The Blog Post You've All Been Waiting For (I hope.) PART 1

I would like to think that this blog post is most anticipated. If you are my friend and have been talking to me on a regular basis (don't worry, one statement does not infer the other...) you'll know that I finally felt like I was living my ASIAN DREAM because I took two weeks to travel around Thailand and Vietnam!

Not only did I get to travel around these two AMAZING countries but I was lucky enough to get to travel with my very good friend Bilal! (Shout out to Bilal!) Finally - I could SHARE some of my Asian experience with someone from home. This means 20 years from now I can discuss Asia with someone from home (rather then discuss Asia to myself, in my head, on my own when all my Malaysia friends - whom I DID get to share this experience with - are living all around the world). 

Anyway so let me tell you about my trip. You may want to get comfy, get yourself a snack, because this is going to be a looooonnnnggg read (And only part 1 of 2)... and I apologize in advance. 

First Stop: Bangkok, Thailand. 

Happy reunion on Khao San Road :)

So first of all, the only portion of my trip that I did without Bilal was traveling from KL to Bangkok. He was coming from Shanghai and our flights were landing within two hours of each other. I thought Bilal and his friend James would leave for the hostel but to my surprise, they waited for me at the airport (thank you Mrs. Manji). It was such a happy reunion! Unfortunately Bilal and James had a pretty rough flight over to Bangkok due to some ear pressure issues so as we walked out to catch a cab, it kind of looked like I was hanging out with two weirdos, snapping their fingers beside their ears and speaking very loudly because they couldn't hear anything. 

On top of this, Bilal had a pretty bad cold and was taking two types of anti-biotics and drugging himself with nyquil and dayquil. What a DYNAMIC start to the trip :-P

In Bangkok we stayed at Nira's Bankoc cultural hostel and I HIGHLY recommend it. Bangkok is not an easy city to get around if you don't speak Thai. No one understands English and finding a taxi driver that goes by the meter takes a little bit of skill and a lot of luck! But Nira's staff was so friendly and did so much for their guests to make sure that they got everywhere safely :) It was their genuine interest in their guests that really stood out. 

On the day we were leaving Bangkok for Chiang Mai by train, the staff at Nira's told us they had called the train station to make sure our train was leaving on time. Ironically that day, there was a de-railment of a train just outside Bangkok train station so all trains were delayed by a few hours. Although we were happy to know of our delay in advance, I for one, became extremely nervous to hear that these trains were GETTING DERAILED and spent my extra hour looking up Thai train derailment stats from the last 10 years. 

Bangkok, as always, was a lot of fun. I was more than happy to re-do some of the things that I did with Chollawan and I actually felt like quite an expert when it came to getting around Bangkok and deciding where to go! I was totally amazed by how much I remembered about Bangkok considering I was blindly following Chollawan around last time I was here. We went to 3 temples (wats) with only one overlappaing wat from last time.

Wat Po - Where the giant reclining Buddha is:

Wat Po is really stunning with lots of intricate pegodas and chambers all around the compound outdoors. Wat Po also didn't like that I was wearing shorts and gave me a really sexy neon green robe to wear while I was inside visiting the reclining buddha. Super stylish. 

Wat Arun (I know, I know Arun, it's your favourite wat... still my fave too) But instead of going up and down those terrifying steps again, I let Bilal and James have that experience while I sat on the ground with some Thai kids drinking a coconut.

And the last Wat was some Big Golden Mount Wat (that's what we're going to call it) where there was a beautiful buddha inside it's golden mount and a wonderful view of Bangkok from the top. It was also EXCRUCIATINGLY hot and so I spent most of my time strategically jumping from one shady spot to the next (which I think I have now mastered the art of, since living in Malaysia).

We were also pretty set on eating lots and lots of Thai food (cuz it is my favsies) and Bilal had just spent a month in a country which he kept describing as having the worst food ever. Luckily Thailand has the best food and we got to eat:

"THEE" Yumiest friend chicken (Thai style)

And I dunno what this fish is but it was recommend to me by the thai woman sitting next to us. 

And we got these dishes from one of the best restaurants in Bangkok, recommended by CNN or like some other really important new channel. My memory escapes me. All I can say is: mmmmmmmmmmm.

Now one other famous thing about Bangkok is of course that it is known as Sin city. Bangkok's red light district is the model for Amsterdam's red light district. This side of Bangkok is even featured in The Hangover 2, which I haven't seen (and I am not planning on it....). SOMEHOW. I was convinced by James and Bilal to head out to the red light district to see the ladies and boys and ladyboys. I was pretty adamant about not going to Bangkok's Pattapong area where all the "Ping pong shows" are... and if you've never heard of a ping pong show you can Google it and be forever scarred or just continue your life not knowing and just accept my opinion on them which is that they are degrading and I have a moral opposition to them because many of the women working in these shows are from the sex trade coming from Laos and Cambodia.

Now because Bilal and James couldn't really force me to see something that I am morally opposed to, we went to the more tame "Soi Cowboy" area to get a few beers and just watch the crowd. This area is basically one street where everything is NEON. There are a bunch of clubs with dancing girls inside and outside and if you pay them, they will do more than dance for you.

