The Promised Land
First off, let me just say that Thailand should be renamed “The Promised Land”. I arrived in the evening and was a bit weary after a long flight until I made it to my room and did not feel the least bit childish when I did a running belly flop on my king size bed and barrel-rolled my way over the mountains of pillows. I changed out of my airplane clothes and went to check out one of the several restaurants in the hotel. My first stop was at the outdoor restaurant and as soon as I saw the sushi bar, 3 giant bowls of crab claws, jumbo shrimp and mussels on ice I said a little too audibly “sign me up”. I decided not to ask for the prices and would beg my father for forgiveness later. I ate more than a frat boy at a Vegas buffet and it was worth every bite, especially because I refuse to eat seafood in Kyrgyzstan, a landlocked country. After my self-induced food coma I was contemplating my plans for the next day. I arrived a couple days before my parents did and I had big ambitions for my first day in country. I thought I’d maybe do some shopping, some strolling, and some soaking in the culture, country and food. Nope. I didn’t even make it out the hotel front door. The Hilton Millennium was newly built and quite far from any of the main attractions in Bangkok which made my decision not to leave fairly easy… especially after I saw the pool. The hotel had an infinity pool on the fourth floor looking out over the river with sun chairs wading in about 6 inches of water- my ideal vision of heaven if you know me well. The next morning I turned my television on, watched programs (in English!!) and helped myself to a complete, well-balanced breakfast from the minibar- a package of Oreos- then made my way down to the pool at about 9 a.m. The waiter brought me a pineapple guava cocktail on a silver tray (literally) and I wondered what I’d ever done to deserve this.
And that was just day one.
Mom and Dad arrived shortly after midnight a day or so later (so easy to lose track of time) and I waited in the lobby so I could ambush and tackle-hug them to the ground as soon as I saw them. Mom and I cried, predictably, you would have never thought that we talk on the phone at least a few times a week. We spent the day in Bangkok mostly riding around in a tuk-tuk (a motorcycle with a roof, two sides and a bench hanging off the back of it) seeing the main sights, the Grand Palace which was pretty impressive yadda yadda yadda.
We wasted no time getting to Phuket- a dream of mine since four years ago after listening to two of my Australian friends talking about buying a house there. We stayed at a resort on Karon Beach and everyday the hardest decision I had to make was whether to beach myself poolside or Oceanside for the remainder of the day. I didn’t bring my running shoes in vain this time (if you remember from Turkey I tore a ligament after being there for only a day, yeah, the discotheque) and enjoyed myself while running on a treadmill almost everyday, overlooking a waterfall and not having to worry about carrying rocks or sticks to chase off dogs or have people laughing, pointing or staring at me while trying to get in my cardio. It was not a breath of fresh air; it was a thousand breaths of fresh air. And I didn’t mind the hot, sticky, humid heat because all I had to do was remind myself that the streets in Bishkek are coated with a 3 inch layer of ice that won’t melt away till mid-March so I didn’t mind the sweating, not one bit.
We snorkeled, swam and I even managed to squeeze in a Thai massage in a beach-side tent. I have to say that having my body contorted in different positions may have been awkward for the onlookers but I was enjoying myself too much to care. One day we did a boat tour to a few different islands one of them being the place where “The Beach” was filmed, that terrible Leonardo DiCaprio movie that had a lot of potential in the beginning but fizzled as soon as they introduced the video game sequence (Tiff, Lib, I know you know what I’m talking about). As pretty as it was on film, it was even better in person…. sans shark attacks. We had more plans to do a kayaking tour but unfortunately due to two bouts of food poisoning my parents were out of commission for two days at two separate times. You’d think they’d be able to coordinate that, sheesh. I thought I was supposed to be the sick one- I guess after all those parasites I finally built up some kind of immunity to them. At least got something out of it- what a relief!
All in all, Phuket far exceeded my (unrealistically high) expectations and I think most of it had to do with being with my parents for the holidays. I spent the last Christmas with friends but I hope I’ll never have to be away from family again. There was no Christmas tree but almost every coconut tree had strings of pearly white lights dangling from their branches and it made the place look sweeter than frosting.
My father could only take so much time off work so he boarded a plane home and my mom and I continued on to Chaing Mai. Our hotel was in the heart of the night bazaar and we perused the never-ending stalls of jewelry, clothes, scarves, laquerware and purses until we couldn’t see straight. I’m a terrible shopper, I’m indecisive, I’m a hard bargainer and I’m easily distracted by anything sparkly or shiny. I’m sure my mother had it with me after an hour but she stuck in there, dragged in a thousand directions so I could find that one thing that I saw that other day which may be in that direction, no wait, that one…
We recovered from shopping with three hour Thai massages (Dad, I swear it was Mom’s idea…) which I was pretty impressed with, especially when my masseuses wrapped her legs around my calves, stood on my thighs and walked her hands up and down my back in one swift, painless movement. I wanted to watch her but didn’t want to alarm her with the curious,” what’s going on here” look on my face. I also must say my mother looked adorable in her little Thai pajamas.
