My First Overseas Solo Trip - Thailand

I don’t know how much I will be able to express my feelings in words, because it was not only the best trip I have ever had but also the first overseas solo trip that I had. So, it is especially sentimental for me. With its delicious food, delightful weather, and everything unknown, it felt like both a holiday and an adventure. So here we go.

Food

As my close circle would know, it is pretty hard to make me happy in terms of food. I don’t like different cuisines except for Greek, Mediterranean, or Middle Eastern which are all very close to Turkish cuisine. And I have a few things that I like about Asian cuisine but in general, I am picky. However, Thailand was like heaven for me in terms of non-spicy and vegetarian food and heavenly delicious tropical fruits. Honestly, I’m never going to forget the taste of mangoes and bananas there. I also managed to try a few other fruits that I hadn’t tried before, like jackfruit, dragon fruit, and durian and loved them all.

In Pattaya, I found a nearby restaurant and fell in love with their food, especially since they could speak very good English and would be happy to adjust everything I ordered from the menu to a vegetarian version. And again, like everything else, food was quite affordable too. The price of each meal was between 50 and 100 baht (£1.5-£2.5). My favorite meals were pad Thai, papaya salad, egg fried rice, vegetable gyoza, and mango sticky rice. Coconut juice, mango, and watermelon smoothies were out of this world. I also tried green curry, coconut tofu soap, and miso soup in some other places but didn’t like that much. I think the concept of stew/soup is quite different in Turkish cuisine than in Asian cuisine. But overall, the food experience was exceptionally good. I’d definitely crave some Thai food in the future.

Transportation

Before I got here, I calculated all of the distances between the places I wanted to visit and according to my plans, I could walk everywhere in the city. I can walk for one hour and I would be fine. But the walking situation didn’t go as smoothly as I planned, unfortunately. This might seem like I am exaggerating but, there are no pavements in Thailand, and I mean it. Maybe there are some, but only on the main roads. Other than that, you just have to walk on the side of the road and watch for the cars and motorbikes. And they are not safe, especially motorbikes. They go super-fast and not very carefully, I would say. Also on the main roads, there is only a red and green light on traffic lights- no yellow light. I didn’t feel very secure while walking on the streets. And I didn’t want to check for the buses. I heard ‘tuk tuk’ is a pretty common transportation mean, but you can’t go long distances with it, and you need to bump into one on the way to get in. So if it’s up to me, I would take a taxi everywhere because it’s only a few bucks. But whenever I ordered a taxi from the app called ‘bolt’, they first accepted me and then canceled me instantly. I think when they get a better deal, they don’t mind the previous one. Anyhow, here’s how I traveled during my entire stay: MOTORBIKE. Yes, no kidding. And it was literally the best experience of my life. As a full disclosure, I don’t think it’s that safe to drive. Because once again, the traffic was not following the rules and most of the time, motorbikes were squeezing into the gaps between the cars. But it’s the easiest, fastest and cheapest, and most importantly, the most fun way to get around. I was scared the first time but then I got used to it and started riding it almost every day. An 8-10 minute ride usually costs around 40-50 baht (£1).

Of course, I asked the driver for a helmet every time (hi, mum!). Once, a driver asked me why I wanted to wear a helmet. Because it's common to see people riding motorbikes with the whole family, even toddlers in front of the driver, without any protection. It was bizarre to me because, in my mind, you wouldn't even put your child in a car without a baby seat, let alone on a motorbike. But I must say, I had a lot of fun, even just sitting in the back while someone else was driving. It felt like total freedom, way more than riding a bike. Will I ever ride a motorbike again? I don't think so, unless I have to. But it definitely made my trip more unique and adventurous.

