My Last Paradise: Thailand
It seems like I've been making a lot of travel related posts, but this being my last summer of freedom and all before I join the 9 to 5 workday crowd, I thought I might as well see a bit of the world.
My latest adventure, one that I never really expected to take actually, was a visit to Thailand. It was a really interesting trip to a really interesting place. I had never encountered an environment where the wealthy and the poor lived in such close proximity. One minute you were in a chain of high-end hotels, the next, you were walking through the slums. There were clean, air-conditioned, expensive shopping malls contrasted with the heat and crowds of the street vendors. It was an entirely different world than the one I was used to, but it wasn't just one different world, it was two worlds pushed up so close together that you couldn't concretely tell where one ended and the other began.
Duration of Trip: 1 week (though with the time difference and all, I'm not sure if that's accurate)
Cities Visited: Bangkok, Pattaya, and their surrounding areas
More specific places listed below
Along the way I learned a myriad of facts about Thailand. I'm not certain about the accuracy but most of them came from a tour guide. I'll leave that decision up to you. Here are just a few:
The weather is, in many ways, as drastic and different as the city of
Bangkok and the land of Thailand. At least during the rainy season.
Having lived in California for four years now, I have become accustomed
to unchanging, stagnant weather. However, in Thailand, it would be sunny
and beautiful one minute, then the next, clouds would darken the
landscape, and the sky would open up as rain fell in torrents down to
earth. 20 minutes later, it was all over. It was an extraordinary sight.
The only downside is that it messed with my TV reception in the hotel,
and was particularly annoying during movies. But I did appreciate the
summer thunderstorms in the long run :)
Places of Note:
Chao Phraya River - My first night in Thailand involved a dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya River, which runs through Bangkok. Since it was nighttime, and I was very tired from the time difference, I didn't actually get to see too much. However, the city lights were quite a site to behold, and so was the group of complete strangers dancing the night away.
Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha Temple - Home of the royal family and the jade carved Buddha that is the "palladium of the kingdom of Thailand" according to Wikipedia. The Emerald Buddha has three outfits made of golden, one for each season (summer, rainy, and winter). It is the king's job to change these outfits at the beginning of every season, although the job today falls to the crown prince. The Grand Palace's entry is free to all Thai citizens.
Floating Market - Originally a Bangkok attraction, the floating market has not been held in the capital for some years now. In the old days, when everything was centered around the river and canals, it was the best way for vendors to reach their various customers. Today, the floating markets in the areas surrounding Bangkok are mostly a tourist attraction. However, you can still see some of the same types of boats that used to populate the waters of Bangkok, from produce to desserts to noodles! I myself opted for some fresh coconut ice cream and mango sticky rice. And of course there are many boats filled with little trinkets and souvenirs for all to take home.
In addition to Bangkok, I spent a weekend in the beach city of Pattaya.
Nongnooch Gardens - This was definitely a tourist attraction, but also one of the many places you could ride an elephant, which I did due to the urging of many of my friends. They also put on an elephant show multiple times a day. The elephants were capable of dancing, throwing darts, playing soccer, playing basketball, stepping over people, giving people massages, hitting their private parts, riding tricycles, and lifting people up with their trunks. It was really quite incredible, but the whole thing was overshadowed by the tiny feeling I had about the elephants not really wanting to be there... Which begs the general question about animal treatment at facilities like this, though that's a very heavy topic that I know next to nothing about and don't want to get into in case it causes too much offense. All I'm going to say is that the trainer who took us on our elephant ride wasn't exactly kind to the elephant, and there was a monkey who seemed very reluctant to be in a show...
On a lighter note, they had fried bananas there, which were quite delicious. And the gardens themselves, although obviously man sculpted, were very pretty.
Pattaya Pier Walk - A section of the city near the ocean was reserved for foot travelers only. Our hotel, Siam Bayshore was located in this stretch of the city. However, despite the tranquility and fanciness of our hotel, only a few feet away lived the nightlife of Pattaya. Famous for its ladyboy shows, bars, shops, and 7/11s, Pattaya was really quite a different atmosphere. Especially when you measured the difference between our resort's atmosphere and that of the street only a short walk away.
Pattaya Pier - There was also a pier not far from the hotel. Along it you could find many people keen on visiting the island of Koh Lorn and fleets of boats waiting to take you there. You can also find large numbers of Chinese tourist groups with little flags and matching towels.
Koh Lorn - A beautiful island off the coast of Pattaya situated in the bay of Thailand, reachable by public or private boat. In our journey to the island, I rode on the back of a motorbike, in a speedboat, and even went parasailing! There was also a snorkeling stop but being afraid of fish, I have already decided to save my one venture under the sea for the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. On the island, we were given beach chairs under an umbrella (for a fee of course), and I had the opportunity to swim in the perfectly clear turquoise water and walk in the soft, fine (but very hot) sand. The experience would have been made better only if there were fewer boats (see picture) and peddlers who occasionally wandered in front of my ocean view.
