Back to the exotic ‘Land of Smiles’ again today.
Things I loved.
The Grand Palace and various Wats. Opulent, impressive, ageless. I’ve never seen anything like it. My favourite was Wat Arun, because I overcame my fear of falling to climb up two very steep sets of stairs to reach the top level which gave us a stunning view of the Chao Phraya River.
Ayutthaya. On another tour we visited the ruins of the old Thai capital, Ayutthaya. I was fascinated walking around the grounds of these ancient buildings dating back to the 1300’s and my imagination went into overdrive imagining the lives of the people who once lived and thrived in the area.
Baiyoke Tower. Amazing views from the tallest tower (and hotel) in Thailand. Pretty cool to see Bangkok’s massive urban sprawl from such a height.
Things I didn’t love quite so much.
Being away from my kids. We left both our kids with family and friends while we were away and it was heart-breaking seeing my 12-year-old on Skype trying not to cry because she missed us so much.
Thai foot massage. We thought it would be relaxing. We thought it would be a treat on our sore feet after a day at the markets. We thought wrong. I’m convinced the two male masseuse’s who hardly spoke English thought we were having a fabulous time – we weren’t. I swear my masseuse had iron thumbs and applied them with sadistic glee to my most sensitive spots – my legs and feet were aching for 3 days afterwards. Never. Again.
Red light district. Serves my curious nature right for agreeing to go and have a peek at an infamous mall in one Bangkok street. Seeing scantily clad women standing around being leered at by predominantly older white men and the lack of life in the women’s dark and likely drugged eyes, left me feeling queasy.
The food. I’ll be honest; I’m not a great fan of traditional Thai cuisine. But I did my best to try different things, but almost every time I did I’d get burned. Literally. My tongue was on fire. No matter how often I asked for ‘Mai-ped’ (Not spicy), the meal would be almost inedible. So yes, there were days when I resorted to having an ice-cream sundae for lunch.
Would I ever go back to Bangkok again? Truthfully, unless it was to save a lot of dollars on medical/dental treatment, then no. Overall I felt a huge disconnect there, but that’s all on me. Lots of people rave about how much they love Thailand, and they probably think I’m weird for continuing to return to the U.S.A instead of seeing more of Asia. But while I felt a deep connection with the U.S and Canada on the three times I’ve been there, I felt very little other than ‘Oh Lord, this is so not me!’ in Thailand. I didn’t feel this in Singapore or Brunei (loved Brunei!), so it’s not that Thailand isn’t a Western country, I just couldn’t find any joy in being there…
Tracey
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