Day 3 — Bangkok

Alanna Wilkie
Sep 7, 2018 · 11 min read

Mornings are beautiful in Bangkok. I can hear birds chirping, the people across the street setting up their restaurant, and a motorbike passing by. The gates are still locked at the entrance to our hostel. It’s a very open concept here, so at night they lock it up to protect us/our things. I just looked through one of the holes in the gate and saw two girls walking by with huge backpacks. Probably 70L which is a lot of space. There’s two reasons people would bring that much stuff — they’re new to travelling, or they are going on a very long trip. Maybe they just really like clothing. Refer to my first post..if it was me a few years ago I 100% would have brought a bag like that. Growth?✔

I woke up early-ish today after staying up late last night. I’m the only person awake in the hostel unless someone was up before me. This is why I don’t drink. To me, these few extra hours I get to spend by myself are precious.


Day three did not go how I expected. I was up by 4:00 AM as usual and went downstairs to plug in and charge my MacBook while I did one of my entries. Each stair to get up to our room are different coloured, and they are so steep I have to do the “two arms on wall side step” to get down them if you know what I mean. Maybe that’s just something I do but it usually does the trick. I am nervous to see someone fall down them when they’re drunk. Hasn’t happened yet, knock on wood. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be awake since it was such an odd time. One of the workers here sleeps on a chaise lounge every night. So she is here to keep me company, even though she’s sleeping.

I walked downstairs and saw Marvin, Youness, and Raghu sitting at one of the indoor picnic tables. First let me tell you a little about them..

Marvin- a twenty two year old tall, thin, German. He has blue eyes, but not the common light blue I normally see back home. They look like the darker parts of the ocean where the coral lays. He has very clean skin and keeps himself maintained. He dresses well, usually in a flannel and skinny jeans. He wears a tiger eye necklace. He told me he gave his last one to his niece before he left for his trip, so he replaced it with one he bought here. Marvin has a great smile, even though his teeth are not perfect. On day three he showed me his two new tattoos — the ohm symbol on his wrist, and “adventure” in tiny letters on his arm. We smiled when we realized we had the same ohm tattoo. He is a shy, and very sweet guy. I have only known him a few days but I can tell he is genuine. He has a great mindset and we agreed that we both felt inspiration from talking to one another. I feel that we had some sort of connection, or maybe we just really understood eachother. He has been very comfortable opening up to me. I think people can easily see that I have no judgement, and that I’m listening to what they are saying. You’d be surprised what you can take in and learn from a conversation if you actually give somebody your full attention.

Youness-a nineteen year old from Germany as well. Him and I could pass as siblings or cousins — as Mitchell told me later that day. He has brown hair, which is slightly undercut and he leaves it longer on top with his curls falling naturally. Probably one of my favourite hairstyles on a guy. He has brown eyes, olive skin, and a beautiful smile, especially when it’s me making him laugh. My very first impression was that he looked like a young Aladdin. Oh and he is also shredded! He has no tattoos (yet) and he is a Capricorn like me. Youness is very mature and he is so lucky to have such a great attitude towards life at this age. He is innocent, and pure. He hasn’t experimented much, but he is slowly getting out of his comfort zone to try new things. He knows he wants to grow as a person, but his parents and his religion have limited him from doing so. He travelled against his parents wishes, but is happy that he made the choice to follow his dream. I was giving him a lot of advice and life lessons. He said “It’s times when I have conversations like this, that I grow the most”. I noticed that when we started our conversation he was filled with doubt, but by the end he was feeling motivated and excited to make change. I am eager to follow his journey and see where life takes him. I will never forget the way he thanked me for our conversations.

Raghu- a twenty nine year old from India. He was a little taller than I am (5'5), with a rich and dark skin tone. His eyes were the colour of the espresso my dad makes at home. He had a gold ring on, and it definitely caught my eye. It was probably gifted to him by someone in his family. Ugh I love gold. He always had a hat on, every single day I saw him. No tattoos- he said that tattoos make a person look dirty. I wondered if this was something he actually thought or if it was just an influence from his parents. Raghu was very closed off and quiet, but was not shy to state his opinion when he was passionate about something. He spoke very loudly and would always make sure to laugh or smile when he made a statement, in fear he would offend us. He did say quite offensive things and would pat shoulders to say he was kidding, even though we knew he wasn’t. He seemed to be very wise for his age. He was intimidating the other two guys and using his age as leverage. Seemed to be just a dominance thing. I think Raghu will learn a lot on this trip, and I hope he is able to open up and accept new things.

The four of us sat and talked for two hours. We talked about relationships, the past, reasons for travelling, religion, and life in general. It was one of those intense conversations that leave you with speechless for a while afterwards. All four of us were very different people, yet we still were able to relate to majority of the things we talked about. Raghu and Youness clashed quite a bit in conversation. They didn’t understand each others thought process - Raghu was quite stubborn and set in his beliefs. They got into a few arguments over Spirituality vs. Hinduism. I was able to cool them off by explaining that each of us have different views and that is okay. I did mention that it is always better to have an open mind, and be willing to learn about something new. We don’t all have to agree on it, or choose to practice it, but at least it will show us a new perspective and way of living.

