Traveling Transitions

I was a bit sad to leave Thailand-- in part because going to China was a bit of a tough transition... quite literally. I received an email the night before that my first flight was cancelled. I was rescheduled but on a flight that would make me miss my second flight. After quite a few phone calls I finally got a new flight, but, it would still be very close. When I learned my bag wouldn't go straight through I was sure I wouldn't make it.

Thai Airlines came through. Upon arrival in Bangkok I was met with a sign and a small army of Thai airlines workers... about 8 of them. We walked briskly through the airport, got my bag, was met by another Thai Airways person for my ticket, went through priority immigration and security and made it with five minutes to spare.

Source: Wikipedia.comRun Run Run

Big Bird & I had something in common:

I made it to Shanghai-- "in China!"

Chinese culture feels quite foreign to me. But unlike in India, at least everyone isn't staring... at least not as much. Since I've yet to find anyone that speaks any english-- I can make my mistakes in peace.

I do have a confession though. I don't particularly like Chinese food. Everything is eatable here, which makes the old "blindly pointing to Chinese menu" a rather dangerous sport. You don't know the animal or the part of the animal until it arrives. But even then, I frequently didn't know what I was eating even after I had finished it.

The most frustrating part of it, though, is that I can tell it was dreadfully unhealthy and it then had the audacity to not be delicious.

The Art of Cooking

Probably the highlight of my time in Thailand was the food. So, unsurprisingly, the cooking lesson I took (cooking is an art, right?) was wonderful.

I just hope TSA lets me keep my supplies.

The temples were great too.

My trip went so smoothly that I didn't even get any stories. Better for me, worse for my blog.

Sadly, I did not get to see the temple I really wanted to see as I did not get to cross into Burma (for a variety of reasons.)

But, ladies and gentlemen, I give you "A Temple Owl." And yes, I was going to make a special trip to another country just for this joke. I am the child of my parents.

Source: John Meckley

I know I can count on mom to be laughing right about now.

Thanks for that.

 

 

 

Oh Mai Mai Mai

Chiang Mai was simply wonderful. It didn't hurt that I was staying in one of the nicest places I've stayed in this year either. I did work in the morning, slept midday though the heat and went to markets and festivals at night. Grad school is going to be rough after this life.

My first day as I was walking home I had a man stop me outside an automechanic. He told me there was a large festival, and that I needed to come back that night. Though I'm unsure exactly what was happening the displays of dance, the outfits and the large baskets of flowers burned as offerings were delightful. I even got to participate writing names for prayers on a large piece of cloth. Locty & Jimmy had prayers made at their respective signs.

You're a Grand Old Palace

No ankles, no chest, no elbows, no stomach, no shoulders, and no flip flops was the dress code for The Grand Palace. I wore my only possible outfit and headed out. I felt a bit too strong a sense of accomplishment for being one of the only tourists not turned away at the door the first time.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. In my long black dress, sunglasses, and black sun umbrella I was fit for a funeral... But what a structure.

 

It's a Thai

Bangkok was warm. Every day it would climb to over a 100 (so much impressive than 37) and just stop. Walking outside was akin to swimming. The weather did wonders for my hair, and my appearance in general. I had no clue I was capible of sweating so profusely. Delightful.

To quote Beyoncé, "I woke up like this."

Now that I could all but be recruited to the Cape Town and Hungarian tourist boards, I'll try out for the Thai one. Thailand is the perfect "Asian Starter Country." You get culture, but it's not so foreign that you suffer from culture shock (you can wear what you'd wear at home, for example.) It's very easy to get around, I took a boat taxi almost every day that got me quickly where I needed to go and metros everywhere else. There's even a train in the basement of the airport that connects to the metro. The food is amazing. Even though I wasn't careful about ice (the water isn't drinkable) I was not sick at all. It's cheap, like really cheap, especially outside of Bangkok. I stayed in the best hostel I've ever stayed in (more on that later.) The shopping is amazing. I spent 7.5 hours on the Saturday milling around a massive outdoor market of 15,000 stalls. There's such variety in Thailand. Even though I stuck to Bangkok and Chiang Mai (a city in the far north) for my project, I've heard wonderful things about the islands, the jungles, and the beaches. But the reason I'd call it perhaps the best destination for travelers who want adventure but are not adventurous and solo travelers is that it's set up for tourism in the best possible way. I never felt unsafe, unwelcome, or tried to be sold anything (I know!) There weren't stares or hard selling. Bargaining is accepted, but it has to be done in a very polite fashion. If you start too low your business is refused. I found most people to be extremely polite, friendly and respectful. (Except for one demographic) I found the tourists to also be relatively polite and friendly.

Shuttle Boat

Sadly, the sex trade is alive and well in Bangkok, and it shows. As terribly depressing as it was, the upside was I had no stares, no weird calling out, touching or anything.

Though my body's natural defenses of frizz, sweat and reddening probably could be cited for this as well.

 

 

 

Dealing With It

I love a good deal. I come from the type of family that proudly tells recipients what percentage their gift was on sale. My flight to Thailand? $300. Why? Malaysia Air. Sorry mom. It was solidly one of the more uncomfortable long haul flights I've been on. My light and TV weren't working and even though it was morning in Amsterdam, they turned off the lights so we could get accustomed to Bangkok time. Meh.

My second flight went better until the landing. We landed so violently everyone screamed and assumed brace position (a first for me.) a man I'd not talked to grabbed my hand. It was over quickly but right after the pilot kept repeating "sorry, sorry, sorry" over the intercom. The rest of the trip I was simply in awe of the public transportation system. How can Bangkok's trains be so nice? (My cousins might need to do a case study here.) Plus, everyone politely stands to the sides in little lines, and let's everyone off before entering. What a novel idea.

Even better than the trains, though, has been the food. I ended up eating the exact same meal every day because it was so tasty... Though it doesn't photograph particularly well. For so long I resisted being that person who took pictures of food... But I succumbed and then didn't even do a very good job. If you're ever in Bangkok, head to "Inter" and get the red curry duck. It is heaven for less than $3.

 

 

 

Tip Toe Through the Tulips

My last few days in the Netherlands I still had yet to complete a very important task-- take a picture with a windmill. When we were living in Scotland each of us were given a task for the future- one sibling needs to find a beach we could never find and the other needs to eat a fish called whale. I needed to find a windmill in Holland.

Success (consider the gauntlet thrown you two.)

I spent my last full day seeing said windmill and touring the massive tulip garden an hour south of Amsterdam. While in the line, waiting for the bus, I started talking to a really nice Brazilian mother/son duo and spent the day with them. It was the perfect temperature, the flowers were gorgeous, and we even got to take a bike ride. Flowers are the best thing to photograph. They don't move, and they're beautiful.