Thai Islands

I’m sitting on some floor cushions in a hostel called “The Moment,” drinking free coffee and finally taking “a moment” (cringing, that’s a cheesy one) to write an update. Here’s what I’ve been up to over the last week-ish.

Bangkok (3 days)

Favorite moments in Bangkok

• Experienced Khao San Road, the backpacker hub of Bangkok
• Ate Scorpion
• Tried street cart coconut ice cream for breakfast, carefully crafted by an old Thai man. The sweetest ice cream experience I’ve ever had – pun absolutely intended ;). With slow and shaky gestures, he made sure to ask before he added all the fixings to the coconut shell bowl – soft coconut meat, mango jelly cubes, clear jellies (they were so good!! Found them in a grocery store in Koh Samui and learned they are sweet palmseed). Then he scooped the hard ice cream and sprinkled it with peanuts and a little condensed milk. I ate it as I rode a hop-on hop-off boat down the Bangkok river.
• Visited Wat Arun. I almost didn’t stop here after feeling overwhelmed in Chinatown, but I’m so glad I did! As I walked up the tall steps to take a lap around the temple space my gaze was drawn up to the hundreds of wind chimes that suddenly started singing. It felt like the universe was talking to me in that moment telling me to check myself, to breathe and take it easy. I keep getting caught up in little things and I’ll let anxiety take over for a moment, when really, I’m lucky to be alive, to get to be here, and I need to enjoy each moment. When I finished the loop I walked back down stairs to the front and read the history of the structure and found it connects to the sun. In Farsi my name, Mitra, means Sun Goddess, so I’ve always resonated with sun symbols. Immediately the temple has an extra special meaning to me.

Couple of lows

• On my last day in Bangkok I reallly struggled with a very simple boat schedule. Felt dehydrated, hot, bluesy and hangry in the afternoon.
• In Chinatown I bought an bag of unripe mango because I wasn’t paying attention to the one that was handed to me and I surprised myself with the bratty reaction in my head. I threw it away, a little too aggressively, and bought another from a different cart where I saw a ripe option. “Hanger” is real.
• Chinatown. Glad I checked it out but it was so chaotic and I was not in the right ‘tude to be there.

In Bangkok I learned how much I hate crowds. I also realized that the person I used to know myself as and the adjectives/descriptors I have applied to myself in the past might not be as in line with my current self as I thought. I’m not entirely sure what new words would be more accurate, but that’s what traveling will teach me. Overall I had a some hard and emotional days – mostly, if not entirely driven by lack of sleep and food. That reinforced how I need to be better about taking care of my basic needs so that I can keep my wits about me. But it’s days like these, when I am wandering alone, that I build a stronger relationship with myself and discover more about me.

Had a very pleasant overnight bus ride to Koh Samui. It was a double decker bus (I was up top) in the fanciest reclining seats. I actually slept!

Koh Samui (4 days)

• DEC 7: As I was walking down the pier to catch my ferry to Koh Samui, a man behind me said something in Thai and pointed and I saw pink and gray dolphin in the water! Even more were swimming below the surface. I’ve always wanted to see a pink dolphin. As elementary as it sounds, they are totally my spirit animal.
• Arrived at Koh Samui and took a red bus (the closest thing to public transportation) allll the way around the island. The driver misheard where I was going. It took 2 hours to get to my hostel instead of 30, but I basically got the cheapest island tour possible so I’ll take it as a win.
• Stayed at Tiki Tiki Beach Hostel. Major plug here, but I highly recommend it! One of the friendliest hostels I’ve ever been in and it was the perfect place to relax and rest my ankle, which was swollen like a balloon after the overnight travel.  Within my first few hours there the owner bought me a bucket drink and offered me a volunteer position cleaning/coordinating social activities for their new hostel on Koh Phangan. Seriously considered this but felt I needed to keep moving and be in the north for New Years Eve. But this was the first time I’d been offered a hostel job like that so I was pretty stoked!
• Went to a really cool reggae/treehouse bar on the beach, situated in between huge rocks. Walked along the beach to get back to the hostel and had to scramble a little because I the high tide. Stumbled upon a temple on the way back.

• DEC 8: Thai massage on the beach with my new French friend. Best massage of my life! It was so relaxing to listen to the waves. I love the rhythm of the ocean. To me it’s like nature’s heartbeat. We were lucky we got a couple hours of sun right in time for this because on our walk back to the hostel we got DRENCHED by the warm rain for the second time that day. But my French friend and I were laughing and loving it!

• Convinced the whole hostel to go out dancing and we took a party bus taxi up to Chaweng in the northern part of the island. Played connect 4 against Thai women at the bar and got totally whooped within 5 or 6 moves! My competitive ego took a baby blow but I made a come back. Went to Green Mango and danced our booties off until 4am.

• Swam in the ocean almost every night in Koh Samui.

• DEC 9: Rode on the back of a scooter and explored waterfalls and the Magic Garden. This was the most whimsical garden I’ve ever seen, it really was magic! Full of statues and little nooks to explore with a river flowing through the garden and moss covering the stone. Felt like a fairyland.

• Had a jam sesh on the beach. It felt really good to sing for people.

• DEC 10: Moved hostels and explored Lamai beach town. Ate dragonfruit. Chilled on the trampoline chairs at the new hostel.

