!!) but of course boarding in costume with so many awesome people was a GREAT day! Then we were off to Portugal!

Mariah's cameltoe:

Last day in Southeast Asia!

Many miles, many adventures and about 90 days later... I'm leaving this crazy corner of the world for my second home, Germany! But a last day wouldn't be complete without more amazing Thai food, sweltering temps over 100F (with humidity), a golden palace and our last tuk tuk ride!
Street food (which I avoided but it's unique):

The Grand Palace grounds are very special to Thais and the home to the Royal Kingdom. We read up and tried to dress appropriate this time but of course, my freaking Capri pants were too short (but knee length skirts were fine, WTF?!) so had to borrow a sarong to cover up. OMG 6 inches of calf, heaven forbid! (guess its getting time to move on, haha!)
Showing some calf... so rebellious!

Grand Palace

The Emerald Buddha is the most famous Buddha in Thailand. It's from the 1400's, not really emerald (jade) and so tiny. But it ceremoniously changes outfits three times a year per the King (kinda like Mannekin Pis but no peeing). You're not supposed to take pictures but I was on my rebellious streak so what the heck.

Topping off the day with Israeli food, pedicures and foot massages and we are ready! Kap Kun Ka Thailand!

Bangkok or Bust!

Bangkok is truly the capital of Southeast Asia and is modern, fast-paced, notoriously seductive and truly just crazy! We arrived after 12 hours of ferry and bus to find our guesthouse on Khoa San Rd, the famous backpacker area. On Day 1, we joined May Kaidee's cooking school for an express class of coconut soups, pad Thai, curries and mango sticky rice... exactly the dishes I wanted to perfect!
The resident cooking school dog:

Us woking and rolling:

Everyone I know will get Pad Thai made for them when I visit or you visit me!

We finished with Thai dancing! Awesome!

We then rolled to the movie theatre for a good ol American movie (it's been like 4 months ok!) and saw (aka cried through) The Vow before continuing to enjoy the air con at the mall's USA Fair. Where America's finest cuisine was presented... French Fries! This is what others think of when they think of America! Yuck!

Now on the contrary, pole dancing in a crowded mall is definitely worth being known for!

Even the Statue of Liberty is a Lonely Planet reader

In the land of sleaze, condoms are critical! Thus we visited one of my favorite restaurants of the trip, Condoms and Cabbages. The founder realized Thailand was on the verge of developmental collapse in the 70's if high birth rates were to continue. So he started spreading the word of condoms through cities, villages and continued to expand his outreach when HIV/AIDS hit Thailand's sex scene. Thousands of lives were saved by his campaigns and the proceeds from the restaurant go to the Population and Development Fund's work.

And they give you them free with your bill!

Yup, those are costumes made of condoms

Last stop was one of the many streets affected by CC's work: the Soi Cowboy. Where listless, scantily-clad women would look more eager to rip their toenails off than dance on the stage for the old man gawkers. A quick drink, in which we were asked over and over to buy the ladies drinks, and we were outta there.

Last day in the island!

After our last chillax day at our very serene resort, we returned to Sairee Beach on the other side for one more night. No luck with cooking classes so we opted for Indian food (a weekly or so requirement), an awesome (though warm... natural bikram!) yoga class, beautiful sunset and tattoos! Tattoo shops and tattoo'd bodies are everywhere in Thailand and from people along the way and research I've done, Thailand is a safe and much cheaper option for tattoos than back home. And they've perfected the ancient art of bamboo tattoos (vs the gun) which is less painful and invasive and last longer. I've been debating touching up my ol flower on my foot (which I coincidentally got with my college roommate Erika with a k and now with another awesome friend Erika with a k!) for a while now and adding something meaningful.

So I spoke with two shops and really liked Jut at the second one as even tough my request was small, he spent the time to get it right by stenciling and drawing in with a pen first. Once I decided to proceed, the next step was drinks! And a beer in hand to make it go by quicker!

In typical Thai style, there was a scrawny dog meandering around the studio, the other artists were watching cheesy Thai soaps on TV and the power blacked out for a few minutes half way through. I was pretty happy to walk out with a small but beautiful reminder of this leg of my ongoing lifelong travels!

