I arrived in Bangkok at 11:25 PM, but didn't leave the airport till after 12 AM. The first experience I had in Thailand was going through customs. It was a long process, and the man in front of me took at least 15 minutes to get approved. SKETCHY. With my bags in my hands and the bags under my eyes from the 19 hours of travel, I made my way outside. I was greeted by my best friend and a humid heat wave like no other. Nothing had really prepared me for how humid it was going to be, and that was just the beginning. We took a taxi, one of the only forms of reliable traveling, all the way home.
After sleeping for the next 12 hours, we decided to head out to the local market and mall. Let me tell you now, there's a lot of markets and a lot of malls. Usually right next to each other too. The difference between a market and a mall is this; Malls are just as expensive as home and have air conditioning. Markets are outdoors, there's no toilet paper in the stand-up toilets, and everything is dirt cheap. We also visited a dragon temple, in which we had to removed our shoes at the front. It was very interesting to see, and every temple we visited after that only got better.
Our first big adventure was to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho. Both were huge and both were made out of real gold. These places were different than where I was staying because I wasn't the only white tourist there. There were people from places all over the world, children, adults, teens, you name it. It was very interesting to see. You had to have your passport to get into the Grand Palace because they needed to know who was coming and who was going.
After getting inside Wat Pho, everything was just so breathtaking. There were temples everywhere, the famous Reclining Buddha, and most everything was decorated in real gold. It was a maze inside, you could get lost for hours. You could also get a Thai message there too, which was unique. Here is where I first learned the true meaning of cleanliness. By being the opposite. Or at least feeling the opposite. Something I quickly learned in Thailand is that it's a rare and glorious occasion to find a restroom with toilet paper. I quickly learned to carry my own. They don't even call it a restroom, or even a bathroom. They call it the toilet. Because that's literally all it is. Either a small dirty toilet or a hole in the ground that you pour water into to cover up the stench when you are done. Toto, we aren't in Kansas anymore.
After the weekend, we traveled four hours away to Pattaya beach. The first stop there was on a long winding road and I got my first glimpse at Thailand's resident thieves. These monkeys were nothing to be played with. They'd steal from you, your car, the local banana vendors, and each other. You could buy a bunch of bananas to feed the monkeys for 10 bhat; which is about 20 cents in American money. These monkeys would jump on your car and bang on your window if they thought you had food.
We swam in the warm waters on the beach, saw so many Europeans in speedos, and we ate deep-fried crabs. Like... actual crabs. Little ones that you can catch running on the beach. Claws and all. Yeah, we ate that. Very crunchy. But relaxing on the beach was one of my favorite times during my trip. We hung out in an air conditioned bungalow (which is rare), ate good food at the local night markets, and got some amazing people watching in.
The temples around some of the poorest towns I've ever seen were astounding. They were decorated in gold and there was always people there. But no matter how many people seemed to be there, there was this pure bliss and silence about the temple. You removed your shoes and stepped into a place of peace and meditation. These temples were fun to people watch at as well. There were old men and women who had wheeled themselves there and crawled into the temple. There were young children there alone, who came because they were taught to.
And then there was me. I was there in my dirty bare feet, second-day clothes, and messy hair. I was there in awe.
