The day after I got back from the Gold Coast I headed back to the airport in Sydney and was off to Thailand! I first had to fly to Hong Kong and sit in the airport there for 6 hours before getting onto another plane to Bangkok. The Hong Kong airport is pretty big with plenty of things to do so I wasn’t too bored. When I finally arrived in Bangkok it was 10pm. My Dad and a driver picked me up from the terminal and we began the 2-hour drive to Pattaya, where I would stay for the weekend because of the floods. When we arrived in Pattaya there was a huge festival going on. The traffic was crazy and there were so many people out and about. It was midnight and it didn’t look like the party was stopping any time soon. Unfortunately I was exhausted so I went straight to the hotel to crash. It had been a long day, 24 hours from the time I left my apartment in Sydney to the time I arrived at the hotel in Pattaya.
The next day my dad had to work so I got to hang around the hotel a bit and also explore the city. I was a little nervous to go out on my own not knowing the language or anything at all really but I managed. I decided not to be too adventurous for lunch and went to a familiar chain restaurant. After that I walked the beach and wandered the streets checking out all the shops. The beach was nothing compared to the ones in Australia. The sand was not nearly as fine and the water was a little murky (from the flood waters I would bet). Sometimes I forget how spoiled I am to be this close to fantastic beaches all the time. Anyway, checking out the shops was pretty cool. Many of the shops sold the same things but a few had some unique things. The weirdest thing I saw was down jackets. It was 90º+, who needs a down jacket?! Checking out the shops took longer than I had expected. I would go to look at a shirt or a dress and immediately the store owner would be right there asking if I wanted to buy it, finding me another size, suggesting more clothes to try. I really just wanted to look not buy but several times I got stuck talking to people for 15 minutes trying to say no and they would just offer me a lower and lower price. Things are already cheap there, it made me wonder what the clothes actually cost to make and how much money the store owners end up with. I also wondered if maybe they really needed any money they could get. It made me feel really guilty for not buying anything.
After an exhausting afternoon of exploring I headed back to the hotel to study a bit (yes, I was on vacation but I still had to study). When my Dad finally got back from work we headed off to dinner. My Dad’s colleague, Janesh, and Janesh’s wife Lopa (I believe that was her name) took us to a REAL thai restaurant. I LOVE thai food, many of you probably know that, so I was in heaven. We ordered a bunch of food for everyone to share. My favorite was probably the red curry but there was a surprise second, a spicy soup. I’ve never had a soup that was spicy before so it was a little unexpected. I expected it to be heavier, in texture and in flavor, but it was very light and if definitely still packed a punch. Unfortunately I forget what it was called. I doubt I’ll be able to find it in the states anyway. Friday was another early night. The time change had (and still has) me all messed up. Bangkok is 4 hours behind Sydney so at midnight it felt like 4am.
The good thing about going to bed early though is that it makes it easier to wake up early the next day! It’s a good thing too because my Dad and I had some crazy adventures planned. We got up early and had breakfast in the hotel. At 9:30 we headed down to the lobby and hopped in a van that took us to something called the Flight of the Gibbon! It’s a zipline tour through the rainforest. I’d had done something similar a few years ago in Costa Rica so I sort of knew what to expect. I’m really not great with height but I’ve been challenging myself a lot lately. My Dad isn’t great with heights either but he’s usually better than me (I was surprised he actually suggested this!). So after getting all geared up we hiked into the forest and climbed onto the first platform. The first few “flights” were pretty easy. We were still in the trees and not too far from the ground. After a while though we clearly were getting higher because eventually we ended up above the canopy. I actually did ok, I was a little nervous for most of it but not bad. It was really a lot of fun and I think my Dad enjoyed it too. After we finished the course we headed back to the base for lunch and then eventually back to the hotel in Pattaya.
After a little more studying (procrastinating) we headed downstairs to dinner. We had booked tickets for the Loy Krathong dinner party. The hotel was hosting it as a part of the festival that was going on but it was clearly more for the tourists like me. There was fantastic food and we also got to see some cultural dances from each of the four regions of Thailand. It was very fun. After the dinner was over we were able to float our own krathongs (flower arrangements) into the pool. Loy Krathong is a time to pay respects to the spirit of the water. I learned that it also happens to coincide with another festival, Yi Peng. Yi Peng is a time to “make merit”, a Buddhist concept. For this festival you light lanterns and float them like hot-air balloons into the sky. This is what had been going on the first night I arrived in Pattaya. That’s why there were so many people out.
Sunday was another day of adventure. After breakfast we walked around the city to kill some time before our tour. After lunch we headed off the Sriracha Tiger Zoo. I’d read a bit about it before we went. People’s reviews of it said that they did not treat the animals well but local people had told us that it was still worth it to see the animals up close. We decided to go clearly. The whole time I was thinking “I really don’t like this…Oh that’s soo cool!” I was very torn about it. The tigers were definitely being treated too roughly for my taste, and everywhere we turned the zoo keepers were exploiting the animals and asking if we wanted our picture taken with them just to make more money. I did give in several times. I couldn’t pass up sitting with a tiger or being lifted up by an elephant! After walking around the zoo for a while we ended up at the elephant show. The only other person on our tour, Jason, a military man stationed in Germany but in Thailand on leave volunteered to be part of the show. It was fun. The elephant walked over the top of him, pretended to step on him and even threw darts at him. My Dad was nice enough to video tape it all and we sent a copy to Jason so that he could remember it.
After the zoo we headed back to Pattaya. It was dinner time so we ventured out and found a great looking place just a little ways down the beach from our hotel. I was able to have Thai food for one more meal and my Dad ordered something a little more familiar. That was the end of my last full day in Thailand. Monday I spent studying and packing. Janesh’s driver drove me to the airport in the afternoon and I headed back to Hong Kong and then on to Sydney. The flight was overnight so it wasn’t too bad, I just slept most of the way. When I arrived in Sydney on Tuesday morning I headed straight home to start studying for real. I had just over 24 hours until my exam.
This weekend was a whirlwind of events. I loved Thailand and I can’t wait to go back. I definitely didn’t get to do everything I wanted to. I didn’t even see a temple or go to the floating markets! Oh well, I’ll just have to go back.
So I’m sure many of you are wondering “Well what about the floods?! She hasn’t mentioned the floods at all.” Well to be honest I didn’t see a whole lot of evidence of them. Because I flew in at night I wasn’t able to see them from the plane. At the airport though there are hundreds of cars parked just on the side of the raised highway in order to keep them safe. In Pattaya nothing was flooded. I saw sandbags in front of one shop and it was only at the basement door.
I was beginning to wonder if I would see the floods at all. On Monday when the driver drove me to the airport I was just zoning out while staring out the window when I suddenly realized that I could see what looked like hundreds of lakes of water. Every backyard or field we passed was flooded. Some of what appeared to be major roads were flooded even thought the next road over was fine. It was crazy and clearly has been devastating. I finally got to see it all from the air when I flew out of Bangkok. It made the earth look like a patchwork quilt. Some squares of fields were green and others were dark and full of water.
On the one hand I’m very glad that I was able to mostly avoid the floods, but on the other I wish I had been able to see more of them and maybe do something to help. I have a friend that lives near Bangkok, I tried to see him while I was there but unfortunately the timing didn’t work out. His house is flooded and his family has had to stay with relatives in Bangkok. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.
Sorry there are no pictures. I'm having trouble loading them from my computer. Hopefully I'll be able to post them soon.
Sorry there are no pictures. I'm having trouble loading them from my computer. Hopefully I'll be able to post them soon.
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