“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”
-Ibn Battuta
Sawadee ka! Today's blog is about one of the most unexpected yet very memorable travel experiences--my first international travel way back 2015 to... Bangkok, Thailand! 💜
As I've said, this travel was really unexpected. Everything was rushed as I didn't want to miss the chance to finally be able to set foot on foreign land 😅 (although, sometimes we feel foreign to our own country 🤔).
My Tita Joy (check out my blog about her here) was the one who invited my mother and I to the trip. She told us she will pay for the plane tickets and the hotel. Two other Titas and a cousin will also be joining us. Tita Joy booked the tickets ahead of time and we will be traveling four months later. My main problems were:
Fortunately, I was able to get a passport and our permit to travel was also approved around April. It was my first time and I really didn't know what to expect. What I know of Thailand is the diverse culture and religion, spicy food, and elephants. 😊
We first booked tickets to fly to Manila. On the day of our flight to Bangkok, we stayed at Tita Joy's condominium in Makati. My titas and cousin had already left for Bangkok on a 5pm flight. My mother and I will be traveling at around 9:30 pm. It was really nerve-racking as it was both our first time to travel outside the Philippines. We didn't know what to expect and I was a bit worried about arriving at night.
We arrived at Suvarnabhumi Airport and we were really just pretending to know what we were doing hahaha! I just made sure to quickly and quietly observe where people were exiting. Luckily,we were able to get out of the airport quickly.😅
I noticed people lining up a machine and so I lined up, too. It was a machine that prints out your taxi number. Now, the funny thing was I didn't really know that the driver's side of the taxi was on the right side. I went inside our designated taxi number and the driver looked like he was about to burst into laughter when we both attempted to sit on the right side of the car. He said, "Okay, you go drive," with his I-want-to-laugh-but-you-might-get-offended-so-I-will-just-smile look. 🤣 I apologized and then we all laughed inside the taxi. I stayed alert the whole time because I didn't want to get lost. I showed the driver the name of the hotel that my tita sent me. The travel took an hour or so but when we arrived in the area, the streets were still alive and there were a lot of foreigners around. Later, I realized we were staying at the Royal Ivory Hotel in the Nana district--one of Bangkok's red light districts (an area with lots of bars, clubs and brothels).
📍Highlights of our Trip📍
1. Wat is the Word
One of the most interesting things we did, like other tourists is to visit Buddhist temples in Thailand. This was a very exciting part of our trip because I am really interested in seeing temples in person. I taught Asian Literature before and only read about Thailand in books. Finally, I was able to see these temples in the flesh. As we visited some temples, I realized that the names always start with "Wat" which, ultimately means "temple/place of worship".
We were able to visit Wat Pho. It is a temple of the reclining Buddha. We bought a ticket at 100THB (154 PHP / $2.71). It comes with a free bottled water.
Note based on experience: If you're wearing something that reveals the skin too much, they'll ask you to wear some covering (which is for rent when we visited there). Footwear must also be removed upon entering the temple.
Visiting Wat Pho was a beautiful memory because I was really amazed at the big golden Buddha that was lying/resting. It was not easy to take pictures of the whole Buddha as there were lots of guests.
We also visited Wat Traimit, the temple of the Golden Buddha (they said it was made of solid gold and it's super huge. Unfortunately, we did not get to enter the temple itself as some of my Titas didn't want to walk up the long flight of stairs. 😅 I don't really remember how much we paid for the entrance fee but it was surely less than the fee at Wat Pho.
Note based on experience: The souvenirs (like fans, sling bags, keychains, etc.) sold outside the temple were cheaper.
What I loved the most about the temple is the architecture. There were intricate details that showed unique and beautiful art. 💜
I also loved the cats roaming freely around the temple. There were even cats in the restroom. They were very affectionate to guests and would like a pat or a tummy rub. 😍
2. Elephants and Some Regrets
One of my most memorable experience in Thailand was going to Chang Puak Camp. We've hired a local tour guide to take us around and this was one of the itineraries. We went there to ride elephants. I was really excited because I've never personally seen an elephant before. We first had to pay for the entrance fee. But I couldn't remember how much was the fee during that time but you can probably check out some rates and booking details here .
