Today begins my epic journey to Thailand!
I will be going with Breanne and we will be gone for 6 months (or until the money runs out) and have absolutely no plans. We can do what ever we want.
I am flying Korea Air, from Vancouver to Seoul, then from Seoul to Bangkok.
I am not sure what to expect when I land in Bangkok (it will be just past midnight there), we have no accommodations booked, but it should be easy to find a place to crash. I think we will take it slow for the first few days and let the culture shock wear off, but I do want to get out of the city as soon as possible (cities are not my thing).
I don’t expect to be updating this site as often, and when I do don’t expect me to comment on the latest news that caught my eye; my updates will be limited to updating everyone about my adventures, and showing off my pictures.
So think of me next time you have to scrape ice off your windshield in the morning, before going to work.
Have a great 6 months!
Best wishes to you and yours on your trip!
~Dale
Enjoy your vacation. You are envied.
FWIW I liked Chiang Mai the best, and it’s a little cooler up there…Wat Umong has a few monks who speak English and they give dharma talks on Sundays. You can make arrangements to stay there for a few days on retreat if you are interested in 700 year old monasteries and The Buddha. I took a trek through the north and it was pretty cool too.
If the backpacker ghetto is too hectic I’d recommend The Miami or The Atlanta hotels, both are around Sukhumvit Soi 13, are cheap, and good. Seeing your post brings back fond memories, and I wish you the absoulte best.
Wow, I’m sooooo jealous. My wife and I were in Bangkok and Phuket four years ago and I’ve wanted to go back every since. Be sure to check out Wat Po in Bangkok, that’s the centre for Thai massage (to be certified as a Thai massage professional, you must study there). It’s a needed perk after 16-18 hours on a plane.
Khao Sanh Road in Bankgkok is backpacker central, as I imagine you’ve found. Accomodations in general are pretty cheap (we stayed at the Royal Hotel for $20 CDN/night) and feed is even cheaper. The best pad Thai I’ve ever had was gotten from a street vendor on Khao Sanh for about 70 cents each.
Thanks for the tips Gordo. So far the only hitch we have encountered is realizing that 6 months is not enough time…
Above all, enjoy it. People who have never been there simply can’t fathom just how DIFFERENT it is from the rest of the world. Revel in it.
One thing that we chickened out on that I now wish we hadn’t: go to a muay thai match. I caught part of a bout on TV in the hotel room and decided that Bridget wouldn’t like it. I regret not going. We could always have left if she got squeamish.
Oh, and get a good super soaker if you’re going to be there for Songkran. A country-wide water fight sounds like an incredible blast. :-)
Muay Thai seems like a great experience (watching not fighting). We were able to catch a armature fight at the Sappong winter festival, but it would be great to see a fight in Bangkok… too bad about the price, it is quite expensive, so we will see if we can afford it.