The traditional greeting known as the wai, where you press your hands together as is in prayer and bow slightly, is derived from the Hindu cultural influence from India and still widely practiced.
“I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving- we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it- but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.” –Oliver W. Holmes
Thailand was a blast! It was a lot of fun mingling with the Thai people; everyone was so calm and friendly. Even just riding in a cab was the complete opposite experience from India; it almost seemed peaceful despite the impacted roads filled with hundreds of motorcycles and taxi’s.
The first day in port Kristin and I had a field trip to the Sriracha Tiger Zoo, which ended up being pretty much like Marine World. We went to a tiger, alligator, and elephant show; it was pretty entertaining. The trip also included a visit to Mini Siam, I’m pretty sure it was the weirdest sight to ever be created. It featured miniature replicas of iconic structures from Thailand and all over the world, so we were able to take a quick trip to the Eiffel tower, Mount Rushmore, Roman Coliseum, Trevi Fountain, etc. it was pretty funny! After our strange field trip we met up with Amelia and went to Pattaya, a city about 45 minutes from our port, also known for being the sex capital of Thailand and for it’s beautiful beaches. It was quite an experience, after our fist authentic Thai meal (so good, new favorite food!) we walked around to the bars and down the infamous streets. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many prostitutes in my life; it was like 1 guy to 30 girls. Pretty crazy, but it was all cool to see, and it was a beautiful city.
The next morning we took a train to Bangkok where we stayed for the rest of the trip. We got a hotel room at the Westin Grand, it was in a perfect location and we were able to walk almost everywhere. We immediately went and got Thai massages and enjoyed them so much that we stayed and got pedicures, we ended up paying about 20 USD for our mini spa day--what a deal! After we went to a great Thai restaurant for lunch, I got green curry chicken, mmmm! That night we went to a night bazaar that had crazy markets. There was a knock off for every brand imaginable. The markets seemed endless, biggest ones I’ve ever seen; we never even made it through the whole thing before it closed at midnight. The night bazaar was a lot of fun; it had lots of food and music, a good atmosphere.
We woke up early the next morning to start exploring the sights of Bangkok. We took a taxi to the Grand Palace, which was absolutely amazing!! The buildings were so intricately designed it was really beautiful. Inside the walls of the palace held hundreds of people coming from all over to pay their respects to the “Emerald Buddha”, which stood about one foot tall. We had to be dressed very conservatively; Kyle even had to rent pants just to go inside! It was a little bit miserable in the 100-degree weather, but well worth it to see all the beautiful buildings! Across from the Grand Palace is Wat Pho aka The Reclining Buddha located inside a Buddhist temple. The Buddha was absolutely HUMUNGUS!! We were all so surprised at how large it was, at forty-six meters long and fifteen meters high, it took up an entire room. It was beautifully decorated with gold plating on his body and mother of pearl on his eyes and feet. There were 108 bowls placed around the perimeter of the Buddha, and it’s good luck to drop a coin in each so everyone inside walks around dropping one coin in after the next creating a beautiful sound that echoed throughout the building. Wat Pho was surrounded with food markets, so we got to see all lots of different things being made. The weirdest was cockroaches and grass hoppers!! But everything else smelt great, especially the fruit, it was all so delicious, I tried lots of new things, my favorite was mangosteen! We took a cab to China Town because we heard there was more great food there. From the moment we got there it was pretty overwhelming!! There were SO many people and the food markets were out of control. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant, it was a nice glimpse of what to expect when we get to actual China in a couple weeks. That night we were determined to find a pub to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and we did!! We actually found two and had a great time with all the other Americans and Europeans in Bangkok. Once the pubs started to die out (they did believe it or not!), we headed to Soi Cowboy, which is a famous party street. It was lined with clubs and “girlie bars”. It was fun, a good experience for sure.
The next day we couldn’t help but go back to the spa for another massage before our Thai cooking class. The second massage was even better than the first, so relaxing! It was the perfect preparation for a full day of cooking ahead of us. Our cooking class was definitely one of my favorite parts of the trip. We took it at a famous restaurant chain specializing in Thai cuisine call The Blue Elephant. We sat in a classroom and watched a chef prepare a meal and then were given the recipe and were taken into a kitchen to prepare it ourselves. We did this 5 times, creating a 5-course meal; each time our food was taken and put in a warming oven. At the end of the day, we were taken into the beautiful restaurant where our food was set out on the table for us; it was delicious!! I was a little intimidated while cooking, especially dealing which unfamiliar ingredients and such strong smelling spices, but I did fine! We had a fantastic menu and everyone really enjoyed everything we made. Later that night, we were ready to go out for our last night in Bangkok, we decided on a street called Khao San, another well known party street that was very similar to Soi Cowboy, but with lots more people and venders, it was a fun time!
Thailand flew by more quickly than any port so far! We woke up the next morning and took a bus back to the port where we set sail for Vietnam. Everyone was exhausted, can’t believe we have to do it all over again on tomorrow in Vietnam!! CAN’T WAIT!!
