Bangkok and Beyond

First impressions of Bangkok…the city felt incredibly different from both India and Nepal. The traffic was more under control, there was less honking, waste baskets actually existed for trash (like, if I threw something on the floor, it would make it dirty!), and I wasn’t pestered nearly as much to buy things (taxi, tuk tuk rides, hashish, food, trinkets, etc. etc.) from street vendors. The change was actually a bit of a relief, despite how much I’d enjoyed the previous two countries. At the same time, I was a bit overwhelmed by the number of backpackers in Bangkok! I’ve never seen so many in one place! They were all eating pineapple on sticks and watching afternoon movies in the common rooms of their respective hostels. Ha! So…instead of spending two nights there as planned, I simply left the day after arriving.

Since then, I’ve been heading north through Central Thailand, in search of mountains and quieter places. Along the way I spent time in the historic capitals of Ayuthaya, Sukhothai, and also a few days in Chiang Mai, Thailand’s second largest city, the “capital” of the north. In both Ayuthaya and Sukhothai I rented bicycles and honed my peddling skills on the left side of the road. It was very relaxing to spend the days on the cycle, drinking coffee, and looking at old ruins from the 13^th and 14^th centuries while trying to absorb Thai history. In Chiang Mai, I took a Thai cooking class, hoping to learn more wheat-free dishes. J It was fun to spend the day at an organic farm, with some other foreigners, even though that’s not my normal mode of traveling.

Speaking of traveling…I am daily asked if I’m OK traveling by myself. In actuality, I’m enjoying it a lot. Even as a solo female traveler in Thailand, I feel quite safe. Yes, precautions always should be taken, but Thailand is a very easy country to travel in as a female. There are so many other travelers, I find that I can enter into conversations and socializing as much or as little as I like. Traveling solo, I also have the luxury of stopping when I want,

and going where and when I want. While there are also many benefits of traveling with friends, and I’m excited to do that again, too, for the moment, I am quite content wandering around South East Asia by myself.

I’m currently headed north, touring the northernmost part of Thailand along the Burmese border. More on that to follow soon…

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