Koh Phi Phi (4 days)

• DEC 11: Traveled to Koh Phi Phi. Beautiful view sitting on the front deck of the ferry with a bunch of other backpackers, listening to music and enjoying the view and wind.
• Pool party at Ibiza hostel and crushed at beer pong (proud moment with the winning shot). Couple of my friends fought at the Thai Boxing bar where they get tourists to fight each other for free drinks. It was actually really entertaining, one of them pretty drunk and was dancing during the rest periods.
• Swam in the ocean twice tonight.
• DEC 12: Yellow vibes day (wore a yellow jumpsuit, yellow sunglasses, drew in a yellow sketchbook, and drank mango smoothie). I tried my first Thai pancake with lemon and sugar. Spent the morning sketching at the perfect table/viewpoint over the beach, directly outside of my hostel.
• Took a 2 person kayak out on the ocean with a friend and saw Monkey Beach. One monkey jumped on our kayak and stole the bananas we’d brought. A couple others followed and were playing with our stuff and basically sitting on my lap! When we had nothing more to offer they jumped from our kayak to another boat and scared the tourists. Oops!
• On our way back we flooded the kayak and capsized. Slightly scary but we were pretty close to the beach and everything worked out. Honestly, it made the day into a real adventure! We lost my snorkel in the scramble to shore, but I was able to convince the man that rented us the kayaks to take my fins as a replacement instead of charging 1000 baht (about 30 USD). I had gotten the fins for free that morning so that was the perfect trade!
• Watched the movie “The Hangover” at Banana Bar (my new favorite bar!!! Treehouse style and reggae themed). Went to the beach and was going to go home around midnight but met tons of people as I was leaving and ended up staying out and chatting until 5am. Had some really meaningful conversations that charged my energy. The kind of talks that connect you with others, during which you know that you are appreciated and your thoughts and words are positively impacting another’s perspective on life. Also met some people that live on the island, one of which DJ’s for the Ibiza hostel pool party. Another was 23 and Thai and studied international relations, like me.
• DEC 13: Had an iced cappuccino in the morning with my Thai omelette. I first had coffee like this in Greece and I can never find it in the States. This iced cappuccino was “same same but different,” as they say in Thailand, and in Greece they call it a frappe.
• Went on a long boat trip (that’s a type of boat, but the trip lasted a few hours so I guess it was a long boat trip was well) to all the main points on the island. Saw a different monkey beach (not as cool as the one I went to before) and snorkeled. I saw some of the most beautiful, bright colored fish I’ve ever seen! The water is turquoise blue, totally clear, and so salty that it’s incredibly easy to swim and float. We finished the trip at the monkey beach that I had kayaked to the day before, but this time there were no monkeys. Instead, it was dark and we were stirred up the water and snorkeled to see little specks of bioluminescent plankton. It was somewhat anticlimactic (it wasn’t like pictures of the Maldives or New Zealand where you have a beach covered in glowing blue) but it was still a cool experience and something I’d never seen before.
• DEC 14: Started the day feeling a little low, but found joy and humor in small things. Embracing the fact that my ankles, calves, and upper right thigh are COVERED in bug bites. It’s a little unreal, I’ve never seen so many.
• Sat on a swing in tranquility writing and gazing at the ocean…touched my cheek and realized I had bird poop on my cheek for the past 10 minutes :’) As I wiped it off my Thai friend Adam walked by and said hello. Looked like he was taking a group out for a boat trip. It was cool he remembered me and acknowledged me! I’ve been thinking a lot about recognizing people over the last few days because when I first met him, he had seen me walk back and forth on the same few streets one morning and I never noticed him. It made me realize how much is going on around us and how easy it is to tune things out, to miss stuff. Sounds, smells, people, views…there is so much to catch, we just need to be attentive. I’d like to start meditating consistently. The more I do that the more I can embrace that way of experiencing life more wholly in each moment.
• Walked everywhere today. Made my way through jungle hills to Long Beach. Swam, chilled in a hammock, chilled on a swing, chilled on a swinging bench. Chilled in every chill spot possible.
• Took some road that had a sign for “Viewpoint 3” and walked and walked through the jungle listening to all sorts of bird noises, and one slightly concerning big cat noise, until I found myself at the most epic viewpoint (Viewpoint 2). There were platforms of rocks to sit on, so I guess you could add a nice boulder to my list of chill seats. Satisfied with this view, I made my way back to town instead of continuing on to viewpoint 3. On the walk down I found Viewpoint 1 and caught the most stunning sunset! My timing could not have been more perfect.
• Spent the evening at Banana Bar again (saw the end of Crazy Rich Asians and then they started playing old-school hip hop music videos which exactly the vibe I was looking for). Saw some Thai kickboxing at reggae bar, danced on the beach at stones for a bit, stopped by the live music bar, then walked home. On the way back some people were chilling and playing hotel California on the guitar. I almost stopped to sing with them but didn’t want to intrude and didn’t know all the lyrics. Almost got locked out of the room when I got back, my key wasn’t working. Made it in and went right to sleep.

• DEC 15: Woke up and scrambled to pack and leave. Felt like I didn’t need anymore time here. Ate rolled ice cream for breakfast (breakfast sweets seems to be a theme this week). Stormy ferry ride to Krabi.

Krabi (1 day)

• Made friends with people in my room. Ate noodle soup at a spot only the locals usually go to. Wandered the beach.
• Spending my day here catching up on my writing and maybe going to get a massage before I fly to Chiang Mai tonight. Excited to see the north!
• Update: I did get a massage, and a foot scrub. My feet have never been so soft! Also Krabi is beautiful there are the most majestic rock structures and massive palms here. I don’t know why so many people said it wasn’t worth spending time in. I totally could have stayed and hiked for days. I wish I had photos that do it justice.

There’s something about traveling that helps you find your inner magic. I believe the confidence you gain from meeting new people and exploring unfamiliar places, from pushing your boundaries and stepping out of your comfort zone, is what ultimately guides you to your glow.