Here is a summary of the crowd: Ugly, UGLLLYYYY old men and Thai girls of all levels of attractiveness who were making these old men really happy. I really wasn't into it at all and by the looks of James and Bilal's faces, they weren't into it either. They were happy to have me around though, to keep the lady boys from approaching them.

Then I thought it would be funny to go across the street and have a seat and see how long it would take for the Thai girls to approach James and Bilal. Instead of anyone really approaching them, I GOT APPROACHED by a Thai girl who kept asking ME to go inside. Of course I politely declined and told her I was with my friends to which she responded "go inside and I will take care of your friends".

Bilal and James were lucky enough to get the ladyboy experience anyway because an American man (quite a Silver fox ;-) ) approached us with a girl that looked about my age because I was apparently the only other English speaking woman on the street. The girl turned out to be his niece and they were in Thailand on a big family vacation. This American dude managed to convince Bilal and James to go into the ladyboy club and left his niece with me as both of us were adamantly refusing to go in.

For a report of what happened inside the ladyboy show, you will have to ask Bilal. It's a really good story. I am also forcing him to "guest blog" on our trip so hopefully he'll write about it there.

After all that "fun".... we caught a cab and went back to Nira's. Quite an eventful night.

Other highlights of Bangkok were the taxi drivers and the all around joking attitude of the Thai people. Gosh they like to joke. The taxi drivers found it so funny that I couldn't speak thai and they would go on and on speaking in thai to me and chuckling to themselves. One even playfully kept slapping me on the shoulder...and of course, backpacker heaven -- Kao San Road. Good timez all around.

The next day we got on the train to go to Chiang Mai! Wooohooo overnight train! I was so excited for my berth and to see just what the heck we would be sleeping on! The trains were so exciting... purple trains that used to belong to Japan and sold to Thailand. 

Having my first look inside the Thai trains

So the trains were not bad at all! They were actually a lot of fun :) (Totally my opinion though... I can't speak on how James felt). I even got Thai food delivered right to my bed/seat. The train was also PACKED with backpackers and we actually met quite a few Canadians on the train and wished them a Happy Canada Day. The only thing that kinda sucked is that we all got upper berths and so we couldn't really see outside because there was no window up there. 

snug as a bug in my berth

If I were to do it again I would definitely book a bottom berth so you can tell what time of day it is and just be a whole lot more comfy. Luckily for us our bottom berth mates left their beds at a stop before Chiang Mai so we had a good few morning hours watching the Thai landscape roll by. Bilal also made a small friend... a little boy who kept pulling Bilal's curtain back as he was sleeping in his berth :-P.

What a cozy morning.

Chiang Mai

Chiang Mai is a supa cool citadel town. It's pretty old school in terms of its infrastructure but the place really reminded me Bali with all of its little cafes and beautiful boutique stores. We all opted to rent bikes ($3 for the entire day - puts bixi to shame) and biked around Chiang Mai citadel town from wat to wat to wat. That's right. More wat hopping! First of all, it was fricken amazing to be able to get on a bike and ride around, feel the wind in my hair (lol) and ride on a non-highway road without fear of being smooshed by a crazy driver!

Bike riding is something I've missed since the day I left Montreal so I was pretty happy :) However, I quickly realized that although I had been in Asia for 7 months, I STILL didn't understand how the traffic flowed and that the traffic goes UP on the RIGHT SIDE and DOWN on the LEFT SIDE. So, here I am, on my bike, riding into oncoming traffic like absolutely nothing is wrong. I don't really understand how I have yet to figure it out but all I can say is that it's a really good thing that I haven't attempted to drive a car... for the safety of myself and EVERYONE around me. 

**EDITORS NOTE 40 mins after I post this blog*: Apparently I still don't know what the heck I'm talking about. Traffic. goes. up. on the. LEFT..... and. down. on the RIGHT... i think?*****

Chiang Mai has beautiful old temples - some of the oldest in Thailand. Chiang Mai had beautiful old temples - some of the oldest in thailand. 

Check out this beauty! 

What Chiang Mai also had was DOGS. Everywhere.... and SOMEONE that I was travelling with has a fear of dogs. I think we all know who that someone is :-P. So as we walked and biked around town we took special care to watch out for tray dogs. I was obviously the brave one, protecting everyone from the dogs until we got totally lost in the winding citadel roads and came upon two growling dogs which we frantically rode away from as Bilal screamed "this is my worst nightmare!!!!!!".

Good times. 

While in Chiang Mai, we also spent a day in the great outdoors to ride elephants, trek in the Thai jungle and do some white water rafting. Now this trek MIGHT have been good if:

1. I knew how the elephants were treated when tourists aren't around. SEriously, after East Africa, I can't do anything touristy and enjoy myself without thinking of the deeper implications. #sorryimnotsorry. 

