Almost a month ago, my Canadian friend Haneefa and I began a three-week sojourn into the cities, jungles, streets and beaches of southeast Asia. Our itinerary was ambitious (four countries), our desire to quench our palates with local food and drink strong and our souls ready to be awakened. I am positive that when I'm (lucky enough to reach) 70 +, this trip, the memories made and people we met will still bring a smile to my face.
We began with Thailand. Haneefa had been here before. She was the resident expert. I went with the flow. Except when I asked her if we could visit this place and that island, and oh! what about this area?
"Kaitlin, we only have three weeks. The time is going to go quicker than you think," she chastised.
She was right. We spent the majority of our 21 days in this country, making stops in Bangkok, Ko Samui (and briefly Ko Pahnang) and Chiang Mai.
People who knew of our travels asked us where we would be staying, what cities we'd be visiting and what attractions we'd planned to see. We really didn't know. We had an idea; Haneefa had some cities she wanted to visit and I had some attractions I wanted to hit. We knew the general route of our journey, but we only booked the flight to Bangkok on Dec.14 and our hotel there and in Ko Samui. The rest, as they say, was in the stars. To be determined as we went.
Now, I have never traveled this length of time, to this many countries and in such a laid back fashion before. People who know me well, know this is not ordinarily how I handle important things. But, capturing the full spirit of a long-term abroad goal of mine to become more relaxed and easy-going about life in general, I stopped thinking so much, packed my bag (a rolling suitcase, which would be switched to a big backpack if I could have a re-do) and got on the plane.
We flew out of Dubai International Airport at 21:20 to (The Kingdom of) Bahrain at 21:35 (with a slight time change), where we had a bit of a layover in a freezing airport terminal. I bought a bottle of water so I could have some Bahrain currency: dinar. One Bahraini Dinar is equal to $2.66 US. From Bahrain, we flew straight into the pulse of Thailand, arriving at 11:40 the following morning.
Upon arrival, we waited in passport control, customs, baggage, money exchange, phone SIM card and taxi queues (I love this fancy word for lines - people say it in the UAE and everywhere I've traveled so far). We were driven to our first hotel, the Amari Watergate Hotel. A five-star hotel - steps from Central World Plaza and Pratunam Market, just a few miles from Siam Square - we wanted to start our trip off with a bang! Little did we know, it wouldn't be until the end of our trip until we saw another five-star hotel.
We showered the plane grease off and walked through smashed-with-people sidewalk markets until we found an Indian restaurant to duck into. How strange it was to be able to order an alcoholic drink in a restaurant not attached to a hotel! We took advantage and clinked glasses to our safe arrival and to our trip's inception. We continued to walk around after a delicious meal of chicken tikka and hummus-type spreads, hoping to get to the famous Ko San road. We ended up on a street corner where people were lighting incensed candles, dropping flowered necklaces on Buddhist statues, removing their shoes and kneeling in prayer. We people-watched here instead and although I felt like I was invading their privacy, I was fascinated by the sheer urgency they all felt to share their faith publicly on the sidewalk. I took a moment myself when I felt a strong, sweet-scented breeze hustle by to close my eyes and say thank you for all I had. We got lost, or should I say we toured the area a bit longer than we anticipated, trying to find our way back to Amari, but made it before dark.
I had a message from both my mom and dad when I got back to the hotel room, telling me my grandfather had passed away and to call them immediately. He had been sick for a while, and this news was not a shock, but it was, if you know that sort of way. I felt so far from home, talking to my mom. I wanted to jump through the phone and hug her.
When I hung up, my eyes were sparkly with tears and I didn't know what move to make next. The reality of the news had broken my travel bubble. I was in shock. Thank God for Haneefa. She came over and lifted me up into a big bear hug and said she was sorry for my loss. Then she told me to get dressed because we were going out to have a drink (or three) in his honor at a rooftop bar called Octave. So we did.
This was how our journey began.
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