Living with your friend has its own perks. It was just a usual night of February when suddenly my friend, Micky suggested that we can go for a holiday in a different country. I instantly agreed and we discussed about some of the places and slept off. Next morning as soon as I woke up, I went up to her and asked “Were we serious last night? Can we actually go?” She said “Yes why not!!?” And we started to plan it.
Thailand, a popular holiday destination for people around the world, was chosen. We initially planned a July vacay but the tickets were cheaper in June so we ended up preponing our plan. We booked our one way tickets to Bangkok with the limited money we had in our respective bank accounts. I was working as a learning assistant at an educational center at that point, doing few tuitions and had some scholarship money as well, so I ended up saving enough for the trip. We were super excited but the trip was almost four months away. I had exams to prepare for and Micky had assignments to do in the mean time. But we were mostly thinking about our first foreign trip and how independent it would be, as both of us were going to travel alone for the first time that too in a foreign land.
We were on a limited budget and we wanted to have an experience of a backpacker because honestly since 2017 I had been thinking of going on a backpacking trip, inspired from a celebrity duo (Jean Luc and Chelsea :*). So we started planning the itinerary and here I must thank a friend Anurag for his help in planning one (though we couldn’t stick to it because of less time). We even planned to go to Siem Reap, Cambodia via road/rail and were deeply disheartened when we had to cancel it due to some reason. Anyway we booked our accommodation in all three cities- Pattaya, Hua Hin and Bangkok in advance via AirBnb and GoIbibo.
June couldn’t have come soon enough. It was 19th June soon and we had a lot of stuff to do. From packing to booking our travel insurances and exchanging of foreign currency, everything was done on the last day. Bookmyforex.com helped us by delivering our forex at our doorstep just few hours before we flew. We took 10,000 Thai Baht each (21,500 INR) and our tickets and accommodation took around roughly 13,000 INR (35,000 INR in total per head).
We were supposed to reach the airport at around 9pm as our flight was at 12:05am midnight. We had to rush to the airport constantly worrying about whether we would get a taxi or get stuck in traffic. We reached at 9:35pm and entered the international departure area. We had little clue of how it would go but it went rather smoothly. We got through the security check and were finally ready to fly off to another land. We boarded the flight with a number of fellow Indians and landed at Suvarnabhumi airport after two and a half hours. We had to wait for almost an hour for the visa on arrival thing to be done with and after all of these formalities were over, we got our luggage. We saw the tourist sim counters inside the airport and went for the AIS cellular service which provided us with 50 Baht balance and unlimited internet. We got one sim and shared the data through hotspot.
We planned to go to Pattaya directly from the airport so we started looking for the bus ticket counter which was supposed to be inside the airport itself (thanks to TripAdvisor for all the details). We asked around but sadly most of them did not know how to speak English. We found our way ourselves and got two bus tickets to Pattaya. We sat on the airport floor with other travelers, had some biscuits and cakes which we packed from home while waiting for our bus call. After waiting for an hour we boarded the bus, it was big. We passed our two hours journey to Pattaya by sleeping in the bus because we were so tired and sleep deprived. After reaching Pattaya we did not really understand what to do. We checked Uber but it was not available in the city. We took our luggage and walked around with the help of Google maps and as we were hungry, we decided to eat first. We got into a small restaurant and ordered shrimp rice (it wasn’t really good). We called our host who said that the checking time was 2pm and he cannot really do anything before that. So we had two hours in our hand on a super sunny day with heavy luggage in a different country with no idea on how to reach the place of our accommodation. We suddenly saw a tuktuk which crossed us but came back from far just to pick us up. We showed the map to the lady who charged us 200 Baht and dropped us at the right location, Nirun Condo. We waited for the host outside his office and he showed up just 20 minutes before 2pm. He apologized and told us to drop our luggage in his office till the apartment was cleaned for us. We decided to look around the place rather than sitting and waiting. We walked towards the beach road but as it was very sunny, we ended up sitting in a cafe sipping on cold drinks. We eventually returned to find an American old man sitting in the office with a parakeet on his lap. He chatted with us about India, how he visited Varanasi (his favourite place here), Delhi and Kolkata where he met Mother Teresa. He even said that he loved to visit India as people can communicate in English here compared to many other countries. With that we took our leave and checked in to our room which was amazing. We took a shower and slept off for few hours. In the evening we got ready and decided to go to the beach, we walked to the beach which was 10mins away and was greeted with an amazing view and soothing breeze. We walked around, clicked pictures and sat for some time. Then we decided to go to the Walking Street (the infamous place in Pattaya :P). From seeing things which can never be seen here to getting away from Indian men calling and hitting on us in the middle of the streets we reached Bali Hai Pier dock. We had some yummy roadside grilled meat and turkish ice-cream, and walked back to the beach. While returning we went to an Indian-Bangladeshi restaurant near the beach to have dinner (food wasn't good) and then returned to our room.
The next morning we decided to book a cab (via Grab taxi app) to take us to the Underwater world. The cab driver could not speak English at all so we had to guide him with signs. One of his friends gave us a 100 Baht coupon through which we got a discount in the ticket prices. Underwater world is a treat for those who love the sea world (though not a fan but it was awesome). They also click your candid pictures which you can buy while exiting (we both bought ours). As we initially thought of staying one night in Pattaya, we booked the place for one day so the next day we had to shift to another hotel (booking was again done in advance). The hotel was next to the beach and that evening we took a motorbike taxi to Dongtan-Jomtien beach. We had some street food and glasses of smoothies (they were so big, cheap and delicious). We had amazing fun on the beach and stayed there till sunset. We walked towards the Jomtien Night Market and did some shopping and had our dinner (smoothies, chicken, octopus, sea fish, pita and garlic bread, donut) there itself. The next day we left our hotel to catch the ferry to Hua Hin. Our Pattaya stay was a beautiful start to our trip.
