Thailand!

I had a month off before I joined my new ship in Hong Kong on January 21st, so I asked if they could fly me a month early. They said yes! So early Christmas morning, I took a flight to Hong Kong. Talk about stereotypes, a Jew flying all the way to Asia for some Chinese food on Christmas.
Within an hour of me being in Hong Kong, something pretty crazy already happens! I take the bus to my hostel from the airport, drop off my stuff, and immediately go out to explore at around 7pm. Right across from my hostel, I see a market with lots of people, so of course I have to walk over there. I walk two blocks and I see my friend Jeremy Bernard, a singer I worked with on a ship this past summer, walking towards me. All I say is “dude, Jeremy?” and he’s like “omg no way.” It was so random that I saw him, especially since I literally just touched ground on the new continent an hour ago! We were also in a very local area of town, so the chances of this happening was pretty low! It was really cool, so we hung out in the market for a bit and a couple days later went out for dinner and drinks with another one of his friends. He was there for a seasonal gig at Hong Kong Disneyland. Small world!
Hong Kong is a really cool city! I was able to explore a lot of the downtown areas. I found out quickly there’s so much amazing food there too! Right around the corner from my place was this place called “dimdimsum dimsum.” There was a sign that said Newsweek put it in it’s 101 Places to Eat Before You Die. I had to go. It was packed with locals, and I stuffed my face with their food. I went for a 2nd time a few days later cause I loved it so much! Dim sum is dumplings, you usually get 3 or 4 and it’s fairly cheap, so it’s easy to eat alone or with people. They had amazing crispy shrimp rolls, ones with pork and ostrich egg, beef with tangerine peel. Then they had dessert ones that were awesome! One had warm pineapple filling, and another had an egg custard filling. I fell in love! There were some other great places to eat in Hong Kong as well, but this was by far a highlight! I saw all the sights in this great city, plenty of markets, went to Victoria Peak to see the whole skyline, saw the Big Buddha looking over mountains just outside of the city, and then the skyline at night is gorgeous with tons of lights! It’s definitely a must-see in Asia.
After this I went to Northern Thailand for 3 weeks to do a trip that was a little different than most tourists/backpackers my age do. I stayed in the north to go to lesser visited towns, skipped over Bangkok because I would go there on the ship, and skipped the islands because I will also be there on the ship and I had just spent 2 months in the Caribbean and was a little bored with beaches. I was ready for something different!
The northern capital Chiang Mai is one of the greatest cities I’ve been to! There’s so much to do, so many tours and different kinds of activities to sign up for. Plus there are a lot of foreigners here to do these with that make them really fun! Right when I got to my dorm bed I met a couple from the US who were traveling and within 5 minutes of meeting of them, we all went to a huge night market to get pad thai and bargain down cheap knick knacks. I also met up with a family friend from home, Casey Weinman. We spent the next couple days exploring the city together, going to huge markets, taking a thai cooking class, watching muay thai boxing, seeing lots of temples, and eating lots of pad thai and banana shakes! We were there for New Years and it was pretty magical to say the least! At the gate of the old city, where the moats are, tons of people were letting lanterns fly through the sky. The sky was filled and it looked like the sky was lit up! We then went to a rooftop bar to watch these lanterns fly, and at midnight fireworks in two directions started, as well as a stage with a band below us while there were thousands of people crowding the streets! It was the most unique New Years I’ve been to, and I’m so glad I was able to be there!
After this I spent a couple days in a place called Chiang Dao. A pretty sleepy place, but nice and relaxing. One day I took a long hike up a random mountain with the guesthouse owner’s husband. It took all day, he had to bring a gps cause the only people who used the trail were locals. He said up there there were hilltribe villages still making opium and growing marijuana in the trees, because it’s very illegal! We got lost at one point and had to cut through brush and go straight up this steep incline. At the top it was an amazing 360 degree view so it was all worth the sweat!
I then took a bus to Pai. The road to Pai is famous for having like 200 something curves, and it’s up in to the mountains, so it’s steep. And of course it’s Thailand, so I couldn’t have just a normal bus ride. No. By the time I got on the bus, it was full and I had to sit in the middle of the aisle, in front of the open door, on a bag of rice, next to a monk and a Thai baby. I can’t make this stuff up. Not only was I holding on for dear life while I was staring at the asphalt on every turn, I was also sitting on someone’s dinner for the next few weeks. But it was all worth it, because I love Pai! Everyone loves Pai! It’s a hippy town in the mountains, so of course I can relate to it. It’s quiet, peaceful, but still has lots of bars, live music, a good night market, and lots of good food so there’s plenty to do! I took a tour out of here one day to sightsee around and one of the things we saw was the Longneck Karen village. The women have the rings to make their necks unbelievably long. It’s very interesting to actually see these women in front of you. It’s a little bit of a tourist trap, and they only moved closer to civilization so they can make money off tourists, but to converse with them and smile at them was still nice. I hope I made their day somehow.
