Thailand - Spring Break Trip 1/3

I am back from my extended travel! And there is so much to share, so I will try to give some highlights - fun, struggles, and all! My spring break trip included countless adventures over ten days, seven flights, six cities, five hostels, four countries, three boats, and with one good friend. 😊

Itinerary included: solo in Thailand (Phuket, Bangkok) --> meet friend in Vietnam (Hanoi, Ha Long) --> Hong Kong --> Macau, China

      Like any true adventure... it starts out completely wrong. My first set of three flights were to take me to Phuket, Thailand where my solo adventure would start. This included flying through Vietnam. A U.S. citizen needs to have a visa for any amount of stay in Vietnam, and through my online research I found a (what I thought was a credible) source that said I didn't need a visa to just fly through the airport. So I applied for a visa for just the days I was going to be in Vietnam, which was four days after just flying through. Upon arriving at the airport in Taiwan to take off, they asked for my visa and upon examination said it would not work. I needed my visa dates to include a fly through. 😬 Good thing I showed up to the airport two hours early (I will forever be early to my flights now!), because I sat in the airport and ordered an expensive new one-hour-rushed multiple-entry online visa through my phone. After a tense waiting period, with just minutes to spare before the check-in time closed I received the okayed email, asked reception to print out the paperwork, and made it on my flight. I thought I wasn't going to make it! 
      The flight was great! Landed in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and followed the queue to get the visa on arrival. Which was pretty simple, stand in line, hand in paperwork, sit and wait, get called to the front, pay $50 for stamp, then proceed to next flight. The only issue is I only had a couple hour layover... and had already spent a significant amount of time walking off the airplane on the tarmac and then piling on a bus to take us to the airport (which is common in Asia I came to find, instead of parking the plane at the gate). After I got the visa, they wanted me to leave through customs and then come back in and go through security again - but the time!! I already didn't think I was going to make it for a second time. So, I asked questions (which asking questions is the key to traveling!) and I was moved to a desk that got my tickets and allowed me in through a back security. I hustled to my gate... only to find it was delayed! What. 😐 I even had a shorter layover period at the next airport in Bangkok. How would I make it? Delayed 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes, gate switch, 1 hour... 
       Thankfully I didn't need the visa process for Thailand, but I was now getting worried a third time that I may miss my connecting flight. Finally we lined to board... and thankfully I like to print my flights and hotel confirmations because they needed my confirmed flight out of Thailand before I flew into it. 😅I was on my way. I landed in Bangkok, Thailand and ran through the airport asking workers which way were the connecting flights, and then going through a pass through security again... and them asking where my departure stamp was for Vietnam... 😳After explaining the situation, I again sprinted gate past gate, backpack zippers jingling, and was the second to last significantly late person on the flight. But I had made it. Flew into Phuket late in the evening, was too drained to try and figure out the bus system, and asked a tour service to call a car for me. Bless the car guy for calling my hostel to tell them I was on my way, and upon making it to the hostel, I just laid down and slept. 

     After all this... Thailand really was amazing. In Phuket I went to an elephant sanctuary where I mud bathed, swam, and showered with elephants. It was a truly a beautiful experience! Elephants are giant puppy dogs with sweet playful personalities! 😍

     I made friends some people in my hostel, and we headed out for the evening to Patong Beach and enjoyed the nightlife there. (Though I now know why Asian countries call it "table tennis" and not "ping pong"... for that explanation I will let you figure that our for yourself... be warned!) After this the next day I went on a boat tour of some of the famous Phi Phi islands in Thailand. Including the place where James Bond: The Man with the Golden Gun was filmed - which was stunning! We were able to kayak around at one point, and it was really one of the most beautiful places I have ever been too! Of all the places, I would have liked to have spent more time there in Phuket. 

     After roughly two days there, I flew to Bangkok for just one afternoon. Yes, the song "One Night in Bangkok" by Murray Head was playing over and over again in my mind the whole time, sadly I didn't play any chess though, haha. Here I went to a few different large temples, which were like large complexes full of magnificently decorated buildings and large buddhas. There are many gigantic buddhas in Bangkok. 

After this I went to have dinner and met another person solo traveling, and we went to one of the night markets where I ate a scorpion! 😱Weirdest thing I have ever eaten, and I've eaten some weird things. Very crunchy, and tasted like bland jerky... but I really was so worried about my teeth breaking I didn't really pay attention to the flavor, haha. 

