Thailand - how it all started

Our trip to Thailand was a surprise to us, as well. A last minute thing. We were getting ready to go to Egypt and finally, after almost five years, cruise the Nile river, see the pyramids and see, almost touch the history of ancient civilisation. Egypt. Many people go there, cause it's a relatively cheap holiday destination that can be reached within a few hours. And with a guarantee of warm see, lots of sun, clear blue skies and colourful coral reefs. I've been to Egypt just once. Also as a last minute thing, cause our flight back from Fuerteventura got cancelled last minute. We went to Sharm el Sheikh for a bit of that not-doing-anything-apart-from-resting. And it really was great. Chilly and windy for two days, but apart from that - everything I mention in the sentence above. We've been meaning to see the historical side of the country for many years now. And I think that the cruise plus Cairo covers most of it. Our first cruise got cancelled cause of the revolts in 2011. And I get that. This time also the cruise got cancelled and I didn't feel like spending two weeks doing absolutely nothing. No. For the second time this year, I rebooked our flight tickets a month before our planned departure date. And instead of heading to Hurghada, we were off to... Bangkok!

I spent the last month before the trip planning, reading, trying to squeeze as many places as I could into our itinerary, yet not spend too much time on the road but in the places as such. I was adding places to the list and crossing them out, then adding them again and crossing them out, and so on. All we knew was that we were landing in Bangkok and departing from Bangkok. The middle was a mistery. With so many interesting places to see and so many fun things to do. All theoretical, of course, but so tempting.

We were going in the rainy season, so we had to factor that in. Apart from planning the places where we spent the nights, nothing else was certain. And we were more than fine with that. I mean, we were going to Thailand. It was like a dream come true to me. We were planning to go there during winter school break, but after a lot of talking, we decided to call it off. Postpone. For no idea how long. And suddenly, when I let go of it, I got a chance to go there. I could do anything and that made me happy anyway. But, in the end, we managed to do even more than we hoped for. 

We finally decided to do a little bit of big city stuff, a little bit of wildlife stuff and a little bit of island stuff. It looked like a pretty decent first time in Thailand. Yes, first time, cause we already know that we'll come back. When we already had the general plan, I started booking accommodation. And plane tickets for the internal flight. And two out of three road/water transfers. We were ready to go.

Thailand is pretty easy to organise for first timers. A good destination for people who plan their first trip to such a distant country. Foreign in language, in culture, in practically everything. A lot of things can be arranged online in advance. If a person you're writing to can't help you, they'll contact you with the person who will. They'll answer all your questions. Plus there are so many places on the Internet where you can find information on Thailand that there should be no problem with that.

If you can't or don't want to arrange your transfers and accommodation online or in advance (you might want to be more flexible on the way), you can always do it there. There are so many travel agencies in Thailand that'll be more than happy to help you with all your transfers that you can't imagine. Almost everything can be arranged, so no worries about that. All you have to do is not to be afraid to ask and be open. Sometimes language barrier is an issue, especially in smaller towns or places with lesser tourists, but a smile on your face will always help you communicate. We practically had no problem with that, though we could not always understand what people were trying to tell us.

All in all, it was a great trip. Our first trip to the Far East. And we're already planning a second one. No, not for this year. This year we're planning to explore Europe a little bit more. All I'm waiting for right now is a good deal on plane tickets ;)

A few pictures from Bangkok for a good start:

 

 I know this picture is blurred, but it was the best I could get. And look at these beautiful yellow birds flying freely in the tree. Yellow birds! :)