Thailand was our first stop in Southeast Asia and it provided a taste of what was in store for the next 6 weeks. Tap water, sidewalks and toilets were now all hazards!

Chiang Mai –

We first landed in Chiang Mai and set out to find some temples. Chiang Mai is an old city so it wasn’t very difficult. Wat Chedi Luang was the favorite.

Next up; night markets. Night markets in Thailand go on forever. You get lost in the maze of stalls and food.

We took a couple cooking classes and unlocked the secret of Thai food. It’s our favorite. The instructors were impressed with our spice level tolerance. Almost able to handle “Thai Spice” level!  Who’s coming over for dinner?

We had our hostel to ourselves for the four nights we were there. It was a cute little hostel with one drawback- there was a giant resident cockroach in the bathroom who would come out to terrorize Isabelle every night. Least to say, Isabelle made sure to be ready for bed early…

Bangkok –

We left the historic city of Chiang Mai (via 9 hour train ride and many baby cockroaches smashed) for the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.

We encountered impressive storms. The lightning lit up the sky every night. We got caught in a downpour one night and took refuge at a gas station. The attendants didn’t speak english, but offered us a bench to wait out the storm.

We are suckers for paying for overpriced drinks at bars on top of buildings. Sky Bar is the world’s highest open-air bar.

There were temples to be seen.

Poverty is bad…really bad. Visiting Thailand makes you understand the importance of investing in a middle class. In Thailand, it appears that you are either rich (really rich) or poor. Going to a mall you can buy a Louis Vuitton bag, Lamborghini or Ferrari. Yet, across the street are people living in the slums.

The Gaggan Experience –

Our good friends Rajit and Jess are major foodies back home and told us about Gaggan. Gaggan is a chef with a restaurant that has just one item on the menu. It’s called “the Gaggan experience” and it’s a progressive dinner of 22 courses.  The menu is pictured below (note it only consists of emojis). Gaggan has been rated the number one restaurant in Asia for the last 2 years, so we had to check it out! At the end we got to say hi to the kitchen crew and hang out with a chef, Mercelo!