Although I was sad to leave Elephant’s World, I knew that we still had two thirds of our trip to go. Our amazing adventures had really just begun. Arriving back in Bangkok and spending more time there revealed the diversity of the city, from abandoned buildings and trash, to pristine gardens and gorgeous skyscrapers. We had some extra time to explore two huge malls in Bangkok. The second mall had an outdoor food market where Ryan and I picked up some tasty local Thai food. It was kind of strange going straight from our rural living at Elephant’s World to a commercial mall in a massive city, but it was fun to see a new side of Thai life. For instance, once we finished our meals, Ryan and I looked around for a trash can. There was not one in sight. So we just held on to our trash and kept walking, hoping to come across one. Finally a man who looked like a janitor came up to us and asked if we were finished. I guess most people just leave their trash somewhere and wait for the clean up crew to find it. This was a major difference I noticed because at home people look down on littering. Walking around the mall we also noticed a lot of differences in food. Dairy Queen offered Green Tea flavored cones, McDonald’s advertised sweet corn as a topping on sundaes, and a grocery we wandered into was stocked with leechi juice.
The next day was filled with activities, but we started off the day with a trip to Lumpini park. This park was beautiful, and very well maintained. I imagine it is somewhat similar to Central park because of the skyscraper building
s that surrounded it. Throughout the park there was exercise equipment like a normal gym would have except it was made out of the same material as outdoor playgrounds. I tried all the machines because it was fun, but I was also confused because previously I had thought that most foreign cultures don’t put as much emphasis on exercise, they just live healthier lifestyles. All throughout the park there were beautiful shelters styled to reflect asian culture. We even found a field with bushes that were trimmed to look like elephants. Our next stop was JJ’s Market which is a gigantic outdoor ma
rketplace. We had to use the buddy system because all of the shops formed a labyrinth that was virtually impossible to navigate if you got distracted by something that caught your eye. The most shocking difference we noticed here were the prices. Everything was extremely cheap. I picked up two t-shirts that were only two dollars a piece. Thailand cuisine is known world wide, so being able to take a cooking class was really great. We learned how to make traditional pad thai, prawn soup, fresh spring rolls, green curry chicken, and mango sticky rice. Maybe now I can spruce up my regular meals I make at home with recipes from the cookbook we received.