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I was at work when I received a text from one of my college friends, Jordyn, asking me an abrupt question... "Do you want to go to Thailand this summer?!"
Uh... YEAH!!
I already had another big trip booked for later in the year and thought that I wouldn't get approval from work to take some more time off. The worst they could say was no, so I gave it a shot and asked... an hour later, Jordyn and I were silently screaming with joy when we both had the go-ahead from both of our companies!
With two months to plan, we booked our flights, booked an Airbnb, and had a general outline of what we wanted to do. The reason why this trip was so abrupt is that a college friend of ours, Mook, who was an international student in the states lives in Bangkok and planned on moving out of Thailand in early 2019, so we saw it as the last opportunity to visit her while she was still living there.
With Mook being a local, traveling with her helped us out immensely when it came to figuring out the transportation system and finding places that were not touristy. She really took the reigns on coming up with an itinerary that made sense for the amount of time we had out there and making the most of each day. With the amount of stuff we ended up doing, it felt like we were there for two weeks rather than just one.
July 10th-11th, 2018
Our flight was on Wednesday, July 11th at 12:30 am, so we left for O'Hare Airport Tuesday night at 8:00 pm.
Among my family and friends, I am known for having bad luck with flying. Anything from the kid sitting behind me kicking my seat for the entire flight to mid-flight engine failures and emergency landings in a foreign country. For the most part, our flight went smoothly. It was on time, and we ended up taking off twenty minutes before we were supposed to. The only things we encountered on the flight was a screaming/kicking child behind us, along with an older Taiwanese woman who sat next to me and told me about her life story and Taiwanese politics while my eyes couldn't stay open.
In conclusion, there were no delays, no lost luggage, and no emergency landings. (YAY!)
Thursday, July 12th, 2018
We landed in Taipei for our layover at 4:20 am. We found some bathrooms to freshen up after the 15-hour flight, and the first thing both Jordyn and I noticed was that the Taiwanese/Thai women would not wash their hands after they were done using the restrooms. Later throughout our trip, we came to realize that that was a common thing, so if you are a germophobe, you might just have to accept the fact that washing your hands isn't really a thing there. So make sure to bring hand sanitizer with you. 😊
For the few hours we had until our next flight, we chilled out and grabbed some coffee.
Getting from the airport to our Airbnb
Our connection flight landed at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok around 11:30 am. Getting through customs was a breeze... getting a cab to our Airbnb wasn't so much. One thing we experienced right away was that tour guides and cab drivers would try to scam us by setting a flat rate fee of what they wanted to charge us for the ride rather than turn the meter on at the start of the trip. Luckily Mook warned us about the scammers and told us to get another cab if they refused to turn on the meter. The few cabs we took throughout the trip sometimes had a cloth covering it claiming that it was "broken"... Once they realized that we were not going to let it go, they started negotiating prices with us, which told us the meter worked just fine. (TIP: If the cab drivers won't back down, either get out of the cab and find a new one, or take a picture of their driver's information that is on display and report them. It may sound harsh but it is bad for Thai tourism and there are always more ethical ways of making extra money.)
Nonetheless, we made it safe and sound to our Airbnb and were blown away by the streets and views of Bangkok!
Our Introduction to Bangkok
We met up with Mook off of the Thong Lo stop of the Skytrain, which was where our Airbnb was located. From there, we took the train to the Siam stop to explore the area. We walked around the Siam Shopping Center and chilled out at a rooftop bar called The Escape Bangkok for some drinks. We then had some dinner at a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant that I think was called Art Bar and sat towards the back of the restaurant where there was a small, charming outdoor courtyard decorated with hanging plants and outdoor seating.
Mook was in charge of ordering, so we ate Thom Yum Goong (Shrimp), Tom Kha (Coconut Curry), and Thai Basil Stir Fry. The jet lag really hit us hard by the time we got our food and I started to doze off at the dinner table...
