Toasted Travel: Thailand

In December 2014 we took an unforgettable trip to the mystical land that is Thailand. We ripped through the hectic streets of Bangkok, submerged ourselves in the jungles of Chiang Mai, and soaked in the beauty of Phuket. 

Overall Thailand is a truly special place with endless things to do and amazing things to see and be a part of. For starters the food, especially the street food is delicious. While so many meals looked familiar, there were plenty of new dishes and snacks that were foreign, but mysteriously delightful.  

The hustle and bustle of Thailand is largely part of the every day culture and we quickly found ourselves smack in the middle of its chaos, but embraced it fully. The people were extremely nice even though we spoke very little to no Thai. However, we will caution you to be wary of the organized hustle within the community, from some of the the market vendors, Tuk-Tuk and taxi drivers, and even some uniformed officials. 

Given the fact that an extremely large part of the country's economy relies on tourism, their need to cater to visitors has taken a toll on the purity of the land. After traveling to three different cities within the country, it was clear that some areas had lost pieces of its original culture at the expense of tourism and commercialization.

Despite all of this, the beauty of the land and the spirit of the people as a whole far outweigh the changes that have come due to westernization. Thailand is definitely a must visit destination so book your ticket, keep an open mind and get it poppin! 

Check out pics of the cities, elephants, and Tiger Kingdom visit below. 

THAI ELEPHANT HOME

This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. It was so raw trekking through the jungle on top of elephants. We enjoyed this particular place because it was a elephant home rather than an attraction. The elephants are treated with care and the staff was very nice. You have to do this!

TIGER KINGDOM

Ok so this was terrifying. Like.. these tigers are real and they were ACTIVE. We crawled into a cage with large, medium sized, and baby tigers. The best part about it was overcoming the fear. It was certainly an experience, but not sure we'd recommend it unless you're about that life. 

PHOTO CREDIT: PHILLIP DONALD

VIDEO CREDIT: FILMED BY WARREN JONES. EDITED BY MARCO MEJIA