bye bye manderz, hello Tiru

Fav Meal from this sweet place, May Kaidees

With Sinsiri as our guide, we were exposed to the realest of Thai culture. A local temple fair, meeting her family, learning the bus system, eating crazy food, swimming, having coffee breaks and just feeling pretty privileged and luxurious! Getting our own condo with an infinity pool- and getting to ride in her car to cool places! Saying bye to Amanda wasn't the easiest, I was so into our time together. A familiar face, confessing all my worries, doubts, fears, but also sharing with her my excitement and hope for my next leg of the journey.

The new temple!

Oyster Omelettes, can't leave Thailand without having one!

Our favorite girl, Sinsiri!

In Thailand, you don't have to be afraid to smile! 

I didn't quite figure out if locals actually eat these or not...

Donation Ribbons, so fancy

Found the bus stop..now just to find the correct bus...

That little red vehicle behind us is a tiny micro bus! 

Celebrating the King's Bday

Snackin' on Kao Sahn

English and what a cute street name!

Sweet Pics of the Royalty all over the place

I stayed in Bangkok a few days at this awesome guest house right on the river. Once again, no AC (not a problem) and no flushing toilet- BUT, there was an actual toilet, so that was cool! I was grateful for a toilet, it wasn't one you would put your bum on, but there was no squatting involved. I hadn't really been exposed to that yet, but I knew it'd be best to get used it cause I was going back to India soon. There was also not any privacy in this bathroom. It was outside of the room and there was a door, but you could hear everything that went down in there (literally). Flushing the toilet was easy, just fill up a bucket of water and dump it directly in the bowl- all your problems swept down, just like that. After the second time, I got really comfortable using this method of flushing.

After the Thai Tsunami, walkways were built like this due to the flooding.

The best thing about this house was the awesome location!

The plants, the river, the breeze

Homemade Thai food, here we go! 

Hot n Sweaty Sleeping Arrangements

I was able to explore a different side of Thailand. This area known as the "Backpackers Ghetto" or Kao Shan Road. It's what you imagine when you think of a lot of Westerners partying, shopping, getting tattoos, eating grilled scorpions on a stick, getting wasted on the street. It was quite opposite of what the last two months in SE Asia had offered me. It was quite overwhelming and not the kind of scene that I wanted to be immersed in. I noticed my resitance and released it. I mingled with the other guests in the house, helped the host cook dinner and even joined the crew up to Kao Sahn.

Near Kao Sahn, this is the abandoned building that people sneak into to see all the fish. The fish made it their home after the Tsunami and now a recent article has made it go viral!

 The best part of the night was finding a Thai Blues & Jazz Bar (with only Thai people)! These guys were jamming, and all the people in the tiny (I mean tiny) room were really into it. A lot of singing and about one person dancing (cause that's all there was room for).

Here's a tiny vid with some excerpts of the passionate Thai Blues singer + other Kao Sahn Moments:

We moved on to the Backpackers ghetto, got a cool performance by these break dancers, dared a friend to eat the scorpion and danced on the street. I'm glad I got to experience the famous road, and I even got to purchase a pair of fake Ray Bans- HEYO! The best shopping isn't in Kao Shan, however, you'll find this closer to the main temples. Sinsiri and her hubby had showed us the Thai Flea market earlier that week, it's walking distance from Kao Sahn and you can honestly find ANYTHING there. New and used, clean and dirty, useful and useless- whatever you want, it's there! It was mind-blowing! I couldn't even buy anything cause there was just so much to choose from and overwhelming- This is the kind of place you go to when you need something RANDOM.

Literally, anything- even a spiffy new do!

