I thought back then in Indonesia that spending seven days in Thailand would be too long. But in fact after you actually are there, one whole week was just not enough! There are still a lot of parts of Thailand waiting to explore, offering its spectacular views and uniqueness. Anyway, given the time, I think I have made the most of my one week vacation, though. Here I’d share places that I have been to and that are worthy of a visit.
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| Arrival at Phuket International Airport |
Though we planned on visiting Bangkok, our flight was to Phuket, land of beautiful beaches. First day of the vacation we joined a one-day tour trip to Phi Phi Island. This was the part of the real excitement where you witness the beauty of islands around Phuket. In the tour we got on some sort of ferry boat, we went around islands and Phi Phi was our last stop. My favorite was Khai Island and Maya Bay.
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| Khai Island, Heaven on Earth |
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| At Maya Bay, gorgeous, isn't it?! |
Khai is a small island surrounded with white sand beach and some areas of reef and coral in certain parts of the island. Here you can snorkel and feed the fish. The snorkeling part is spectacular; swimming with beautiful colorful fish is something you do not want to miss when having vacation to the beach. And Maya Bay offers something different. It is a small bay, isolated from the ocean by high cliffs at its sides, it is more like a lagoon with soft white sand beach at the dune. You can swim, sun bathe or just walk around the beach. Surely you HAVE to take thousands of pictures here.
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| The Grand Palace |
As initially planned we visited Bangkok after the fantastic one-day tour at Phuket. It takes fourteen hours from Phuket bus station at Phuket Town to Bangkok. Obviously, Bangkok offers the life of modern urban lifestyle, not so much different from Jakarta though. We spent two days here. We had lunch at the fifth food avenue at MBK centre, one of the popular shopping centers in Bangkok. In the same day we also visited Madam Tussauds wax museum and the Grand Palace. To me, The Grand Palace is the most interesting attraction of all though in Bangkok. The architecture is beautiful, the Buddhism atmosphere is very strong. That is the pride of Thai. Anyway, I am very sorry for the flood that has been hitting Bangkok recently. I saw lots of sacks in front of buildings used to prevent the flood from going in even though the places I visited were no longer in flood. Hope the disaster is over soon.
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| MBK Center, about to have lunch at the fifth food avenue |
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| waiting for the bus at Rama Bus Station, Rama Road, Bangkok. |
Anyway, we went back to Phuket the next following day). At our hotel, some locals said that you didn’t really visit Phuket if you didn’t see Phuket FantaSea show. We certainly were interested. We watched the show for sure. It was like a musical drama and a little bit of circus performance by the elephants and all. It was really entertaining. You got a chance to know Thailand and its people through the show because they tell things about it. They are not far different from us. Well, at least that’s what I got. After all what it’s said is true, we have visited Phuket and we have watched Phuket Fantasea.
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| with a giant elephant, the star of the show at Phuket FantaSea! |
Another uniqueness of Phuket is that its acceptance to the different. Ladyboy is another attraction that is a little unfortunate to miss. They are beautiful (though still, they’re fake). But the fun is irresistible. I watched their show in Simon Cabaret where they dance and sing in lip-sync. With all the hype, the glimmering dresses, the dance, and the fun, they certainly make a show. The key to enjoy it is “don’t judge!” just sit back, relax and enjoy the show, and laugh on!
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| Simon's Ladyboys, at Phuket Simon Cabaret. |
We wrapped up our days by hanging out at Patong beach the day and night before, seeing the lampion ritual and the annually Khai khratong ritual in which you send some offering in a form of a traditional bouquet to the sea. Patong is really crowded but fun though. Then we spent our very last day at Kamala Beach having original Thai tom yam at a restaurant near our hotel. Kamala is a lot quieter than Patong, I recommend the place for staying more than Patong. Anyway, I recommend all those places I just described. Thailand is spectacular!
So, traveling IS awesome. Besides the hype of the fun, the vacation, you certainly can take something out of the experiences. Traveling allows you to get to know who you are. It is when you are far from home and in a foreign surrounding. You are also exposed to problem because man, traveling does not mean having a vacation without complication and problem. There will always be some unexpected things to happen. They vary from having to sleep at a bus station because you get wrong information, having different opinions from your friend in the group, cultural and language differences with the locals or money problem. The thing is, traveling trains you how to deal with those problems and later allows you to see what kind a person you are and what to fix to make the better out of yourself. Hell, this is my first traveling abroad experience and sure it does not make me an expert but you know, one is all it takes if you care enough to pay a little more attention. I think I made something out of it. I hope I make something out of it.
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| Road not taken! urbanpackrat.com |
My journey of self discovery through going to places has just been started though. I make up my mind. I have tons of plans of having this traveling kind of thing. I’m gonna work and save my ass up and travel. Traveling with a companion will be great, alone won’t be a problem either to me. Next route of my traveling will be Yogyakarta, Mount Bromo, Malang, Bali, and Lombok. I’m open to any one of you who wants to join me. It’s not gonna be very soon but maybe one year from now. A man needs to make a living, right!?
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