Bangkok, Koh Samet, and Rayong

Friday, January 8, 12:00pm

In Thailand I have learned to broaden my expectations. Most people wake up in the morning with an idea of how their day will go. There is a list in their minds of many possibilities that may or may not happen depending on how the universe reacts to what they decide to do that day. In Thailand that list is much longer than at home. Spontaneity must be embraced here. Classes that you thought you had will be cancelled because there is a Muay Thai demonstration, or you will be asked at 4 pm to put together a dance performance with your fellow teachers for the following day. So here that list in my head has grown as I have adapted to the Thai culture. On the beginning of mine and Molly’s holiday trip something happened that was not even remotely close to being on my mental list of possibilities for the day. It struck me just how seldom this happens for me, I am someone who likes to have things planned out after all. We arrived at the Sukhothai bus terminal and got a cab to the airport there (it is the closest to our town, Tak). When we got off the taxi the airport was stunning: it had beautiful scenery, an outdoor waiting area with a pond to sit and snack by, and ancient ruins along the runway. Given Sukhothai’s reputation as an ancient capital, the airport being beautiful, outdoors, and among ruins was unexpected but not outside the realm of my list of possibilities for the day. What really floored me was that there was a full scale zoo just outside the gate to enjoy while waiting for your flight. Never in a million years would I think, “there might be a zoo at the airport today”. It had animals ranging from zebras to monkeys to porcupines to beautifully colored pheasants. We had a blast as we passed the time before our flight to Bangkok.

The beginning of the runway 

Molly and I spent Christmas Eve and Day in Bangkok. We had a semi traditional Christmas morning as we got to skype our families and open up the gifts we got for each other. After that we went to visit the Grand Palace, which it the Thai equivalent of the White House. It was a beautiful place to spend a couple hours marveling at the temples there.

Later we had Mexican food for dinner which was absolutely delicious. The Thai diet is severely lacking in cheese. After that we went up to one of the city’s sky bars, Cloud 47. There we enjoyed a few drinks and spectacular views of the city below. The night was capped off with seeing the new Star Wars movie. It was fantastic and I highly recommend it even for people who were not the biggest fans of the other movies. I loved our Christmas in Bangkok, but Bangkok can be an intimidating place. It is not the easiest city to get around and cabs often see foreigners as people they can get much more money from than locals. Many cabs will refuse to turn their meters on and will try to charge 3 or 4 times what it should actually cost to get somewhere. If you visit Bangkok only take cabs that will turn the meter on. Bangkok is a crazy, sprawling concrete jungle definitely worth visiting, but I much prefer the more laid back Northern Thai cities that I have been to. 

Molly and I enjoying Cloud 47

Next we travelled down to Koh Samet, which is about a 4 hour bus ride and 45 minute ferry ride from Bangkok. The island was absolutely stunning and our hotel was literally one step away from the ocean at high tide. We spent our days there lounging by the pool or beach and our nights eating delicious dinners while enjoying small “fire shows” on the beach. One day we went on a snorkeling excursion and got to see many smaller islands with beautiful beaches and coral reefs to explore. We loved spending our afternoon exploring, but at the end of it one of the boat drivers tried to get 900 baht for a “lost snorkel”. It seemed fishy as no careful track had been kept of the snorkels throughout the day, and there is no way that the snorkels were worth that much. In the end no one paid for the snorkel. Later we learned that this is a common scam in the islands if you go snorkeling in Thailand make sure to watch out for this. It was disappointing to feel that people were trying to take advantage of us. I have never really felt that way up north, but it seems that in more touristy areas it is something that you need to be much more aware of.

The inlet where we stayed

Molly on the hotel steps

One of the small islands we toured

a swing on that same little island

The last few days of our trip we spent in Rayong, the region across from Koh Samet on the mainland of Thailand. While it was not quite as nice as the island it was still a great place to relax by the beach and pool. We found an awesome Indian restaurant called Purple Haze near our hotel and ate there for almost every other meal. The food was delicious! Molly’s second cousin, Geneva is working in Chiang Mai and came down to Rayong to visit us while we were there. It was really great to meet her. Molly and I spent New Year’s Eve on a beach staring up at stars, fireworks, and lanterns. It was a great way to ring in the new year.

At the Rayong Aquarium

While it was hard to be away during the holidays, we had an awesome trip that helped take my mind off of the friends and family I was missing back home. It was mine and Molly’s first Christmas together and I was so happy to spend it with her. Now we are back in Tak and life is great as always here. Molly and I started learning Thai massage this week and have learned the steps for the arms and legs. Next week we will move on to the back and shoulders. It is so fun to learn from a true expert, our teacher Pi Jan. It is so nice of her to teach us as her English is great and she has been doing massage for over 20 years. Next week my parents and sister are coming to visit us in Thailand. I am so excited to see them and show them around our home here. I hope everyone else had a great holiday season!

Lastly I want to open things up to questions from you guys. If you have anything you are wondering about what my experience here has been like, please ask in the comments and I will answer in my next post.