Today is the day that Jeff and I shrink down all of our clothes, toiletries and personal belongings to a 55L backpack and 15L daypack for the next 29 days. When I first started thinking about my sabbatical I knew I wanted to have unique and rare experiences that would not be afforded to me should we plan our own itinerary. Thankfully we got linked up with Sharon Browning of Dream Vacations (thanks Jason!) who quickly hopped into Google Meet after Google Meet to help us turn our dream into reality.

We landed on a group tour with a company called G Adventures, well known in the intrepid backpacking community for itineraries out of the norm. The perfect itinerary was laid out right in front of us – 29 days by plane, train, and automobile through the countries of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia. We would join up to 15 other travelers from around the world, most likely in search of similar experiences, along with a guide who is local to the area. If you are ever interested in such a trip I would highly recommend looking into G Adventures as they do tours all over the world both big and small (and no they aren’t paying us…yet?)

Arrival to Royal Hotel Bangkok landed us in the immediate hustle and bustle of the Chinatown street market. I remarked to Jeff that if we had not already been in Bangkok and arrived to this scene right after the airport then my senses would have been overloaded. There was Peking duck hanging in one stall, pork sausages being grilled at another, and everywhere you looked was a sea of people eating and drinking amidst the traffic.

Check-in was smooth and we definitely knew from this point onward we were not in five star accommodations and honestly, that is all part of the experience. And for those wondering, the hotel was four star so it is not like we are slumming it by any means! At 6pm we headed down to the lobby to meet our guide, also known as the Chief Experience Officer (CEO), of our trip for the next 29 days. There was a sense of nerves and excitement as we not only got to meet our CEO but also the rest of our travelers! We were given a piece of paper with the first itinerary of the 12 days, which takes us through Thailand, Laos and lands us into Vietnam. The reason for this is that not all of the travelers will be on the full 29 day tour since it is actually three tours put together in one.

So we first get to me Chit who is our amazing CEO / tour guide and has been doing this for more than 9 years so far. He just got off this same tour with a different group and is ready to do it all over again – pretty wild! From there we went around the table to meet everyone, hear where they are from, what they want out of this tour and my favorite question – what is your favorite drink. It is a good smattering of age ranges, reasons to be on the trip and hometowns of where everyone hails from. There is a good contingency of folks from Ireland (six in total), four from Australia, three from England and then us two – the only Americans. We got to hear from Chit about the plan for tonight, eat dinner together, and then what each of the 12 days would roughly plan out to be. There is quite the adventure ahead of us but first we feast – we took the underground metro rail transit (MRT) one stop and enjoyed Thai food as our first meal together.

The next day we woke up early to enjoy breakfast at the hotel with a view of Bangkok. We all gathered in the lobby and met an additional local guide that was going to tour us around the city in two ways – the first by long tail boat on the Chao Phrayo river and the second by foot through the streets to make our way to Wat Po. Yes, that Wat Po from our first full day since we forgot the itinerary and got ahead of ourselves…but don’t worry, we figured out a plan *insert devilish grin*.

Our guide, whose name was Ohm, is a local that gets employed by G Adventures so that we give back to the local economy and get to hear from those that know the place the best. Before departing, Chit explained that we must stick together like “sticky rice” to not lose anyone and that he calls his tours “family” as a term of endearment – let’s go sticky rice family! Quickly whisking us through side streets and alleyways and off to a long tail boat made us realize just how local Ohm was!

Stepping onto the pier, it was overcast and the weather projected a thirty percent chance of rain – we honestly welcomed the cooler weather this morning, which was in the high 70s. The long tail boats revved their engines up to the pier and the group split in two with us having the benefit of Ohm being seated in ours. The river chopped waves up and down while we steadily jetted through them and into the canals known as klongs. The sights ranged from beautiful homes guarded by piercing fences to homes teetering on makeshift concrete blocks and wood. Many homes had exposure to the outside with us being able to peer right into their world from our vantage point of the boat. Ohm pointed out the well camouflaged Komodo dragon lizards that were either perched atop ledges or swimming in the klong. Passing the Thai naval station and deeper into the klong allowed us to be rewarded with an astonishing sight – a very Buddha clad in “gold.” Ohm told us about its history, which the King had it built and the current use today – you guessed it, for religious prayer and reflection. Winding back through the klong and into the river, our journey on the water was over and Ohm took us over to Wat Po.

Since Jeff and I already visited Wat Po, but the tickets were paid for with the tour, we decided early in the day to treat ourselves at the Thai School of Massage while our fellow travelers experienced the temple grounds with Ohm. This massage was one of the best foot, hand, shoulder and back treatments we have ever had. Funny enough it was only a “foot massage” but both commented how tight we were and worked there way across other parts of our body. At one point there were stone rods being used to trigger points in our toes and next they were entwined with our legs using their socked feet to pressure their way into our hamstrings. It was a mixture of pleasure and pain that we both understood was a requisite after our prior days of travel and adventure. Reminder from my prior post, this was only $13 for an hour.

Leaving refreshed, relaxed and in need of food, we set off to make our attempt to visit and enjoy the country’s one Michelin star street food stall. There is a sentigenarian known as Jay Fai, clad in ski goggles, that is the only chef cooking the food with her staff taking orders, delivering, and getting folks on the waiting list. Adding our name to the list we were number 89 and the white board had only seated up to the high 50s. After about an hour of waiting on the street we could hear our stomachs rumbling and knew that only a few seats had switched over since we only made it to 62. Thankfully we were right next to Thip Samai from Monday’s lunch so we crossed our name off the list, settled into Pad Thai and this time I got that OJ…I was impressed with its flavor and it took pulp to a new level. Bellies full, we exited and had to see where the service got up to…92! It is okay though since we end this tour back in Bangkok and both decided we would plan better to make it to Raan Jay Fai.

Back at the hotel we all gathered our belongings to head to the train station by private shuttle bus. The train station’s food court got ransacked by our group who got items for takeaway and others to eat on the spot; Jeff grabbed fried chicken cutlets with rice and I did the same but with pork. Whenever we travel we also gravitate towards the local chip flavors and Thailand did not disappoint – I snagged Nori Seaweed Lays and Jeff got his favorite ketchup flavored. The one we did not snag that was the…most interesting was peanut, lime, crab and cabbage in one bite of a chip. My brain could not compute those flavors together so I opted for the safer seaweed flavor, knowing nori jives with my tastebuds.

Boarding the train was quick and within 20mins our seats were turned into beds with lower bunks and upper bunks – it was quite a site to see all of these people crammed into the train car. Jeff and I both had lower bunks, which afforded us a window to the outside world. All of us knew we were in for an interesting night so we did our best to wind down, eat what food we brought, and enjoy the sights until our eyelids could not be held up any longer. In the morning we will awake in Chiang Mai with our first stop the hotel and then a Thai cooking class.

Much love from a bumpy train ride – Andrew