Arrived at Phi Phi today. Noticed quite a few job postings for bartenders.
In unrelated news, I can open a beer like nobody’s business.
If I go missing, no need to come find me.
Arrived at Phi Phi today. Noticed quite a few job postings for bartenders.
In unrelated news, I can open a beer like nobody’s business.
If I go missing, no need to come find me.
In Thailand, elephants are known as Chang’s. As part of our 3 day jungle trekking expedition (more on that later) we got to ride elephants.
It sounds reallllly fun, and it was, but it was also terrifying. First, you get to cross the ricketiest old Indiana Jones-style wooden bridge to get across the river to where the elephants are. Then, because they are so big, they can’t get that close to the platform where you’re supposed to get on them so you have to step precariously onto the back of their neck and hope they don’t move while you’re doing it.
You are settled into a wooden/metal chair that is tied to the elephant around his neck and tail (with about 40 blankets between you and them, so they have tons of padding) with no seat belt, so you are basically trying to enjoy your ride, maybe take a few pictures, meanwhile holding on for dear life.
The area where they were riding was pretty hilly, and also really muddy, so when you are going downhill you are clutching the back of the seat with every ounce of strength you possess, trying to avoid falling forwards and being trampled to death, and when you are going up hill, you are nervously eyeing the incredibly slippery looking muddy path and hoping the elephant in front of you doesn’t slide and fall backwards on top of you.
To make it even more enjoyable, the elephant is huge, and seems to have no clue at all that he is actually carrying anything on his back, so he’s going about his business as usual, ploughing through bushes, and using his trunk to pull leaves off of branches that then snap back and hit you in the eye.
It’s a super fun time.
After we finished our ride, we got to hang out for awhile and observe them eating and wandering around. I was taking pictures of the baby and mom and happened to glance behind me as a huge male came marching through, I dove out of the way just in the nick of time.
The baby was super adorable, I’ve had an obsession with baby elephants ever since I saw Ducktales the movie (Webigail was a pretty huge influence on me) so it was neat to get to see it and be so close to it. It may have been small, but it was far from defenseless, a German guy got a bit too close, and it shoulder-checked him. Hard. He almost fell over. It was amazing.
It was definitely a cool experience, and I’m glad we were able to do it. I was also glad to see that the elephants were treated pretty well, they had a lot to eat, and a really big area to roam around, although I’ve been told that some of the companies that offer elephants rides don’t treat their animals very well, so be sure to check into it a bit before you book anything.
The same day we checked out Wat Pho, we also went to see the King’s Palace. It was gorgeous, one of the coolest things we saw there was the temple of the Emerald Buddha, the outside of it was amazing, completely covered in intricate mosaic tile work. The inside was probably the most beautiful temple we’ve seen so far, but unfortunately, some of the temples don’t allow photography inside, which makes sense, as there were a lot of people praying inside.
Outside the temple of the Emerald Buddha was a small scale replica of Angkor Wat, which made me even more excited for Cambodia than I already was.
The palace itself was pretty neat, they had a “weapons room” that you could go inside to see all of the different weapons that the Thai army has used over the years, some of them were pretty vicious looking.
The bad thing about the palace was that women had to wear long pants, and a long sleeve shirt. I had a pair of light harem pants, so that wasn’t really the issue, but my top didn’t have long sleeves so I had to put on my sweater. It was so hot and humid out (just check out my hair in some of these pictures, it’s got a life of its own) that by the time we made it through most of the palace complex, I was feeling very faint and I thought I might pass out.
By the time we got close to the exit I was actually sprinting to get out, I’m sure the guards thought I had stolen the crown jewels or something. I stripped down right outside the gate (I had shorts on underneath) but the guards looked a little freaked out for a second.
I’ve never been so glad to take my pants off.
For some reason, even though we travelled 19 hours to get here, we weren’t jet lagged at all. We got to our Bangkok hotel at 11:30 p.m., and woke up the next day ready to go out and do things.
We ate some random street food for breakfast, and then found our way to the SkyTrain. The only thing I really had in mind to see was the King’s Palace, but you need to take a water taxi to get there, which was pretty cool in itself, and there are lots of different stops along the way.
We ended up jumping out to see Wat Pho, a really beautiful temple, most famous for its reclining Buddha sculpture, which is completely massive, and completely gorgeous, but it had lots of other neat things too, including rows and rows of gold Buddha statues that we stumbled upon by accident while we were looking for the exit.