2. If there was WHITE WATER. Unfortunately (but also fortunately) we got to Chiang Mai at the start of rainy season so although we were blessed with tons of sunshine, it also m

eant we STRUGGLED to go white water rafting. It was more like "no-white-water-try-and-get-out-of-the-rocks-you-just-got-stuck-in-again-and-again-and-again-rafting". I can totz believe that this is GREAT rafting when there is water. What I can't understand is why they would let this portion of the trip run if they knew that we would have a pretty crappy time. Anyway. This is Asia. Tourists have expectations and tourism peeps gotta make the money. They are forgiven.

3. The hike was good. I'll give the trip that. The waterfall we went to was beautiful and I think it'll probably be a once in a life time experience for me to visit the Thai jungles :)

Although, when we got back to our hostel (Aoi's Garden house), Aoi was not to happy to hear my feedback about the trip that she recommended to us. Sorry Aoi. I only speak the truth.

My standard breakkie on the entire trip.

Pai

Finally, the last place we travelled to in Thailand was Pai. Pai is about 3.5 hours north of Chiang Mai and was recommended to us by a million and one people. Pai is like Thailand Hippy Town. Everyone lays around their hostel looking at the mountains or talks into town to relax of coffee shops or the public pool. They also motor bike to waterfalls, hot springs, canyons and then party at night. 

Our HILARIOUS room at Spicy Pai

Pai was such a good break from the crazy pace of our trip thus far. We stayed at Spicy Pai Hostel which is run by a Canadian who hasn't left Pai for 2 years. This place SUCKS PEOPLE IN. 

We explored the tiny town (seriously, 2 traffic lights) and met really sweet Thai people. 

Bilal is kewl.

I met the most adorable little girl I have ever met in my life who was just a kid full of energy, a sparkle in her eye and radiating this crazy happy vibes, named Mona.

I literally went back to visit Mona 3 times and we just played with her toys and made faces of each other while Mona spoke Thai to me. I met her parents and literally had to be PRIED away from her when Bilal and James were not as enchanted by this kid as I was.

We ate at cute family run restaurants with the kindest chef who put on a BIG BIG smile when we asked for a picture and just all around took it easy and enjoyed the beautiful view that enveloped us.

Unfortunately the 'taking it easy' immediately ended on our bus ride back to Chiang Mai where we had to go through over 700 turns and I threw up twice. yep. that was fun.

Ayutthaya

After my stomach calmed down, we quickly jumped on an overnight train back to Bangkok but with a quick stop in Ayutthaya where we spent the day biking around the old temple ruins. Ayutthaya is the ancient capital of Thailand and we decided to take a bike ride around the ancient temples!

I  felt like we'd been transported back in time… I could imagine how beautiful the temples would have been before the fighting took place and everything was destroyed. Even though we were exhausted after an 5 hour delay on our train (while we were on it) Ayutthaya was well worth the stop over to learn a little more about Thai history and form a mental comparison between the comparatively new flashy temples versus these old beauties, equally as beautiful and actually, more awe inspiring in my opinion. 

SHEENA's REAL TALK.

So, here's a little REAL TALK on travelling and what its like to try and find real cultural immersion while on a short trip on a touristy route. You can't find it. I wrote this on the train from Chiang Mai to Ayutthaya:

"Everywhere we've gone, there are Canadians, Americans and Brits and I feel like I am being a little culturally suffocated. I came to Thailand to experience Thai culture and here I was hanging out and partying with Americans and Canadians.... yes, they were the people I had be LONGING for while in Malaysia but now... it just didn't seem to cut it. I have come to realize that there are three different groups of people in any given country:

1. The natives of the country

2. The people travelling through the country

3. The expats in the country. 

Groups 2 & 3 don't mix (unless you make an effort to get off the beaten track) but groups 1 & 3 definitely do and this realization makes me really happy that I chose to live long-term in a country.... that I got an apartment and built myself a life in KL because it is a much more rich experience than zipping through a country only to meet the same people you hang out with back home."

I could actually feel the lack of diversity and I was struck by my OWN desire to find people other than Canadians, Americans and Brits, when I had been wanting them to find me in KL all along! So something I tried really hard to do in Thailand was connect with as many locals as I could.  Whether it was a taxi driver or a cute kid (aka, THE cutest kid) and her parents or a family owned restaurant, T TRIED to meet the THAIS. 

Also - realization numero dos was about Language Barriers.

Language barriers make you a much more chilled out person. 50-70% of your questions can't be answered and so you just gotta go with the flow. 

Have we already passed our stop on the over night train? Unclear.

Are we taking this open air van without forward facing seats all the way to pai? Unclear. 

Does this taxi driver know where our hostel is? Unclear. 

And since theres nothing you can do about it, you just go with whatever happens. This could make you a lot more stressed or less stressed depending on the kind of person that you are. I SURPRISED MYSELF when I found that I was a lot less stressed given this fact. 

And that concludes this blog on Thailand. More on Hanoi and Halong Nay in about a day or so!

Hope you made it all the way down here! If you did, you deserve a pat on the back. *pat pat pat*. NOW LEAVE ME A COMMENT TO TELL ME YOU MADE IT SO THAT I KNOW WHO IS READING.

luuuurrrveeeee yalllll!!!