Phiman House Guests, two Americans, A Norwegian and a German

I am really grateful for those last few days in Thailand. I learned to stop resisting, to really find and harness the inner peace and project my happiness outwards. Being conscious of my mood, of my body language, allowed me to be open to new acquaintances that really enhanced my Thai experience. I was feeling quite ready at this point to surrender and allow the universe to work its magic on me. I finalized the last things to fly to Chennai. I did a bit of research and found the main Bus station where I would hop on the bus to Tiruvanamalai. My flight landed pretty late at night so I booked a hotel near the airport ahead of time through Booking.com - Once again, I chose to come from a place of abundance, so I picked a hotel that looked pretty decent. I was willing to pay a bit more to have something clean, with a toilet and with WIFI!

As I boarded my plane back to India I found my seat I got to chit chatting with the couple next to me. Dinesh and Lata, a couple from Northern India, living in Chennai. We quickly became friends and it's not because I'm "too" trusting- it's because I go with my instinct. I don't stay on autopilot, I pay attention, I feel, I think. This is intuition, a gift that we all have if we just stop and listen. I almost get into a meditative state when I'm conversing (especially with someone new) I look them in the eyes, and my guides always lead me to the best humans! In Indian tradition, guests should be considered Gods- So, after coming to the conclusion that I would not be able to find authentic North Indian food, Dinesh told me his wife would cook for me the next time I visited Chennai. We became Facebook friends, I got his business card and we agreed I would call them before I left India.

Airplane buddies! 

So, now I had these cool Indian friends and the real fun was about to begin. Upon landing, I say bye to my new friends, I go to the ATM for some Indian Rupees and I go look for my arranged ride from the airport to the hotel. According to the site I would have one, but there were just so many drivers standing behind the line calling out names, some had signs, some didn't. It was quite overwhelming, so I decided to trust and just hoped to miraculously figure something out. Then Lata and Dinesh appear, asking me how I'm getting to my hotel. Luckily, they've learned Tamil and were able to do some negotiating with a driver that would get me safely to the hotel-- yes, thank you!

My fancy hotel room in Chennai

MEMORABLE MOMENTS + TIPS:

• In Chennai, the rickshaw drivers don't seem to want to take you very far. I had a really hard time finding a ride from the hotel to the main bus station. A lot of them were confused when I asked to be taken there. I figured out it's because I was calling it by the wrong name. According to Google, it's the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus..but nobody calls it that! So if you're in Chennai and want to catch a bus, ask to be taken to Koyambedu - and cross your fingers that the driver will accept :)
• Long bus journey ahead of you? Do you have a strong stomach? Don't bother buying snacks! At any bus stop, traffic jam or red light, vendors will flock onto the bus selling food! If you are willing to trust what's in the food, then go on ahead and get yourself some food. ( I purchased a water and cookies for the ride, the food looked tempting, but I didn't want to get diarrhea on a NON A/C NO TOILET 5 hour bus ride).
• Don't worry about buying a bus ticket ahead of time either. An attendant will stop by and ask each passenger their destination, he calculates the distance and lets you know how much you owe. I paid 110 Rupees for a 184 KM journey (under $2). In a place with decent roads this would take about 2 hours. The road was decent for the first 45 minutes and quickly worsened. I'm talking massive pot holes and bumps, and they don't slow down for the bumps. I was lifted at least a food off my seat for the last 3 hours of the ride! Talk about an adrenaline rush!
• Women should brush their hair. I'm the wrong person to suggest that to, for I have never owned a hair brush. The 80 year old lady sitting next to me didn't speak any English, but she was able to communicate that she wanted water and that I should brush my hair and pull up into a pony tail. Don't ask me how she told me, but hand signs and facial gestures are easy to understand. 
• Pack Light and just let your backpack get dirty! I know this is a DUH- My backpack wasn't actually very big so I just put it in the seat next to me. After a few stops the bus got completely packed. I had to give up my backpack's seat and couldn't squeeze it over head so I actually gave up my leg room to squish my backpack in there. I also was a bit foolish and chose to not use the bathroom at Koyambedu cause I didn't want to put my backpack down cause the floor was soaking wet (It was being washed). I'm ashamed, but the 1st World Grecia appeared and didn't want to remove her backpack to squat down. I just wasn't ready, so much for surrendering, but sometimes you're just not ready (and I wasn't ready)!

