We pulled into Laem Chabang port in Thailand on March 15th! After 5 days at sea I was more than ready to get on land again and have some days off of classes. Upon arrival my roommate and I really wanted to go out and see Thailand. However we were literally ported in just a port like there was nothing around except for the Harbor Mall. So we ventured there! It was a huge 6 story mall full of tiny little shops owned by Thai people and a few chains like KFC, Body Shop, and Starbucks! We wandered around the mall for a few hours before heading back to the ship. I went to go and buy a magazine and realized that this was the first country that EVERYTHING was in Thai. In almost all our previous countries it was easy to buy books or magazines in English. Thai print is beautiful looking, in writing it looks like a combination of Chinese and Arabic.
After the mall I headed to the Sri Racha Zoo. Once we got there we were able to watch an amazing Tiger show! There were about 12 full grown tigers in this cage with 2 ring leaders and 2 maintenance men. The tigers ran around the cage, did flips, rolled around on the ground, jumped up 10 feet in the air, and jumped through a ring of fire! Every once in a while they would roar and I would close my eyes out of fear that they were going to attack the ring leaders! Next we saw a crocodile show which was also amazing. There was about 10 crocodiles and two leaders. The crocs would circle around to bite them whenever they pulled them by the tails. A few times the leaders had to literally run away from them so they wouldn’t get bit. It was very scary so you can imagine how terrified I was when the two leaders stuck their heads in the crocodiles open mouths! It was crazy! I know they do it for a living but animals have a mind of their own and you never know when they are going to snap. Next we went to an elephant show which was hilarious. Thai people really have a very perverted sense of humor. They asked for two volunteers from the audience to come down to the floor for a demonstration. They picked a male and female and laid them both on the floor. The girl lay on her stomach and the elephant came up and moved his foot up and down on her back like a massage. Next it was the boys turn who was laying on his back. The elephant went up to him and moved his trunk up and down in an inappropriate area! The crowd went wild with laughter and we all kind of looked at each other like, “well welcome to Thailand!”
After that we got to do what I had been DYING to do for so long! Yes I got to hold a baby tiger in my arms and feed him. It was amazing! So cute so little but still so vicious, their teeth are huge and develop early. After that I went to the elephant area and had an elephant pick me up by his trunk! It was crazy cool but kind of gross. I was wearing shorts and its trunk was wet and hairy! Yuck!
Next we were headed to Mini Siam. None of us really knew what to expect because they didn’t tell us anything about it. Boy were we shocked at what we saw. Mini Siam is literally an outdoor park full of miniature monuments! It was hilariously strange! We saw the Eifel tower, statue of liberty, Mount Rushmore, Trieve fountain, Egyptian pyramids, and the Sydney opera house! It was really cool but a very weird idea for a park. Some of the models were very realistic and detailed like the one of the coliseum!
Our tour guide then decided to take us to a gem factory. It was like one of those rides in Disney world where you sit on a moving like train and it tells you a story. It began with how gems are found in caves, then mined, then made into jewelry, how they affect Thai culture, how kings and queens from all over the world use gems, and it finished in the massive shop! On the walk to the shop we passed hundreds of workers filing down gems and creating silver settings for jewelry. It was fascinating to watch and made me think about how even the crappiest little piece of jewelry I own has someone’s hard work behind it.
Bangkok
The next morning I woke up early and got ready for the 2 hour bus ride to Bangkok. In the Thai language Bangkok has the longest name out of any city in the world! It’s over 118 letters long! We thought our guide was joking at first because the name just kept going and going and going! Once we arrived in Bangkok we headed to the river city. Bangkok has a canal system and many people live on the rivers and have to take water taxis to and from their homes. There was even an ice cream boat that cruised around. Throughout the river they have Kimono dragons and we saw 3 of them resting up on a ledge. The houses on the river all look very run down. They look like a tornado hit them and they hadn’t repaired their homes yet.
After this we headed to the hotel for lunch and a little relaxing. I decided to go shopping on my free time (surprise surprise) at the MBK mall. It was huge 6 stories tall and full of tons of shops. It was more like a structured indoor market with people selling lots of handicrafts, knockoffs, and bootleg DVDs. I spent about 2 hours there and bought a great backpacking backpack for only 200 baht! Which is only about 6 bucks!
