You would think that owning the same DSLR camera for two years I would have learned how to professionally use it. Unfortunately, I’m just as lost as I was back in 2011 when I was here visiting. I also consider it really heavy so I don’t love it. But the purpose of it was to use it to share with the world what I’ve seen with my eyes. Hoping that it will make some sort of different or impact. Of some sort.
Let me also start out by saying, that during this trip I was ill. I had been dealing with this random influx of allergies that doctors and specialists could not figure out how to cure. I was on a restricted diet, I had inflammation and I was constantly with an open wound (due to the inflammation). Going to a foreign country is probably not the best thing I could have done but timing was right and it was planned so I wasn’t going to back out and be unprofessional and slack. I trusted the universe and onward I went. Also, I had plans to see my dad who I haven’t seen in forever. You can read about that here.
The purpose of this trip.
I love traveling. It is an adventure and the rules are different than at home. The purpose of this trip was to travel back to COSA, the shelter I volunteered with in 2011. I would also experience a more in depth version of the trip and visit the hill tribes again. I’ve been semi-training for this because part of our volunteer days will be spent hiking up to the hill tribe. Which is approximately 10-15 miles I think. There will be very little shade and we have to carry our belongings (minus food). We will spend a few days before and I think one or two days after at the shelter with the girls. I’m really excited to see the girls again. I stayed in touch with some of them after my first trip through Facebook. I’m excited to see what they are up to now and how much they’ve grown. Hopefully they will remember me.
My travel itinerary is planned out pretty nicely. I take my first plane ride to Seoul, Korea (16 hours-ish) where I have a 16 hour layover and will hang with my dad. I literally am spending a very short amount of time with my dad who I haven’t seen in 12 years! Then I hop on the plane to Bangkok, Thailand which is only about 5 hours. Also, it is November and in Korea it is cold… headed to winter. In Thailand, it is warm (because it always is).
I am staying in Bangkok a few days to do some shopping for the yoga studio before heading up to Chiang Mai. I’m quite glad about this because on my previous trip I didn’t really have a chance to explore Bangkok much. I mostly used TripAdvisor to plan what I would do since it has ratings based on peoples reviews from all over the world. There were two things I wanted to definitely do (minus shopping). First is visit the Wat Arun (Temple of Dawn) and second visit the Ayutthaya ruins. I share a separate post with my experience at the ruins here.
I think I had 3 full days to explore in Bangkok before heading to Chiang Mai. I utilized every single day to pack everything in so I wouldn’t miss anything.
Wat Arun – Temple of Dawn
I headed here in the early afternoon, without really any idea on how to get here. I wrote down basic instructions because I don’t have local wifi. Then I basically had to wing it along the way. If I got desperate, I would go somewhere, grab a drink and use the cafe wifi for a bit to check my map. I really did this only 2-3 times and had no problems the rest of the time. The way to the Wat Arun from where I was staying was really confusing. I took the subway past the huge MBK mall. I believe it was the last stop. It was the Saphan Taksin stop. The boats you have to take only go in one direction, making multiple stops and then eventually getting to the other side. The river you need to cross is called the Chao Phraya River and this boat pier is so confusing and busy. Luckily, I saw a sign that read Wat Arun so I followed others in that direction.
Get ready to walk because you have to walk a ways before getting to the actual line. You walk through outdoor shops on the way to the deck where you load to ride the express boat to the Wat Arun. You walk on 2×4 walkways and some parts are really low and you have to hunch down low. I don’t understand… I’m sure hundreds/thousands of people come through here… why not fix this? Also, I did not understand the hanging water bottles. Like we already didn’t have enough space to walk, now we are all of a sudden in ninja training dodging water bottles hanging from the ceiling?
Arriving and Dress Code
Although I knew there was a dress code standard at temples for some reason I thought since this was more touristy, it was an exception. WRONG. I had to rent a sarong for like 20 baht and wear it (barely because it didn’t really fit) while entering the temple area. Arriving, this place is monumental but beautiful. It felt so historic and majestic. I can’t really explain why. I’m pretty scared of heights but I can’t NOT go up to the temple top.
THE STAIRS UP TO THE TEMPLE ARE STEEEEEEPPPPP!
I mean CRAZY STEEP. Everything was also narrow because this is Asia. I saw all sorts of people coming up with walking canes, young toddlers and more. I was amazed and felt like a wuss at the same time. I think I was shaking the entire time heading up, while I was up there and definitely on my way down. A slip in the foot and there is no stopping you, plus you’d probably end up taking people down with. EEEK….
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