When she first started talking I thought she was asking for a selfie..then I figured out she just wanted me to look at my hair in the mirror... hahaha!

Five and a half hours later, a very sweaty Grecia finally arrived. I kept doubting where to get down but my old lady friend told me to sit down and wait and she would tell me when to get off. Once again, this communication wasn't in English, but somehow we got through to each other. Upon descending, I walked over to a phone shop. I tried buying a sim card for my phone but apparently you can't just buy a sim card in India if you're foreign. So, instead, I borrowed the shop owner's phone and called Isaac. Isaac and his family were going to host me during my time there. He was very happy sounding and told me he would arrive shortly. 

I gave the phone back and sat on the curb, basking in my sunshine, allowing my backpack to get gritty and waited with open arms and an open heart. 

I re-read his email and felt his joy through his broken English and allowed myself to feel the same.

-GIA

Keeping it Riel in Siem Riep

After dropping my bag off at Ideer Hostel iDeer Hostel BKK, Amanda and I began our journey to find the Don Mueang Airport in Bangkok. DMK International is the older, outdated international airport in Bangkok about 19 miles north of the city. There is a train that goes there, but apparently the times are erratic, which makes it quite an ordeal to maneuver. That seemed a bit too complicated to deal with ,so if we wanted to make it to our flight, a taxi was going to be the best option! There's a big street right outside the hostel, so we knew it would be easy to find a cab to take us there right away. We wave down the first pink ride we see. (The taxi cabs in Bangkok are all really bright colors, lime green, hot pink, blue.) As we hop in we ask the driver to take us to Don Mueang Airport. (This is actually really hard to pronounce..neither of us could get it right!) After repeating ourselves a few times, he understood. Before we set off, we asked the price... He quoted us something outrageous, I tried disputing the price and that's when Amanda noticed the Thai Taxi Permit on display did not belong to him. The guy photographed in the picture definitely was NOT the man behind the wheel! We immediately grabbed our bag, opened the door told him no thanks and hopped out of the car. (Maybe he wasn't dangerous, but his price wasn't right and apparently neither was his permit!) It's nice traveling with someone as keen as Amanda! So, we laughed it off and wished for a more honest driver next! Luckily, we found one! Got to the airport with time to spare. Finding vegetarian food there was not an easy feat. Amanda ordered a Greek Salad from the pizza place, I had a mushroom pastry (not delicious). I should have gone with the salad for a few Baht more, but when you're traveling on a budget, sometimes you have to make sacrifices and eat something a bit more economical! Thailand is pretty affordable, but in comparison to India, it's twice as expensive. I was really missing Indian prices ( and curry)! 

Fun @ DMK Airport, the background changes! Here we are in NYC!

Cambodian Customs, we are ready for you! (Notice Amanda's serious burn!)

Sitting in the back in the back of Bahnet's Rickshaw

Our time in Cambodia was a quick pit stop! When we arrived, Bahnet, the Cambodian tuktuk driver, was waiting for us at the airport. Major props to Amanda cause our hostel was perfect, we had a private room WITH A/C and there was even an indoor swimming pool! At The Siem Reap Hostel I even ran into my Samyak Sister, Gabriella! She attended the Samyak Hatha Teacher Training in February, now she's back in the UK firing up her yoga career! Gabriella and I had a much-needed catch up, we decided we would be up bright n'early to check out the famous temples. The following morning we woke up at 530 AM to make it to Angkor Wat before the rise of the Sun. We explored the sites and stretched and bended into some deep yoga poses throughout the land. 

Patiently waiting for the Sun to rise with Gabriella

SUN HANDS

 I wasn't aware that there are actually a series of Wats (temples) that are part of the whole Siem Riep tourist catch. So, luckily, Angkor Wat isn't the only ancient temple/tourist spot! (Like i mentioned in the previous post, I didn't do ANY research or planning before the getaway with Amanda. Which is quite unlike me, I usually spend tons of time online, getting to know the places I will visit. But when you're in India, good internet is hard to come by! Plus, who has time for that anyway? I'd rather spend my time outdoors exploring, than in an old web cafe, suffering through the slowest internet connections and attacks by mozzies (mosquitos). 

