One of the most anticipated regions during my sabbatical was Southeast Asia. It seemed so exotic compared to North America, and so far from home that you simply couldn’t travel there for just a couple of weeks. Despite my interest, I circled SE Asia without ever touching it (apparently people don’t consider Singapore to be part of SE Asia!). Well, before the sabbatical ends, I knew I had to see at least Thailand.
It wasn’t hard to convince Weronika to join me for a month, as she just finished selling her dance studio and was now completely mobile. She also desperately wanted to visit Thailand, and had almost done so last year. I’m happy she waited for me 🙂
They say the two best ways to reduce jet lag are:
- At least a day before the trip, start living as though you’re already in the new timezone (this means eating and sleeping)
- When you arrive, stay in daylight for as long as possible, to allow your internal clock to re-calibrate
Armed with these tips, I ate dinner right before boarding the 9.5h flight from Kiev to Bangkok, skipped the in-flight meal, and went straight to sleep. Luckily I was tired enough to sleep most of the way and arrived relatively refreshed. Weronika was not so lucky and barely slept, so she napped in the afternoon.
First impressions of Bangkok reminded me of a mix between a cleaner India and an island in the the Caribbean, but with Thai people of course. The city is quite spread out and difference in weather was intense: 35C and full sun and humidity, compared to 5C and full clouds in Poland.
Our accommodation was on one of the most famous streets, called Khaosan Road. The location came recommended because it was supposed to be tourist friendly, but it was much, much more than that. Street vendors were everywhere, constantly barraging you with offers to buy tailored suits, eat grilled scorpions, or drive you somewhere. You couldn’t walk the short distance from one end of the street to the other without at least 50 offers (disclaimer: I didn’t actually count offers).
At night, the street was barely walk-able; loud music blasted from every bar and club, throngs of party kids drank and danced in the streets. It was like a low budget Ibiza nightclub. Street vendors became even more pushy, offering Thai massages or laughing gas, or wanting to drive you to a ping pong show. Since I’m past these shenanigans, we ended up spending most of our evenings in the street just north of Khaosan road. It was still quite occupied, but much more chilled, with coloured outdoor lanterns, more relaxed live music, better restaurants and street food.
Speaking of massages, while Weronika napped on the first day, I indulged in a 60 minute Thai massage for 250 Bhat (that’s 10 CAD, or 6 EUR). I’ve never had a Thai massage before and it was quite different from the porn versions I’ve seen on the internet. First, she washed my feet, as in Thailand, feet are considered the dirtiest part of the body. She then provided some loose fitting clothes to change into and proceeded to use her entire body (hands, forearms, elbows, knees, and feet) to massage me. With all the pushing and pulling and stretching, it wasn’t relaxing at all, but I did feel thoroughly supple when she was done. No, it was not an erotic massage, so you can get those dirty thoughts right out of your head!
Speaking of cheap, street food is also very inexpensive but tasty. Good quality pad thai costs 50 Bhat (2 CAD/1.5 EUR). For the first few days, I ate it almost everyday, accompanied by some papaya green salad and occasionally some fresh vegetables. With the intense heat, I’ve also had to drink 2+ litres of water everyday, which means I should lose all those extra pounds gained from eating fatty Polish food in no time!
On our second day, Weronika and I toured the city by foot and visited the Grand Palace, with billions of brightly coloured, hand painted small stones glued to the walls and columns (disclaimer: I may not have actually counted the stones). Next were a few Buddhist temples to see a standing Buddha, a sitting Buddha and a sleeping Buddha.
By the way, beyond Khaosan Road, Thai people are very friendly and not pushy at all. Even the heavy armed security guards of the Grand Palace were quick to flash a genuine smile after scrutinizing the contents of our bags.
On the third day, we took the train north to Ayutthaya. It was a local train without air-conditioning, but cost only 30 Bhat (1.20 CAD, less than 1 EUR) for the 1.5 hour journey. Once there, we negotiated a scooter for the same price as two bicycles and drove round the historical park, admiring the ancient temples and parks. It was once the capital of Thailand and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Since you’re probably wondering,
- Yes, there are plenty of lady-boys in Bangkok. Some are really easy to identify (heavy make-up, fake breasts, manly hands or neck) while others are hard to know for certain. Weronika and I disagreed who was whom on several occasions.
- No, we did not see a ping pong show. After researching and learning about all the ways tourists get scammed, we opted to not see it. Since we’ll return to Bangkok for the last night before the flight home, we might see it then, but it’s not in our list of things we must do.
- Yes, there have been several other massages enjoyed. Weronika joined me for the second, 45 minute foot massage for 120 Bhat (5 CAD, 3 EUR). It was so good I fell sleep in the middle. Tough life!