For dinner we headed to this great little place down the street from our hotel. On the way we passed a countless number of tailors and massage parlors. Once at the restaurant they had a private room set up for us with two long dinner tables facing a stage. For our meal we had 5 little mini dishes. The first was a soup that had tiny clear fish eggs at the bottom, then we had a mini salad, chicken curry dish which tasted like perfume, we had orange fish, and finally white rice! All over Asia fruit is the most common desert so we had pineapple and watermelon. After dinner we were ready to watch the traditional Thai dance show.
It began with a brief summary of the motions that they use and their meanings behind them. A young man and a woman walked out on stage covered head to toe in golden costumes. I was really shocked at how much makeup the man was wearing it was pretty heavily caked on and I wasn’t really sure why, our guide didn’t seem to know why either. It was strange it made all of the men look almost identical to the women and their dance moves were so graceful and feminine.
The second act was a group of 7 women in purple costumes who floated around the stage in perfect unison smiles plastered on their faces at all times. Literally we did not see one of them without a smile on! I wondered if when they turned to the back if they stopped smiling just for one second, I would. The next dance was the traditional bird dance. This dance is performed by one woman adorned in a costume suited with wings and fake long fingers. In Thai dancing there are a lot of dance moves performed by the fingers alone. These dancers can fold their fingers back and around in every which direction it makes me wonder if they have broken them or done something to them because normal hands do not bend back like that. The next dance was an amazing dance performed with fans! This was my second favorite one. Finally my favorite dance was the last one and this was a staged warrior fight dance. Two of the men wore masks while the other two were suited in the traditional costumes and full face of makeup! It was great though the way they moved across the stage was so well choreographed. The fight scene was really cool too because it really was more of a staged dance than a staged battle. Overall I loved Thai dancing. It was so graceful and beautiful. These dancers are very well paid for what they do and they deserve to be.
After dinner we headed towards the night market which I soon realized was in the red light district of Bangkok. The night market was rows and rows of knockoff purses, jewelry, sunglasses, clothing, you name it and it was there! I walked around with my friend Ashley and I noticed she was bargaining for a shirt so I decided to go and help her. I asked Ashley if she wanted it and she replied yes so we tried getting it for 150 baht and the shop owner said no. So we just walked away. She then came up to us and said ok yes and started handing Ashley the shirt, well Ashley had decided to change her mind and she didn’t want it anymore. Never EVER bargain someone down to the price you want have them agree with it and then not pay it. It is considered very rude and we found this out the hard way. We said no she screamed some profanities at us and started following us through the market. It was very scary especially because the area we were in was not the greatest. The strangest thing of all was that each of the people who had a stand at the market had a tazer gun. The sound of tazing rang through the market shop owners would just sit on their little stools and play with them. That’s why Ashley and I were so scared of this shop owner who was chasing us! Who knew what she was going to do to us! Luckily we lost her as we weaved in and out of the market. As I was shopping for some sunglasses I almost got run over by….an elephant! It was crazy it literally came out of nowhere. Owning elephants as pets is illegal in Thailand but it is not widely enforced so people walk around with elephants and ask tourists to take pictures of it. I was all elephanted out after the zoo and India.
Walking around the red light district was quiet an experience. There were strip clubs everywhere you turned with huge open windows facing the market so you could see everything inside from the streets. The women everywhere just looked so sad. The sex industry in Thailand is a huge industry and one that many women get forced into out of necessity for money. It kind of reminded me of being in Las Vegas except sleazier if that is possible. There were men and women on the street harassing you to come in and see a “ping-pong” show. It really was very sad to witness. On a brighter note though towards the end of the market they had regular bars with live bands playing some great music. It was very fun to walk around the market listen to good music have a delicious drink and just chill out!
