Thailand

Thailand

Jan. 29-Feb. 5

FOOD: hmmm I'm gonna have to go with...pad thai, pad thai, pad thai. Mango sticky rice was another favorite dish. And of course more fresh fruit, my fresh pineapple smoothie was quite tasty. We did a cooking class, which was a lot of fun!! We went to the local food market, learned about local ingredients, and cooked four different dishes. I cooked fried bananas, two curry dishes and a cashew stir fry. A little pricey, but definitely worth every baht. And I got a cookbook to bring home :) Oh, and the rotee was AMAZING. I ate it at least once a day. It's basically crepes, with what I chose as bananas and chocolate. On our last day we randomly came across this really local area with high school kids and families and jazzercise, etc. and that is the way to go - finding the local food and hang out spots.










FAVORITE PART: Exploring and trying new things! In Koh Samui we rode a motorcycle around the island and explored a less touristy area, which had a cool rocky area on the beach. That part of the beach was beautiful, and it was really cool when it started to rain. In Chiang Mai we all did a "jungle package" that included bamboo rafting down the river, swimming in a waterfall, and riding an elephant! The elephants were presh. Feeding them bananas was cute. :) Except they got a little high maintenance and wouldn't continue on unless you fed them more!











LEAST FAVORITE PART: Prostitution + Tourism = Thailand. First of all, seeing all those women, many of whom were essentially forced into that lifestlye, made me really sad. They sat, all day, on the porch of the restaurant/bar/brothel and just yelled for men to come be with them and even sometimes handed out sex menus on the street. What a sad picture, right? Well apparently not to all people. Almost just as sickening was all the men (Thai and Foreigners) that perpetuated and condoned the cycle. For all the foreign guys who thought buying into all the shows and prostitution was OK...bet you wouldn't think that lifestyle was OK if it was your sister, or cousin, or best friend, or mom, or girlfriend stuck in that situation. I bet you wouldn't want other men doing exactly what you were doing. UGH. Then there was all the tourism. I like to buy something in every country I go to, but after nearly FORCING myself to buy something, I couldn't, because everything was so freaking touristy. stupid unauthentic trinkets everywhere. And even more annoying was all the Western restaurants and bars and McDonalds. At Koh Samui, you look out into the ocean and it's gorgeous. You turn around and there's "Little USA" with buildings half an inch away from each other. Oh, and especially after living in Asia, I'm used to people trying to rip me off. But Thailand saw the line of "shadiness I can deal with," got a running start, and leaped over it.

COOL EXPERIENCE: My Thai massage was sure an experience. They put you in all these weird positions - it's like extreme yoga. Whatever, it felt grrrreat. And the fact that it only cost about $6/hour sure added to its case. :) Oh, the Royal Palace was pretty brilliant. I've been to a lot of temples and shrines and palaces and such, but this was coooool. and very shiny.



TRAVEL TIPS: The overnight ferry to Koh Samui is the way to go, as long as you're not expecting a 5-star hotel. You step on the boat and there is one large area, and that is the sleep quarters with one-inch thick matts all laid next to each other. But it was smooth, fast and cheap. Best deal for your baht. As I mentioned earlier, people try to rip you off left and right. Don't buy into package deals. They tell you that the package deals help you avoid such shadiness, but in fact, that's what you're paying for. Even if there is uncertainty in city buses and local transportation, it will be worth it if you're on a budget trip. Also, we lucked out on our jungle trek. I've heard many stories of people ending up riding an elephant in a parking lot. One minor draw back was that we were supposed to see a hill tribe, but it was clearly staged so that we would buy stuff. However, during a 20 minute break we went wondering off on our own and really did see the authentic hill tribe, so just keep your eyes peeled!