One day we wandered around and made it up to a temple on a mountaintop and I wished I had remembered more from the Buddhist Thought class I took one semester in college. It was very impressive but very crowded since it was New Year’s Day and Chaing Mai was the main travel destination for Thai people.
On my last day I decided to go to the Royal Flower Show (I was shopped-out), a huge exhibit to pay tribute to the King for his 60th birthday. I can’t even imagine the amount of planning, building and effort that went into putting this together. The outside looked like an amusement park. The walking tour was over 7 miles long that wound around different themed gardens including corporate, international and national exhibitions and a rare orchid competition. I moseyed around for hours trying to soak in the different displays. They built a temple in the center of the garden show and in the background was a giant white Buddha statue nestled into the mountains overlooking the exposition. I feel like I’m not doing justice to describing the place but the only word that I can think of to sum it up is ‘unreal’.
I guess that brings us back to Bangkok. My mom and I had no real plans or agenda but no matter what we did, it was a luxury, something I can’t do here. We went to go see a movie (in English!), went to a mall, all things that no rational person would do on vacation but things that I haven’t done in a year and a half and things that I don’t have the opportunity to do. Of course we did the standard Bangkok-touristy things like getting lost in Chinatown but I was just as happy sitting by the pool (which we also did one day).
My friend Jordan (was a PCV in Kyrgyzstan but got medically separated) decided to come to Thailand to meet my friends Tana, Tim and Andy who were arriving on the same plane from Almaty that I was leaving on. I was able to talk him into coming couple days early to spend with me since I was going to be in Bangkok alone (Mom’s flight left earlier than mine). We went to the weekend market, which put any other shopping experience I’ve ever had in my life to shame. We went back to Chinatown; we went to a temple but took it slow since he was jet-lagged. Mostly it just felt good to pal around with an old friend and it was like he never even left Kyrgyzstan. He was definitely the cherry on top of an amazing vacation.
So now I’m back. I’m actually surprised to say that it was easier to come back than I originally anticipated. I’ve settled back into my routine and was genuinely glad to see my students and was received at my school with smiles and open arms and people shouting Happy New Year to me down the street and in the halls. My first few days my students bombarded me with questions about my trip and my parents and they said that they missed me while I was gone. The strangest part of all this is that being here doesn’t feel foreign to me anymore. This finally feels like home to me- and that’s a feeling worth being back for.
Grant Update:
Thank you to everyone who contributed to my Grant, in 3 weeks I’ve collected over 50% of the money I need and have only $625 dollars left to go. I know a lot of my friends are in a similar financial situation that I’m in (i.e. poor) but if you are unable to contribute at this time, the next best thing that you could do would be to pass the information on to someone willing or able to contribute. Thanks again to everyone, I really appreciate your generosity.
Shout Outs:
Thanks to everyone who sent me Christmas packages and letters, coming back to a stack of them was the best feeling ever. Even the post office ladies were happy for me!
Ang and Joe- Thanks so much for everything. I got one package right before I left and one right after I got back. You’re going to spoil me!! This will definitely help me get through the winter though I love you guys and really appreciate it.
The Sugarman Family- the stack of books will definitely keep me busy for quite some time- you guys know me too well! And I just got your second package full of delicious goodies! I have to say everything from Harry and David didn’t last long. It was such a nice surprise, thank you so much!
And that was just day one.
Mom and Dad arrived shortly after midnight a day or so later (so easy to lose track of time) and I waited in the lobby so I could ambush and tackle-hug them to the ground as soon as I saw them. Mom and I cried, predictably, you would have never thought that we talk on the phone at least a few times a week. We spent the day in Bangkok mostly riding around in a tuk-tuk (a motorcycle with a roof, two sides and a bench hanging off the back of it) seeing the main sights, the Grand Palace which was pretty impressive yadda yadda yadda.
We wasted no time getting to Phuket- a dream of mine since four years ago after listening to two of my Australian friends talking about buying a house there. We stayed at a resort on Karon Beach and everyday the hardest decision I had to make was whether to beach myself poolside or Oceanside for the remainder of the day. I didn’t bring my running shoes in vain this time (if you remember from Turkey I tore a ligament after being there for only a day, yeah, the discotheque) and enjoyed myself while running on a treadmill almost everyday, overlooking a waterfall and not having to worry about carrying rocks or sticks to chase off dogs or have people laughing, pointing or staring at me while trying to get in my cardio. It was not a breath of fresh air; it was a thousand breaths of fresh air. And I didn’t mind the hot, sticky, humid heat because all I had to do was remind myself that the streets in Bishkek are coated with a 3 inch layer of ice that won’t melt away till mid-March so I didn’t mind the sweating, not one bit.