The next morning we had a full morning of tours planned. Our first visit was to a Buddhist monk temple. Here we were able to see the inside of the temple housing a golden Buddha decorated with elaborate candles and flowers. We were also given the opportunity to talk to a few monks. In Thailand it is expected that almost all men go through a period of time where they become a monk. You can join and devote your entire life to it or you can leave whenever you please. We spoke with a man who had been a monk for 5 years and a man who had only been a monk for 5 days. It was pretty apparent which man was which because monks are only allowed one meal per day! The man who had only been a monk for 5 days was a bit chunky while the other was rail thin and hardly fit in his orange monk wrap! After that we visited my favorite favorite place ever! The reclining Buddha! This Buddha was HUGE our guide told us it would be big but this thing was massive. When I walked in I was honestly in shock and awe I don’t know how in the hell they built such a beautiful and great Buddha. It was in a reclined position with its head resting on one of his arms and the side of his body on the ground. Many people mistakenly call him the sleeping Buddha but it is really just a reclining Buddha which is a famous position. This place was honestly so cool look at my pictures to see just how incredible it was.
Next we went to the grand palace which is a combination of temples and palace where the kings used to live. This was the first place I have visited that strongly enforced the dress code. Here you weren’t allowed to show your shoulders, knees, wear tight pants, jeans that had holes in them all that jazz. If you were dressed inappropriately you weren’t allowed inside and you had to go rent a wrap and shirt! They were so funny they were like Hawaiian print sarongs for the bottoms and a cheesy Hawaiian print shirt! It was great to see these people walking around (mostly American tourists.) We started on the temple side and saw the huge golden pagodas, fountains, and monuments elaborately decorated with gems, glitters, gold, and other jewels. We visited the temple of the emerald Buddha which is also a very famous place. Buddhists still go here to pray today so it is a combination of tourists checking it out and locals coming to pray. They call it the emerald Buddha but it is actually made out of Jade. Next we were off the palace side which was filled with interesting Asian style buildings with crazy swooping roofs. They have armed guards standing everywhere who can’t speak to you so of course we posed for some pics next to them. It was really creepy though because they have a huge dagger at the end of their guns that we all came dangerously close to.
After this we headed to lunch across the river at a local Thai restaurant. Here we ate delicious Thai food with many different dishes again. We had orange chicken, fish, pepper beef, white rice, and of course fruit for dessert! I then headed to a different hotel to meet up with some other people for the night. I was traveling to this hotel by myself and a little nervous to get around considering I am not fluent in Thai! So I showed him the name of my hotel and he shook his head and said he knew where it was. Well turns out he didn’t and I was wandering around Bangkok with my cab driver for like an hour trying to find my hotel! Turns out it is like the biggest hotel in Bangkok so either he tried to scam me or he couldn’t read what my hotel was. Oh well. Once I got there I settled in a bit and headed to the huge mall across the street. This was the first mall I have been in while traveling overseas that was very similar to home with stores we have at home and things like that. I went a little crazy with the shopping because of this. Haha I hadn’t had a chance to shop at places that sell real clothes in sooo long! Anyways after that we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our St. Patty’s day celebration Thailand style!
We began the night with a few drinks in the hotel lobby. Lucky for us they were closing so all their deserts were half off! So we had some singah beers and cookies! Ha then we hopped in a cab and went to Kao Sung road which is also known as the backpackers road because there are tons of hostels on it. At night they close off the road so people can walk through the streets without worrying about cars. We ate dinner outside at this small little Thai restaurant where I got delicious cashew chicken and white rice for a buck! Oh and we also got bucket drinks for 4 bucks! The night was off to a good start and things only got better when we left the restaurant and saw a large display of green balloons. They led us right to an Irish pub! What better way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?!?!?! This Asian woman working the door saw our excitement and immediately grabbed my arm and started dragging me inside!
Upstairs they had a great band playing all sorts of American songs, British songs, and a few Irish songs. It was really fun and I got to meet SOOOO many people that night. My friends were all busy hanging out with their men for the night so I was left to my own devices to meet people and it was amazing. I met people from all over Europe and Australia who were on vacation in Thailand. These two girls in particular were a blast. They were from London and had just graduated high school and were taking a year off to travel the world before going to “Uni.” It was so much fun talking with them and hearing all their stereotypes about Americans and the things we say and do. Some of my favorite memories from being here have to do with the interactions I’ve been having with people. Just discussing cultural differences between places and differences in people is so fascinating. So 5 hours later at around 3 am we filed out of the pub and head back to our hotel. But not before stopping at the McDonalds across the street! Ha it was open 24 hours and was the nicest McDonalds I’ve ever been in! They had waiters that come and serve your food! It was crazy different but way cool.
