Jan 24, 2014

Thailand.. #2. When nature is your life teacher

Did you know that one of the Thai famous islands, Koh Samui, exports worldwide 3 million pieces of coconuts monthly? I did not. Nor did I knew that for being so successful in this business those Thai people have to be creative and yet efficient quite a lot. With respect to nature (and because of apparent lack of money) they are using for coconut business workers you would expect to see the least, monkeys. They are actually trained to go up to the palms and throw down the coconuts to the farmers waiting on the ground so that they can use them for many purposes after. Isn´t that amazing? All this in exchange for some food. What else can you do when you are chained to a piece of metal, of course. But, it is as it is. We are all chained to some things in life, similarly to  those monkeys who are chained to the palms around them. 


One of the lessons in Thailand that I learned was that when you have no means or you are in a desperate situation, your creativity ´wakes up´ and you have no other choice but to respect the mother nature and learn to adapt to it with some profit, too. Sooner or later you will come with an idea of some kind. And in between, while still being a tourist you use your time-off from work for thinking out your past year and planning your goals for another period ahead, you start to realize that some of the things you thought were important suddenly are not that important and your priorities shuffle unexpectedly. And you make for yourself a new pack of goals, goals that are different from your materialistic and tangible plans a year before. 


However, coming back to the topic of what to see for example in Thailand, the common attraction from the ´nature´ point of view is riding on elephants, creatures with the funniest tongue I have ever seen and animals that evoke in you deep respect for the way this world is created. Not mentioning other things as jumping into the waves in the sea at a sunset time or admiring animals you would not expect to meet on your daily walk as water buffalos or horses. But as you probably noticed (on Instagram for example:) elephants ruled for me without a doubt for most of my Thai trip (ok, equally with the food:). Of course, the fact that they did not eat my arm when feeding them while they could, brought an added value to it, too. 


And so, with connection to great food and a very distinctive culture, the best thing you can do for yourself (and the advice I would like to pass to everybody travelling around the world) is to wonder around islands or inside the cities without any idea of where you currently are. As a reward, you are going to became more intuitive, attentive to the detail and also appreciating of things you did not expect, as finding a bench hanging from the palm on a secret beach or smiles you get back no matter where you go from whoever you meet on your way. I have to say that I miss that here a lot, it was a very shocking picture when I came back to Bratislava seeing all the people with blank looks on their faces worrying all the time or phantasizing about things that are probably not going to happen unless they do something). And as you go from beach to beach and island to island knowing what is going to happen once you come back.. You keep thinking.. What other amazing beauties in this country may be.. Beauties that I have not yet had a chance to discover, embrace, and experience with my own eyes..


So SOMETHING has to change, SOMETHING BIG. 
But what it is will you probably find out only later. Meanwhile  a lot of posts on this blog have to be written yet, and the next one is going to be about culture and shopping :) And.. plenty other things you can ( and according to others you should) do while staying in Bangkok, the city that after New York is undoubtedly the other one that never sleeps. Probably because no matter what time it is they massage you so well that you feel like walking and talking and wondering around, as you were not inside the 10 million inhabitants´ super big city with its own river taxis, metro and skytrain, and more and more things these little and respectful Thai people could be proud about.  



So keep on reading, my dearest ones, sharing with Thai wonders has not yet finished !!! :)


Jan 14, 2014

Thailand.. #1.Culinary wonderland

After running unexpectedly into the travel agency office and asking about possible cheap flights to Thailand and being answered there are last two tickets for the good prize and paying immediately, only then I started to realise that I am indeed heading to the other part of the world, the Exotic one, with its own culture and life. And all of this reminded me again, that as a part of the tradition from the last year it is the best idea to leave right after Christmas to go to a different part of the world where one can find a summer-like weather, white sand beaches and sea, and exotic air and... you can imagine.. I started to look forward for the trip so much that I really almost cried with excitement. And do you know why?


Because Thailand is not only the meka of the best beaches, parties and many other things but also it is the meka of food and shopping, what means that I traveled there with only couple of t-shirts and shorts excited about everything that might come and I would buy it, I am sure you can imagine any woman who will be said she is going for the best shopping in the world for the cheap prizes, just picture her face and it is clear MADNESS!!! :) And the madness it indeed was, but as those of you who know me personally, you know that as I hold the same excitement for the shopping, it is same with me regading FOOD!!! :)



And therefore I decided to taste as many things as possible, choice was always for the food that was freshly made on the streets, before my own eyes, so that I could also see what kind of things go inside and how to prepare it as such. I loved it!!! The fact that you can watch how the papaya salad is being made also how the pad thai is being made, I saw their special way of preparing fish, banana pancakes with condensed milk, mango rice and many ways of curry preparation. Isn´t this how the learning is the most effective? First-hand experience wins every time my dear ones, therefore I learned travelling is the best way to keep fresh mind and open heart and I will keep on doing that till I will be able to afford it :).
The most amazing part of Thai food is that everything is super fresh. Fresh and moving fish and mussels everywhere, freshly made noodle soups, all kinds of meat prepared with various sauces and vegetables, different snacks and fruit that tastes like tutti-frutti, fresh coconuts all the time as well as fresh ananas, melon and mango shakes.. and many many other things.. sometimes even hard to name since you do not understand its name as such :) But who cares if it tastes well? :) And thus I tried.. most of the things I saw.

And tried..




























And admired all the beauties and funny styling of some meat and fish.. :)


And as I do not want this to be just a boring post about amazing food, I decided to share with you the video I made when I was waiting for their famous Pad Thai on the street made in a minute..



Please feel free to follow the instructions and expect this travel story to be continued!!!