It's been one week since I said an emotional goodbye to family and friends at home to start an epic journey in South Asia.
First stop, Mumbai:
Catching Jet Airways meant a stop in Mumbai. Now considering when I last came to this airport there were multiple developments and stuff happening, its good to say you don't realise you've stopped in Mumbai... Until you step out of the plane and smell it. To the average person it may smell like you're just passing through an Indian country airport. But to those of you who may stop in India from time to time knows the smell of home! Its a special aromatic spicy kind of smell which stays with you through the whole time you're in India (I love recieving parcels and sari's from India because it has that indian smell...) Well anyway, I had a short 2 hour stopover which gave me just enough time to visit the ladies and pop over to Gate 13 for my next flight to Bangkok.
Bangkok and Ayutthaya:
As I left Mumbai it had just gone past 2am so I was in for a little treat as I headed towards Bangkok (typical picture moment and I had no camera and I was still half asleep because I forgot that I had my phones...duh Nik?!) My eyes caught an amazing glimpse of the sunrise. The sky looked beautiful being slowly lit up by the rising sun... I'm telling you... I wish you could have seen it!
Touched down in Bangkok just after 7am and walked through the long airport towards immigration (remember to fill in the form on the flight if you ever plan to go to Thailand). The queue to immigration was so long and I was totally paranoid about my luggage being taken if I didn't make it to the luggage rack in time (first time solo flyer so I think I'm allowed to be a little cautious). I was also a little nervy because the lady at check in at Heathrow said they may not let me into the country because I have a long stay planned without another booked flight when my visa was up (at this point she had sent my bags off already and I was crapping it). But I got through all ok, picked up my luggage and went to meet the TEFL pick up guy, Lordy at gate 3 (Oh my god... Bangkok airport is massive. It took me five to ten minutes to walk through the airport to the right gate!) I met Roseanne (my now room mate, TEFL and Thailand partner) there too. She is from Ireland and this is her first time away from home also (for this long and this far).
We waited for another girl Lora-Jane who was also doing TEFL but for six months in a different province in Thailand, then we were all shipped off in a minivan to Ayutthaya.
We passed beautiful green landscapes and rivers towards a historic part of Thailand (this is the only part of Thailand I think I researched?!)
Staying at the Krungshi River Hotel was heaven... A beautiful ninth floor room with an air conditioned and proper hotel bathroom was pure luxury! It was home for two nights and it was a great way to start this trip. The hotel buffets in the evening, morning and lunch were lush. Having rice served with everything is something I got used to (and still am getting used to) as it's different. Yes, I'm used to rice at least once a week but with every meal it became very clear I came to the wrong country to loose weight. Even the breakfast buffet contained rice! The whole Saturday was full of hints and information about the culture, teaching and food we would encounter here. And at night we were taken to a riverside restaurant where we cooked our own food on a table bbq which also had water around it to cook the vegetables. The experience is epic, absolutely the best... something different! Cooking raw chicken, squid and bacon (mmm yum!) and cracking an egg into the water to scramble amongst the brocolli, carrots, cabbage and green things was delicious.
I was also quickly realising cocktails only cost about two pounds (dangerous) and the food here will no doubt be my weakness (have I mentioned that already?).
Kanchanaburi:
Had to leave the amazing, comfortable and just (sigh) hotel to travel to Kanchanaburi's Duneshine River Resort. Its not the amazing hotel Ayutthaya had but the riverside view and room in a wooden style secured to the edge boat was an experience (this will be a popular word which you will read in coming blogs too!).
Here the mosquitos had a feast on my legs and was thrown into a lifestyle with limited wifi!
So we were introduced to the accomodations and schools we would be assigned to for the next seven weeks... and when I was shown mine... OH MY GOD I could have cried for days. The pictures were terrible and confirmed my worst fear of having a squat toilet and cold water bucket bath to deal with... Oh my god. The rest of the day was ruined for me I could not smile... I called my mum and a few friends (through tears) who told me it would be ok, I'd be ok and that I can do this and it may not be that bad (and yes guys, you were right!)
Traveling to the accomodation on Monday was the worst journey of my entire life... I just kept thinking to myself you can go home, you can go home if you hate it... Dressed in a blue blouse, black skirt and hair tied back I was ready to meet my school...
