Day 1 in Bangkok: Feeling pretty accomplished having
navigated Bangkok’s public transit system from the airport to my hostel clad in
the front and back backpack combo, I ditched my bags and headed out on a
two-fold mission: find me a way to the beach and then track down some frozen
yogurt. Two hours of sleep and a burst
of adrenaline powered me through a successful first day in Thailand. In addition to booking an overnight bus to
the beach tomorrow and indulging in some long-awaited fro-yo, I:
- · Rode a boat upstream and then traversed essentially the entire city by foot
- · Survived my first tuk-tuk ride
- · Indulged in two cups of real iced coffee (not the coffee milkshake Swazi style iced coffee) for the first time since leaving the States
- · Took a risk on the sliced mango from the street vendor (this ended poorly in Guatemala) and have zero regrets…not yet, at least….
- · Purchased some flowy elephant print fabric shorts to complete my dirty backpacker wardrobe and supplement my ill-fitting makeshift jorts that I crafted from my old jeans
- · Basked in the glory of AC in Bangkok’s shiny malls, meandering aimlessly throughout the stores, fingering the beautiful clothes and then quickly retreating after measuring up the price tags next to my Peace Corps stipend
I’ll admit that Day 1 was a bit overwhelming, vacillating from
moments of ecstasy as I embraced the freedom of solo travel to moments of
longing for the familiarity of Swaziland.
Peace Corps Volunteers are notorious for scoffing at tourists, making
snide remarks about their inability to converse in the local dialect and their
utter disregard for cultural norms.
Snobby, I know. We pride
ourselves in the intimacy of our integration.
Here I am on the other side, fully aware of my clueless foreigner
status, frequently consulting my map on street corners and likely paying the “umlungu
discount” for basic services. It’s
certainly humbling, especially coming from such a small country where a trip to
town guaranteed a run-in with a familiar face.
Towards the end of the day, the stimulation overload of city life began
to wear me down. I returned to my hostel
exhausted, covered in a sweaty grime of humidity, travel, and pollution. Just as I collapsed onto my bed in the empty
dorm room, feeling a bit far from home, in walks not just another American, but
a Peace Corps Volunteer serving in Thailand.
My loneliness quickly subsided as we bonded over our shared background. That’s the beauty of travel: this ability to
connect, to share in our common humanity, even on the outskirts of our comfort
zone.
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