I couldn’t be happier with my trip to Thailand. Sure, there were the bad times…wallets were stolen, nights were sleepless, the group got crabby, people tricked us on multiple occasions, two friends got eye infections and I encountered desperate, demoralized women. At the same time, I think that’s all a part of what makes a fulfilling experience. Overall, the trip was surreal. We left Hong Kong on a Saturday afternoon and would return 9 days later. For most of us, it was our first time leaving Hong Kong since we’d arrived in August. For me, it was my first time taking a plane to any other location in Asia-- and thank goodness. Thailand and Hong Kong may as well be two different planets on opposite sides of opposite galaxies on opposite sides of the universe. I’m so thankful for the experience.
Our first stop was Bangkok, where we stayed for 2 nights. The place we stayed was livable and nothing more. I chose it for the location on Khaosan Road and I can’t imagine having stayed anywhere else. The whole area is full of backpackers and some of the most interesting people I’ve ever seen. It was a laid-back atmosphere with loads of cafes, great music, and shops. The street food was incredible. Everyday I bought fresh pieces of half a pineapple for about $0.30. Fried Thai noodles with chicken that tasted like amazingness I could get for $0.60. Bangkok was by far the cheapest place we went in terms of souvenirs and food. I also went to Chatuchak weekend market (best flea market ever, in my opinion), a night bazaar, Siam Square, the Grand Palace (where the king lives), got a Thai massage (about $8 USD/hour), took a dragon boat down the canal, spotted lady boys, and visited Jim Thompson House…except Jim Thompson’s house was closed. Three of us took hours trying to find this place, hours! We built it up so much and still didn’t even know who or what Jim Thompson is. In Bangkok, I learned: Don’t trust anyone. Bargain for everything. Don’t go to a Ping Pong Show, it will just make you feel sick and slightly sad. Buy a lot and eat a lot.
From Bangkok, we took an overnight bus to Phuket.
What a trip. Our bus pulled over in Surat Thani (our Bangkok agency failed to tell us this would happen) in the morning when it was still dark. I didn’t have a watch the whole trip, but I can assure you it was a pretty ridiculous time. Our group was then shuttled in a cattle car to a room where we had to wait hours for our transfer bus that never came. The woman behind the tattered desk told us we could take a VIP bus for 200 baht each or wait additional hours for our free transfer bus. The whole thing was seedy but time was of the essence. Phuket was worth it. The beach was gorgeous, although it was nothing compared to the beaches on the surrounding islands. Phi Phi Island is where the movie The Beach was filmed. Another island we explored was James Bond Island, I’m not going to bother saying what movie was filmed there. We snorkeled, sea canoed, rode elephants, went on a cart pulled by oxes, and fed wild monkeys. I even got a massage by an elephant! 
Seriously...I had to lie down and the elephant lightly stepped on my back. It actually felt pretty cool, it even massaged my tush. If someone told it to give me a kiss, it would slobber me with its trunk. One night, we went to Simon Cabaret, a big show with men dressed as women. Cross-dressing is huge in Thailand, it was really hard to tell between real and not real girls everywhere we went. Needless to say, there appear to be a lot more women in Thailand than men at first glance. In Phuket, I learned: “Lemonade” is not lemonade, it’s Sprite. Tour guides are trustworthy. You can bargain for tequila. Don’t tease the wild monkeys. From Phuket we took a 5-hour bus and a 3-hour ferry to Koh Phangan, an island on the opposite side of Thailand. We stayed there 2 nights, although I wish we could have stayed an extra week. It’s a somewhat remote island with a huge backpacker party scene, although I don’t recall seeing anything touristy when we were there. We stayed at a nice hotel (I chose it because I heard all of the cheap ones steal your stuff when you’re gone…). Everyday we ate at the same restaurant, which was a little more like an open living room considering the people lived there. The food was amazing and homemade. Lots of curry I wish I could eat every day... the woman who made our food also offered cooking classes, which I’m sure we would have done if we’d had more time.
At night, we went to the Half Moon Party and Haad Rin beach, where some friends were brave enough to jump rope with fire and through hoops of fire. In between our two crazy nights, the girls and I (actually one of the boys joined us too) got a body scrub, oil massage, foot massage, pedicure and manicure. I cut myself up on some coral on Phi Phi and had some scrapes from the night before, so the body scrub portion was actually pretty painful. But I honestly had to laugh when we got pedicures and manicures. Between 3 of us we had about 5 masseuses in a room, so spoiled! In Koh Phangan, I learned: Keep your wallet safe. From there we took a long ride back to Bangkok and hopped on a plane to Hong Kong. Although peeing in a hole in the ground and carrying toilet paper everywhere wasn’t the best, I was sad to go back to Hong Kong. Part of it is because of the food. While dim sum, dragon fruit and dumplings are pretty good, Hong Kong food sucks. It’s bland and greasy and full of grit and fat. Whenever I buy a meal there’s usually only a 45% chance I’ll eat all of it, no matter how hungry I am. And you can’t avoid meat here, you just can’t. Thai food, on the other hand, has so many options and it's fresh and flavorful.
Traveling has also made me realize that Dec. 24 is just way too soon to go back home. I checked with my tickets and the earliest date I can switch to is January 20 if I pay a little more. School at Mizzou starts the 22, meaning I'll have virtually no time with my family and friends in Michigan. It's a lose-lose situation and I'm torn up about it, I'll update when things are definite. There's just too much I have yet to explore....