Well the next morning we all decided to sleep in a bit ha it was something we all needed. It was so fun there were 5 of us in our hotel room so we put our 2 queen size beds together and had one big slumber party! Ha well today we just wandered around the streets of Bangkok for a few hours and hung out at the hotel pool. I had to face reality for a few hours though and find some internet so I could pick out my classes for Fall Semester back at Iowa and let me tell you it was not a fun reality check!
That night I got on the bus back to the ship and went straight to bed. I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired in my whole life! Plus I had to wake up the next morning at 8am to go to the Nong Nooch Cultural Village.
8 am rolls around a lot faster than you think when you are runnin on limited hours of sleep. We went to the Nong Nooch Village which was just passed Pattaya. Here we explored the beautiful gardens and amazing sculptures thrown together by terra cotta pots! They also had a strange section with wild animals that you could take photographs with. They had an orangutan dressed in a polo and shorts, parrots, monkeys, and even a cheetah! They all looked so miserable though so no pictures here for me. We then headed to the show in which I was able to see some more Thai dancing. This experience was much different than my first one though. This show was geared way more for tourists and had tons of flashy props and different dances going on at the same time. They staged a Muay Thai boxing match which was pretty cool to watch. Muay Thai is a huge part of their culture here and Muay Thai fighters are treated very well. The finale of the show included an elephant battle where elephants came out of nowhere on the sides of the stage with actors strapped to their backs raging a full on battle! It was very unexpected and crazy to watch.
It lead perfectly into the elephant show we were about to watch. I know more elephants! Ha pretty cool thing to complain about though huh seeing too many elephants? Anyways this show was way better than the first. They had elephants playing soccer, riding a bike, throwing darts, and the best was the elephants painting. They train these elephants to paint different flowers and trees. It’s really wild how these massive animals can be trained to do such things. After the show we were given free time to wander around and see more of the park. It was definitely a tourist trap but still a pretty fun place to visit.
I loved Thailand. It was a fabulous country full of different things to do. The nightlife there is amazing and the food is even better! Shopping was dirt cheap with so many great deals since a lot of clothing is made in Thailand. The people were all very nice. One of my best memories is when I was walking the streets of Bangkok and this local woman just struck up a conversation with me. It was great hearing about her life and I told her about mine. We had walked 5 blocks before I noticed I was back at my hotel. Thai dancing was beautiful and the temples and shrines that line the streets make you feel like you are in an Ancient Asian novel or something! It was great and I would love love love to go back there if I am ever given the opportunity.
After the mall I headed to the Sri Racha Zoo. Once we got there we were able to watch an amazing Tiger show! There were about 12 full grown tigers in this cage with 2 ring leaders and 2 maintenance men. The tigers ran around the cage, did flips, rolled around on the ground, jumped up 10 feet in the air, and jumped through a ring of fire! Every once in a while they would roar and I would close my eyes out of fear that they were going to attack the ring leaders! Next we saw a crocodile show which was also amazing. There was about 10 crocodiles and two leaders. The crocs would circle around to bite them whenever they pulled them by the tails. A few times the leaders had to literally run away from them so they wouldn’t get bit. It was very scary so you can imagine how terrified I was when the two leaders stuck their heads in the crocodiles open mouths! It was crazy! I know they do it for a living but animals have a mind of their own and you never know when they are going to snap. Next we went to an elephant show which was hilarious. Thai people really have a very perverted sense of humor. They asked for two volunteers from the audience to come down to the floor for a demonstration. They picked a male and female and laid them both on the floor. The girl lay on her stomach and the elephant came up and moved his foot up and down on her back like a massage. Next it was the boys turn who was laying on his back. The elephant went up to him and moved his trunk up and down in an inappropriate area! The crowd went wild with laughter and we all kind of looked at each other like, “well welcome to Thailand!”
After that we got to do what I had been DYING to do for so long! Yes I got to hold a baby tiger in my arms and feed him. It was amazing! So cute so little but still so vicious, their teeth are huge and develop early. After that I went to the elephant area and had an elephant pick me up by his trunk! It was crazy cool but kind of gross. I was wearing shorts and its trunk was wet and hairy! Yuck!