We left the restaurant an hour or two later and looked for a cab to take us back to our Airbnb. While we were waiting in a pickup line, a tuk-tuk driver pulled up and stopped right in front of us. He noticed us, two American women, with a local so he was pushing his sales onto Mook - telling her that she needs to give us the experience of riding a tuk-tuk in downtown Bangkok! The whole time, they were bantering back and forth in Thai (Jordyn and I, of course, had no idea what they were talking about), but we could tell that Mook was showing no interest in continuing on with the conversation. This guy did not give up and eventually, Mook gave in - and well, this happened:
Friday, July 13th, 2018
We woke up at a decent hour despite the 30 hours of traveling we did the day before and the 12 hour time difference from Chicago. Around 9:00 am, we went to breakfast at the cafe attached to our Airbnb called Hands & Heart. They serve some amazing Thai style coffee and black (!!) croissants.
We then toured some temples around Bangkok, including the Grand Palace, Wat Arun Ratchawararam, and the Golden Mountain. The Grand Palace was the most strict when it came to being covered. I brought a scarf to wrap around my shoulders but that wasn't enough. A small part below my neck was showing, so the temple employees told me that I had to buy a shirt from one of the gift shops in order to enter the front gates.
In the evening, we ventured out to Chinatown which is a whole monster of its own. We cabbed it there and the moment we stepped out of the car, it was sensory overload. People recognized Jordyn and I as Americans so they were shouting at us to come and buy their food (I think) and there were SO MANY people. If you are like me and have a personal bubble that extends at arm's length around your body, you just have to get over that because Bangkok is so populated, and people will constantly be bumping into you.
I remember this night as the one where we ate our way through Bangkok. We enduldged in street food, including sticky rice and a few other dishes that I can't quite tell you what they were.
We also ate at a very well known restaurant called Thipsamai, which is know to have one of the best pad thai dishes in town. The restaurant has their kitchen outside on the street so people who are lining up to be seated can stand by and watch the food being cooked.
To end our night, we experienced a bit of the nightlife of Bangkok. Again, sensory overload. There was so much going on at the same time, and when you add the jetlag on top of everything, it is so overwhelming. At one point, there were two outdoor clubs across the street competing against each other for the loudest music, vendors pushing carts down this crowded street selling food and souvenirs, a little kid kicking around a soccer ball, people getting Thai massages in lawnchairs on the side of the road, and a small dog passed out in a folding chair with his legs spread wide open for the world to see. I have never experienced anything on that level in the states before!
Saturday, July 14th, 2018
We took an 8:40 am train to another town an hour outside of the city called Ayutthaya, also known as the Ancient City. We met Mook at the train station, so Jordyn and I had to figure out how to use the subway system to get to the metro station (which turned out to be easy to navigate). When we got there, we bought some really delicious stuffed chocolate and almond cream waffles from a woman selling them at a small booth. Once we got on the train and found some seats (which was a challenge because it was first come, first serve), Mook bought a Thai tea from an older woman selling them on the train, then spilt it on Jordyn within the first ten minutes of the ride. By the end of the trip, the tea had travelled to the other side of the train car and to other passenger's feet.
That town has temples dating back as early as the 1700s! The temples we saw were Wat Mahathat, Wat Chaiwatthanaram, and Wat Yai Chai Mang Khon. We then finished up our trip with visiting some elephants and experiencing a floating market.
Sunday, July 15th, 2018
On day four, we had an 8:45 am flight from Bangkok and landed in Chiang Mai around 9:30 am. We caught a cab from the airport to take us to our resort, Panviman, that was about a 45-minute drive up into the mountains. We were all very excited considering how much cooler the temperature was and how much less populated northern Thailand is compared to Bangkok.
Once we arrived at our resort, we had an hour or so wait for our room to be ready, so we just waited by the pool. After check-in, we got settled in and caught a 4:00 pm shuttle bus to the city of Chiang Mai. We went out to eat some traditional Northern Thai food, wandered around the coffee district and stopped for some delicious dessert at Iberry.
Monday, July 16th, 2018
Day five was a very adventurous day. We went bamboo paddle boarding, hung out with more elephants, rode and operated our own "jungle coaster", ziplined, went sightseeing over mountain farms, and I experienced my very first massage... it was incredible, however the problem I have now is that it set the bar so high where I'm not sure if I will be able to have another one in the States which is just as good for the price I paid ($40 USD!!!).
