So . . . . . this is a post that should have been written awhile ago, but when it came time to write it, B-Rod and I found ourselves here (which made it really difficult to sit down at a computer) . . . .
But, those are stories for another time and another post, and it finally got to the point where I realized I really should let our moms know where we are (or in this case where we have been), so this is the story of how we left a country cooling down for winter to head south where the heat is abundant, the humidity is plentiful and the lack of any inkling of snow puts a huge grin on Rocky’s face even if there were points in time where she was melting and realizing her body doesn’t seem to regulate her temperature quite as well as it used to!
When it came time to decide where to go next I kind of struggled (and if you know me well, this won’t surprise you . . . . I’m not quite a master at making decisions . . . YET! 😃). On the one hand, it’s fun and exciting to experience a new place, new people, a new culture, and new food. On the other hand, these are strange times . . . . . what a country requires of you in order to get in is different and can (and has) changed sometimes daily. In my research and digging, I even found rules and procedures for travelling around a country can even be different than the rules and procedures needed to get into the country. So, realizing that we were feeling a bit rusty at this travel thing because, well . . . you know, and we haven’t been to Asia in years, we decided to go with a country that we have both really enjoyed and also happened to have very easy (at the moment) rules and procedures for getting into and getting around.
I’ll be honest . . . . it has always surprised me how much I LOVE Thailand. I was a bit resistant to coming here the first time I did on my own because it feels like EVERYONE wants to go to Thailand and everyone loves it. But it has all the things that I am interested in – a rich and varied culture, an honouring and reverence of nature and life, a peacefulness in the temples and the sounds of monks chanting, a climate that my body thrives in and amazing food! It’s definitely a country that consistently draws me back!
So, having finally decided to head to Thailand, but still not making the decision of which part specifically, we settled into a few days in Bangkok. Having been to Bangkok a few times between the two of us, this is a city that feels quite familiar to us. We even have a place that we stay at that we’ve referred to as our “home” there. However, when we went to book it, we struggled to find it online (and we REALLY tried). We eventually gave up, but by total chance ended up in a guesthouse just a few doors down from “our” place. We laughed when the first thing we both wanted to do when we dropped our bags off was find our “home” only to step into the alley and both almost at the same time say . . . . “this seems really familiar”
Now that I reflect back on our time in Bangkok, I feel like it was more about just being in a place that feels familiar. We really didn’t take too many pictures, we didn’t really do a lot, but it was just so nice to finally be back in this part of the world.
B-Rod did things like look around at scooters and industrial stuff, Rocky did things like have her favourite things such as Thai tea.
We did a lot of wanderin’ . . . some purposeful and some just coming across whatever we came across.
We rode buses and water taxies, and . . .
. . . . scooted around in tuk tuks
AND we were here for two things I love to be here for . . . .
First, we were here for the Loy Krathong festival which is a celebration on the full moon on 12th month of the Thai lunar calendar which honours the water element. It’s our second time being in Bangkok for it and Rocky’s third time getting to celebrate it in Thailand.
The second thing we were here for was ……. daylight savings time! As in . . . . . we didn’t have to change our clocks! I don’t use the word ‘stupid’ very often and I use it very reluctantly, but changing time in the fall and spring in North America is stupid, and I’m always happy to not do it!
Once we finally came up with a plan of where to go next, we were on our way and ended up having a travel day(s) adventure. We started off at the bus station where it was a bit of a gong show (though quite comedic) for us to figure out how to exchange money for coupons which we then further exchanged for really good and cheap eats (the woman B-Rod ordered from seemed quite proud that he had figured it out).
From there we boarded a 7+ hour night bus to Ranong where though pretty uncomfortable, some sleeping did happen. We ended up in Ranong around 4:30am where some dude approached us and said the name of the place we wanted to go to and with all of us not really fully understanding what the other party was saying, we reached a deal and hopped into his songthaew where he promptly drove us to . . . . . 7-Eleven! He met and visited with his buddy, we all ordered coffee and B-Rod and I contemplated the weirdness of travel sometimes as we scratched our heads wondering what was happening.
Fun fact . . . . did you know there are 21,000 7-Elevens in Thailand!!
Eventually we left our coffee stop, made our way to the pier where we waited around some more, the two guys both randomly left at different times (but assured us we would be going at some point), and we further contemplated not only the weirdness of travel, but also the trust that has to be placed in others sometimes when we don’t understand the language.
Finally a bunch of people showed up, a whole lot of activity happened, and like always . . . . things worked out and we were happily on our way to . . . . . . . (like I said, that’s a story for another day!)