Accommodation

I stayed in hotels in all cities I visited, mainly because I wasn’t sure how safe hostels would be. Besides, there were not many price differences between hotels and hostels. I paid approximately £12 per night for a room with breakfast included. And I think I would recommend all the hotels that I stayed in. Because they were exceptionally clean and the breakfasts were generally tasty. I especially loved the hotel in Chiang Mai, where the owners, an elderly German man and a Thai woman, checked on me every day not only about my stay but also about my trip and how I was enjoying it. We even chatted in the garden in the evenings. One evening, the German owner gave me some freshly cooked bagels, saying he does this when he misses Germany. When I left, he came to the taxi with me and waved goodbye. It was so heart-warming and I already missed him even though I don't generally like staying in hotels.

However, as it's a tropical country, expect to see some creatures around, not just in hotels but in general. There were mosquitoes everywhere, so remember to bring mosquito repellent. I also found little ants and a lizard in my hotel room, but it didn't bother me too much.

Thai Massage

Thai massage was something I was quite distant with, but people kept saying that you have to try it when you're in Thailand. I tried my first massage in Pattaya, thinking I would have a few more during my trip, but everything was super hectic, so I only had one. It was a traditional full-body Thai massage in a local massage salon, nothing fancy, but you can choose other massages such as neck, foot, oil, aromatherapy, and so on.

The lady who gave me the massage did not speak English. When you’re in a foreign land where you cannot find a common language to communicate, you develop a skill which everybody speaks in their language and people understands each other just fine. The same thing happened. She kept talking in Thai and I responded in English. We were just fine. She made a lot of jokes, and they were funny even though I didn’t understand them. The only words she knew were ‘you okay?’ and ‘you happy?’. Throughout the massage, she made sure that I wasn’t in pain because Thai massage can be quite strong and painful for someone who’s not used to it. Later, I found out that you could ask for a softer massage in some salons.

I paid 200 baht for a one- hour massage, which is less than £5. I kept thinking about how cheap it was and how unfair it was for human labour to be so cheap there. It costs almost as much as a flavored coffee but while you can finish the coffee in five minutes, the masseuse spent an hour of her time and most of her body strength to do her job. So instead of being pleased, I kept questioning the whole time why human labor is so cheap here. Also since there are massage saloons pretty much everywhere, there’s a big competition and prices cannot go higher. There were even a few massage salons side by side on some streets, and as you walked past, they would try to convince you to choose them. Thus, on top of being very cheap, they must have been feeling like they have to keep you pleased so that you would choose them again. Anyway, the whole thing felt wrong, but that is my controversial opinion of course.   

People

Tai people are the nicest ones. I did not encounter any unpleasant situations with anyone. Everyone I met was really helpful and kind the whole time. After my experience in Korea, I wasn’t expecting anyone to speak English but they did. Even those who couldn’t speak were able to understand what I was trying to say and answered in one or two words. I learned the Thai greeting, ‘bowing your head with your palms pressing together’ and really enjoyed using it. Before going to Thailand, I read online a lot about how people would try to rip you off just because you’re a tourist, but it didn’t happen to me. Of course, I recommend checking the prices of everything before buying them or doing a little bargaining a little while shopping or getting a taxi. But my experience with locals was generally nice. And apparently, they were quite used to having tourists. I am falling in love with Asian people every time and cannot wait to experience and discover more about this continent.

Elephant Sanctuary

This is a must-do in Thailand. Even if you’re only visiting for a couple of days, I would highly recommend visiting a sanctuary and spending some time with elephants. In Thailand, unfortunately, some places still allow people to ride elephants. However, in these ethical sanctuaries, they make a home for rescued elephants and take care of them until they die. There are many places you can book; I checked a few of them and chose one randomly. The price is about 1500 baht (£35) for half a day and 2500 baht (£60) for a full day visit. It might seem a bit expensive considering how cheap everything else is, but I think it’s worth it.

For a half-day visit, you are picked up from your hotel, taken to the sanctuary, informed about the elephants, and prepared fruits and snacks for them. Then you feed the elephants and spend as much time as you want with them. After that, the elephants go into the river and you can join them, wash them, and continue being around them. For the full-day visit, in addition to everything I just mentioned, you get lunch at the sanctuary and help prepare lunch for the elephants. We made sticky rice mixed with some herbs for elephants and had pad Thai for ourselves. Of course, the hours are longer in full-day visits. I booked a full-day one since I wanted to stay the longest time, but if you have limited time, I think a half-day visit could also do the trick.