Tuesday, July 17th, 2018
We woke up and headed straight to the pool to catch some rays before catching a bus to Chiang Rai - it was about a three-hour ride that dropped us off right outside of Wat Rong Kuhn (also known as the White Temple).
This temple turned out to be the most bizarre one we saw because it was the architect's/artist's intention to make it a contemporary art exhibit in the style of a Buddhist temple. It was designed, built, and opened to visitors in 1997. At the entrance, there is a sea of hands coming out of the ground with two curved horns at the start of the bridge. Upon entering the temple, the inside looks similar to the others we previously visited. Then, we looked closer at the artwork painted on the walls; within the painting of what looked like a landscape of a city mixed with a solar system were paintings of characters from movies such as Harry Potter, Kung Fu Panda, Superman, The Minions, Angry Birds, Transformers, and so on.
Once we were finished exploring the temple grounds, we caught a cab to go to an English style cafe called Chivit Thamma Da. We had some amazing coffee, dinner, and dessert before heading to the airport to get back to Bangkok.
Wednesday, July 18th, 2018
The last day of my trip for me was a little bittersweet. I couldn't wait to see my friends and family to tell them about my trip, start editing all of the photos I had taken as well as get some much-needed rest considering we were getting an average of 4-6 hours of sleep every night.
On our last full day in Bangkok, we decided to make it a beach day. Waking up, we realized the forecast was calling for some showers, but it turned out to be the most beautiful day out of the whole trip.
The beach we went to was on an island in the Gulf of Thailand. We had a driver for the day take us about two hours from Bangkok to a Royal Thai Navy Base (this was the same team that helped rescue the Thai boy's soccer team from the cave earlier in the month!). On a daily basis, the Thai Navy takes people on one of their boats to an island off the coast for some extra money. I was not at all expecting the experience that we had...
Even though the skies were clear that day, it was extremely windy and the waves were very choppy. Getting onto the boat was quite a process; between the deck and the boat was about a five-foot leap. When it was your turn to jump on the boat, four or five Navy sailors grabbed a hold of you and catapulted you on board while the boat was intensly rocking up and down. When everyone was on the boat (50+ people, most being locals), we set off for the island. What should have been a 20-minute boat ride turned into an hour because of the wind.
We finally arrived at our destination, and getting off of the boat was a bit more challenging. Mook, Jordyn and I were some of the last ones off the boat; as we stood up to get off, some crashes of waves moved the boat so both Jordyn and I went down and couldn't stand up. As we were laughing at ourselves, still struggling to get up, one of the sailors came over and grabbed both Jordyn and me by the arms, handed us over to the sailors tossing people off the boat and we stuck the landing. I am happy to announce that neither of us got seasick.
We had a few hours to spend on the island before the last boat left for the mainland. There was a camp base area where you could rent equipment for snorkeling, canoeing, as well as general beach lounging equipment.
One other thing that was located on the island (which later came in handy for me) was a medical tent in case there were any injuries among the island's visitors. Well... twenty minutes into our beach visit, we were in the water and I stepped on a sea urchin (Uni fish). It was more painful than getting a tattoo!
It turns out that my foot will be okay. There are still needles in there as I write this, but they are working their way out and disintegrating (sorry to those who do not like feet).
Thursday, July 19th, 2018
My trip sadly came to an end, and I headed off for a full 30-ish hours of travelling back to Chicago!
In Conclusion...
For a few months before my trip, I was in a bit of a creative rut. I wasn't inspired to create and I wasn't motivated to grind at my art and photography work, but this trip really came at the perfect time for me. The thing that I love most about traveling is that you learn things that school or your job can't teach you.
Just this one week I spent with my friends in Thailand to experience its culture was what I needed to hit the reset button. We were able to do a lot, but one week is not enough and I do plan on visiting again someday.
*Keep an eye out for a separate blog post for tips and resources for traveling to Thailand.
*My professional photographs will be added to my photography portfolio as well as the prints available for purchase in my shop within the next few weeks.