After paying, we were brought to the area and I felt giddy seeing the elephants. They carried a seating on their backs and there was an elephant "caretaker and driver", which, I recall, is called a mahout. I learned this term when, in the past, I taught my students a Thai folktale entitled "Makato and the Cowrie Shell". The mahouts were all smiles. We had our elephant ride around what seemed to be the elephants usual pathway here. After our ride we also went to some areas where there was a spa and some souvenir shops. We also saw a white tiger and some monkeys there but we didn't take some photos with them as they have a separate fee for that. (Saving for shopping day 😂)
I'm very grateful for this experience but to be honest, I've had some regrets. There were times when the mahout would use their sharp sticks to lead the elephants on the designated path. I'm just hoping that they are fed very well and given enough rest as they must have carried people many times in a day.
3. Floating market
We also had a trip to the floating market. We had a bit of fun while riding as the boat would sometimes go a bit fast and we'd get a little bit sprayed with the water. 😂 There were lots of vendors in small boats or on stores built along the river.
4. Shopping
Another highlight of this trip was, of course, shopping! I didn't really splurge that much. We went to Platinum mall, MBK, Central Embassy, and Big C Supermarket. There were things I couldn't forget while going around the stores:
(1) We couldn't really try some of the clothes on. We often get told we need to buy before we try. I don't know if this is similar to the experiences of those who have gone to Bangkok malls but this was what I would always remember.
(2) There were lots of affordable but quality clothing and accessories. I was really overwhelmed with how each floor contains a lot of shops, like there was a whole floor only for bag shops, another floor for the footwear, and etc. 👏
(3) There was one time, outside a mall, we went to a shop that sells silver and gold jewelry. We were asked to remove our shoes upon entry. I was a bit surprised but also learned to respect rules set by an establishment.
Let me also share an experience when we got to visit a fancy place that sells gems and Thai silk (forgot the store's name 😩). I haven't really taken pictures there as we were advised by the tour guide not to. Some of my titas got their gemstones while I got a Thai silk scarf. 💎
5. Food
I've had a lot of delish dishes when we went to Bangkok. We had some Thai food at a local restaurant. My favorite was the tom yum soup! We also had some food at Have A Zeed at a mall called Mercury Ville. And of course, I couldn't miss the chance of going to their Mcdonald's here.😅 Their corn pie is amazing!😋
6. La Moon by Ramayana
Tita Joy took us to a special dinner at La Moon by Ramayana at the King Power Mall. She asked us to dress up for that night. The restaurant served local and international dishes. I've had two special experiences here aside from the delicious food: (1) We had pictures at the entrance of the Aksra Theatre as it was near the restaurant and (2) we had the chance to watch a cultural performance--a Thai puppet show. It was indeed amazing and we also had some pictures with the performers afterwards.
Our Bangkok trip made me realize how beautiful it is to go to different places. This experience will always have a special place in my heart. Never have I ever imagined I'd be able to travel outside the Philippines and be able to see all those places in Bangkok. I am thankful to my Tita Joy for taking us with her and for being such a fun person. I saw my mama enjoy her trip as well. Being in another country with some of your most favorite people is such a fun experience. There were things I learned about Bangkok that were overwhelming. Staying at a hotel in the red light district was an eye-opener. Going to various places like Chang Puak Camp, the floating river, the beautiful temples, and the mall and shops gave me learnings and experiences. Manifesting that someday, I'll be able to go back for a visit. 🙏😊
Thank you Hive friends for reading. I hope I was able to clearly share my experience. Till my next blog. 😊 Kob Kun Ka 😊🙏
Note: Most of the photos were taken by me, my mama, or the tour guide using my phone. The quality wasn't that good since my phone back then wasn't good with photos. Some photos, as indicated, were shared to me by my titas and cousin via Facebook messenger. Photos are used with permission. I also used Canva for the collages and Paint 3D in cropping some photos.