I couldn’t just leave Pai by bus. So instead I booked a 2 day rafting trip ending in the next city. It was a blast! I was with a group of some americans, 3 germans, and the 3 thai guides. I got lucky cause I was paired with the 3 german girls who were all my age, so we had a fun group goin down rapids! The river was pretty low, and we hit a lot of rocks, but there were still some rapids that made it worth it. Plus the scenery and the peacefulness being in the middle of the mountains was so nice! We swam down a waterfall and stopped for a dip in a natural hot springs. At night they had a camp where we stayed in an open air hut, had a huge dinner, and we chilled by the fireplace all night talking and seeing billions of stars! The thai guides were really funny, made awesome meals for us, and even had some funny games and cool local desserts for us at night. It was an amazing trip that was one of the top highlights of my vacation!
The next city was Mae Sariang, not a big tourist destination, but it was quiet enough that I was able to relax by the river, bike through rice paddies and little villages surrounded by mountains where there were only a handful of people. It was serene and gorgeous! Out of this city I did a 2-day trek on the border of Burma. I went to a remote Karen village on the top of a hill surrounded by endless mountains. This was one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life! We spent the afternoon there in a family’s hut who made us lunch and dinner. They were very gracious and friendly people- we had only met them that day and they offered to have us stay the night and let us use their cooking area. The reason I don’t say kitchen is because at this village the kitchen and “lounging” area is a hut raised above the ground. There’s a grill and coals in one corner, some cooking stuff and plates, then a hammock, and immediately below the hut is where all the animals live- chickens, pigs, dogs. Let me tell you, sleeping on a bamboo floor, freezing in 2 blankets cause we’re in the middle of the mountains, the last thing you want to hear at 5am is chickens waking up, cause you know they’re not going to be quiet for a long time! We also got really lucky because that night was Children’s Day, a national holiday. So groups of schools from the surrounding villages walked all day to the village we stayed at because there was a party that night. The kids in each school did some traditional dances to music. The teenagers from Bangkok who were helping organize the event stayed up all night where we played games and lit flying lanterns and sang songs. I had never seen that many stars in my life, it was amazing. Another fun experience that day was playing a game with some local guys. It’s like a mix between volleyball and soccer. They have a softball-sized ball made of bamboo that they kick over a net like volleyball. It was really fun!
After this trek, I went to a city called Mae Sot, a city on the border of Burma where there are a few refugee camps for the Burmese. I saw the Mae La camp when I drove in and the camp was enormous! I found out there was 50,000 people just in that one camp! It’s pretty rough there, because they can’t go back into their country but it’s hard for them to make money. Being in town, I met a lot of foreigners who were working or volunteering at the camp, teaching English there, volunteering in clinics, and I even met some photographers, journalists, and researchers. It was very interesting talking to them about what it’s like in the camps and learning about their time spent in this area. The town was nothing like the rest of Thailand, and I felt like I was in a completely different country! That’s because most of the city’s population is Burmese. All the markets are mostly filled with Burmese food and snacks, and it’s hard to find traditional Thai food. I got pretty lucky because my first night there was a huge concert with the biggest rock band in Burma. I watched from outside the gates on a street because you could still hear perfectly and see the stage, and it felt like the whole town showed up to this event! It was pretty fun!
I then headed to a town called Sukhothai, where there are ancient ruins. I explored the ruins on bicycle. They were all spread out between lush forests and fields. It was also not crowded at all, so sometimes I was at some ruins all by myself- it was really peaceful!
My trip had to come to an end eventually and I had to head back to Chiang Mai, where my trip was not at all over. I went out to this bar both nights that have live bands play all night. These bands are all Thai people, they play any song you can think of, and they play really well! The bar is packed with all Thai university students so it’s a really cool atmosphere! On Friday night I actually headed to Chabad. It was all Israelis, but there were tons of them! All ages! I met this really nice group of Israelis my age- 2 guys and 3 girls, and we hung out the rest of that night and the next day. They were really fun and it was nice after being on my own for almost 3 weeks to hang out with some like-minded people.
I really appreciated my trip to Thailand, and it wasn’t at all what I expected! I always kept an open mind and usually went with the flow, cause that’s kind of what you have to do in Thailand. I had a lot of amazing random moments, met a lot of locals and learned some random Thai words, like mooo means pig, but if you say it in a different tone it also means horse... What I learned on this trip were lessons I’ll take with me for the rest of my life. Go to northern Thailand and you will fall in love with it!