Travel adrenaline will only get you so far.
We set off for Thailand in the evening after work on a Thursday. We had a 40 minute layover… yep, 40 minutes, in Qatar before our flight to Bangkok. Although I was super nervous when we booked our tickets… I decided to just have faith in the airlines. Inshallah, you know? There must be something to that because we made it to our next flight, no problem. And guess what? Our bags made it too!
Arriving in Bangkok early in the morning we headed out to our hostel. While Molly slept I watched the tall buildings go by amidst the smoggy clouds. Being so early in the morning, we couldn’t check into our room just yet… so of course I suggested we go get our train tickets for later in the week settled. (The same plan Shauna and I had in Peru with equally exhausting results). Getting directions from our hostel manager, we bravely hurdled onto a Thai bus. Really, I mean hurdled. They don’t exactly stop for you to get on… and once you do you can see the street between the wooden floor boards.
Sitting on the bus with the directions written in Thai in my hand, a man across the way very kindly pointed out that we were headed in the wrong direction. Oops. A quick leap off the bus, zip across the street, and some carefully coordinated footwork later, we were back on the right path to the train station.
Having completed that order of business, I can only speak for myself when I say I was feeling crabby. I mean, “Yeah I’m in this city that’s supposed to be so great but I’m hungry and I’m tired and everything is weird but not so interesting that I’d bother to dig out my hugely cumbersome camera and take photos or anything I think I’m going to fall over. I’m hot.”
That’s when a little fresh fruit was in order. Sitting on the street and eating pineapple dipped in salt, sugar, and chili can do wonders for your attitude.
The 3 hour nap we had next didn’t hurt either.
Waking up to rain in the afternoon we decided to check out one of the few museums that was still open late in the day. It was a bit of a challenge to actually find. Unlike in the UAE, taxi drivers don’t speak much English. We had instructions written in Thai… but it only seemed to be marginally helpful to our determined driver.
With only a short amount of time to spare, we arrived to the Musuem of Siam where we hoped to get a foundational understanding of Thailand. What I can tell you is that Thailand has a bit of a fascination with hologram type museum displays. The curators have very intricately paired digital characters with diorama backdrops resulting in some highly comical and entertaining renactments of ancient battles. We also determined that the Thai people are happy to joke and turn up the cheese ball factor to get a smile from their visitors. Coming from a Muslim culture, Molly and I were a bit aghast at the sexual innuedos in the museums education videos… but hey, they got the laugh!
Following the museum Molly further endeared herself to me by suggesting we hunt down one of the vegetarian restaurants in our guidebook. Then she did all the navigating! (Which was a blessing… I will improve this skill, I will improve this skill…). Dinner that night wasn’t amazing in flavor but it was fabulous to sit and eat my first pad thai in Thailand and drink fruity shakes (mango and coconut).
That night we also caught our first glimspe of Khao San Road. This is the “famous touristy backpacker” road that everyone must visit at least once. We quickly decided once was enough and were incredibly glad that our hostel was a good 45 minute drive away. We had enough of the vendors, bars, loud music, and a particular type of traveler. The kind that perhaps had spent a little too much time in Thailand… (more on that later).
Despite the nap, we happily found our beds that night and fell fast asleep.
xo, jill