Next we were headed to Mini Siam. None of us really knew what to expect because they didn’t tell us anything about it. Boy were we shocked at what we saw. Mini Siam is literally an outdoor park full of miniature monuments! It was hilariously strange! We saw the Eifel tower, statue of liberty, Mount Rushmore, Trieve fountain, Egyptian pyramids, and the Sydney opera house! It was really cool but a very weird idea for a park. Some of the models were very realistic and detailed like the one of the coliseum!
Our tour guide then decided to take us to a gem factory. It was like one of those rides in Disney world where you sit on a moving like train and it tells you a story. It began with how gems are found in caves, then mined, then made into jewelry, how they affect Thai culture, how kings and queens from all over the world use gems, and it finished in the massive shop! On the walk to the shop we passed hundreds of workers filing down gems and creating silver settings for jewelry. It was fascinating to watch and made me think about how even the crappiest little piece of jewelry I own has someone’s hard work behind it.
Bangkok
The next morning I woke up early and got ready for the 2 hour bus ride to Bangkok. In the Thai language Bangkok has the longest name out of any city in the world! It’s over 118 letters long! We thought our guide was joking at first because the name just kept going and going and going! Once we arrived in Bangkok we headed to the river city. Bangkok has a canal system and many people live on the rivers and have to take water taxis to and from their homes. There was even an ice cream boat that cruised around. Throughout the river they have Kimono dragons and we saw 3 of them resting up on a ledge. The houses on the river all look very run down. They look like a tornado hit them and they hadn’t repaired their homes yet.
After this we headed to the hotel for lunch and a little relaxing. I decided to go shopping on my free time (surprise surprise) at the MBK mall. It was huge 6 stories tall and full of tons of shops. It was more like a structured indoor market with people selling lots of handicrafts, knockoffs, and bootleg DVDs. I spent about 2 hours there and bought a great backpacking backpack for only 200 baht! Which is only about 6 bucks!
For dinner we headed to this great little place down the street from our hotel. On the way we passed a countless number of tailors and massage parlors. Once at the restaurant they had a private room set up for us with two long dinner tables facing a stage. For our meal we had 5 little mini dishes. The first was a soup that had tiny clear fish eggs at the bottom, then we had a mini salad, chicken curry dish which tasted like perfume, we had orange fish, and finally white rice! All over Asia fruit is the most common desert so we had pineapple and watermelon. After dinner we were ready to watch the traditional Thai dance show.
It began with a brief summary of the motions that they use and their meanings behind them. A young man and a woman walked out on stage covered head to toe in golden costumes. I was really shocked at how much makeup the man was wearing it was pretty heavily caked on and I wasn’t really sure why, our guide didn’t seem to know why either. It was strange it made all of the men look almost identical to the women and their dance moves were so graceful and feminine.
The second act was a group of 7 women in purple costumes who floated around the stage in perfect unison smiles plastered on their faces at all times. Literally we did not see one of them without a smile on! I wondered if when they turned to the back if they stopped smiling just for one second, I would. The next dance was the traditional bird dance. This dance is performed by one woman adorned in a costume suited with wings and fake long fingers. In Thai dancing there are a lot of dance moves performed by the fingers alone. These dancers can fold their fingers back and around in every which direction it makes me wonder if they have broken them or done something to them because normal hands do not bend back like that. The next dance was an amazing dance performed with fans! This was my second favorite one. Finally my favorite dance was the last one and this was a staged warrior fight dance. Two of the men wore masks while the other two were suited in the traditional costumes and full face of makeup! It was great though the way they moved across the stage was so well choreographed. The fight scene was really cool too because it really was more of a staged dance than a staged battle. Overall I loved Thai dancing. It was so graceful and beautiful. These dancers are very well paid for what they do and they deserve to be.
