Thai Holidays

Bangkok, Thailand is one of the biggest cities in the world.  I looked it up and since it wasn't in the top 10 I didn't bother mentioning it's ranking, but do you realize how many cities there are in the whole, entire world?  The fact that it made the list at all is impressive.  Anyway, maybe you didn't know this about me but for all that I love to travel, I thrive best in the wee, off-the-beaten-path gems with a low human density (that part is important) with more nature to show than infrastructure.  So, gun to my head and only one syllable in my voice box, do I like Bangkok?  My answer would be: No.  However, when I went down for the holidays I did have an absolute blast and I'm glad I went.  Will I go back alone for shits and giggles anytime soon?  I could be allowed to use more than a syllable and I'd probably still say no, but if the Friskneys invited me it would be an "abso-freaking-lutely."

Jessie "Coolest Chick in the Land" Friskney is someone I had never met until the day after Christmas.  She and her lovely family had decided to make their first Southeast Asia trip in Thailand and it worked out perfectly for us all to meet up in the capital.  It wasn't a random encounter, she is a dear friend of my dear friend, Libby, so I was pretty much convinced that we would really hit it off, and did we ever!

I think the bottom line with my generally negative outlook on Bangkok is that tackling a mega-city like that on your own is neither fun, nor relaxing (I would say "safe" too but I would only be referring to the traffic and the cars who like to plow over trusting pedestrians like me and not other people which is what the word usually implies). The day I spent with Jessie, Darrin and Stella, however?  Was magical.

We kicked it off with a yummy breakfast at their hotel and then set out for the grand palace, which is like the Thai equivalent of the White House.  I guess a more appropriate word would be "version" because there is nothing "equal" about two places, no offense, America.  The grand palace is a must see in any trip to Thailand and any travel book or blog will tell you this.  

The trip to our destination was actually quite hilarious.  Right off the bat, we found a tuktuk driver who told us that he would take us to the palace for 100 baht.  Great!  We thought.  Not only would it be a super inexpensive drive, but they'd get to check "tuktuk ride" off their "Thailand Must Do" checklist.  We got about 2 minutes away when our driver told us he wasn't gonna take us to the palace after all.  It's not what you think!  It's was the middle of the day, we weren't about to get kidnapped... or at least not permanently.  There is a market that is better than the palace, he told us.  Right.  If Thai royalty don't want to live in this market and Thai politicians don't hold meetings of the state there, then I'm sure its a market just like any other.  We want to go to the GRAND PALACE.  Please.  We argued for a bit and then finally demanded that we be released off the side of the road.  Grumpily, our driver pulled over, although I'm not sure why he thought he had any right to be upset.  We were the ones who had been lied to.  

After Darrin and I inspected our GPSs we made a different plan to walk to the bus stop and jump on the number we were instructed to ride.  However, it soon became evident that we'd boarded on the wrong side of the street, meaning that we were being hauled off in the opposite direction.  Disembarkment number 2.   

At this point, if I had been alone, I would have been in tears.  Getting "lost" alone is not nearly as bearable as making directional mistakes with a fun-loving group of interesting people who all have their heads together for the success of the same mission.  We had kind of given up doing things the non-tourist way, however, and decided to call an uber.  (Yes!  Surprisingly they have uber in Thailand!  Who knew?)  However, after waiting 20 minutes and watching the little car on the GPS go around and around in circles in front of our eyes we cancelled it and made a Plan D.  This failure to make contact with the uber, by the way, is another thing that I despise about Bangkok; the travel infrastructure is absolutely nonsensical.  Remember Dr. Seuss' story about the south-going and north-going Zax?  They build roads all around them, which don't appear to make sense either.  Well, it seems to me that Dr. Seuss had a hand in designing the layout for the roads in Bangkok.   As amazing a writer as he was, I seriously question his ability to properly organize a city's transportation system.  Bottom line, sometimes walking gets you to where you want to go about 500000x faster than driving and it's not just the traffic; you end up having to do a million round about turns to get to a place that you can see in front of you.  It's kind of awful.

When we were waiting for our uber where the bus had dropped us, we noticed this awesome little guy in the moat behind us.  We determined that he is a water monitor.  This is what happens when you get lost and don't lose your head about it... I should remember that for future reference. 

Plan D just turned out to be a taxi.  Boring, I know, but guess what!  It FINALLY did the job and we got to where we needed to be.  

There was a little bit of a glitch getting into the compound as well because, why not?  It wasn't my first day in Thailand so I knew about covering myself for temples.  And Jessie and Stella, being experienced and well-adjusted traveled, had done their research about what woman can wear and when in Thailand as well.  My point is, none of us was particularly what you'd call "poorly prepared."  Since it was hot, the girls were wearing short sleeves, but they had brought shawls.  Their preparation was literally textbook.  I had a skirt that, yes, was shorter than my knees, however, I wore leggings under to cover them.  Literally nothing was inappropriate about any of our outfits, however, we were still directed to the clothes rental area where they charged us las perlas de la pinche virgen to rent gross, sweaty "skirts" and button up shirts.  That took a bit, but when we made it inside, our frustrating morning seemed to fade away as if it had all been one big hypothetical. 

Stella, Jessie and I with our stupid rental clothes, but stupid happy smiles on anyway.  Pay more attention to the faces, they tell the real story.

The rest of the day was filled with exploration, giant buddhas, water taxis and sky trains.  When ended up back at the hotel quite late but the family had tickets to see a Muay Thai fight and I decided to go tag along, not yet prepared to see such a perfect day come to an end.  

Next stop on my holiday adventure was Rayong to visit my XA friend, Madeline.  We were set to meet up with more English Teachers in Ko Samet (an island about an hour drive + 30 minute ferry from Madeline's house).  It was absolutely the most refreshing and fun trip and it was also great to see my friends again!

Maddy and I at our first reunion.  SO HAPPY!

New Years Eve in Ko Samet.  Madeline took control of my makeover as if I were a doll.  

Everyone should ring the new year in with a puppy.  It's just common sense.

Clearly unhappy to be leaving.  Why am I wearing a lifejacket?  I AM ONE.

I've been back a school now for a couple of weeks.  Let's just say, it's hard to take it seriously anymore when 1. classes get cancelled left and right and all of our schedules are completely screwed and 2. it doesn't seem like anyone cares that you're there or not and 3. you just got back from a great, fun adventure with friends on an island.  Maybe my feelings will change in the next 5 weeks (yea, that's ALL that is left! Yikes!).  I'll let you know.

I hope 2017 is not a disappointment.  You know what I'm talking about, 2016!