Although I managed to do a lot in my time at Thailand, I also had a bit of free time on my hands. Here are just a few other ways I managed to entertain myself:
My latest adventure, one that I never really expected to take actually, was a visit to Thailand. It was a really interesting trip to a really interesting place. I had never encountered an environment where the wealthy and the poor lived in such close proximity. One minute you were in a chain of high-end hotels, the next, you were walking through the slums. There were clean, air-conditioned, expensive shopping malls contrasted with the heat and crowds of the street vendors. It was an entirely different world than the one I was used to, but it wasn't just one different world, it was two worlds pushed up so close together that you couldn't concretely tell where one ended and the other began.Duration of Trip: 1 week (though with the time difference and all, I'm not sure if that's accurate)
Cities Visited: Bangkok, Pattaya, and their surrounding areasMore specific places listed below
Along the way I learned a myriad of facts about Thailand. I'm not certain about the accuracy but most of them came from a tour guide. I'll leave that decision up to you. Here are just a few:
- Thailand is 95% Buddhist, 2-4% Muslim, and 1% Catholic
- The country is the same size as France (or so my tour guide said but I'm still not sure I believe it, especially when I look at a map)
- Although Thailand never experience direct colonial rule, they drive on the left, like the British
- The government is technically a constitutional monarchy with a parliament and a royal family
- Its two greatest sources of income are exports and tourism
- Summer months are high season for Asian tourists; winter months are high season for European tourists
The weather is, in many ways, as drastic and different as the city of
Bangkok and the land of Thailand. At least during the rainy season.
Having lived in California for four years now, I have become accustomed
to unchanging, stagnant weather. However, in Thailand, it would be sunny
and beautiful one minute, then the next, clouds would darken the
landscape, and the sky would open up as rain fell in torrents down to
earth. 20 minutes later, it was all over. It was an extraordinary sight.
The only downside is that it messed with my TV reception in the hotel,
and was particularly annoying during movies. But I did appreciate the
summer thunderstorms in the long run :)Places of Note:
Chao Phraya River - My first night in Thailand involved a dinner cruise on the Chao Phraya River, which runs through Bangkok. Since it was nighttime, and I was very tired from the time difference, I didn't actually get to see too much. However, the city lights were quite a site to behold, and so was the group of complete strangers dancing the night away.
Grand Palace and Emerald Buddha Temple - Home of the royal family and the jade carved Buddha that is the "palladium of the kingdom of Thailand" according to Wikipedia. The Emerald Buddha has three outfits made of golden, one for each season (summer, rainy, and winter). It is the king's job to change these outfits at the beginning of every season, although the job today falls to the crown prince. The Grand Palace's entry is free to all Thai citizens.
Floating Market - Originally a Bangkok attraction, the floating market has not been held in the capital for some years now. In the old days, when everything was centered around the river and canals, it was the best way for vendors to reach their various customers. Today, the floating markets in the areas surrounding Bangkok are mostly a tourist attraction. However, you can still see some of the same types of boats that used to populate the waters of Bangkok, from produce to desserts to noodles! I myself opted for some fresh coconut ice cream and mango sticky rice. And of course there are many boats filled with little trinkets and souvenirs for all to take home.In addition to Bangkok, I spent a weekend in the beach city of Pattaya.
Nongnooch Gardens - This was definitely a tourist attraction, but also one of the many places you could ride an elephant, which I did due to the urging of many of my friends. They also put on an elephant show multiple times a day. The elephants were capable of dancing, throwing darts, playing soccer, playing basketball, stepping over people, giving people massages, hitting their private parts, riding tricycles, and lifting people up with their trunks. It was really quite incredible, but the whole thing was overshadowed by the tiny feeling I had about the elephants not really wanting to be there... Which begs the general question about animal treatment at facilities like this, though that's a very heavy topic that I know next to nothing about and don't want to get into in case it causes too much offense. All I'm going to say is that the trainer who took us on our elephant ride wasn't exactly kind to the elephant, and there was a monkey who seemed very reluctant to be in a show...On a lighter note, they had fried bananas there, which were quite delicious. And the gardens themselves, although obviously man sculpted, were very pretty.
Pattaya Pier Walk - A section of the city near the ocean was reserved for foot travelers only. Our hotel, Siam Bayshore was located in this stretch of the city. However, despite the tranquility and fanciness of our hotel, only a few feet away lived the nightlife of Pattaya. Famous for its ladyboy shows, bars, shops, and 7/11s, Pattaya was really quite a different atmosphere. Especially when you measured the difference between our resort's atmosphere and that of the street only a short walk away.
Pattaya Pier - There was also a pier not far from the hotel. Along it you could find many people keen on visiting the island of Koh Lorn and fleets of boats waiting to take you there. You can also find large numbers of Chinese tourist groups with little flags and matching towels.
Although I managed to do a lot in my time at Thailand, I also had a bit of free time on my hands. Here are just a few other ways I managed to entertain myself:
- Union Mall: Although not my favorite place to be, it was a sprawling 4 stories of various stalls selling various things. A pretty cool site if you ask me, and much cheaper than some of the more mainstream options.
- Central Plaza Ladprao: It was like something out of San Francisco. But with a Topshop, so even better seeing as the only Topshop I've been able to locate in the US is in NYC. My favorite part was finding all the soccer jerseys being sold in the department store there. You just can't get that in the states. My least favorite part was the inability to find authentic Thai food. Oh and maybe the prices.
- The Central Plaza also had an SFX movie theater on the 6th floor. Apparently many Thai theaters located in popular places have English tracked movies with Thai subtitles, so I was able to watch The Fault in Our Stars for $6! Quite exciting considering a matinee in the bay area today costs at least $7. It was an interesting experience, seeing a movie in another country. They wouldn't let me in until the exact time of the movie showing, so the film itself started even later than it does in the US. And before the screening, they played the King's Anthem, which we were required to stand up for. Good thing there were English subtitles or I wouldn't have known what to do at all... As for the film itself, I liked it a lot. Maybe even more than the book. There was something a bit contrived, rushed, and fictional about the story when I read it, but something so real and believable when played out on screen. I must admit, although I'm not a huge fan of Shailene Woodley, she played an excellent Hazel. And Ansel Egort made your heart melt as Augustus. Definitely would recommend.
- There was a lot of swimming involved :D
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