After dinner we headed towards the night market which I soon realized was in the red light district of Bangkok. The night market was rows and rows of knockoff purses, jewelry, sunglasses, clothing, you name it and it was there! I walked around with my friend Ashley and I noticed she was bargaining for a shirt so I decided to go and help her. I asked Ashley if she wanted it and she replied yes so we tried getting it for 150 baht and the shop owner said no. So we just walked away. She then came up to us and said ok yes and started handing Ashley the shirt, well Ashley had decided to change her mind and she didn’t want it anymore. Never EVER bargain someone down to the price you want have them agree with it and then not pay it. It is considered very rude and we found this out the hard way. We said no she screamed some profanities at us and started following us through the market. It was very scary especially because the area we were in was not the greatest. The strangest thing of all was that each of the people who had a stand at the market had a tazer gun. The sound of tazing rang through the market shop owners would just sit on their little stools and play with them. That’s why Ashley and I were so scared of this shop owner who was chasing us! Who knew what she was going to do to us! Luckily we lost her as we weaved in and out of the market. As I was shopping for some sunglasses I almost got run over by….an elephant! It was crazy it literally came out of nowhere. Owning elephants as pets is illegal in Thailand but it is not widely enforced so people walk around with elephants and ask tourists to take pictures of it. I was all elephanted out after the zoo and India.
Walking around the red light district was quiet an experience. There were strip clubs everywhere you turned with huge open windows facing the market so you could see everything inside from the streets. The women everywhere just looked so sad. The sex industry in Thailand is a huge industry and one that many women get forced into out of necessity for money. It kind of reminded me of being in Las Vegas except sleazier if that is possible. There were men and women on the street harassing you to come in and see a “ping-pong” show. It really was very sad to witness. On a brighter note though towards the end of the market they had regular bars with live bands playing some great music. It was very fun to walk around the market listen to good music have a delicious drink and just chill out!
The next morning we had a full morning of tours planned. Our first visit was to a Buddhist monk temple. Here we were able to see the inside of the temple housing a golden Buddha decorated with elaborate candles and flowers. We were also given the opportunity to talk to a few monks. In Thailand it is expected that almost all men go through a period of time where they become a monk. You can join and devote your entire life to it or you can leave whenever you please. We spoke with a man who had been a monk for 5 years and a man who had only been a monk for 5 days. It was pretty apparent which man was which because monks are only allowed one meal per day! The man who had only been a monk for 5 days was a bit chunky while the other was rail thin and hardly fit in his orange monk wrap! After that we visited my favorite favorite place ever! The reclining Buddha! This Buddha was HUGE our guide told us it would be big but this thing was massive. When I walked in I was honestly in shock and awe I don’t know how in the hell they built such a beautiful and great Buddha. It was in a reclined position with its head resting on one of his arms and the side of his body on the ground. Many people mistakenly call him the sleeping Buddha but it is really just a reclining Buddha which is a famous position. This place was honestly so cool look at my pictures to see just how incredible it was.
Next we went to the grand palace which is a combination of temples and palace where the kings used to live. This was the first place I have visited that strongly enforced the dress code. Here you weren’t allowed to show your shoulders, knees, wear tight pants, jeans that had holes in them all that jazz. If you were dressed inappropriately you weren’t allowed inside and you had to go rent a wrap and shirt! They were so funny they were like Hawaiian print sarongs for the bottoms and a cheesy Hawaiian print shirt! It was great to see these people walking around (mostly American tourists.) We started on the temple side and saw the huge golden pagodas, fountains, and monuments elaborately decorated with gems, glitters, gold, and other jewels. We visited the temple of the emerald Buddha which is also a very famous place. Buddhists still go here to pray today so it is a combination of tourists checking it out and locals coming to pray. They call it the emerald Buddha but it is actually made out of Jade. Next we were off the palace side which was filled with interesting Asian style buildings with crazy swooping roofs. They have armed guards standing everywhere who can’t speak to you so of course we posed for some pics next to them. It was really creepy though because they have a huge dagger at the end of their guns that we all came dangerously close to.
After this we headed to lunch across the river at a local Thai restaurant. Here we ate delicious Thai food with many different dishes again. We had orange chicken, fish, pepper beef, white rice, and of course fruit for dessert! I then headed to a different hotel to meet up with some other people for the night. I was traveling to this hotel by myself and a little nervous to get around considering I am not fluent in Thai! So I showed him the name of my hotel and he shook his head and said he knew where it was. Well turns out he didn’t and I was wandering around Bangkok with my cab driver for like an hour trying to find my hotel! Turns out it is like the biggest hotel in Bangkok so either he tried to scam me or he couldn’t read what my hotel was. Oh well. Once I got there I settled in a bit and headed to the huge mall across the street. This was the first mall I have been in while traveling overseas that was very similar to home with stores we have at home and things like that. I went a little crazy with the shopping because of this. Haha I hadn’t had a chance to shop at places that sell real clothes in sooo long! Anyways after that we headed back to the hotel to get ready for our St. Patty’s day celebration Thailand style!