This was my day pass to ALL the temples. (Notice the price is in US Currency.)

Step 1. wake up early, Step 2. Go to place to buy day pass, Step 3. Find a ride to take you around/rent a bike

As the sun rose, we trotted around the grounds of the first temple. Angkor is absolutely huge! We climbed carefully up uneven steps and began our photo shoot. It was honestly, completely, utterly magical being there. The thousands of tourists didn't bother me one bit, it's just so vast! and ancient! and detailed! and gorgeous! It seems to go on forever! The temperature outside was perfect for exploring and jumping around for pics! We spent hours there! On the way out got stopped but a damn good sales woman and headed to her place for breakfast. Eggs & potatoes for me, with the biggest coconut in history for some tasty & real hydration!  As we walked out, we easily spotted Bahnet amongst the hundreds of rickshwaws (what a relief!) 

Mandy & Gabs

Where in the world is Gia?

Look at that coconut!!

Our trusty driver took us to the rest of the temples, too.They were all just as magical and marvelous, so much lush richness, detail and peace throughout. Despite all the people, all locations did feel really sacred and quiet to me. After exploring the 3rd temple, we didn't have so much luck finding Bahnet! There were just SO many tuktuks, thousands! and so many people, it was getting really hot, our breakfast was already practically burned off from all the walking. For a moment, I really thought we would never find him again. And it made me sad because we knew he was an honest guy, and we wouldn't want him to think we ditched him! We began shouting his name and he suddenly appeared out of nowhere! 

Cruising these streets with B

I was really amazed at the amount of child labor I witnessed. These kids are really good at selling things! They all speak perfect English, they actually are clever, they know things! They are so adorable, who wouldn't want to purchase things from them? They were selling an array of things, from snacks, to waters, to post cards, souverniers. You name it and they would probably find a way to get it for you! Some of these kids were so young, I saw a few that looked about 3 or 4 years old! It such a tough situation, I felt torn. I didn't want to encourage this kind of abuse, but it presumably for a good cause, and why wouldn't I want to help children.. especially when they tell you it's for their education and they dazzle you with their knowledge of Geography!

Lil' baby boy with his basket of products hung on his shoulder

Siem Reap also has a big pub crawl scene that completely caters to Westerner (not my thing). There are huge neon lights, in bright red, a massive sign that says, Pub Street. Here you can find bars, restaurants, souvenir shops, massage joints and ice-cream parlors.  They accept US Dollars everywhere, when you withdraw money from the ATM, you get Dollars. The currency is Riels, so when you pay at the shops in USD$, they give you change in Riels. The conversion rate is $1USD = 3990 Cambodian Riels. It's usually a better deal if you pay in Riels, since they will round up prices in dollars. But the amounts of money are ridiculous and confusing, so dollars make it a bit more simple.

Cambodian food reminded me of Thai, except creamier and less tasty! 

Once again we had noodles or fried rice for dinner. the prices were cheaper than Thailand, so that was a relief. Amanda found herself some products to relieve her sunburn. Our hunt for something natural/unharmful was not easy! We found that about 95% of skin products had bleaching agents. The obsession with white skin is insane! Among the lotions sold, there is one named "Fair & Lovely". A brand from India (not surprising)! Indians, Thais, Cambodians, they're all equally obsessed with having fair skin. There were a few  times I had debates with Indians about how beautiful their skin tone was. In the South, people have much darker skin so at times they thought maybe I was Northern Indian. They would tell me how much they loved my skin color, and how they were just "too dark"! This is nonsense to me, and we can thank the media for that. For only portraying characters on television, with "perfect" facial features, flawless fair skin and tamed hair. 

So Amanda eventually found something without bleach, after all, she was there to get a tan! not to get bleached! 