As we took the ferry to Hua Hin, crossing the Gulf of Thailand was a wonderful experience. It took around two hours for us to reach Hua Hin. It is a small beachside town visited by a number of tourists. We took a tuktuk to reach our guesthouse which was 5mins away from the beach. We checked in to our guesthouse, took a shower and rested a bit before heading out in the evening. We went to a seaside restaurant which had an incredible view and sounds of waves crashing the shore filled our hearts with peace. We walked into the Hua Hin Fishing Pier and enjoyed the sunset sea view. After staying there for some time we found our way towards Hua Hin Night Market. We did some window shopping and bought dinner (sticky rice, chicken, waffles- all for 5 baht each woah). We were tired from our journey so retired early for the night.
Next morning we planned to go to the beach. We got ready, had breakfast and just left for the beach. A breathtaking view was waiting for us, we got ourselves two beach chairs and coconut water. We saw several foreigners playing beach ball, sunbathing and swimming in the water. We clicked some pictures, noticed some good looking western guys (:P) and ate papaya salad, mangoes, pancakes to keep our stomachs happy. As we did not plan to go into the water, we did not take spare clothes or towels or even sunscreen for that matter. That was a mistake 'cause by looking at the people around us having so much fun, we could not stop ourselves and got into the water. We stayed in for a long time, pretended to swim, giggled and was just happy being there (even after getting injured inside the water :P). Our clothes were drenched, we got tanned but we did not really care at that moment. We walked back to our guesthouse, cleaned ourselves, took some rest and left for the Grand Night Market Hua Hin. We walked through the quiet streets of Hua Hin and reached the Night Market. From clothes to make-up items to food, everything was so cheap. We ended up spending some time there talking, eating (eggs, crab, fish, chicken, pork, smoothies, rotee with chocolate) and shopping before retiring for the night. Our last night at Hua Hin was relaxing and memorable, giving us fond memories to cherish.
We left for Bangkok from Hua Hin via mini-van. It was a comfortable ride to the capital. We got a cab from the drop point to our hostel which was located in a prominent area surrounded by a bazaar and near to the skytrain station. It was a beautifully decorated place with clean dorms and hospitable staff. We checked in and without wasting any further time, we left to visit the Grand Palace and the Temple of Emerald Buddha. Our cab driver was very polite and friendly, talking to us about their place and asking us about ours. We reached the place but were not allowed to get in as it was closed for the day. We decided to go to some mall and after inquiring a bit we took a taxi to Siam Paragon. With the three malls together- Siam Paragon, Discovery and Center, we walked from one mall to another looking at several showrooms, eating at a food court, clicking pictures with locals. We went to Rot Fai Night Market Ratchada from there and did some shopping there buying chocolates and such small stuff before returning to our dorm after having dinner.
The next morning we went to Wat Pho, the Temple of Reclining Buddha which is one of the most attractive temple in Bangkok. The reclining Buddha represents Buddha during his last illness, about to enter the parinirvana. We spent some time there worshiping and buying few postcards. We went to the Pratunam market from the temple which was one of the highlights of the trip as we got to see such good and beautiful products at such cheap prices. Though we could not buy much stuff due to our limited budget and luggage, me and Micky kept making plans to visit the city once again in future just to shop (:P). We looked around the market, peeped into the Platinum Mall, saw a Bollywood celebrity (Pankaj Tripathi probably visiting the mall after IIFA night) and eventually returned to our dorm cherishing the memories of our entire trip on our last day.
This new experience of traveling to another country, two girls all by themselves, it was really liberating for both of us. A year ago we could not even think of doing anything such. I have never traveled alone in India till last December (visited Lucknow with a friend for a seminar) and going on this trip with a female friend to another country without any help from others and where the local people hardly know how to speak English, it was a good experience. We traveled through three cities, exploring the places, observing the people, taking in all the fun we could out of it. We found Thailand really safe even with Thai people not knowing English (which makes it difficult) but always with a hospitable attitude, smiling faces and politeness. We moved around at nights in unknown cities without any fear of getting harassed or teased. We got compliments from local Thai people, Burmese, Canadians and also got our pictures taken (we were also mistaken for Thai, Nepali, Filipino :D). There is hardly any noise pollution in the country as they do not like to use horns much or shout (a Canadian guy was taken to the police station for playing music loudly on his phone at night by a French guy and the police charged him 2000 Baht fine). The cars wait for you to cross the roads and streets patiently even if you are not in traffic signals, they slow their cars and let you pass safely. The sales people and the shopkeepers are not clingy at all. The street food is really cheap and amazing, we could not have enough of it.
Backpacking trips are much more fun than traveling via travel agencies, moving around in tourist buses, staying at expensive hotels etc. I have always wanted to stay in dorms and hostels once I start to travel and thankfully the dream came true. I would suggest everyone to take such trips rather than luxurious ones because those do make you see new places but the true experience is left hollow. It was such a safe and liberating experience for the two girls, I sincerely hope this can be possible in India too because for now we felt more safe in a different country rather than in our homeland.
Me and Micky applied for our passports together in 2014 and we made our first international trip together as well. We are thrilled about it and looking forward to more such trips in future. One can always travel with family, spouses, group of friends but traveling duo with your friend is just a different experience altogether. With hopes of more of such endeavors in future, I am ending this post on our first traveling adventure. 🙂