In the end of the conversation we were all feeling very inspired. I thought of something I had been wanting to do for a while. It was an idea in the back of my mind, but I was unsure how to make it reality. I went for it and asked them if they would be willing to answer a few questions on camera..sort of like an interview. They would be very personal and deep questions that they wouldn’t know beforehand. I knew that this way, their answers would be honest and real. I have seen this done before but I wanted to try to make it happen myself. I asked the three of them if they would. Youness and Marvin were happy to do it, and Raghu refused as I expected he would. The videos I have so far are very touching. I decided I will film a few people from each hostel I stay at and put the videos together as a collective. That project will be finished months from now but I am excited to put it together.


We were feeling sluggish and decided that we wanted to find a gym. We are all very consistent with our workouts so having this many days off was starting to get to us. The gym owner suggested one fairly close by, so we quickly got changed, put our sneakers on, and were out the door on our next adventure.

Most gyms in Thailand are specifically designed for Muai Thai —
Muay Thai (Thai: มวยไทย, RTGS: Muai Thai, pronounced [mūa̯j tʰāj] or Thai boxing is a combat sport of Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques.[1][2][3][4] This discipline is known as the “Art of Eight Limbs” because it is characterized by the combined use of fists, elbows, knees and shins.[5]

The gym we went to was part of a hotel. It had all the Muai Thai equipment, but also had free weights and exercise machines. This was perfect for all of us. We each did our own workouts and I used my band to add extra tension (thanks to Mark for letting me borrow his). When I’m not at a gym, I will use the band majority of the time. The boys did a pyramid bicep burnout and we were all cheering and pumping each other up. Youness was very focused throughout his entire workout. He wasn’t talking until the very end. I admired that he was able to stay in his zone and not get distracted— that is probably why his body looks so good. The front desk attendant had an amazing rnb playlist. We were loving the song choices. The ceiling had a major leak and there were a couple workers with buckets and towels trying to clean up the mess. I brought him over our towels since we were done using them, and placed them where the water was. I asked if he wanted any more help, and he was so grateful that I asked, even though he insisted that I didn’t help him. I was sitting while watching the boys practice kicks and punches. Chris has experience, so he was teaching proper technique.


Swollen feet from flying and walking, plus an intense workout, was a bad combination for my body. I was feeling quite stiff. What do you do in Thailand when you’re feeling stiff? Well, you simply walk one street over to a massage parlour where you are welcomed with a smile and incredible service. These ladies take great care of you, so you really can forget about all of your worries — even if it’s just for one hour.

I ended up getting a full body oil massage. When I walked in, there were reclining chairs laid out in the lobby. That is where they do leg and foot massage. It is right out in the open like that so they can easily advertise to tourists. I said I would be getting the oil massage and she told me to sit in the waiting room. A small Thai lady in beige uniform came over with a bowl of water and soap, to wash my feet before we started. They really are always smiling. Sometimes when getting a massage I am concerned that the other person is getting tired, and I am not able to relax. Here, I felt extremely comfortable in their hands, because I knew they were more than happy to help me out.

She took me into a private room in the back. She said “Take clothing off, leave underwear okay?” and left the room for a few minutes. They had strong essential oils all throughout the shop. Peppermint and lavender were what my nose picked up. The smell alone was enough to relax me. I took a few deep breaths and really felt the moment. Once my clothing was off, I covered myself with the thin piece of fabric she gave me.

The oil was warm. The technique she used was graceful and fluid. She started out with a lighter touch, and as the massage went on she was more firm in her movements. I appreciated the way she touched me, and how she made sure to keep my precious areas covered. I know there are some places that offer a happy ending type of massage (Geoff — a coworker from my last job and I joked about this and how it would probably end up happening to me). But this massage was a professional one. Sorry if you thought that’s where this was going. Maybe another day.

I was in a deep relaxed state. I made sure to connect my breath with my mind and body, as I have practiced for many months before this trip. She would focus on one area and slowly make her way to the next. My neck, and feet were the best parts of the massage. When she did my feet, she cracked each of my toes which was kind of funny and unexpected. It made me giggle and brought back a memory of my dad doing this to me as a child. That memory was just another thing that gave me comfort. Talk about a perfect moment. She had me sit up and she grabbed both of my arms and hooked hers between my elbows. She told me to relax, pulled my arms behind me, and arched my back. She cracked up my entire spine by repositioning me a couple times. Wow! This was incredible. She relieved all the tension I had in my upper body.
It’s amazes how such tiny women are that strong and how great they are with their hands.

She finished, and thanked me. I corrected her and I said no, thank YOU. She laughed and said “khob khun kaa” again which means thank you in Thai. She told me that when you say it to a woman it’s “khob khun kaa” and to a man it’s “khob khun kup”. It all depends on your relationship with the person, and social status. I used this in confidence for the rest of the day. When you say it you put your hands together and bow your head. They love it when tourists do this, as it is a great form of respect, and they know you mean it when you say it.

I walked out in the waiting room and waited for the boys to finish their Thai massage — it was a lot more rough than mine and is more of a deep tissue massage/cracking of the bones. I could hear them all laughing because the lady was calling Mitchell a wimp (he did have a pretty bad sunburn on his back and forgot to tell her). Every groan and grunt the boys made in pain, she would repeat back and imitate them. I was laughing, and was happy with my choice of massage over theirs. The ladies brought me out a tea and I sat there cross legged with my eyes closed. I felt like I was on another planet. Mitchell came out limping and told me I looked high, but who needs drugs when you can have an experience like that? I responded with “I’m high on life”.

These are the better days I prayed for.

Alanna

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