The ornate detail that goes into these temples is astounding, it takes hundreds of years to build them, and then it’s constant maintenance to make sure they stay that way. There were people re-doing the mosaic tiles on little areas all over the massive temple complex.
I haven’t been doing much shopping here, since my backpack is one additional item away from exploding, it’s basically being held together by chewing gum and hope.
But I did stop in at the mall in Bangkok to try to find another battery for my camera.
It’s always so interesting to see the differences between cultures, and a shopping mall is definitely a place where those things can be seen.
In addition to having the most awesome food court I’ve ever seen, mirrored ceilings and maze-like hallways that made you feel like you were in the final scene of the Labyrinth, it just had some neat things for sale, and neat ways of displaying everything.
Those mannequins will haunt my dreams.
A few lovely things for today, when I am in Chiang Mai, probably meeting my elephant soulmate as you’re reading this.
Since I started telling people we were leaving, one of the questions I get asked most often (I’ve definitely asked myself a few times) is how we’re going to pack everything we’re going to need in just a little backpack.
We ordered these backpacks from Amazon, and they are pretty great, they completely zip open so you aren’t futilely fishing around in a tiny backpack opening trying to find the thing you want, and they have lots of different compartments. The zippers also have a spot to put locks on them, so if you’re going to be in an area where pick pocketing is a concern, it’s pretty handy.
Here are a few shots of everything I’m bringing:
I’m bringing 3 dresses, 2 pairs of shorts, one pair of pants, 5 shirts, and a light kimono-sweater, a pair of converse, and pair of flip flops. I bought some packing cubes to keep things organized, I fit all of my clothes in ONE cube. It’s a miracle.
For practical things, we brought laundry detergent sheets, a clothes line and plug so we can do laundry at the hostels, baby wipes, silk sleep sheet in case some of the beds aren’t very clean, combination lock so we can lock up our backpacks in lockers, a flash light, and some carabiners for keeping random things attached to our bags, or attaching our bags to bunks or seats, and a money belt.
For unpractical things, I brought a very paired down make up bag, including BB cream, bronzer, blush, eyeliner and roll on perfume. For my hair, I bought Wen, even though I’m not positive I like it, but it takes up a lot less space than bringing both shampoo and conditioner, and Morrocan Oil, because it is a non-negotiable necessity for my when it’s humid, unless I want to spend the whole trip looking like Howard Stern.
We brought tons of sun screen, hand sanitizer, a first aid kit with Advil, bandaids and anti-nausea meds, anti-malaria pills, insect repellent, a travel towel (they dry super quickly so other stuff in your bag doesn’t get wet), and inflatable neck pillow, and all our documents, including copies of our passports.
And that’s it. I’m sure there will be things I didn’t bring that I should have, and things I brought that I’ll never use, but this is our first time doing something like this, so we’re definitely learning as we go.
I also got this camera for the trip, I love my DSLR, but it would have taken up the whole bag pretty much, I’m really excited to try it out.
I’ve only been here one day, but here’s what I’ve learned about Thailand so far.
The people are nice. Like really nice. I thought people in South Africa were nice (they were) but we’ve met so many wonderful people already, including a street vendor who was so excited for us to be on this trip that he was almost crying (so was I) and a Thai businessman in the temple of the smiling Buddha that told us all about his life, gave us tons of tips and information, and taught us how to say a prayer to Buddha for a safe travels.
It’s hot. Like don’t bother putting on clothes hot. We once rented a house in Zihuatanejo, Mexico that was at the top of about 500 stairs, and we stayed there when it was 100 degrees and so humid that everything was wet all the time. This is like that, but hotter and wetter. It’s basically pointless to shower.
It’s beautiful. So far we’ve just been in Bangkok, which is a big city so lots of concrete, like anywhere (there’s a Starbucks around the corner), but we visited the King’s Palace, and some of the temples today, and it’s just mind-blowingly gorgeous.
We leave for Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand tomorrow, and I’m so excited to see the country away from the big city.
I still can’t really grasp the concept that we’re actually not going to be going home for the rest of the year, I’m sure it’ll take some time for that to sink in.
Luckily I had an amazing week in Montana with my family before we left, I couldn’t have really asked for a better send off. I’m obsessed with that place.
Writing this from LAX, about to board a flight to Tokyo.
My last long international flight was 5 years ago when I flew to South Africa.
I ended up getting a severe case of kidney stones, mid-flight, had to be put on an IV and spent the rest of the flight writhing around in agony on the floor in the back of the plane.
So a bit of room for improvement, you might say.
loveliness. 