 Our 24 hours went by quickly, we had comissioned Bahnet to take us to the airport on his TukTuk the next morning. We are such good travelers, got there totally early and had a smooth flight back to Bangkok. 

Now we were ready to commence our Bangkok couchsufing adventure. ! 

Amanda and I keep it Riel!

-GIA

THIGHLAND

Thighs! Everywhere I look! Such a drastic change from conservative India. As soon as I arrived in the big city of Bangkok, I noticed teeny skirts, trains and technology! Everybody with fancy phones, cool clothes and haircuts. I showed my legs for the first time in a while and it felt a bit bizarre. My experiences in Thailand were really varied cause I was bouncing around a lot. The first night was chilled, I rested at the hostel then walked around the neighborhood and had my first doses of Pad Thai. Delicious!

First of many Pad Thais in Thailand

I usually do research before heading to a new destination, but this time I didn't at all. It just didn't cross my mind, I guess I was so eager to see Amanda and I knew she had everything planned out. I didn't even think of finding out the location of my hostel, all I knew was it was in a good location thanks to Booking.com reviews! Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok has a very convenient train that takes you directly into the city. I hopped on, knew I was heading in the right direction and luckily the Hostel had sent me an email telling me the nearest train stop, so I felt fine.On the train I met a Hungarian guy named Hugo, he told me about his love for Bangkok and how he leaves Budapest once a year to visit the Land of Smiles. I asked him for some tips and he graciously let me use his map so I could identify what area of the city I would be staying in! Thank goodness for new friends and maps!

My first look at a map of Bangkok,thanks to Hugo!

Cool, fashionable and technologically advanced people waiting on the metro 

I was really looking forward to seeing Amanda's lovely smile! My first memory of Amanda is at the Delta Zeta Roseball in 2006, tipsily speaking in French about our adoration for the French culture, the world, languages and cultures!  Little did I know that we would be meeting up halfway around the globe almost a decade later! 

The following morning I met Amanda at the Ekkaami Bus station. It was not an easy feat! Neither of us had mobile phones or wifi so we just had to trust in destiny; that we would cross paths at the established meeting point. I arrived at the station first and after about 30 minutes I started doubting what Amanda and I had agreed upon. I thought surely she wouldn't be lost, she's a bigger world traveler than me! I kept re-reading our messages and realized that maybe she wasn't meeting me at the bus station, maybe she meant at the ferry? So the next bus was about to leave in 20 minutes, should I hop on? Was she already at the ferry? The bus ride was going to be about 4 hours, so what if she was already halfway there? I decided to run across the street to the cafe and get wifi just to see if she had messaged me anything else! Turns out her last message said the meeting point was indeed Ekkamai! Relief! I went back to the bus station and she showed up 10 minutes later with a huge smile and tiny backpack! Such a nice feeling to see a familiar face again  An old time friend that I have had so much in common with since the beginning! 

 It makes sense that our friendship would flourish! I've done a bit of world cruising with her in the past. First, THE epic cruise in 2007. Eight sorority sisters crammed on a 7 day Caribbean cruise. We all faced some fears, had our fair share of fun and games, drinks and disagreements. We went zip lining in Belize, drank homemade cashew "wine" (for which we were later grateful didn't actually poison us!)  Caught rays in Honduras. In Cozumel, we shopped then wrapped up the day at the Senor Frogs. We were celebrities of the ship, after choregraphing dances and leading all ship dance parties each day, gracing cruisers with our voice in karaoke and stuffing our faces with pizza every night. Ah college life!! 

Fresh off the ship, before Sr Frogs happened! 

8 sorority sisters in Cozumel..

how many people did we fit into this hot tub?

Then, in 2008 we had the joy of roadtripping down to South Padre Island for another Spring Break adventure. Wahoo! 9 hours in the car was nothin! Our beach house was walking distance from the massive beach party. We tug o' war'd, rode mechanical bulls, got in hot tubs and made more fun memories!

