Location: Koh Samui, Thailand

Well the day has arrived and I’ll do my best to keep this from being a total sob-fest. My last day in Thailand!

The only three things I really wanted to do today were things representative of a lot of my time in Thailand: get a foot massage, eat spicy coconut soup, see the ocean. I did manage to complete them all and as a bonus I even stopped into a 7-11 to load up on my favourite Thai chocolate bars to bring home!

I could describe my day in detail as usual but I think I’d rather spend my space here talking about Thailand as a whole. I unfortunately caught COVID (I didn’t know it at the time) and it brought me down hard for my return home which consisted of a miserable five flights over 40 hours, which is why the wildly late post.

Thailand is known as the land of smiles, and after spending close to two months exploring many of its facets I can see why. People don’t have to speak your language to interpret a smile, and locals say there are over 40 types of smiles for all different situations meaning all sorts of things. But one thing is clear: people are friendly everywhere you go. People do not yell or raise their voices here. Sure, there is seriousness, but it is never the cold kind you often get in North America or Europe.

I never felt unsafe and I never felt fully lost because someone was always willing to help me. I never worried whether I would have what I needed or whether people would deliver on their promises. ‘Thai time’ is a thing, usually a schedule doesn’t mean much. In Thailand I really wanted for nothing and worried very little.

Even in the rainy season the buildings sparkled with colour and people laughed and dressed brightly and went about their days. Power lines bunched and snaked over every crosswalk and along every road. You don’t need to press the crosswalk button, just step out into the road. I sweated my way through nine bottles of sunscreen even though everyone was all ‘why go in the rainy season it’s just going to rain!’. I love the rain but the sun was hot and out more than enough for me to get a respectable tan!

The entire country is brimming with little outdoor kitchens and food stalls selling always spicy and full of flavour foods that are all worth trying. No spicy still means a little spicy. I ate and ate and ate everything put in front me, including fruit (which is a tough sell for me!). People clearly take a lot of pride in the food they make, the handicraft and art they sell, the services they offer. Even the places that don’t belong in a ‘home-maker’ magazine. Especially the places that don’t belong in a ‘home-maker’ magazine. The metal tabled, wooden slatted tarp covered kitchens were the best. 80 Baht. Just $3. Massaman curry, tom yum, coconut soup, fried rice, roasted duck, pad Thai, Khao soi, cashew chicken, crying-tiger, lemon shakes, Thai iced tea, Chang beer. 7-11 toasties. Ignore the roaches, they don’t indicate anything in Asia.

The traffic was wild everywhere I went with few discernible rules, but getting where I wanted to go was never too difficult and never too expensive. Bring motion-sickness pills. Usually a tuk-tuk or a scooter ride will get you where you’re going. I haggled for rides, I haggled for food, I haggled at tent stalls for trinkets and clothes, and for massages. I’ve never been particularly good at it but in Thailand it’s not only customary, it’s expected. I learned the language of bartering is more like a friendly game and not at all about trying to rip someone off. It never felt like that.

I climbed up lush hills and scuba dived in green blue seas. I learned to scooter along the ocean-side, slept on a night train, and walked along the road because sidewalks don’t exist. I fed elephants, swam with sharks, cheered at Muay-Thai fights, and partied with friends on the beach until sunrise wearing fairy wings. I hired locals to show me around, sang along to a cabaret show, and ordered and ate ‘whatever is popular here’. I covered myself up for gold-tipped temple visits and jumped off rocks into the ocean in my swimsuit. I bounded through unmarked jungle streams, teetered on mountain ridges, and sat in flour soft sand. Thailand really has absolutely everything you could want to experience in one country, and it’s breath-takingly beautiful to boot.

Who could ask for much more?

Until the next adventure,

Sav