Images:
1 & 2 - View from Ayutthaya hotel during the day
3 & 4 - lunch at Ayutthaya hotel
5 - Mosquito bitten legs
6 - same view as 1 but at night
7 - Ayutthaya hotel beds
8 - Duneshine River Resort room patio view
9 & 10 - Ayutthaya temple in previous hotel pics and roadside view
11 - Ayutthaya 'pimp my' tuk-tuk
12 - table BBQ at night in Ayutthaya
First stop, Mumbai:
Catching Jet Airways meant a stop in Mumbai. Now considering when I last came to this airport there were multiple developments and stuff happening, its good to say you don't realise you've stopped in Mumbai... Until you step out of the plane and smell it. To the average person it may smell like you're just passing through an Indian country airport. But to those of you who may stop in India from time to time knows the smell of home! Its a special aromatic spicy kind of smell which stays with you through the whole time you're in India (I love recieving parcels and sari's from India because it has that indian smell...) Well anyway, I had a short 2 hour stopover which gave me just enough time to visit the ladies and pop over to Gate 13 for my next flight to Bangkok.
Bangkok and Ayutthaya:
As I left Mumbai it had just gone past 2am so I was in for a little treat as I headed towards Bangkok (typical picture moment and I had no camera and I was still half asleep because I forgot that I had my phones...duh Nik?!) My eyes caught an amazing glimpse of the sunrise. The sky looked beautiful being slowly lit up by the rising sun... I'm telling you... I wish you could have seen it!
Touched down in Bangkok just after 7am and walked through the long airport towards immigration (remember to fill in the form on the flight if you ever plan to go to Thailand). The queue to immigration was so long and I was totally paranoid about my luggage being taken if I didn't make it to the luggage rack in time (first time solo flyer so I think I'm allowed to be a little cautious). I was also a little nervy because the lady at check in at Heathrow said they may not let me into the country because I have a long stay planned without another booked flight when my visa was up (at this point she had sent my bags off already and I was crapping it). But I got through all ok, picked up my luggage and went to meet the TEFL pick up guy, Lordy at gate 3 (Oh my god... Bangkok airport is massive. It took me five to ten minutes to walk through the airport to the right gate!) I met Roseanne (my now room mate, TEFL and Thailand partner) there too. She is from Ireland and this is her first time away from home also (for this long and this far).
We waited for another girl Lora-Jane who was also doing TEFL but for six months in a different province in Thailand, then we were all shipped off in a minivan to Ayutthaya.
We passed beautiful green landscapes and rivers towards a historic part of Thailand (this is the only part of Thailand I think I researched?!)
Staying at the Krungshi River Hotel was heaven... A beautiful ninth floor room with an air conditioned and proper hotel bathroom was pure luxury! It was home for two nights and it was a great way to start this trip. The hotel buffets in the evening, morning and lunch were lush. Having rice served with everything is something I got used to (and still am getting used to) as it's different. Yes, I'm used to rice at least once a week but with every meal it became very clear I came to the wrong country to loose weight. Even the breakfast buffet contained rice! The whole Saturday was full of hints and information about the culture, teaching and food we would encounter here. And at night we were taken to a riverside restaurant where we cooked our own food on a table bbq which also had water around it to cook the vegetables. The experience is epic, absolutely the best... something different! Cooking raw chicken, squid and bacon (mmm yum!) and cracking an egg into the water to scramble amongst the brocolli, carrots, cabbage and green things was delicious.
I was also quickly realising cocktails only cost about two pounds (dangerous) and the food here will no doubt be my weakness (have I mentioned that already?).
Kanchanaburi:
Had to leave the amazing, comfortable and just (sigh) hotel to travel to Kanchanaburi's Duneshine River Resort. Its not the amazing hotel Ayutthaya had but the riverside view and room in a wooden style secured to the edge boat was an experience (this will be a popular word which you will read in coming blogs too!).
Here the mosquitos had a feast on my legs and was thrown into a lifestyle with limited wifi!
So we were introduced to the accomodations and schools we would be assigned to for the next seven weeks... and when I was shown mine... OH MY GOD I could have cried for days. The pictures were terrible and confirmed my worst fear of having a squat toilet and cold water bucket bath to deal with... Oh my god. The rest of the day was ruined for me I could not smile... I called my mum and a few friends (through tears) who told me it would be ok, I'd be ok and that I can do this and it may not be that bad (and yes guys, you were right!)
Traveling to the accomodation on Monday was the worst journey of my entire life... I just kept thinking to myself you can go home, you can go home if you hate it... Dressed in a blue blouse, black skirt and hair tied back I was ready to meet my school...
Images:
1 & 2 - View from Ayutthaya hotel during the day
3 & 4 - lunch at Ayutthaya hotel
5 - Mosquito bitten legs
6 - same view as 1 but at night
7 - Ayutthaya hotel beds
8 - Duneshine River Resort room patio view
9 & 10 - Ayutthaya temple in previous hotel pics and roadside view
11 - Ayutthaya 'pimp my' tuk-tuk
12 - table BBQ at night in Ayutthaya
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