With the host of the Coca Cola Beach party in Padre

S Padre Island 2008

yes, tug-o-war happened

After 6 years of doing some "growing up", this 2014 Spring Break was bound to be a bit different, and that it was! 

We took the 11am bus, which gave us enough time to roam around the streets of Bangkok and find some fresh fruit.. A few of them were mysteries to us but the vendor was generous enough to give us bites of the things we weren't familiar with! They were all delicious and we were ready for our roadtrip now! We realized that we almost missed the 2nd bus too, we were waiting patiently when a lady yelled at us in Thai..guess it was obvious we were going to the Ban Phe ferry. We ran up to her and caught our seats just in time!

Some serious interior design going on in the Ferry to Koh Samet

From Ban Phe, we waited a few more minutes and hopped on the ferry. Amanda's skin was finally seeing sun again and we were both just really in disbelief that we were actually there, and heading to an ISLAND! The dream life! Upon disembarking the ferry, we hopped on a truck taxi with a couple of other people to get to the other side of the island. About 8 of us sat in the bed of the truck, backpacks stacked up high and bodies snuggled up closely, dirt in our eyes and teeth but smiling anyway! 

cruisin, on the search for our resort!

On the back of our truck taxi, only have the road was paved for a portion of the journey. Otherwise, all dirt!

First view of our hotel

We dropped our bags at the resort, quickly changed into our swimmerz and ran to the beach as fast as we could. Caught the last bit of sun rays and look forward to our first dinner together! For dinner we had green curry, and Amanda had her go at the famous Mai Thai.. not as good as advertised! 

Such contrast in skin tones is not usual- Amanda spent last 6 months in Arctic Boston VS me 2 months in Indian beach

had to pose with the mai thai, despite tasting unpleasant, the drink was photogenic

As we ate dinner on the beach we could hear some horrible sounding karaoke coming from afar. We kept waiting to hear english singing, but it never came! Only the sound of drunken Thai people shouting into the mic at the top of their lungs. We knew it was a sight we'd have to see, so we finished dinner up with a honey crepe and crept up on the singing group. As soon as we walked up, the entire crew motioned for us to come dance. So, of course, we did! They were all wearing neon green matching shirts, and the youngest people were about our age. The older Thai woman immediately started demonstrating how we should move our hands. It was the traditional Thai dance and we were getting it all wrong! Even the Thai boys were better at it than us. Forget that both of us have almost a lifetime of dance experience, the Thai hand gesture was just not coming so easily. Everytime we thought we had it down, someone new would come up to us and bend our fingers back even further! Tilt our head from one side to the other or pull our arms up and down. It was such a lovely time though, and they loved that we were actually trying! Later we found out that all these people were teachers at a school a few hours North of Bangkok.

These boys really dance better than us

yes, I sang with them- Ricky Martin & JLO!

Assistant director the baseball cap, all members were wearing these cool neon tshirts

We met the English teacher and the director and got offered jobs right away. The assistant director even expressed how lucky he felt to have met us and was so happy to hear us speak the few broken thai phrases we knew. They kept refilling our drinks all night and were sad to see us go a few hours later!

Amanda + sun salutations

The next day we were up early and walked around the island and found a really perfect secluded beach. (emphasis on perfect) We spent the entire day in the sun, the waves were absolutely perfect. The water was the perfect temperature. The fruit lady came by with the perfect coconut and the perfect strawberries. 

We hopped around boulders and swung in hammocks

Should have been in the shade..

Later ,we walked to the town center, checked out the temple and huge Buddha, burned some insence and possibly gave a scammer donations for the temple! I was a bit surprised to see a monk with such a huge belly. But typical Thai food isn't the healthiest, so anything is possible. He motioned us to approach the Buddha and handed us some incense to offer to the shrine. He then showed us some small key chains of Buddhist figures and asked for a donation, Amanda handed him a 20 and I gave him whatever coins I had. I saw he dropped the coins in the offering box then walked away with something green in his hand (which could have most likely been the 20 Baht bill Amanda donated) Nevertheless, it was nice and peaceful to be at the temple and just what I needed after a long day at the beach. We walked the entire way back down the island with our glowing sun & dust kissed skin & hairs.

