I think Thailand is one of the oddest shaped countries in the world. After leaving Kanchanaburi I made a hard right turn and now I’m heading south down the thin sliver of land between the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand, the Malay Peninsula. My first stop on this part of the journey is the quiet town of Phetchaburi. There’s only a small handful of things I wanted to check out here, so let’s get started. My hotel doesn’t…
Welcome to the Thong Pha Phum district in Kanchanaburi province. I had researched this region when I was planning this trip, but didn’t include it on my original itinerary because I didn’t have time. I had to cut something. But with the extra days I acquired thanks to all the flooding at the beginning of this trip, I decided to put Kanchanaburi back on the menu and spend a few days exploring this remote part of Thailand. Off we go!…
My next stop in Lop Buri was a super short drive away, only about an hour and a half, so I spent the day driving around to some of the outer sites before making my way to my hotel. A little over half way between Khao Yai and Lop Buri is one of Thailands holiest places, Wat Phra Phutthabat. In 1624 they found a depression in the rock that resembled a foot which fit right in with the legend that…
From Khorat it’s just a short distance west to what is considered one of Thailand’s premier national parks, Khoa Yai. I think the name of the village where I’m staying is Mu Si, but everyone just refers to this whole area as Khao Yai. This is where the people of Bangkok come for rest and relaxation. There are tons and tons of really fancy resorts, big restaurants, and for some reason, go kart tracks all over the place. From my…
Welcome to Holy Crap Adventures season 51, episode 11, in which our intrepid hero explores many ancient Khmer ruins and gets violently attacked by a hyper-aggressive gang of locals… On this section of my journey, I’ll be resting my head in the town of Nang Rong in Buri Ram province. There’s absolutely nothing to see or do in Nang Rong, but it’s close to the many sites I want to visit along the nearby Cambodian border. So let’s just dive…
I left Kamphaeng Phet in a deluge of rain for what was the longest drive I’ll be doing on this trip, about eight hours, northeast, clear to the other side of the country. Luckily, the rain got lighter the further east I got. A little over halfway there the highway was blocked because of flooding. Uh-oh! I followed the detour signs into a very rural area which added about ten miles to the journey, but while traveling through some small…
The next stop of this trip was supposed to be Mae Sot and Um Phang way out west in remote Tak Province to see the tallest waterfall in Thailand. Unfortunately, the road going to the waterfall is inaccessible due to flooding and mud slides. And even if the road was clear it wouldn’t matter because the waterfall is overflowing so much that it completely destroyed its viewing platform and the nearby campground. So the government of Thailand closed off the…
Greetings and welcome to Thailand! After having my visa rejected over a typo about six months ago, I finally got everything straightened out and NOW, I can enjoy another Holy Crap Adventure in this beautiful part of the world. Thankfully, my journey here went super smooth. But I also arrived super late, so I just stumbled into my hotel and crashed for the night. After a good night’s sleep I’m ready to start exploring my first stop, Chiang Mai, in…
It was a very long drive from Anton Valley west to Boquete, almost six hours. I was more than ready to get out of that car when I arrived. While Anton Valley was seemingly abandoned in its idealic setting in the mountains, Boquete, on the other hand is packed with people and all the traffic that goes with it. Not that’s its not a pleasant town, just a busy place. My hostel is pretty unique. They have the typical hotel…
I left the beautiful mountains of Costa Rica down some really stunning and curvy mountain roads until I hit the Pacific coast and then made a hard left to the south. Before I reach my destination, though, let’s make a quick stop at the Crocodile Bridge. It’s a section of Highway 34 over the Río Tarcoles. My guide at the animal sanctuary, which I’ll visit later, said after the fact that the crocs hang out here because the locals used…