It’s time for a mini group tour of Asia. Most of our destinations will be in southeast Asia, with a quick (beyond quick) stop in South Korea. Our group consisted of me, Elizabeth, Marie and Jenny. I, of course, was in Thailand. Jenny was in Malaysia. Marie was coming from Minneapolis and Elizabeth from Chicago. If you’d like to see our itinerary, please leave a comment below.

Marie met Elizabeth in Chicago and they’d both made their way towards Thailand. Jenny would head out much later, but in the end, she still beat them to Bangkok.

Bangkok was our first destination (and where Marie & Elizabeth had to deal with jet lag). We spent 5-6 days in Bangkok. We tried not to do too much too fast. Other than the big time zone change, they also had to deal with the change in climate (from winter to basically summer). We saw some sights and we ate some food.

After Bangkok, we headed for the much cooler Chiang Mai. We’d spend Christmas here. We spent a night at the Sunday Night Market (there were so many people). We got some good eats, bought some things and then headed back. I went out with my friend Ben that night. The next day, we went up into the mountains. We went to a tea farm and, obviously, to visit Wat Doi Suthep. Elizabeth loved the tea farm.

After Chiang Mai, we headed back down south to Kuala Lumpur for New Year’s. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is where Jenny lives. She teaches there, but…she lives about 1-1.5 hours outside of the city and we were staying in the city. We explored tea cafes and ate lots of food. We hiked up to the Batu Caves and visited the historical city (and a UNESCO Heritage site) of Malacca.

After Malaysia, we all headed out together for Singapore. I was so excited. Singapore was definitely on my list. We had plans for eats and plans for sightseeing as well. We were there not too long and I’d definitely go back to explore a bit more. We experienced a bit of rain, but still had a good time. Sadly, Singapore was where we said goodbye to Jenny. She was headed back to Malaysia (she had to get back to work). We were headed for Vietnam.

Liz, Marie and I headed for Hanoi after Singapore. Hanoi would be our first city in Vietnam. We were travel-worn and hungry and thank goodness, a very nearby chicken pho place was still open and it completely hit the spot. We spent a day exploring Hanoi (and saw the infamous water puppet show). We also took a day trip out to Ha Long Bay. We saw some pretty amazing views. There were also, sooooo many people.

From Hanoi, we headed to Da Nang (it’s time to enjoy the beach). We had a “lazy” schedule whilst here. We have been thoroughly enjoying coffee while in Vietnam. My new favorite: salt coffee. I met up with some couchsurfers in Da Nang and that was pretty fun. Liz and Marie spent time at the beach a bit while I worked.

Final stop, Seoul, South Korea. We’re literally there for only about 48 hours. It was Marie’s first time. We explored some of the things you should see and explore (like the palace). We also ate a lot of food and did some shopping (can you say skincare?). Seoul is where we parted ways. Marie was headed to Minneapolis, Liz was headed to Chicago. I was headed to Bangkok.

And so, that ends our mini SEA Asia (= South Korea) tour. It was a blast and while it may have seemed like quite the whirlwind trip, it was well paced and not too much too fast. We took it easy on ourselves and we had a lot of good quality time spent together. We had a TON of group photos and can’t wait for the reunion to get back together for more adventures and to relive the adventures we had.

See you next time!
Baramee