Before meeting with elephants, I didn’t know how I would react or feel or whether I could touch them since I am not the bravest person in the world. However, once I touched an elephant, I realized that they are the most gentle creatures, even though they are giant and look scary. There were a few caregivers in the sanctuary, and they were assigned to one elephant to look after them. You could see the bond between the elephant and their caregiver. And apparently, elephants have good memories and remember their caregivers even if they leave for a while. I got licked by elephants a few times, but as long as you have food to feed them, you are fine. Their skin is so thick, but you can feel their lively spirit when you touch them for a while.   

I also admired the caregivers so much. Imagine spending your whole life in a sanctuary with these elephants. One of them that I met told me that he had been working there for ten years. Being around elephants for ten years. I cannot imagine the bond they developed. I am pretty sure what I experienced for 7-8 hours was so limited and touristy, but I am still quite happy that I had this chance.

Cooking Class

This was also a very popular thing to do in Thailand. Was it an absolute necessity? Not as much as visiting elephants. But Thailand is famous for its food and learning how to cook is pretty cool if you ask me. Also, you get to eat what you cook. There are half-day and full-day options, and this time I booked the half-day since I wanted to explore the other things in the afternoon as well. It was 800 baht (£19) for the half day including visiting a local market, a tour of an organic farm, all the ingredients, and a cooking instructor. They also emailed us a recipe book and the photos that they took during the class.

In the half day, I cooked three courses of the meal: pad thai, coconut tofu soup, and green curry. We all had our individual cooking stations and the instructor first introduced us to all the ingredients and showed us how to make each dish step by step. Then, she continued to guide us while we were cooking. My only advice could be regarding this is to go to your cooking class hungry. Because you are expected to eat three meals in 4-5 hours and it’s honestly a shame not to eat it. Unfortunately, I had breakfast at the hotel before I go, so I was only able to eat pad thai. But I think it was still worth it learning how to make traditional Thai foods and in general experiencing that environment. A few days later, in Bangkok, I also found out that my friend’s hostel had organised a cooking class. I am not sure how good that would be but maybe it’s worth considering.

Visiting Temples

When you become a tourist in Thailand, you are going to visit lots of temples. They are everywhere and so beautiful. I visited the Truth of Sanctuary, Wat Arun, Wat Chedi Luang, Wat Inthakhin, The Grand Palace, and Wat Phra. After the first few, I thought maybe they are all same and I wouldn’t visit more, but I ended up visiting quite a few. I think amongst all, I loved the Truth of Sanctuary the most. Wat Chedi Luang and the Grand Palace were also very beautiful, but the only problem was they were quite crowded. Especially in the Grand Palace, there were special costumes for people to rent, and some people came with a professional photographer to have their photos taken. Imagine having all the locals, tourists, and their photographers in one place. I had this one moment when I questioned my purpose of visiting the Grand Palace. It felt a bit weird that while some people were praying in one corner, others were taking photos carelessly. I was one of the careless tourists indeed. Then I thought about some other sacred places. I take photos when I visit a church, and some people do the same when visiting a mosque. But what should be the limit not to restrict the praying or even just to not ruin the sanctity of the place?

I discussed this with my friend and he said, that we tourists pay an entrance fee (it was free for Thai people) and buy other touristy stuff that locals wouldn’t buy, and it keeps these places open and running. That’s true to some extent but it still doesn’t justify turning these holy places into a showcase like this. I don’t know.

Last words

I am growing into the person I want to be every single day, and I think this trip has helped with that a lot. Now looking back, I’m very proud that I didn’t back off when I was nervous about going alone. Even though it felt quite scary at the time, I managed to come back in one piece. Can’t wait to go back!