Barefoot in the Jungle

I’ve officially been in Thailand for over a week now, though it feels like I’ve lived a thousand lives since being here. I’ve already shed layers, made deep connections, and changed my diet entirely. It’s still surreal, but due to mental and physical exhaustion during any down-time I have, I haven’t been able to translate that feeling into words.

I arrived in Bangkok last Saturday morning, a little delirious from a full day of traveling, not to mention being launched forward in time. When I got to my accommodation there, all I wanted to do was eat non-airplane food and lay in bed. I left the hotel, turned left and suddenly found myself completely lost in some back alleys of Bangkok. It took me a good fifteen minutes to make my way back to the hotel room, where I had a traveler’s obligatory “good cry”.

Fortunately, other people in my program had also arrived to the hotel. I ran into some Canadians who invited me to hang out by the pool, and the rest is history. Our group multiplied by dinner, when about 10 of us made our way to a local spot, and I had the best first meal I could have possibly imagined.

This might be the most cliche thing I ever blog, but once I tried the food and the spice hit me, I was a new person. So far I’ve discovered that real spice does something to you. Eating here is much different than how I ate back home. Although I am a foodie through and through, much of what I ate back home was just for sustenance and out of convenience. Here, food is love.

Bangkok was fun. I was there for a couple days, and we explored the Grand Palace and Wat Pho temple. There is a massive river, the Chao Phraya, that runs through the city, and it is an excellent means of transportation. Although if you are a “farang” (foreigner) like myself, the prices are a little ambiguous and you will most definitely get over-charged. Originally, we were told a 10-minute ride would cost us 15 baht, but once we arrived they tried to charge us a thousand.

Once we could agree on a good price, the ride was beautiful. As it’s my first time in Asia, I’ve never seen architecture like this. The temples are ancient and so special.

The Grand Palace was crammed with people, and though it was breath-taking, we all were overwhelmed. Wat Pho on the other hand was much more peaceful (they also gave out free water with admission which was a total blessing… it might go without saying but Bangkok is HOT. You can never drink enough water.)

On Monday morning, after meeting the majority of my TESOL group, we hopped on a bus to Hua Hin, a lovely beach town towards the south of Thailand. I’ll be living here for the duration of my TESOL course, about three more weeks. This past week has been cultural immersion, which has been awesome.

Not only have I met and bonded with some of the coolest people, we’ve had the opportunity to meditate with a monk, take Muay Thai lessons and a cooking class, visit Rescue Paws (a local charity that takes care of stray dogs and cats and finds them a good home), and explore this beautiful place in our down-time.

I took the day to relax, brought my laundry across the street where this lovely Thai couple washes it and hangs it out to dry, and then returns it folded and pressed. This is the first chance I’ve really had to collect my thoughts and be still. It’s been go, go, go since the moment I touched down in Thailand, and it’s still hard to say no to anything—I want to do it all. Experience everything, taste everything, practice Thai out in the world.

Yesterday a group of us took an excursion and hiked up to Pa La U waterfall. We were in the middle of the jungle, and I felt like I was in some sort of Utopian sci-fi. The butterflies were colors I didn’t know even existed in nature. There were these orange bumble bees that just seemed to hover in place for ages. We even saw a crab….in the jungle!

It was really lovely but quite challenging. I did the majority of the hike barefoot, as we needed to carefully navigate rocks to cross a river. We swam at the base of the waterfall among these enormous fish, and the water was ice-cold (a stark contrast to the warm ocean water here in Hua Hin). To get up the actual waterfall was intense. The rocks at the bottom were slippery, but a few deep breaths and belief in my own power helped me through it. I was super inspired by my friend Luna, from Spain, who fearlessly hopped from rock to rock.

I was beat by the end of the day, and it felt so good to sleep in. Last week I was waking up before sunrise most days and leading yoga sessions on the beach. If I can get to bed by a reasonable hour, I will start tomorrow like that as well. Tomorrow is the first official day of my TESOL course, and I’ve got some homework to finish up by 10pm tonight.

I will write again soon, I’m setting the intention to pace myself and take some much needed rest moving forward. I will be in this miraculous country for a long time, so even though I want to do everything, always…I’ve got time.

Until next time, my loves. Sat wa dee ka!