I recently returned from a 3-week trip to Thailand and the United Arab Emirates with my family. Since Thailand is so far, I was able to get a free stopover in Dubai for a few days. We flew Emirates for the first time, which is the most luxurious plane with the best service! Our plane was two stories and we had access to the bar. We really enjoyed our 14-hour flight from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Dubai.
It was our first time in the Middle East, and we actually come from a Lebanese background, so it was exciting to be in Dubai. The Middle Eastern food was delicious! The city was really clean and modern. Our favorite day was when we went on the desert safari excursion. We went sand dune riding in the desert and rode ATV wheelers. We also visited a camel farm and rode on some camels.
On the way back from Thailand we stopped in Abu Dhabi to break up the flight. We went to visit the Sheikh Zayed Mosque, which was absolutely stunning!
Bangkok was a pretty crazy city. Our first day there we rode on a tuk-tuk and it was the funniest experience. Our driver didn’t speak English so he would just bring us to all of these random places instead of where we needed to go
Thailand was incredibly cheap! We would get 1-2 hour massages for $8 almost every day. A 45 min taxi ride cost about $5-6. A family of four ate for about $20-40/dinner.
I have always been intrigued by the Buddhist religion and enjoyed visiting various Buddha temples. My favorite Buddha was the reclining Buddha!
We visited the old capital of Thailand, Ayutthaya. It was interesting to see the ruins of the city and learn how this Buddha head ended up in this tree:
It turns out that the Buddha head fell off the statue during an invasion of the city. As the Buddha head lay on the floor, birds pooped around it. Eventually a tree started to grow and the Buddha head grew with it.
My favorite food besides sushi is Thai food. We ate tons of good food during the trip! And I never thought I would say this, but by the end of the trip I was actually tired of Thai food.
As much as I loved seeing all of the Buddha’s, the best part of Thailand was going to Phuket and the Phi Phi Islands. We had an incredible time swimming in beautiful water, snorkeling with a variety of fish, and sailing on a speed boat. We literally felt like we were in paradise.
Wow Sophia, what an awesome vacation! Good for you and your family. Hope I can do that too some day.
I went on a 3 month trip through SE Asia and Europe this year. I identify with the crazy Bangkok tuk tuk driver that take you to random spots. I found out it was some kind of scam, but the tuk tuk driver was just adorable, so he got a big tip. I also identify of getting tired of Thai food. I don’t care if I ever eat Asian food again! It got to the point we were going to McDonalds or Subway daily. There’s no way I could have gone on this 3 month trip if it wasn’t for doing locum work.