2 Fast 2 Furious in a Tuk-Tuk

The first seven minutes of my tuk-tuk ride was terrifying. My life was flashing before. I was sure I was being taken somewhere to be sold, I wondered how long it would be until someone realized I was missing since I was travelling alone and no one back in Korea knew my flight schedule, I wondered if I would stay in Thailand if I was sold as a sex slave, or if I was going to be sold to some European drug lord and be illegally transported overseas. My parents always told me I have an overly imaginative mind.

My homie cruisin' the streets on Bangkok like a boss

The first stop in this adventure was a jewelry store. I looked and smelled like a homeless person and I had barely enough money left to get back to Inje. I'm sure they knew from looking at me (or smelling me) that I wasn't going to buy anything, but I pretended, as did they. I left and was brought an ever bigger jewelry store. A gold store to be more specific, THE gold store of Bangkok (at least that's what I was told). I don't know who my tuk-tuk driver thought I was, a grungy celebrity with money pouring out of my bag? With his broken English and lots and hand motions I finally figured out that that for the new year, certain companies were offering gas discounts for drivers who brought them customers. And the customers had to stay for at least 15 minutes, which explains why he would push me back into a store every time I left too early. We also stopped at a really fancy tailor's store, and I totally would have gotten some new clothes, but I was leaving that night, and again, I had no money. And I got yelled at by an Armenian guy because he said I wasted his time because I didn't buy anything. Rude.

Primtime Bangkok traffic

Anyways, cruising around Bangkok was a trip. I saw Bangkok like a local (kind of), saw a lot of city I wouldn't have other, and most importantly, I bonded with my tuk-tuk driver. He knew very little English, I knew even less Thai, but I laughed hysterically with fear and adrenaline fearing for my life, as he swerved between cars at top speed, and he would smile in return. Good times.

Homeless and Lost in Bangkok

The ride from Vang Vieng, Laos back to Bangkok was a long one. I left Vang Vieng at about one in the afternoon, we stopped once at Vientiene (the capital) to change buses, then again at the border to deal with immigration, then we finally arrived in Bangkok at five in the morning. I was still in a daze, and had no where to go, so I just wandered around walking between Khao San Road and Rambuttri Road with my packs in tow. My flight wasn't until 1 am the next morning so I had about 18 hours to kill.

Statue at Wat Pho

My backpack was killing me so I found a random place to sit in front a food stand, where I met Jasper, a girl from California, with the biggest book I had ever seen a backpacker carry. It looked like an encyclopedia. We roamed around Rambuttri Road and found ourselves at a river where we watched a very flexible man partake in his own yoga session, and a group of older Thai people doing very cute aerobics. We eventually parted ways and then I was on my own again.

Awkward picture with the reclining Buddha. (You can still see the star on my arm from Vang Vieng)

To quickly summarize the last day of my trip (and because I am quite sick of blogging about it 6 months later) here is a quick recap: checked my bags into a storage, wandered around Rambuttri Road, and Khao San Road, found myself in a local market, wandered more, went to the National Museum, found a park next to a river, fell asleep in the park, security guard woke me up, I exited the park embarrassed, found myself in a wat, wandered more, then I found myself at Wat Pho, full name is Wat Phra Chettuphon Wimon Mangkhlaram Ratchaworamahawihan (try saying that ten times real fast), home of the 43 meter long reclining buddha. I took more awkward pictures alone, wandered more, then I officially found myself lost and alone in Bangkok.

Statues at the fountain

I took out my map, was approached by a Thai man who was trying to help me, then calls over a tuk-tuk and tries to explain to me where I'm going to go, then next thing I know I'm being escorted into a tuk-tuk, then driven away. I had no idea what just happened. I had no idea where I was going and was certain I was going to get robbed and shoved into some sort of sex trade business.

Thirsty cat at the fountain

'Wat' a Day

My train for Chang Mai didn't leave til the evening so I had the full day to explore the city. I started wandering around, trying to discretely follow other foreigners in the hope that they would lead me to something exciting. However, I stopped stalking a group of foreigners because they looked even more lost than me, but somehow found myself at the gates of the Grand Palace. It was incredibly crowded with Thai people and foreigners. Apparently I was at the Thai only entrance, and I couldn't find the entrance for foreigners. So I roamed around the palace walls until I spotted one! Another foreigner who looked just as lost. Thus I met Nick, guy from New York, in Thailand for about 2 weeks, heading south for the beaches the next day, and my first friend on my trip. It was perfect, now I had someone to take awkward solo pictures of me.

