Over Fourth of July weekend, we traveled to Thailand and spent a few days relaxing on an island and a day in Bangkok. The island we visited was Ko Samui and afforded us some of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen. It was a trip of a lifetime and I can’t wait to go back.

Highlights:

1) Relax on the beach on a tropical island

• There are so many beautiful and surprisingly affordable hotels on the island of Ko Samui (and Thailand in general). We stayed at a wonderful hotel where the staff went out of their way to make sure we were enjoying our stay. Every day we enjoyed a delicious breakfast that was included in the price of our room. There was an assortment of local breakfast treats and a chef on hand that made custom breakfast meal to your preference (including my favorite nutella crepes 🙂 ). It was a great way to start our day. We spent a few days relaxing by the beautiful pool and beaches. Life doesn’t get much better than this…

2) Mo-ped around the island

• We rented a mo-ped for $12 and spent the entire day exploring the entire island of Ko Samui. We checked out the Big Buddha, the Namuang Waterfalls, visited a few luxury hotels, spent some time with an elephant and and most of all enjoyed the gorgeous scenery. This was by far my favorite day of the entire trip. We were able to see so much of the island in such a fun and local way.

3)  Visit a rooftop bar in Bangkok

• There are a number of rooftop bars in Bangkok that allow you to take advantage of the fantastic views. Based off a recommendation from a friend, we visited Vertigo, which sits on top of the beautiful Banyan Tree hotel. While the drinks are expensive (and you have to remember there is a dress code), the views at sunset were incredible and we sat there for hours enjoying the evening.

4) Ride in a Tuk Tuk

• If you are not familiar with a tuk tuk, it’s a common mode of transportation in Thailand. We loved the thrill of zooming in and out of traffic while we hung out in the back.

5) Local Bangkok Attractions

• During our short time in Bangkok, we were able to visit a few attractions such as the Giant Swing, traveling the river via water taxi, saw a couple temples and shopped in the MBK mall.

Lowlights:

1) Bangkok Weather

• While our sunburns from the island may have attributed, we found the heat and humidity of Bangkok almost unbearable. Since we were there in the middle of their summer, it was nearly impossible to walk around the city without dripping in sweat. It was difficult to check out various attractions (especially at the sites sites that require you to cover your legs and arms!). It was much more bearable after the sun went down, so just beware and prepared for the heat!

2) The insect bites

• I have never had such terrible bug bites as I did in Ko Samui. They were relentless and by the time we were flying back to Bangkok, my legs were legitimately swollen! I would share a photo, but I think I may gross out some people, so I will just leave it up to your imagination. Fortunately, I was able to find some miracle medicine that helped calm down the bites within a few days.

Until our next trip….