I can't believe that Spring Break was only two weeks ago...it feels like it was months ago! Pretty sad that all of those wonderful beach memories have been washed away by work, BUT I have enough pictures from the trip to at least remind me that I was (at one point) feeling relaxed. I left early for Spring Break to attend the EARCOS teaching conference in Bangkok - best decision ever! Not only did I get to hear some really good presentations, I also got to spend a lot of time poolside at the Shangri La - no complaints here! After that, Jordan and I headed down south to the island of Koh Lanta (near Krabi). It was magical! Aquamarine water, white sandy beaches, gorgeous sunsets, lots of Chang beer, and it wasn't too touristy. I could have stayed there forever (not kidding). We also spent a few days in Railay to see the famous limestone cliffs. I never wanted it to end! Alas, we had to come back to Taipei. Only 6 weeks till the next vacation, though!
Here are some pics from the trip...apologies in advance if they make you jealous! :)
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| Chillin' poolside at the Shangri La - would definitely stay at this hotel again! |
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| Eating street food in Bangkok and enjoy the first (of many) Chang beers of the trip. Yum! |
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| Heading over on the ferry to Koh Lanta. We knew we were in Thailand because it was so freaking hot! |
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| As soon as we got to the Lanta Castaway, we headed straight for the beach! I was checking out the possible activities we could try out that week - a cooking class and snorkeling were at the top of the list! |
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| Hanging out at the hotel bar...which just so happened to be right next to the beach! |
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| Ultimate relaxation. |
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| Postcard moment? This was pretty much the same thing we were doing every night at 7 pm when the sun started sinking beneath the horizon. |
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| One of about 500 sunset photos. Not kidding. |
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| Photo sesh with a perfect background! |
We took an awesome four island snorkeling trip one of the days, and had a great time exploring different beaches and seeing TONS of fish!
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| The wet rat look. It's all the rage. |
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| I still can't get over how gorgeous the water was. You could see straight down to the bottom! |
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| Beach exploration time! |
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| Ready to jump in! The boat guys kept throwing bananas into the water so that the fish would come eat them...it freaked me out a little, not gonna lie. |
We also did a really fun cooking class at a place called "Time for Lime." We made all sorts of delicious Thai dishes including chicken coconut soup, spicy fish cakes, and red curry. Yum!
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| Ready to SMASH the shallot with my huge knife! |
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| Master Chef Thailand. If it had been a contest, we totally would have won. |
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| Chicken and lime coconut soup! Totally delicious. |
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| 4 second stir fry! I was worried that my eyebrows were going to be singed off. |
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| Viola! A perfectly presented Thai feast. |
The last part of our trip was spent at Railay Beach. The only way to get there is by longboat because the bay is protected by huge limestone cliffs. It was incredibly gorgeous, but a little bit more touristy than Koh Lanta. I was a huge fan of the fact that our hotel had an infinity pool - where I spent most of my time.
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| Ferry from Koh Lanta to Railay - about to have our first adventure in a longboat! |
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| More beach time. I will never complain about beach time! |
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| Yet another gorgeous Thailand sunset. |
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| Pretty sweet backdrop. Apparently people rock climb up that cliff....we didn't attempt it. |
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| It was amazing how the water changed colors depending on the time of day. We also had fun playing around with the fancy camera settings :) |
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| Longboat lineup! |