Back to Bangkok Baby

Thailand in November for the third year in a row. This time it’s a solo journey. B-Rod was going to join me at some point, but because of his time off this summer, he lost some holidays and doesn’t have enough time to make the trek all the way to Asia worth it. So . . . . it is somewhat of a “work” related trip for me. First part of it I will be spending at a temple for a yoga retreat and second part I’ll be heading back up north to do some more Thai massage training. It’s exciting, but weird to not have my fav travel buddy with me.

The standby portion and getting to the destination are always part of the adventure. I was nervous. Not because this is new to me, but it’s been awhile since I’ve attempted it on my own. The last few times, we’ve been really lucky and for the most part have gotten onto our flights no problem. I was envisioning that this time would be the time it would be a problem because I was on my own with no one to help calm me down if need be. So, going in I had a plan A, a plan B and the day before I left I also had a plan C and then a plan D while I was on the road. Plan C ended up the winner, and not just the winner, but THE jackpot of standby travel!! When I went to check in, I was given a boarding pass IMMEDIATELY (usually we have to wait until practically just before boarding to see if we made it). So, after discovering a new tip about YVR (there’s a pool, hot tub, steam room and showers that you can access for a mere $20) and finding an unusually quiet section of the airport where I rolled out my mat to do an impromptu yoga session, I was given my boarding pass and set out to experience a new airline and airport/country and NOT sleep on an airport floor at any time!

I was so excited to get my boarding pass, I couldn’t not do a few handies (especially since I had time and knew of a quiet space)!! I didn’t hold a handstand, but I did get a boarding pass, so my day was made!

I flew on EVA air and had a few hours to kill in Taipei. Did I mention I kind of like airports, and the airport in Taipei was super fun? Different waiting areas had different themes. Since I was there at 4:30am, I found a place in the music waiting lounge, plopped myself on a comfy couch and watched the sunrise over Taipei.After a few hours and being inspired to visit Taiwan someday, I got on the plane, watched an interpretive dance type performance of the airline safety video and was on my way to Bangkok.

Hello Bangkok!! Nice to see you again 🙂I actually really like Bangkok. I think it’s because it was so overwhelming the first time we were here, but by the second time we had started to figure things out and now I feel like I have the general feel of how how things work. I also really like how it is such a big city, but I’ve always felt safe here. I’m staying at mine and B-Rod’s “place” (though it’s not the same without him here). I had a full day in Bangkok today and thought I would finally make it to the Grand Palace. But when it came down to it, I just didn’t feel like dealing with crowds of tourists. So, I rode the water taxi with actual destinations in mind to run a few errands. I also went to Wat Po again to have a Thai massage (makes the list for one of the best I’ve ever had AND my massage just happened to coincide with the downpour of rain that happened for the day). The temples and scenery around the city are beautiful, but I didn’t take as many pics as I usually do. It’s probably partly a “been there, taken a thousand pictures of them already” scenario as well as the fact that my iPhone camera is not working properly for some reason, and I’ve been too lazy to pull out the real camera (here’s my explanation for fuzzy pics you’re bound to see along the way)

I did manage to score an off the beaten path find. In the evening, I made my way to Chiang Chu Plane Market. I had found the description somewhere and figured it was my kind of place. It was, but it was also a bit of a weird experience. I got there at 6:30pm, I stayed until 9:30pm and it’s only open until 11pm. It was soooooo quiet. There were only a few other tourists there. The vendors seemed bored, lots of things weren’t even open and it was a Friday night! Did I miss the mad rush that was going to happen at 10? It was a super cool place, but like I said a bit weird. Even my Grab driver (Asia’s version of Uber) who was driving a taxi had a hard time finding it to come pick me up. I said I didn’t wanted to be crowded with tourists . . . guess I got my wish! Planes with slides (that we didn’t get to ride) and a skull that had a funky laser show going on around/on it. How could this NOT be cool?!

I head over to my meeting place to be shuttled to my retreat tomorrow. There will be a few festivals happening while I’m in retreat and I’ll be staying in an actual temple, so I know I’ll have stories to share. However, I have been warned wifi will be limited, and I know I will just want to be in the experience, so I’ll be checking out for the next few days. Check back in about a week and a half and I may or may not have a post (or dare I say more) up. 😀