I know it has been a while since I posted, but it's only because I have been having a fantastic month traveling! After the wonderful insanity of Holi, Hannah and I had two days in Delhi before heading off to Thailand for two weeks. Since the first month of our grant, my roommates and I had discussed going to Thailand together after its completion as a last hurrah before going our separate ways. Fast forward nine months and Hannah and I are the only two left in the Malviya Nagar nest, and we would be damned if we weren't going to take that vacation.
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| Getting the Skytrain to Chatuchat |
We arrived in Bangkok on the night of March 29th and headed straight for my cousin Eric's house, located in a beautiful building in the heart of the city. After a night in the most comfortable bed of all time, we awoke to freshly cut fruit on an immaculately lain table, sunlight streaming in the windows overlooking downtown. We went to Chatuchak Market, a giant bazaar open only on weekends, full of stalls selling everything from pets to souvenirs, clothing to spices, dishes and silverware. I had been to the market on my previous trip to Bangkok, but it was great to go again and experience it with my shopping buddy of the year. We stopped for a lunch of noodles and fried chicken, cooked to perfection, and returned to Eric's for an afternoon by the pool on the roof. Our friend Sarah, who had been an ETA in Madurai and has been traveling in Southeast Asia since she resigned her grant in January, came back to Bangkok to meet us, and joined us at Eric's that evening. Eric's awesome-beyond-words live-in housekeeper, Kuhn Eid, made an incredible Thai dinner, and Eric's good friend and colleague, Elsbeth, joined us with her husband. It was so great to be in someone's home, not eating Indian food and free of the pressure to go back to the crazy teaching in Delhi.
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| With Eric at the State Tower |
The next few days flew by, Eric treating us like royalty, wining and dining us all day and even taking us for foot massages. We went dancing one night in his neighborhood--such a relief to feel totally comfortable going outside in Western clothing at night. Eric runs a gem and jewelry business in Bangkok and we got to visit his office and see the gem cutters at work.
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| Gem cutting at Eric's office |
He took us for drinks at a hotel with an amazing view of the city, and then to a buffet at the Sheraton at which we could have sworn we'd died and gone to heaven, complete with Thai food, a raw seafood bar, sushi, steak, mashed potatoes, caesar salad, an array of cheeses, creme brulée, mousse and a dozen other little desserts. On our last night in Bangkok the three of us joined Eric and some of his friends for the best pizza I've had since New York, before he left for a cruise with his parents the next day. Living it up in Bangkok truly felt like a dream.
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| Longtail boats on Railay Beach |
Sarah continued north to go to Cambodia, and Hannah and I flew to Krabi, a small town on the west (Andaman) coast of Southern Thailand, where we found a small hostel run by a crazy Rastafarian Thai guy who acted like a caricature of a beach town hippie. We met up with our friend Kelly, another Madurai ETA whom I was particularly close with in the time we spent as a big group, who was also doing the rounds in Thailand following the grant. We spent a few days on the stunning beaches of Railay, meeting some fun Swedish people (who, incidentally, abound in Thailand like peanuts in pad thai), and soaking in the sun.
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| From the longtail ride to Railay |
Hannah, Kelly and I then departed on a bus and then a ferry to Ko Phi Phi, an island famed for being featured in the Leonardo DiCaprio thriller, "The Beach." Phi Phi is actually two islands: Phi Phi Don, where people stay, and Phi Phi Leh, which is a protected nature reserve. We took turns staying with the bags while the other two looked for a hostel, walking around in the heat of the afternoon after the long ferry ride. After settling in, we walked around, went to the beach and relaxed (again) before enjoying the party vibe on the beach in the evening.
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| Ko Phi Phi Leh |
The next day we bought some beers at the local 7-11 and talked to the driver of a longtail boat, negotiating a price to take us around Phi Phi Leh for the day. 1500 baht later we were on our way, jumping out of the boat to snorkel in the crystal clear water every time the boat entered a different cove. The beach that is shown in the movie was beautiful, but packed with tourists and therefore less than picturesque. But the more isolated parts of the island that we saw were incredible.
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| Maya Beach, of "The Beach" fame |
After two days in Ko Phi Phi we headed for another ferry-bus-ferry combination to get to Ko Tao, an island on the east coast of Thailand, famed for its inexpensive, high-quality scuba diving. We spent a full day traveling and then made ourselves at home at Ban's a resort that certifies more people per year than any other facility in the world. The atmosphere on the island was very laid back, with people from all over the world converging to take advantage of the diving and scene. Hannah and I went for our initial diving certification, while Kelly did a course to get her advanced certification. We were in a small group taught by the dive shop's head instructor, an eccentric English guy who has been teaching diving for 20 years, following his retirement from the Royal Ballet (no kidding). He was on the crude side, but was a great instructor and we felt very safe in under his teaching. When we practiced in the pool I was a little nervous and found it a bit anxiety-provoking to breathe underwater. But as soon as we got in the ocean, I felt like, well, a duck to water. It was as if I had done it a million times, I was so comfortable and had very few problems maintaining the right buoyancy necessary to move freely. The fish were beautiful, swimming through lush anemones and brilliantly textured coral. I had the sensation of seeing something so familiar, yet so foreign at the same time. Long story short, I absolutely loved diving and can't wait to go again. It also made me feel a nice connection to my brother, who wanted nothing for his 14th birthday but diving classes and has been a fanatic since. We met some very nice people, ate good food and Hannah and I really enjoyed the last few days we had together before parting ways.
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| Ko Tao livin' |
At the end of two weeks we returned to Bangkok on an overnight bus to fly back to India. My friend Sári was arriving from Hungary and we were to travel together for a few weeks, while Hannah's aunt and uncle were coming from Atlanta to do the same. We returned to our apartment and enjoyed the last night of many we'd had alone in the apartment in Malviya Nagar, reminiscing and watching some of our favorite shows, tying up loose ends with our landlord and beginning to process the whole year's experience as a whole. Thailand was an awesome adventure, but it was nothing compared to the entire ten months we spent learning, growing, struggling and enjoying all that India had to offer us. I will miss India immensely, but am very ready to leave and move on to other endeavors.
To view all of my photos from Thailand, click here.