Thailand definitely had the best food I had on my whole trip, and the street massages were so cheap and so worth it! 

Yes, yes, I do understand stranger danger. And I stay away from people who I don't feel comfortable around, I feel like there is a gut feeling that you get. And even when I am with someone I have just met, I try to make it a group of people, I still have my guard up. But I do feel like part of traveling is meeting other travelers as well. And more than not I have found people are more good than bad, and are as equally as wary of other strangers as I am, haha. Nonetheless, it's good to lock your things up in hostels (looking back I would have liked to have traveled with a small lock, but most places have locks you can rent for cubbies), good to always have an emergency plan, and good to always err on the side of caution. 

This concludes the first leg of the journey. The next, 2/3, is coming after I finish my Chinese language exam tomorrow! 

Wish me luck,
Ayla 

Things To Come

Rain dampened what I had planned for the previous weekend, so not much happened. But it is always good to have those rainy day activities. Like watching movies with a new friend crammed on a bottom bunk in the dorm, while eating noodles from a 7/11 convenience store. Or by planning a new trip for the long break we have coming up! 

Mitsui Outlet Park

This coming week we have roughly five days off, which I extended into nine, for a "spring" break of sorts. I am getting very excited as time draws near. The plan is to visit three different countries. Hint: one I needed a visa for. 😉The rest of the details I am going to keep a secret for my next blog! And get ready for more pictures! Like I said before my friend and I planned this all just a few days ago, and well there are a few things that I would do again if I could go back in time. 

1. I would have planned it earlier. Yes, the tickets were still very cheap, and the planning went well. But if I would have done it earlier, it may have been even less expensive. And I would have more time to prepare. I am a major procrastinator, and this is one time I really think I would have less stress about getting ready if I would have done it earlier. 

2. I would have payed more attention to the dates on the applications. All of the flights need information on your passport, that's no surprise. But sometimes different applications have different ways of formatting the date. Sometimes it's Month/Day/Year, and other times it's Day/Month/Year. I definitely flipped some numbers and had to run down a rabbit hole to try and fix it. So, just something to be aware of.

3. I would have checked visas sooner. With the planning it earlier comes the issue of visas. I got extremely lucky and my visa application was a simple online $20 USD app that processes in two days and I receive it upon arrival at the airport. Some other friends didn't quite have that luck, and had to make a last minute appointment to visit an embassy to get their visa, which luckily the embassy was in our city. Here is a site where I found all my visa info for any country: https://cibtvisas.com/visa-quick-check

Nonetheless, it has all seemed to work out. It is hard to convey how excited I am! And I just continue to hope that everything goes smoothly along the way... and if not, well that's part of the adventure! 

Other little things I recently been thinking about and have forgot to mention in previous posts-
The exchange rate for USD to New Taiwan Dollar (NTD) is really good. It is approximately 1:30. This makes things mostly cheaper than in the U.S., but other things, mostly clothing, they have increased the price so it is roughly equivalent to back home. 
Another thing is the outlets here are the same as in the U.S. I brought a universal converter with me, but I haven't used it once! I am sure it will come in handy for other travels though! 
Lastly, the clothes I brought with me are wearing out pretty fast. Holes have started to appear in pants and shirts feel thinner. It makes me sad, but then again now it's time for some local shopping! 😄

To be honest, I don't know how I am going to leave this place and all the new friends I have made. It already makes me sad, and we still have three months! 

Cheers to the rest of semester,
Ayla 

The Good and The Bad

Going abroad requires a lot of adjustment, no matter if it is a short vacation or a long trip. Food, languages, transportation, and cultural differences just to name a few. Being in a place that is so different (as this is my first time in Asia), and for an extended time (this is the longest I have been in a different country) some things have been easier to adjust to than others.

The Bad.
And by bad I don't mean things I hate, or the worst things in life; just some simple dislikes or annoyances I've encountered that are different here than in any place I've been. Some simple, and others a little more complex.

My hair. Nothing I try to do with my hair works. Straightening it, curling it. I guess that's just the humidity, which I have experienced before, but it's just become an extra nuisance. It's like my hair is wavy, but too frizzy to wave properly, and therefore randomly poofy and everywhere. I am really considering chemically straightening it!