We began the night with a few drinks in the hotel lobby. Lucky for us they were closing so all their deserts were half off! So we had some singah beers and cookies! Ha then we hopped in a cab and went to Kao Sung road which is also known as the backpackers road because there are tons of hostels on it. At night they close off the road so people can walk through the streets without worrying about cars. We ate dinner outside at this small little Thai restaurant where I got delicious cashew chicken and white rice for a buck! Oh and we also got bucket drinks for 4 bucks! The night was off to a good start and things only got better when we left the restaurant and saw a large display of green balloons. They led us right to an Irish pub! What better way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?!?!?! This Asian woman working the door saw our excitement and immediately grabbed my arm and started dragging me inside!
Upstairs they had a great band playing all sorts of American songs, British songs, and a few Irish songs. It was really fun and I got to meet SOOOO many people that night. My friends were all busy hanging out with their men for the night so I was left to my own devices to meet people and it was amazing. I met people from all over Europe and Australia who were on vacation in Thailand. These two girls in particular were a blast. They were from London and had just graduated high school and were taking a year off to travel the world before going to “Uni.” It was so much fun talking with them and hearing all their stereotypes about Americans and the things we say and do. Some of my favorite memories from being here have to do with the interactions I’ve been having with people. Just discussing cultural differences between places and differences in people is so fascinating. So 5 hours later at around 3 am we filed out of the pub and head back to our hotel. But not before stopping at the McDonalds across the street! Ha it was open 24 hours and was the nicest McDonalds I’ve ever been in! They had waiters that come and serve your food! It was crazy different but way cool.
Well the next morning we all decided to sleep in a bit ha it was something we all needed. It was so fun there were 5 of us in our hotel room so we put our 2 queen size beds together and had one big slumber party! Ha well today we just wandered around the streets of Bangkok for a few hours and hung out at the hotel pool. I had to face reality for a few hours though and find some internet so I could pick out my classes for Fall Semester back at Iowa and let me tell you it was not a fun reality check!
That night I got on the bus back to the ship and went straight to bed. I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired in my whole life! Plus I had to wake up the next morning at 8am to go to the Nong Nooch Cultural Village.
8 am rolls around a lot faster than you think when you are runnin on limited hours of sleep. We went to the Nong Nooch Village which was just passed Pattaya. Here we explored the beautiful gardens and amazing sculptures thrown together by terra cotta pots! They also had a strange section with wild animals that you could take photographs with. They had an orangutan dressed in a polo and shorts, parrots, monkeys, and even a cheetah! They all looked so miserable though so no pictures here for me. We then headed to the show in which I was able to see some more Thai dancing. This experience was much different than my first one though. This show was geared way more for tourists and had tons of flashy props and different dances going on at the same time. They staged a Muay Thai boxing match which was pretty cool to watch. Muay Thai is a huge part of their culture here and Muay Thai fighters are treated very well. The finale of the show included an elephant battle where elephants came out of nowhere on the sides of the stage with actors strapped to their backs raging a full on battle! It was very unexpected and crazy to watch.
It lead perfectly into the elephant show we were about to watch. I know more elephants! Ha pretty cool thing to complain about though huh seeing too many elephants? Anyways this show was way better than the first. They had elephants playing soccer, riding a bike, throwing darts, and the best was the elephants painting. They train these elephants to paint different flowers and trees. It’s really wild how these massive animals can be trained to do such things. After the show we were given free time to wander around and see more of the park. It was definitely a tourist trap but still a pretty fun place to visit.
I loved Thailand. It was a fabulous country full of different things to do. The nightlife there is amazing and the food is even better! Shopping was dirt cheap with so many great deals since a lot of clothing is made in Thailand. The people were all very nice. One of my best memories is when I was walking the streets of Bangkok and this local woman just struck up a conversation with me. It was great hearing about her life and I told her about mine. We had walked 5 blocks before I noticed I was back at my hotel. Thai dancing was beautiful and the temples and shrines that line the streets make you feel like you are in an Ancient Asian novel or something! It was great and I would love love love to go back there if I am ever given the opportunity.
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