Thailand!

Hi dear followers!

a week ago, we left Cambodia. I had already enjoyed our trip up to then, but things keep getting better because now we are staying in Thailand.

We took a plane from Battambang (Cambodia) and arrived at Ubon Ratchathani (The royal town of the lotus flower), which is situated in the South-East of Thailand. Ubon Ratchathani is known as 'The Entrance of The Emerald Triangle' because the city is situated close to the borders of Laos and Cambodia. They call it 'The Emerald Triangle' because it's surrounded by tropical monsoon forests and beautiful nature.

Exploring Ubon

The first day, we decided to explore the city and recover a bit because the next day we were about to travel around the parks.

First, we visited the River Mun Market. We heard there was a nice market at the shore of the Mun river. Luckily, a guest from the hotel warned us we should go early because the place gets very crowded. You get overwhelmed with all kinds of scents, but the market is very cozy.

We also visited the national museum , were we learned a lot about the natives of the area and also discovered this area was well known for it's opium trafficking.

in the afternoon, we started our search for some of the many temples left in the region. We visited the 'Wat Suparranaram' temple and the 'Wat Panachat' temple, where we met fascinating Western monks who try to maintain the culture of the Thai people. The temple is situated in the middle of the forest and is really worth a visit.

National park

The region is well known for the parks. So the second day, we got up early to pay a visit to the 'Pay Thaem National Park'. The park exposes the Mekong river beautifully. We were lucky to visit the park in the dry season because the rest of the year can be really rainy or cold. The beautiful cliffs, waterfalls, nature and wall paintings are really unforgettable. Exhausted, we went back to the hotel because the next day we were leaving the region of Ubon.

Korat

After two days, we decided to leave Ubon and go more to the center of Thailand. We were about to travel to the capital, Bangkok, but we weren't in a rush to get there. So we decided to do as much as possible by bike and by train and bus. If we'd follow the Emerald triangle, we should end in Bangkok anyway.

The following days were very nice, we really enjoyed the environment and the weather was perfect. When we arrived in Korat (Nakhon Ratchasima), we visited the historic center. It was really romantic with the evening market and the nice restaurants. That night, we took the train and headed to Bangkok, where we are staying for the moment. We just arrived here, but the city looks very chaotic. Traffic in the city is a mess! there are cars and Tooktook's everywhere. The Tooktook is the typical vehicle of Bangkok, it looks like a tricycle with an engine. Because of all the traffic, there's a lot of smog in the city center. The air is very polluted. We still have to discover the beauty of the capital, but i'm sure we will in the following days. We'll keep you informed!

Miss you guys and hope to hear from you soon.