Kob Kun Kaa

Kob Kun Kaa means thank you in Thai

I couldn't be more thankful for every experience studying abroad has brought me thus far

I couldn't be more thankful for the support of my parents in all my adventures

I am so thankful for my life, these incredible moments and everything the future holds

I think in planning to study abroad I expected a little bit of a culture shock to come along with it

Australia is extremely similar to the United States and therefore has a similar culture 

There was hardly a cultural distinction so it was super easy to adjust quickly

I did not come to Australia with any intention of trying to visit Thailand

Since I was saying yes to every opportunity, when the opportunity to travel to Thailand came up

I couldn't do anything other than say YES without hesitation 

There, I got my culture shock

DAY ONE

I was under the impression that since Thailand is somewhat close to Australia, relative to the rest of the world, that it would be real quick and easy to get there...

1 train ride, 2 flights, 3 airports, a 12 hour layover in singapore and 9.5 hours of flying later

I finally was in Thailand

I was instantly in love

As soon as I arrived at the Wild Orchard Villa in Bangkok I messaged my mom telling her that I arrived and we needed to come back, after I was only there about 10 minutes!

I, once again, was blessed with the best random roommate for the week in Thailand

I took a tuktuk ride to the Mall of Bangkok with some friends

Tuktuks are these awesome three wheeled, open air, bike/bench taxis 

In the mall we found a sign advertising fish massages

Couldn't pass up any opportunity!

We sat on a bench and stuck our feet into fish tanks for one of the weirdest feelings ever

hundreds of little fish were covering my feet and sucking on them!

The first day was filled with exploring the malls and markets by tuktuk, fish massages, experiencing the people and culture shock of Thailand and falling in love with the city. 

That night I had my first real plate of Pad Thai, it was delicious!

DAY TWO

The backpacking program I went with, ThaIntro, had 42 people on this week's trip

we all boarded a long boat to cruise down the river in Bangkok

the boat took us to different Temples in the area

We climbed up an extremely steep temple to reach the top and have an awesome view of the city

We also visited one of the most famous temples in Bangkok and saw the most famous Buddha

95% of Thai people are Buddhist so it was interesting to learn more about their culture

Our trip leaders decided that night we would all dress as rockstars

It was so funny to see the looks on the local's faces as 42 of us walked through the streets of Bangkok dressed like rockstars

We went to an Indian restaurant for dinner, the food and atmosphere was awesome

we had to leave our shoes outside and sit on the floor to eat

Oh, and you don't just get a typical drink in Thailand

you get a bucket full of your drink

literally, when you order a drink it comes in a bucket

DAY THREE

We learned how to cook authentic Thai food at May Kaidee's Cooking School

She taught us to make Tom Yam Soup, Pad Thai and Massaman Curry

Her recipes are all so simple, healthy, vegetarian and SO GOOD

It was the best Thai food I ate all week, by far

Then we started our journey down south on a 12 hour overnight train ride

we had little beds that folded out of the chairs

we had little curtains to block out some of the light on the train

the people who worked on the train walked around all night trying to sell food:

"waaakkkeee upp, wontonns, eat fooood, chang, chang, wake upppp"

The train was definitely an experience!

DAY FOUR

After a very long night on the train we arrived at Khao Sok National Park

While we were on our boat ride out to the floating bungalows, a rain storm came out of no where

We had already gone about an hour from the main land so we couldn't easily just turn around

There were beautiful & huge rock structures that looked like mountains all throughout the lake

The boat anchored behind one of the rocks that was big enough to block a good amount of rain

We were already soaked through our clothes and overnight bags so we jumped off the boat 

The lake didn't look like a lake as much as it did an ocean

It was clear blue water that was so refreshing to be swimming in

We climbed up the rock that was blocking the rainstorm and jumped off into the water

Once the rain calmed down we finished the boat trip to our floating bungalows

They were the coolest things I've ever stayed in

Only floating by some wooden planks and nails

The only things inside the bungalows were mattresses with a sheet and pillow

No toilets, no sinks, no bed frame, night table, shelf or electricity

The only toilets where we were staying were up in a shack at the end of the wooden plank 

The toilets in Thailand are holes in the ground that you squat over

They don't have toilet paper at most places either 

we bought toilet paper at 7-11 and carried it around with us 

the toilets don't flush, there is a bucket of water in the corner of the bathroom

you just pour some water into the toilet and that's it

The bathrooms were an experience all on their own

We took out tubes and kayaks into the lake and floated around for the rest of the day

No amount of rain couldn't stop us from enjoying every second of the trip

DAY FIVE

We were up early for our final day of traveling with ThaIntro

We made our way to the final stop: Mac Bay's Resort in Koh Phangan

We had dinner at Same Same

there was glow paint on all the tables for us to paint our faces and bodies for that night's beach parties

After we were fully painted we made our way to one of the nearby beaches

The next few hours were spent dancing on tables and watching fire jump ropers 

The fire jump rope was so cool and I wish I would have done it but I was too scared of getting burned

two Thai guys stood on different tables that were a good distance apart 

each of them holding one end of a long rope 

the rope was on fire and they would just swing it in circles continually

people would run into it when the rope was at it's highest point and jump until they fell or ran back out

since most of the people jumping the fire rope had a good number of buckets at dinner or the party

they would jump until they fell and then get burned by the fire

so many people the next day had bandages covering their third degree burns 

It was really awesome to watch the Thai people jump it because they were so good at it

one guy could do push ups in between the fire swinging around him

so insane

after that beach party we moved back to our resort which was also on a beach hosting a party that night

Koh Phangan is home of the full moon parties 

since there was no full moon that night, they threw a black moon party

The music was blasting and people were partying on the beach until 7am

it was a long and crazy night.

DAY SIX

We took a boat to a different beach on the island to relax for the day

after lunch we took the boat to another beach to explore

we hiked up to a little waterfall 

climbed through a cave and swam in the waterfall's pool

We just relaxed for most of the day  

it was a much needed break from the busy and crazy adventure week in Thailand

DAY SEVEN

Our last full day in Koh Phangan & I was not anywhere close to being ready to leave

My day started with a Thai massage on the beach

It was so amazing, especially after having slept in airplanes, hostels, mattresses on the ground and trains

Thai massages are more stretching than a normal massage

they were twisting my body all over the place 

It felt like I was doing yoga but with someone else moving my body for me

The last thing we did was the thing that convinced me to go on this trip to begin with:

we rode an elephant!!!

the elephant I was on had no interest in taking us for a ride

all he wanted to do was eat very bush, tree and plant in the surrounding area

We got to have the longest ride because our elephant took quite a few snacking detours

Once we got off the elephant we were able to feed him bananas and just hangout with them

They are huge, beautiful and amazing animals 

definitely one of my favorites, along with Koala Bears :)

There were also monkeys at the safari site we were visiting

the monkeys had been raised by people for their entire lives so they were super friendly and playful

some of them were sexist, though, and wouldn't go near any of the girls

I got to play with one of the monkeys

I swung him on my arms, he climbed up onto my shoulders & head and we fed him with a bottle

It was an amazing last day of an amazing spring break trip 

Thailand is most definitely my favorite place in the entire world and I will be back one day for sure

Kob Kun Kaa to ThaIntro, our trip leaders and all the awesome backpackers I met along the way!