recs for Basque Country and Thailand

[pax_athena]

I've had a lot of good experience of asking your folks for recs in the past, so here we go again: recommendation for Basque Country and Thailand?

I am especially looking for things that are not obvious - although if you feel that something is obvious and either absolutely amazing or a waste of time, please say so, too :)

I also know that those are two vastly different places. But well, it's the places we are going to :D

Comments

[sousha]

Sadly I can't be helpful but I'm curious what you will have to say about Basque Country.

[pax_athena]

Will do :)
(Also still want to know about Krav Maga!)

[sousha]

I just came back from the last day of the seminar and I have so much to say about that. So expect a longish journal entry in the next days!

[giallarhorn]

Going off what a friend of mine did when she was there for a week-

Visit the elephant park! I think it's a petting type zoo thing where you get to feed/play with rehabilitated elephants? And check out the floating market! And the night markets, and night markets in Asia are always fun to get a feel for a place, imho.

I think there's an old abandoned mall infested with koi that's in Bangkok as well? Dunno if it's still around.

Also, the temples! There's a huge concentration of Buddhist temples with a very particular architectural style a la Angkor Wat in that part of Asia (I think Angkor Wat itself is somewhere else?), so I'd say check them out.

[pax_athena]

Great, thank you! I haven't heard about the night market yet, will do some research. Also good to know about the elephant park; if this is rehabilitated elephants I guess it's also OK (I mean, I would prefer them to be living happily in the wild, but if it's elephants who have been abused for work, there is no way to make them wild again, I see that).

I had to google Angkor Wat - that seems to be in Cambodia, but yay temples! Though we still need to figure out which ones and whether we can get a tour so that we actually understand what we see.

[giallarhorn]

I think the night market is a general thing in Asian countries, vs a specific localized thing? It's basically the exact same as any other market area, but at night. The elephant park, from what I understand, is actually a sanctuary for rehabilitated elephants that just also happens to let people around?

Friend also suggested the Scorpion river cruise, the Emerald Palace, Wat Arun, Atuttaya (sp?) with a guide, and the reclining Buddha.