Bangkok

Our train ride to Bangkok was about 12 hours overnight. I was impressed with how the seats on the train turned into bunk beds. We would be arriving at 6:30am and of course we were chatting until late. I got a couple hours of sleep, unaware that I would hardly sleep for the next two nights either!

A fun fact about the train has to do with the toilets. When the train was moving and it was during the night, it looked black through the toilet hole and it seemed like an airplane toilet. But when I went at a stop, I saw the rocks on the train track through the whole. This means my poop is outside on the ground somewhere in Thailand.

When we arrived, our group had our last meal together at breakfast. The tour was officially over 😦 but we didn’t have to say many goodbyes yet because the bulk of us planned to spend the day together. We did need to say goodbye to our Mama Duck…I think he was excited to be home.

I took a taxi to my hostel and freshened up. When I’d traveled in Europe, I always stayed in hostels and it was nice to be back in that type of atmosphere. There were many solo travellers and I met people from Brazil, Germany, England, and Northern Ireland without even trying.

I met up with Sonia and Jenni and we browsed and had lunch on the most popular tourist street in Bangkok: Khao San Road. We didn’t do a whole lot of sight seeing – some of the main attractions are temples and, as beautiful as they are, we had seen enough of them in Malaysia. It was a relaxing last day together between walking around, chilling at each others’ hotels, having Chang beer in the shade, and snacking in different combinations of Sonia, Jenny, the 3 Austrailian guys, 2 Belgian guys, and me.

For our last dinner together, we found a cool restaurant with strange statues everywhere.

Our grand finale was going to a “lady boy” show, which our guide had encouraged us to see throughout the tour. It’s oddly popular and I had seen random lady boys in Thailand. Lady boy is simply what they call people who were born men and transitioned to women.

The performance consisted of lip syncing and dancing. I didn’t understand some of the performances, but the best one was a Beyonce reinactment. We all thought the Beyonce lady boy look alike was the most beautiful 🙂 she’s the one with the curled hair in the middle of the second picture.

After this, we went out for drinks on Khao San Road. I was dead tired from not sleeping the night before, but Sonia refused to let me leave. These crazy kids are keepin me young! The goodbyes were sad and tears were shed, and I’m so happy I got to have this experience with these new friends.

It took me a good 20 minutes and arguments with 5-6 cab drivers before I found a driver who wasn’t trying to rip me off. My driver was very nice but didn’t know exactly where I needed to go. I told him the vicinity and I pulled up my GPS (with my phone at 6%!) to direct him where to turn at the end. Thank goodness for technology in times like these!

The next day, my flight was in the evening so I had most of the day to enjoy Bangkok. My friend from home, Chelsea, has been teaching English in Thailand for the past 4 months, and she was able to meet me for lunch :). A traveler in my hostel suggested a nearby curry place, so that’s where we went and it was amazing. The restaurants that aren’t in the most touristy areas often look like holes in the wall so you never know how it will be. We learned that this place is very highly regarded!

We spent the afternoon catching up, talking about our experiences in Southeast Asia, snacking on fresh fruit/juice from street vendors, and walking around Lumpini Park. It was lovely and a perfect last day of my trip 🙂

My last purchase in Thailand (aside from chocolate ice cream st the airport…) was a traditional Thai massage. It was painful and intimate and I felt things I’ve never felt before. You know how you lay on a table for massages and the masseuse stands next to you? Well this lady was on the table with me for most of it. It felt like she was detaching all my leg muscles from the bone, which really hurt but also felt much needed after a whole month of a LOT of walking. At the end of the massage she had me sit up. She proceeded to wrap her legs around me, crack my back, and pull my hair.

Feeling like Gumby, I was off to the airport for 18 hours worth of flights across the world.