Honeymoon in Thailand, Part 1
Our honeymoon in Thailand, where do I even begin. Derek and I spent a little over two weeks exploring the amazing country of Thailand. There is so much to share that I am going to have to break it up into a couple posts. The first thing I want to share is our first stop, Bangkok.
We took off on a Wednesday morning for the first leg of our journey which was a 12-hour flight to Tokyo. We had been saving up miles and were able to use them to upgrade which was amazing. (I highly suggest doing this when possible for long flights.) Since we left in the late morning and were going to be arriving in Bangkok at night, we wanted to time our sleep while traveling to help with the jet lag. We stayed up the first 6 hours of the flight and then tried to sleep the second 6 hours. After landing in Japan we then had a 7-hour flight to Bangkok. This flight was very hard to stay awake on since it was bedtime in LA but we powered through.
By the time we got to our hotel in Bangkok and to our room it was midnight there so we made ourselves go to sleep.
Something I had heard on a podcast about helping with jet lag is you want to normalize your routine as soon as you can. For me my normal routine is a morning workout so when I got up the next morning I did a quick run in the hotel gym. The jet lag going over was not as bad as I thought it would be. I think jumping right into a routine was a good way for me to adjust. After that it was time to explore the city. I had found a really cool breakfast spot via Instagram in Bangkok called Brekkie. We went out to find it which proved to be difficult because of the street signs. Some seemed to be missing or facing the wrong way. We finally got there, sat down and the menu was heaven for me. They had smoothie bowls, avocado toast, gluten free pancakes, I was so happy. If you find yourself in Bangkok I would HIGHLY recommend this spot.
After eating way too much (I had two bowls) we continued exploring the city. Let me say this, I thought LA was crowded and full of traffic, Bangkok is next level. There are so many cars, taxis, little tuk-tuks and scooters zipping around. The first thing we explored was this giant mall. It had like 6 different levels with all kinds of shops and restaurants. There were a good number of stores that we have in the US like Victoria’s Secret and HM but there were also some really unique stores. I got my first pair of elephant pants here which are in absolute MUST in Thailand.
After the mall, we got onto the Bangkok metro line which is a great way to get around the city. We took it down to the Chao Phraya river where most of the temples are located. Seeing my first temple was such a cool experience. They are so large and intricate, just beautiful. You had to be covered when you went inside, no shorts or tank tops and I kind of loved this rule/tradition. A place with such significance and importance to the Buddhist people should be respected.
After our first temple, we had to find some lunch and this is where I first discovered I was going to have a hard time eating. As I am sure you all can tell by now I am a really healthy eater. I don’t enjoy fried foods or foods that are drenched in sauce and I absolutely can’t handle spicy food. What is Thai food, mostly fried, saucy and extremely spicy. Something else that was troublesome for me was they cook most of their vegetables in oyster sauce. Having a shellfish allergy, I didn’t want to gamble with that. Most of the people we encountered spoke some English but the language barrier was still tough and made it hard to ask questions about the foods. Finally, we found a place that I could get a Thai omelet which is basically an egg omelet with some peppers and onions over white rice.
We continued on to a few more temples, Wat Pho, the reclining Buddha temple, was my favorite. It was really interesting to learn about the different representations of Buddha. When Buddha is seated with the right hand raised and facing outwards, this is the Protection Buddha. When Buddha has both hands in the lap and the legs are crossed, this is the Meditation/Calming Buddha. This is for when people are looking for peace and calm in their lives. The Reclining Buddha depicts Buddha in the last moments of life on earth, prior to the Buddha dying before entering Nirvana. In the Buddhist religion, they believe in an endless cycle of birth-death-rebirth. Because Buddha had gained enlightenment in his life, he was able to escape the endless cycle.
Learning about the different culture, religion and practices of Thailand was my favorite part of Bangkok. It is good to be emerged in something so different than what you are used to. It is important to see how others live, to experience their day to day life.
Bangkok was a crazy busy city but I really enjoyed it. We were only there for a day and a half, I think we fit most of the important sights in but I could have stayed another day or two.