The garbage trucks. Everyone knows about the ice cream man in the U.S. You're friendly neighborhood family driving around playing a nice jingle to excite children with the thought of a tasty treat. Well here, there aren't any ice cream men - only garbage trucks that play the same tune over and over again at incredibly early times in the morning while picking up the trash. Friends and I have speculated that maybe it is to alert other cars that the truck has stopped on the street. Either way, the tune will forever fester in my mind.

Dorm living. This is my first experience living in a dorm, and it can be challenging. I have all emotions about being in a room with three other people, stacked on top of each other in bunk beds. I think they are amazing people, and there is so much to learn from being so close with them. On the other hand it is hard. Everyone has different sleep rhythms, shower times, class times, and tidiness habits. Being in such close proximity can be overwhelming - yet what a great support system and communication experience. This should be under the "good" list too!😄

Walking. Of all the things to get used to, walking everywhere is another (welcome) challenge, haha. I guess I didn't realize how lazy I was before, or maybe it's just that my home state requires you to drive everywhere because of the long distances. I get tired and sometimes dread the walk, and also wish for instant teleportation. The other fact is that I am sweating a lot in this heat and humidity, which will only get worse, and I feel kind of gross after walking a lot, haha. Regardless, it is becoming more normal, and I think of it as hiking practice! Plus, I need all the exercise I can get with all this tasty food!

The Good.
So many things are "good" here! I feel so blessed to have this opportunity every time I walk out my door. And am really enjoying everything, even things from the "bad" list above. Here are a few weird things I wanted to share that I am enjoying!

Claw machines. As a kid everyone has memories at random places of them begging their parents for a quarter or two to put into the machine to see if the mechanical claw could grab a stuffed animal. Here there are claw machines on every block, open 24/7, with 25+ machines inside! It is fun and enjoyable to go sweat a little as you try to position the metal claw just right to hopefully get a stuffed animal, backpack, keychain, hat, or any other assortment of random stuff inside.

Dumplings. Haven't I already mentioned dumplings before?! So good. I can't get enough of them. Every flavor, cooked every way, and in every shape! And did I mention how good they were?! 😉 I highly recommend them. Come to Taiwan just for the dumplings! 

The buses. Convenience mixed with a cheap fare, I can't complain. The bus system here can take you anywhere on the island. And you pay with the same easy card for each of them. They may be crowded, and not quite all of them have air conditioning, but I appreciate the ease it provides in getting around in a place where I can't drive.

By no means is this the same for everyone! Some of my friends here have really been struggling with missing their family and friends, while that isn't a huge issue for me (yet haha). I am definitely beginning to see that collectively as a group of students study abroad there is a lot of camaraderie, as we are all in the same situation together. We are all here to support each other and be supported. It's kind of like summer camp, but we aren't kids anymore, haha. It's a huge learning experience in patience, respect, and self realization. I highly recommend trying to go abroad. No it's not always easy, but you come out stronger in the end. It's great. 😊

And now here are some pictures of places I have been to this past couple weeks and, oh ya, some food!! I think I did more eating this week than anything else, haha.😄

Some Dumplings

Hot dog fried with fries... yes it's a thing!

A delicious montage of mystery 

Miso Pho soup mix

Wax Apples

At the National Museum of Natural Science
They also had animatronic dinosaurs too... so cool!

At the National Museum of Natural Science

At the National Museum of Natural Science

At the National Museum of Natural Science

Sushi conveyor belt at Sushi Express

Hot and Sour Soup

Fountains at my university

Mud Skipper At Gaomei Wetlands

Gaomei Wetlands

More dumplings

Very old temple in Lukang

Temple in Lukang

Temple in Lukang

The statues of gods inside temple

Temple pond with koi fish and turtles 

Market in Lukang

Lion face painting

Larger temple in Lukang

Hot dog wrapped with egg in honey mustard sauce
It's better than you think! 

Tan Yuan... hot gooey rice balls
filled with seaseme and peanuts
on a bed of ice with a sweet syrup

Fried Chicken under fresh greens and cheese sauce

Custard filled pastry with bruleed sugar

Traditional hot dog with greens on a rice bun

Strawberries covered in hardened sugar

Crabs

Taiwanese burger:
bacon, cabbage, sour relish, peanuts, and parsley

Also, I am officially sick. Just a cold, but I feel pretty bland. It seems like all of us international students are passing it around. I am definitely thankful that I haven't dealt with any jet lag or food related illnesses... I can settle for a cold!

Here's to getting better in all aspects,
Ayla