Thailand! Spring Break SAS '09

Thailand, also known as, Spring Break Semester at Sea ’09. I went to Phuket Island for 3 nights, 4 days. I spent the first day exploring the resort area. Patong Bay is extremely touristy and I met a very diverse range of tourists, from Australia, Germany, France, UK, etc. Thai food is my favorite, and the food was really outstanding and authentic. My favorite dish was sticky rice with mango. It’s actually a dessert but I ordered it as my main entrée for a few meals. The first night we walked the town, tested the local Mai-Tai’s served in Pineapples. We went to a nightclub called Banana. I made friends with the DJ and he played all my top favorite songs for me.

The day after I went trekking through the rainforest, canoed down a river, and rode an elephant through the rainforest. The rainforest had bamboo trails and mountainous rock cliffs and I was the only one who thought to bring a raincoat to the rainforest. That night I went out in the town, walking the streets popping in and out of the bars. We quickly realized the culture is really sexual, and prostitutes and trans-gender boy-girls sightings are frequent. We even accidentally stumbled upon their “special menus”. If this were the U.S. there would be trouble for them, but I suppose it’s normal and acceptable in Thailand. Shocking.

The following day I went sea kayaking and island hopping. We visited an island where James Bond 007 was filmed...The Thai people didn’t know which movie it was, only that it was James Bond filming destination. The islands were gorgeous, and the caves were really scary. Because the tide was so high we had to duck into the kayak so that we wouldn’t hit the top of the cave, and I must add that there were bats inches from my face dangling from the cave ceilings. We also visited some beaches and just went swimming and jumping off the top of the boat. We also saw some huge jellyfish with huge tentacles. The water is green, but it’s murky so they are hard to see. My friend Jason got stung on his neck!

That night we celebrated St. Paddy’s day. We went to Molly Malone’s Irish Pub—I think it’s a chain. Coincidentally, my friends and I all forgot to pack St. Paddy’s day green, so we had to go find some outfits. My friend Ryan got a custom green suit made and definitely gets the best outfit award. We all found these green tank-top type shirts with the logo of their local beer, Singha. I bought an XL so I could wear it as a dress. A bunch of us wore these shirts to match. To get downtown, Jason and I took a motorcycle ride to town—my first time on a motorcycle actually. I dare admit that it was too much fun, so I insisted we take one back to the hotel too. We spent some time at Molly Malone’s and celebrated my friend Naz’s 21st birthday at midnight. Then we partied in the street for the rest of the night. There were street vendor people trying to sell their souvenirs, and we all bought bracelets that said Thailand among other places. Molly made me laugh the most this night. Molly bought this ugly Pig-face mask and wore it around going up to locals and tourists and trying to scare them. The entire night was a laughing sesh…inventing new ways to make each other laugh using the resources of our surrounding environment. I took the bracelet peoples displays and walked around trying to sell them to tourists and my friends. I also helped a local promote his club by waving around his sign. I guess you could say I was contributing my services to the community in a helpful way.

The next day I went to Bangkok. Molly, Rachel, Erika and I got in a Tuk-Tuk and just told the driver to take us to a great Thai restaurant. He dropped us off in the middle of a Night Bazaar with restaurants and local shops. I bought some Buddha heads and bootleg DVD’s then headed over to Vertigo Restaurant and Moon Bar at the Banyan hotel. This is one of the most famous bars in the world for its 360 view of Bangkok. The view was breathtaking and I could see the city of Bangkok all the way into the horizon (because it’s such a huge city). We hung out on the top of a 63-story building and talked/relaxed.

The next morning we visited the Grand Palace, which I would say is the “Taj Mahal” of Thailand. There were gold structures, Buddhists shrines everywhere and of course the largest jade Buddha in the world. After the most delicious pad-thai lunch I returned back to the ship. I LOVE THAILAND SO MUCH AND I WANT TO GO BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. Everyone had an amazing time in Thailand.


xoxo