Monk + dog leading the way

Amanda and Buddha

Early the next morning, we hopped on the ferry to the Ban Phe Pier, it was time to find our bus back to Bangkok. We had plenty of time to get back to the city, drop bags and get to the airport for our evening flight to Siem Riep, Cambodia! While waiting on the bus, Amanda did some shopping and later met me at the coffee shop accross from the station. We met a man that was actually American! Living in this tiny town in Thailand, married to a Thai woman, they had children together but he was beginning to feel frustrated with his life there. He expressed his desire for his children to be able to have a future, to have a real education and he was looking into moving back to the States. His issue was that he was already retired, and at his age, it's really difficult to get hired by any company. He wished us a safe trip back and noticed Amanda's severe sunburn. He suggested she take a bath with tea bags, since we had no access to a bathtub- It was time to improvise! Amanda gathered some tea bags and a cup with ice. For the 4 hour bus ride to Bangkok, Amanda gently applied tea bag juice on her skin. I was happy for the encounter with a fellow American and for the quick remedy for her painful condition! 

Amanda applying tea bag juice all over her body during our bus ride

It's funny how once you meet people abroad, you always run into them everywhere else. We met JJ, an Australian pilot living in Tokyo on the secluded beach the day before. He ended up being the only other Westerner on our bus back to Bangkok the next morning

Then we ran into him again on the metro! We also ran into some French people that didn't know Amanda and I are both fluent in French. Who could blame them? They heard us speaking English like Americans and would have never guessed. As they stood around talking about shoes and fashion, they looked down and noticed my vibram 5 finger toe shoes and made some comments about how funny looking they were. They were actually pretty sweet about the way the made fun of me and it was really satisfying to be able to say,"Pardon!" on the way off the train in the loudest, most French way possible. Amanda did the same thing, too! It was pretty hilarious to all of us!

The metro station is just accross Ekkamai Bus Station, we took the escalator up and took it to the stop nearest to the hostel I stayed in the first night. Before heading to the island, I asked them if it was possible to keep my big backpack in their storage closet during my 2 day trip to Cambodia. I didn't want to make the mistake of getting luggage charges on a flight again! **