We snorkeled, swam and I even managed to squeeze in a Thai massage in a beach-side tent. I have to say that having my body contorted in different positions may have been awkward for the onlookers but I was enjoying myself too much to care. One day we did a boat tour to a few different islands one of them being the place where “The Beach” was filmed, that terrible Leonardo DiCaprio movie that had a lot of potential in the beginning but fizzled as soon as they introduced the video game sequence (Tiff, Lib, I know you know what I’m talking about). As pretty as it was on film, it was even better in person…. sans shark attacks. We had more plans to do a kayaking tour but unfortunately due to two bouts of food poisoning my parents were out of commission for two days at two separate times. You’d think they’d be able to coordinate that, sheesh. I thought I was supposed to be the sick one- I guess after all those parasites I finally built up some kind of immunity to them. At least got something out of it- what a relief!
All in all, Phuket far exceeded my (unrealistically high) expectations and I think most of it had to do with being with my parents for the holidays. I spent the last Christmas with friends but I hope I’ll never have to be away from family again. There was no Christmas tree but almost every coconut tree had strings of pearly white lights dangling from their branches and it made the place look sweeter than frosting.
My father could only take so much time off work so he boarded a plane home and my mom and I continued on to Chaing Mai. Our hotel was in the heart of the night bazaar and we perused the never-ending stalls of jewelry, clothes, scarves, laquerware and purses until we couldn’t see straight. I’m a terrible shopper, I’m indecisive, I’m a hard bargainer and I’m easily distracted by anything sparkly or shiny. I’m sure my mother had it with me after an hour but she stuck in there, dragged in a thousand directions so I could find that one thing that I saw that other day which may be in that direction, no wait, that one…
We recovered from shopping with three hour Thai massages (Dad, I swear it was Mom’s idea…) which I was pretty impressed with, especially when my masseuses wrapped her legs around my calves, stood on my thighs and walked her hands up and down my back in one swift, painless movement. I wanted to watch her but didn’t want to alarm her with the curious,” what’s going on here” look on my face. I also must say my mother looked adorable in her little Thai pajamas.
One day we wandered around and made it up to a temple on a mountaintop and I wished I had remembered more from the Buddhist Thought class I took one semester in college. It was very impressive but very crowded since it was New Year’s Day and Chaing Mai was the main travel destination for Thai people.
On my last day I decided to go to the Royal Flower Show (I was shopped-out), a huge exhibit to pay tribute to the King for his 60th birthday. I can’t even imagine the amount of planning, building and effort that went into putting this together. The outside looked like an amusement park. The walking tour was over 7 miles long that wound around different themed gardens including corporate, international and national exhibitions and a rare orchid competition. I moseyed around for hours trying to soak in the different displays. They built a temple in the center of the garden show and in the background was a giant white Buddha statue nestled into the mountains overlooking the exposition. I feel like I’m not doing justice to describing the place but the only word that I can think of to sum it up is ‘unreal’.
I guess that brings us back to Bangkok. My mom and I had no real plans or agenda but no matter what we did, it was a luxury, something I can’t do here. We went to go see a movie (in English!), went to a mall, all things that no rational person would do on vacation but things that I haven’t done in a year and a half and things that I don’t have the opportunity to do. Of course we did the standard Bangkok-touristy things like getting lost in Chinatown but I was just as happy sitting by the pool (which we also did one day).
My friend Jordan (was a PCV in Kyrgyzstan but got medically separated) decided to come to Thailand to meet my friends Tana, Tim and Andy who were arriving on the same plane from Almaty that I was leaving on. I was able to talk him into coming couple days early to spend with me since I was going to be in Bangkok alone (Mom’s flight left earlier than mine). We went to the weekend market, which put any other shopping experience I’ve ever had in my life to shame. We went back to Chinatown; we went to a temple but took it slow since he was jet-lagged. Mostly it just felt good to pal around with an old friend and it was like he never even left Kyrgyzstan. He was definitely the cherry on top of an amazing vacation.
So now I’m back. I’m actually surprised to say that it was easier to come back than I originally anticipated. I’ve settled back into my routine and was genuinely glad to see my students and was received at my school with smiles and open arms and people shouting Happy New Year to me down the street and in the halls. My first few days my students bombarded me with questions about my trip and my parents and they said that they missed me while I was gone. The strangest part of all this is that being here doesn’t feel foreign to me anymore. This finally feels like home to me- and that’s a feeling worth being back for.
Grant Update:
Thank you to everyone who contributed to my Grant, in 3 weeks I’ve collected over 50% of the money I need and have only $625 dollars left to go. I know a lot of my friends are in a similar financial situation that I’m in (i.e. poor) but if you are unable to contribute at this time, the next best thing that you could do would be to pass the information on to someone willing or able to contribute. Thanks again to everyone, I really appreciate your generosity.
Shout Outs:
Thanks to everyone who sent me Christmas packages and letters, coming back to a stack of them was the best feeling ever. Even the post office ladies were happy for me!
Ang and Joe- Thanks so much for everything. I got one package right before I left and one right after I got back. You’re going to spoil me!! This will definitely help me get through the winter though I love you guys and really appreciate it.
The Sugarman Family- the stack of books will definitely keep me busy for quite some time- you guys know me too well! And I just got your second package full of delicious goodies! I have to say everything from Harry and David didn’t last long. It was such a nice surprise, thank you so much!
posted by Katie P. at 8:04 PM
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