Thailand | A Traveller’s Review

I was in work earlier this week and a colleague asked on our work intranet if anyone had any recommendations for a trip to Thailand. I advised a few things for the places she said she was visiting, and it got me thinking that it might make a good post for my blog. It’s been a while since I post about travel, so maybe this is a good way back into the world of travel blogging.

In 2014 I graduated University and had grand plans to travel the world. The starting point was South East Asia. After a whistle stop tour of Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and some of Thailand, I training as  TEFL teacher, and started life in the North East of Thailand as a primary school teacher in Roi-Et. I spent months living and travelling around Thailand, experiencing the foods and the cultures, and enjoying as many of the sites and sounds as could be before we left for Malaysia.

In addition, my parents are due to travel to South East Asia at the end of the year. I have been looking at things to do and places to see, and advising them as much as I can, so my favourite things to do are very much in the forefront of my mind.

So, I’ve decided to write a post about my favourite things to do in Thailand. It’s not an exhaustive list by any means, there will be places missing and obvious answers, but it’s a compilation of activities I enjoyed, places I liked to see, and tips I learnt along the way:

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Bicycles, Buddhas, and too many tacos

Do you ever make a plan to do something that seems brilliant on paper, but they when you come to do it, you wonder where you have gone completely insane? Yes, you do? Well, I felt like that on Tuesday morning as I got off the BTS and walked to the ABC (amazing Bangkok Cyclist) office. The thought of doing a 16km bike tour of Bangkok was about as far down on my list of priorities as staying in Bangkok beyond Thursday.

Back in Bangkok…ish

And we’re back on the road, literally. I think I will be done with buses forever when I return to England. The chaotic madness that is Mochit bus station, is thankfully, a memory I don’t have to think much more about now, and after a relatively decent bus journey from Roi-Et to Bangkok, we have landed safely in our hotel ready for action.

The Terror of the Visa Run: Victory! We Have Victory!

The battle to gain non-immigrant status has been so long and chaotic, that amongst other things, it spawned it’s own blog title series – not bad going! As you have probably guessed from the title of this post, we finally, FINALLY have our visa to work here. Just in time to leave, so obviously, perfect timing.

The Terror of the Visa Run: The Visa Run Strikes Back

I love Thailand, I really do. The weather is great, the people are lovely, the country is beautiful. There is a way of life here that I haven’t ever experienced before and that I will miss hugely when I leave.

That said, I won’t miss the bureaucracy, and the instability with my visa situation one bit.

Happy New Year – Welcome to 2558 (2015)

It is officially New Year in Bangkok, so HAPPY NEW YEAR!! It’s just entered the year 2558 in Thailand, 2015 is already here, signalling over 3 months or travelling, and yet another unbelievable, unforgettable,  and extraordinary event in a crazy adventure.

It seems almost poetic that my 100th blog post is for New Year!

Friends, Fun, and Flying

When we knew we had a week off in the middle of the semester, we always planned to come to Bangkok. Part of me wishes we hadn’t, because as soon as we left the hotel I remembered how much I disliked the place, but so far, it’s been the break we needed from teaching and Roi-Et.

…The work begins

I’ve been worrying about all this teaching lark for weeks, and now that it is finally here, I’m not sure what to make of it. My guess (as great as the people and the company are) is that it will be considerably less interesting than the tour was, so I’m just going to blog for the week in one go.  Once teaching starts I will go back to blogging when I have time, or when something interesting happens, so I may as well get back into that routine now, eh? Meeting everyone has been a blast, there are so many different people from different places and different backgrounds. I can’t believe we all get to teach the kids. The meeting people element of travelling I think is my favourite part so far, as great as seeing all these amazing places has been. I can’t believe in less than a week I will say goodbye to two sets of awesome people!

The holiday ends….

I hate it when holidays are over, I hate saying goodbye to people, I hate going back to work.

The end’s not near, it’s here

For those of you who are super-observant/super OC fans, yes that is an episode title, I just had to rob it as it fits so well. The last day (technically the last day is tomorrow, but departure day isn’t a full 24hr period, so it doesn’t count) is here, :(. This tour has raced by, I can’t believe that tomorrow I will say goodbye to all these people. At least we have a big goodbye planned (more on that later). There is a lot to do in Bangkok, so we’re pretty sure that we can afford to leave things like the Grand Palace until we return in March (unless we’re based here for teaching), so until then, less glamorous activities such a work shopping in one of the many local malls is necessary.