** Side story- when I was leaving Trivundrum to meet Amanda in Bangkok. I thought I was going to be able to take my backpack as a carry-on. I was able to bring it on the plane with me all the way from Chicago, to Amsterdam, to Frankfurt, to New Delhi, to Mumbai, to Trivandrum- so why would things be different this time around? I didn't take into account that I would be flying on Tiger Air, a budget airline. Like most budget airlines, the flight itself is really affordable, but you have to pay for any extras, inlcluding luggage! I was excited to get to Thailand, I got to the airport 3 hours early! (this is unheard of for me!) I get through security, but when i go to check into my flight, the check-in agent says, "Can we please weigh your bag?" -my heart sinks! Then I remember reading that we can carry on 20kg, so I was thinking, ok ok this will be under 20! but actually you are only allowed on 10kg total! oops! my bag is 16kg. I feel the tears fill up my eyes, why was I so upset? I have no idea, maybe I was tired, I was sad to leave India, but ready to move on, I felt so many emotions, I didn't want to spend the money, I felt regret for not paying ahead of time and now getting charged double what I would have paid before, I felt frustration towards the agent. "Why would he ask me to weigh it??" "Why does he care?" "Nobody else asked me to weigh it before!" Then I calmed myself down and said, "Ok fine , I will throw everything in my bag away!" (dramatic, I know- but I was having a mini emotional crisis/ breakdown) I put my bag to the side and start throwing items out. All of my clothes were handwashed for the past 2 months, which equals faded, worn-out, not so clean! I thought to myself, "Ok, I don't need any of these clothes- I will just keep the essentials." I threw my yoga mat to the side too, most clothes, I even did a couple of double takes on my saree. I was so sad, I should have weighed my bag before, now the line to check in was getting longer and longer. Everyone stared at me, I decided ok, I can wear all this clothes! They can't ask me to weigh myself. I had a couple friends tell me they had similar experiences before and they wore all the clothes on their body instead. So I layered on the skirts, the shirts and scarves. Then I stopped and asked myself, ok it's only $100- do I feel unabundant,? Why is this such a big deal? Am I being mindful, am I acting recklessly? I've spent money on these items, why am I going to throw them out now? Will I be confortable in all these clothes? So I wiped my tears, packed all my things back in my bag. Then I got annoyed again, cause my bag was packed oh-so-perfectly before this mess! Now I couldn't get things back in the bag, it was bulkier than before, etc, etc. So I go back to the agent, I give him my card and I say, "Ok, I will pay..." He says, "Ok, you have to go the lady at the front and present her your payment, tell her you will be purchasing 10kg weight credit." I'm about to lose it again, why can't I just pay him directly? I go to the lady and all the girls around her see the tears in my eyes, they keep asking me if I'm ok, don't people know you can't ask someone that when they're already on the verge of tears? It ignites something! So, I say that everything is fine, that I didn't want to spend $100 on luggage fees, that I had a long week of traveling, and that I'm just ready to see my friend Amanda's face. I pay, but that's not it, I'm told when I get to my layover stop in Singapore, I will have to find the Tiger Air counters and pay the rest of my luggage fee- the surprises never stop! At this point, I'm ok again, I just want to get on the plane and sleep. It was a red-eye flight, leaving India at midnight, landing in Singapore in the wee hours of the morning. I was so happy to hangout at the Singapore Airport, it's been voted best airport in the world, has a movie theater, a rooftop garden, indoor zen spots, shopping and tons of free entertainment (internet)! I didn't get any sleep on the plane like I planned, I was next to the cutest Indian baby in the world, painted eyebrows, jump-suiit-wearing and all. But poor thing, must have been his first time on a plane, he was so tired but so scared, cried lots, he ate my cookies and that made him smile, but I couldn't blame him or even be mad at him for crying. 

My adorable flight companion, eating biscuits I gave him to distract him from crying

The flight was so uncomfortable for me, I can't imagine for him, or worse, for his tiny momma, forced to carry him for 5 hours in her skinny arms. I tried helping her as much as possible, but there was nothing I could do but give her passport and pass her things from her purse when she needed. 

A rose, a gift from up above! (Women's day presents from Singapore Airport)

Singapore was a relief, I ran into a German girl I met in Varkala, she was actually on my flight. It was nice to pour my heart out, speak English and have a friend around for a bit. I eventually lost her in the huge airport, but I was ready to be on my own again. I got the perfect 3 hour nap on some chairs, had my first starbucks in months and learned a great lesson about luggage charges on budget airlines! *

*end side story

Sunflowers are my favorite ( @ Singapore Airport)

The hostel in Bangkok agreed to letting me keep my big bag there for free- yay! I was really happy with the hostel, it was new and they were doing such a good job! The location is good, close to Silom and the fancy shopping mall, the price was affordable. Plenty of toilets, showers and sinks. Free tea, coffee, water and internet! I found them through Booking.com - This is my favorite website to book a room! It's nice because most all hotels and hostels are on this site and you can see tons of reviews, and another major plus is that you don't have to pay until you get there. Some sites ask you to pay online with a card, but most places on booking are refundable and you only put your card info down to reserve your spot, then you pay when you get there. 

After a quick metro ride, long-ish walk, we made it to the hostel, to my delight- I found my flip flops! My lucky trusty flip flops, that aren't actually mine! I think they belong to my sister, but they really are the best flip flops in the world. I have walked in them practically everyday (minus the 2 days on the island, cause I forgot them, so I was forced to walk barefoot to most places / wear my toe shoes #notcool)

Updates on our Cambodia adventures and more on Bangkok to come soon!

We found love on Koh Samet Island

-GIA