Although I felt incredibly weak, I managed to carry my own 10 kg bag and walking slowly, we exited the building and entered back onto the chaotic streets of India. I was immediately struck by the harsh brightness, the intense heat, and the horrifying street smells that I’d become so accustomed to in my three weeks in India. Having spent 3 days in quarantine, my nose had completely lost it’s desensitization. And although there were several moments when I was on the verge of fainting, vomiting or crapping myself, we made it from Varanasi to Delhi and then, finally, Delhi to Bangkok. India was amazing, and it sure gave me a lot to remember it by, but when we got to Bangkok it was pure relief.
We headed to the backpacker epicenter of the world, Khao San Road (featured in The Beach) and settled into a sketchy little guesthouse. I had to go back to the doctor because the rash was still really bad, but they were incredible kind and helpful. The doctor diagnosed my illness (finally!) as Dengue Fever, said I would be fine in a few days and gave me some antihistamines for the rash. We spent a few days in Bangkok, enjoying the shopping, nightlife and other modern amenities that reminded us of home. And we ate LOTS of delicious Thai street food. Pad thai, vegetable curry, tom yum soup, mangos, dragon fruits, papayas, and more. It was refreshing to have so many fruit and vegetables, which we couldn’t really eat in India.
After a few days, we were ready to get out of the city so we headed 2 hours north to Ayuttaya, which was once the capital city of Thailand. The city is speckled with beautiful and well-preserved ruins from the Buddhist society that thrived in the 1300’s. We stayed at a quant bungalow where the owner bent over backwards to help us, and we rode our bikes all over town. Unfortunately, I was still suffering from my tropical disease, often nicknamed “break bone fever” because you get such bad arthritis that it feels like your bones are breaking. So riding bikes turned out to not be such a good idea. Still, it was better than walking. I sucked it up and tried to make the most of it, and I was very happy I did.
Finally, on Saturday we made the journey to the island of Koh Chang. After an 8 hour bus and boat ride, we headed once again to the backpacker area, called Lonely Beach. This place is a seriously chilled out, hippy heaven. The dirt road that leads to the beach is strewn with hemp shops, tattoo and massage parlors, reggae bars, and lots of cheap bungalows. We went straight to the beach and got a bungalow on the water for a whopping 250 baht ($8) a night. We thoroughly enjoyed chilling out on Koh Chang. We did a lot of laying on the beach, but also met some cool people and ate some great Thai food. On our second day, we decided to venture out of Lonely Beach, so for $3 we rented a scooter (and helmets, of course) and explored a bit of the island. We hiked to a waterfall, did some shopping in another beach town, and rode to a peak to check out the awesome view. It was so fun and really liberating.
Finally, our last day in Thailand arrived. We woke up to the sunniest, hottest day yet and headed out to the beach. In the afternoon, we had oil massages in a little wooden hut right on the beach. It may have been the most relaxing experience I‘ve ever had. Listening to the ocean waves, while being rubbed down with oil and relieved of all the soreness and fatigue of travel; what could be better? It was pure bliss, and after a long day of nothing but chilling, we enjoyed a last Thai meal of sweet green curry stew along with pad see-ew noodles with squid. Simply delicious.
Next, it’s off to Siem Reap to see the ancient Angkor Wat. As usual, I can’t wait.
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