Scuba Suzy and Erika!

Today we embarked upon a discovery scuba dive with our resorts dive center. Although Koh Tao is a diving paradise with some of the cheapest certification classes in the world, I didn't really want to expend that much mental capacity to study and take tests (yet)! So the discovery dive was perfect. We took a short class, practiced in the pool and then hit the water.

Within minutes, our guide was leading us lower and lower and in to previously invisible spots of our beautiful bay. A whole world of corals of all shapes and sizes served as the scenic backdrop for the zillions of fish munching, swimming and pooping (yes, they just let their fish droppings out whenever they please!) around us.

It was pretty easy to breathe calmly underwater however, my left ear was difficult to equalize, especially 30+ feet down! Maybe a sign I'm not meant to be Scuba Suzy. To top off the day, we repeated an amazing dinner of fresh salad and fruity coconut milk soup (delicious!) with our toes in the sand and the sound of waves lapping the shores. Just one of the many romantic dinners Thailand has treated us to haha!

Koh Tao: Turtle Island

We arrived on the slow ferry to Koh Tao, the smallest of the eastern peninsula islands, and were met by our resort's pickup service which was nice to avoid the taxi hawkers. A short but steep and bumpy ride delivered us to the opposite side of the island. Here, the small, quiet and picturesque (just the way I like it) cove of Hanote Bay sits on the Gulf of Thailand and the site of our beautiful and reasonably priced beachside resort... complete with a pool, amazing restaurant in the sand and a quant bungalow under the palm trees.

And the resident dog we've nicknamed Stumpy:

A perfect place to spend the last few days in the islands. Our first day was spent lounging on the beach and snorkeling.

And my goodness it was amazing down there! Just right off the beach, hundreds of colorful and camouflaged, big and small, long and fat fish swam through some of the most colorful and diverse coral I've ever seen. With my handydandy waterproof camera I captured a few good pics though doesn't seem to really capture it as well as it looks in person!

Thongsala, Koh Phangan

As I was incorrectly under the impression that the Thai New Year water festival extended through the weekend, we had planned to spend two nights in the islands capital to catch the action. Which had already happened. So Plan B was beachside pool lounging, easing back in to more normal (but still healthy) foods and a snorkel trip to the famously beautiful Bottle Beach. We explored three different snorkel sights, each with tons of beautiful fish and corals, and swam with hundreds of fishies! One even tried to nibble my hand!

Next up was a thoroughly enjoyable nap on the beach before heading back.

Dinner at a trendy beach lounge was über relaxing. These are the days I'll think about when I'm stressed out between school, work and (hopefully) a life next fall!

The Sanctuary

This detox/yoga/life retreat exists on its own beach of Koh Phangan, not far from the full moon party beaches, but is cosmically a world away. This week-long detox experience was quite personal and challenging at times but it was amazingly reinvigorating! I love food so fasting for four days, especially in Pad Thai and curry heaven, sounded difficult at first but the wellness centre created such an amazing schedule of filling clay and psyllium shakes, tea, lymph juices and even a vegetable broth dinner with fellow cleansers that I never had time to be hungry (as long as I avoided their amazing vegetarian restaurant). Throw in daily yoga, spa treatments and colonic (don't ask if you don't know) and I was starting to feel refreshened by day three and like a new person by the end of the week! We also participated in some amazing classes like Transformational Breathe (mind-blowing), astrology readings, Ayurveda, Qi Gong as well as movie night on the beach and a very entertaining open mic night. There are so many healers of all backgrounds and I sampled an acupuncture and shiatsu session with a very skilled practitioner as well as an in depth discussion with a naturopath. Lots of beachside relaxation and book reading time too (three books). All for just over $100 a day. Even with the mozzies and cockroaches (yes, they've reappeared), I see why many fellow detoxers I've met here make this an annual tradition and I may have to as well!

Our 'home': the wellness centre

Buddha Hall yoga and meditation room

The shakes

First real meal in over 4 days

Sunset the last night

Lil boy celebrating Songkran, the Thai New Year (it's now 2055 here), which is also a big water fight!