Keep on and rockin’ the sure shot. The final leg of our Southeast Asia adventure happened in three quick snapshots – a whirlwind 26 hours through Bangkok’s neon-lit chaos, a sentimental farewell tour through our beloved Chiang Mai, and six days of blissful resort life in Langkawi. These last stops felt like the perfect punctuation mark on what had been an incredible couple months.
Bangkok
Landing in Bangkok from Hanoi mid-morning, we had exactly one day to crack the code of Thailand’s sprawling capital. Honestly, Bangkok hadn’t been at the top of our must-see list – it felt like any other big city with skyscrapers reaching toward smoggy skies. But we figured we owed it at least 26 hours to show us what all the fuss was about.
After checking into the RetrOasis Hotel, we immediately dove into the controlled chaos that is Bangkok. Our afternoon was split between the gleaming modernity of Terminal 21 mall – Michele shopping while I caught up on blog work – and the gritty authenticity of the streets outside. It’s a city of stark contrasts, where you can go from air-conditioned luxury to sweaty street food vendors in the span of a single block.
Dinner was a steaming bowl of noodle soup from a roadside stall, the kind of simple perfection that makes you wonder why anyone bothers with fancy restaurants. The whole meal cost us under two bucks, and every slurp was worth it.
But the real mission began after dark. I’d been getting increasingly obsessed with long exposure photography throughout our trip (ask Michele – she’d probably roll her eyes and tell you I’d become insufferable about it), and Bangkok’s glittering skyline seemed like the perfect subject. This quest led us to CLOUD47, a rooftop bar perched high above the city’s chaos.
The cocktails were… mediocre. Standard tourist trap pricing for drinks that tasted like they came from a manual. But the view? Worth every overpriced baht. The entire city stretched out below us, an endless carpet of lights. I spent the better part of an hour crouched behind my camera, adjusting settings and snapping endlessly for that perfect long exposure shot. The resulting photo – all streaming light trails and glowing towers – not bad for a novice!
The night wasn’t over yet. We wandered through Patpong Night Market, Bangkok’s infamous red-light district turned tourist attraction. It’s equal parts sleazy and fascinating – a real glimpse behind the curtain of a city that clearly operates by different rules. We didn’t stay long, but it felt like just enough to get the Bangkok experience.
The next day brought more street food excellence – chicken and rice that somehow managed to be both simple and extraordinary, followed by another bowl of noodle soup that reinforced our theory that the best food in Southeast Asia comes from plastic stools and questionable hygiene standards.
Chiang Mai
Our final 48 hours in Chiang Mai were pure nostalgia. After months of using this mountain city as our home base, we decided to do a proper farewell tour – hitting all our favorite spots one last time before saying goodbye for good.
The evening we arrived, we made our way to Boy Blues Bar, a spot we’d been meaning to visit for months. Our friends Jordan and David joined us for what turned into the perfect Chiang Mai night. The guitarist that evening was phenomenal, delivering the kind of soulful blues that made the entire bar go quiet and just listen. But the real highlight was finishing the night with one final visit to our beloved Cowboy Hat Lady – the street food vendor who’d become something of a ritual for us. Her late-night khao kha moo (braised pork leg dish) had fueled countless adventures, and it felt right to have one last bowl.
The next day was all about playing back the greatest hits. Lunch at our favorite barbecue chicken place, where the char-grilled perfection never disappointed. Dinner at the duck soup spot with Jordan, slurping down the rich, savory broth that had become one of our most reliable dinner choices. These weren’t just restaurants to us – they were landmarks in our Chiang Mai story.
Our final night was spent at Rumpai Loft Habitat, drinking with Jordan and a few locals we’d grown to love over the past couple months. It felt like the perfect way to cap off our Chiang Mai chapter – surrounded by the people who had made this place feel like home.
Chiang Mai had been our anchor throughout all the adventures – the place we’d return to after exploring temples in Bagan or navigating Vietnam’s bustling cities. Familiar faces, familiar streets, familiar routines that made the chaos of constant travel feel manageable. Some places you visit; Chiang Mai we had lived in, even if just for a couple months.
The next morning, we packed up our apartment – the space that had been home base for all our Southeast Asian adventures. But we couldn’t leave without one final ritual: our last bowl of khao soi at Kao Soi Nimman. The rich, coconut curry noodles that had become our Chiang Mai comfort food. It was the perfect final meal in a city that had given us so much.
Langkawi
By the time we reached Langkawi via Kuala Lumpur, we’d been on the move for months, carefully watching every dollar and staying in budget guesthouses. Before embarking on what we knew would be an action-packed adventure through India and Sri Lanka, we decided it was time to splurge a little.
Enter the Westin Langkawi. Paradise.
We arrived late and immediately ordered room service – rotis and dhal that we devoured while sprawled across an actual king-size bed for the first time in months. Simple luxuries that felt revolutionary after our budget travel stint.
The next few days blurred together in the best possible way. This wasn’t a food-focused trip like most of our adventures. We ventured out exactly twice – once for an incredible Malaysian dinner at Wonderland Food Store, a bustling market restaurant where the flavors were as authentic and intense as anything we’d experienced across Southeast Asia, and once to the Langkawi night market for some excellent street food. Otherwise? We stayed put.
The resort had a “secret” pool that somehow no other guests seemed to know about – a hidden oasis where we could float and read without the usual poolside crowds. We spent hours there, finally having space to process everything we’d experienced over the past couple months.
But the real entertainment came courtesy of Langkawi’s wildlife. One day, a large family of monkeys had taken up residence on the beach right in front of our “private” pool. Watching them interact was like having our own private National Geographic documentary – if you know what I mean (let’s just say monkey relationships are… enthusiastic… hubbah hubbah!). We found the whole spectacle absolutely hilarious.
We also rediscovered the simple pleasure of watching random movies in our room (this was the first time we’d had a TV in nearly two months!). Amazing how something so ordinary could feel like the height of luxury when you’d been living without it.
Six days of this restorative calm was exactly what we needed. Time to process everything we’d experienced, to let our bodies recover from months of buses and trains and cramped accommodations, to simply exist without agenda.
Those three final stops were the perfect way to close out our Southeast Asian chapter. Bangkok’s kinetic energy, Chiang Mai’s heartfelt goodbye tour, and Langkawi’s restorative calm – each one representing a different aspect of what had made this journey so special.
The next adventure was already calling from India, but for six perfect days in Malaysia, we were content to simply be still.
Note: this is a guest post written by Shiv 10 years later – some details might be off, missing, or slightly enhanced. I tried 😉
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