Awkward picture #1. Hello ugly outfit

I would like to mention that apparently my skin was too exposed for the palace, so I had to rent a skirt and shirt to cover my ankles and shoulders, so my outfit inside the palace was awful! Please don't judge me, rather enjoy the photos and the vibrant colors that my mismatched patterns emit.

The Grand Palace was grand indeed, it was HUGE. I don't even think we saw everything, and it was incredibly beautiful. So beautiful it hurt. Okay, I just exaggerated a bit, but seriously, every square inch of the 2,351,000 square feet was stunning. The palace ground were vast and it was filled with temples, courts, palaces, random beautiful buildings I didn't recognize, and gardens. The majority of the time I didn't even know where exactly in the Grand Palace we were, but it didn't matter. We also saw the infamous Emerald Buddha, where you weren't supposed to take pictures but of course I did. I felt a little weird going into all these temples because it is a sacred place for Buddhists, and some Thai people were praying and trying to have a peaceful moment while the rest of us were scrambling around trying to get the best pictures.

Temple of the Emerald Buddha

After the Grand Palace, Nick and I decided to head across the river to Wat Arun, also known as Wat Arunratchawararam Ratchaworamahawihan. I also enjoyed my first tuk tuk ride from the palace to the ferry. It was frightening and yet exhilarating. It's amazing how tuk tuks weave in and out of cars and lanes and end up going the wrong way on a side of the street and somehow you still manage to live. 

Tourist alert!

Wat Arun was spectacular in a completely different way that the Grand Palace was. I think I even liked Wat Arun better (shhh). It was old, made from stone, and had vibrant colors. The wat's construction began in the 1800s! Whoa. It was amazing how old it was, how weather has damaged it, and how many people have climbed or touched the wat and yet how beautiful it still was.

Awkward picture #2

The climb to the top was awful. My fear of heights did not help. The steps were incredibly steep and tall, so tall that at one point I was crawling with my hands and knees. After climbing about 250 feet up, the view was totally worth the sweat and tears (Jokes! I didn't cry.) There was a great view of the river, and of Bangkok. Truly stunning.

The main temple

At the top

After Wat Arun, me and my new friend Nick had to part ways. I booked it back to the travel agency, picked up my pack, cabbed it to the train station, and prepared myself for my very first train ride. Look out Chang Mai, here I come!

Beginning in Bangkok

I arrived in Bangkok at about 6:30 PM Sunday night on New Year's Day. I had no idea what I was doing. No research. No travel/guide books. Just me, my instincts and advice from others. This was probably the most unplanned, spontaneous, irresponsible trip I have ever taken, but I think it worked out for the best because it was truly some of the most amazing weeks of my life.

Massages on Khao San

At the airport, I decided to head to Khao San Road for the night via taxi, since I couldn't find a train straight to Chang Mai from the airport which is what I intended to do. As I was standing in line for a cab trying to look as lost as possible hoping some nice people would invite me to hang out with them and follow them on their well planned vacation, a Canadian man approached me asking me questions. Clearly my "lost girl" look needs more work. Luckily this man was also heading to Khao San Road so we split a cab and both saved some baht. I wish I remembered his name, but this Canadian man from Montreal with a funny accent was one of the jolliest, nicest, most helpful people ever with an amazing philosophy on life. He was on holiday from teaching in China, where he has been teaching for almost 7 years. He was starting in Bangkok then eventually heading down to Singapore to get surgery to fix the cataracts in his eyes because he was going blind. Best of luck to you good sir.

Nighttime on Khao San Road

Moving on, Khao San Road was insane. There are foreigners everywhere! I actually went through some culture shock coming from Korea where there are only Koreans. I walked around Khao San and Rabuttri Road, checked out all the little shops on the road and tasted some street food. I wish I could have gone out to party, but I was exhausted from the night before and I really didn't feel that safe going out on Khao San drinking alone, so I went to my room and passed out. Next time.

Pretty lights

Khao San Road was definitely a trip. It was too crowded for my taste, but I recommend everyone to go, it's an experience all in it's own that everybody needs to check out.