Tuk Tuk's and motorbikes
After a week of sobbing and being afraid I would miss Korea more than cheese, I met Danielle at the airport bus stop on Sunday morning, packed and prepared for the first part of our journey. Vietnam. On the bus on the way to the airport, I joked, "Wouldn't it be funny if we actually needed a visa to go to Vietnam?"
We arrived 2 hours early, as I'm always prompt, and lined up to check in. But when we got to the counter the man behind it, with a slight smirk said, "Where is your visa?" Visa? Visa? I don't think he meant my newly debt free Visa gold card poking it's head out of my wallet, but I started to pull it out just in case. "You need a visa to go to Vietnam," he said to our jaw dropped faces.
I laughed. "What can we do?" I asked, still mildly stunned by the fact that we had our tickets since October and never bothered to check about visas.
"You can go to the Vietnam embassy and get a visa," he told us. It was Sunday. It would take two days. I'd already said my tearful goodbyes. I was ready to get on a plane.
Slightly stunned, we wandered away from the counter. After several hours of yelling at phones, pacing back and forth through the airport, searching for the airline offices, we sat down in front of a computer. "Let's just go to Thailand," I said. "You don't need a visa to get there and we can apply for a visa to Vietnam there."
I booked two tickets for 6 pm that day. Before nightfall, we were on a plane. And by 2 am we were in Bangkok.
Since arriving, I've fallen in love. With Thailand, that is. We spent two days in busy Bangkok, trying to get our Vietnam visas before heading north to Chiang Mai where we shared a room with a girl from London traveling on her own. The three of us spent two days wandering around Chiang Mai first on foot and then braving the tuk tuks, small motorized carts that whiz through speeding tr
affic while the wind dries the sweat running down my back.
After haggling for a good price on a tuk tuk ride (220 baht--roughly $7), the three of us went out in search of tigers to wrestle. We crammed into the back of the tuk tuk, trusting our lives in our smiling driver.
When we arrived at the aptly named Tiger Kingdom, our trusty driver showed us where he would be taking a nap while we played with the tigers. Played is a loose term, we
mostly just watched the babies sleep while rubbing their bellies and resting our heads on their backs for a perfect photo opp. But, still...it was tigers. I touched tigers.
After roaming around Tiger Kingdom, we found Noi, our driver, asleep in the back of the tuk tuk. I offered him an ice cream and we were on our way.
Noi drove us around the city for 6 hours, waited for us at temples, stopped and bought us water and soda, all the while smiling a huge smile, because, as he told u
s, "Noi" means big heart. When we thought our day was finished he asked if he could take us to "big water." Not sure what big water meant, we all agreed.
Noi took us to a lake, surrounded by small open air grass huts with raised floors for sitting. We ordered a meal of fresh fish, baked at our table, and several beer changs. Noi, happily began pouring us glasses of beer, before pouring himself a glass also, refilling his several times t
hroughout the evening.
When we got back to the tuk tuk, Noi asked if anyone wanted to drive. Of course I wanted to drive a little motorized taxi. Except, when I started driving, I quickly realized everything was very backwards. The brake was on the right and the clutch was on the left, the shifter is in the middle between your legs and the gas is on the handle. I made it almost 5 feet before jerking to a halt. Still...I drove a tuk tuk. In Thailand.
The next day, Danielle and I decided to head further north to Pai, a small hippy town situated in a deep valley. After winding through the mountains for 3 hours, we arrived in a small little village overrun with tourists, but quaint and welcoming.
We spent three nights in Pai, where we relaxed, rode around on the backs of motorcycles (after a minor incident where I tried unsuccessfully to drive one on my own with Danielle gripping me with death grips), went to an open air club where I made my own dance party with my ipod headphones...one in a tiny Thai man's ear and one in mine and we danced our little butts off until 5 in the morning.
The adventures have begun.
We arrived 2 hours early, as I'm always prompt, and lined up to check in. But when we got to the counter the man behind it, with a slight smirk said, "Where is your visa?" Visa? Visa? I don't think he meant my newly debt free Visa gold card poking it's head out of my wallet, but I started to pull it out just in case. "You need a visa to go to Vietnam," he said to our jaw dropped faces.
I laughed. "What can we do?" I asked, still mildly stunned by the fact that we had our tickets since October and never bothered to check about visas.
"You can go to the Vietnam embassy and get a visa," he told us. It was Sunday. It would take two days. I'd already said my tearful goodbyes. I was ready to get on a plane.
Slightly stunned, we wandered away from the counter. After several hours of yelling at phones, pacing back and forth through the airport, searching for the airline offices, we sat down in front of a computer. "Let's just go to Thailand," I said. "You don't need a visa to get there and we can apply for a visa to Vietnam there."
I booked two tickets for 6 pm that day. Before nightfall, we were on a plane. And by 2 am we were in Bangkok.
Since arriving, I've fallen in love. With Thailand, that is. We spent two days in busy Bangkok, trying to get our Vietnam visas before heading north to Chiang Mai where we shared a room with a girl from London traveling on her own. The three of us spent two days wandering around Chiang Mai first on foot and then braving the tuk tuks, small motorized carts that whiz through speeding tr
affic while the wind dries the sweat running down my back.After haggling for a good price on a tuk tuk ride (220 baht--roughly $7), the three of us went out in search of tigers to wrestle. We crammed into the back of the tuk tuk, trusting our lives in our smiling driver.
When we arrived at the aptly named Tiger Kingdom, our trusty driver showed us where he would be taking a nap while we played with the tigers. Played is a loose term, we
mostly just watched the babies sleep while rubbing their bellies and resting our heads on their backs for a perfect photo opp. But, still...it was tigers. I touched tigers.After roaming around Tiger Kingdom, we found Noi, our driver, asleep in the back of the tuk tuk. I offered him an ice cream and we were on our way.
Noi drove us around the city for 6 hours, waited for us at temples, stopped and bought us water and soda, all the while smiling a huge smile, because, as he told u
s, "Noi" means big heart. When we thought our day was finished he asked if he could take us to "big water." Not sure what big water meant, we all agreed.Noi took us to a lake, surrounded by small open air grass huts with raised floors for sitting. We ordered a meal of fresh fish, baked at our table, and several beer changs. Noi, happily began pouring us glasses of beer, before pouring himself a glass also, refilling his several times t
hroughout the evening.When we got back to the tuk tuk, Noi asked if anyone wanted to drive. Of course I wanted to drive a little motorized taxi. Except, when I started driving, I quickly realized everything was very backwards. The brake was on the right and the clutch was on the left, the shifter is in the middle between your legs and the gas is on the handle. I made it almost 5 feet before jerking to a halt. Still...I drove a tuk tuk. In Thailand.
The next day, Danielle and I decided to head further north to Pai, a small hippy town situated in a deep valley. After winding through the mountains for 3 hours, we arrived in a small little village overrun with tourists, but quaint and welcoming.
We spent three nights in Pai, where we relaxed, rode around on the backs of motorcycles (after a minor incident where I tried unsuccessfully to drive one on my own with Danielle gripping me with death grips), went to an open air club where I made my own dance party with my ipod headphones...one in a tiny Thai man's ear and one in mine and we danced our little butts off until 5 in the morning.
The adventures have begun.
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