There are million ways to give a present to yourself after you graduate: shopping for anything you want, throwing a party, or travelling. I choose travelling. And since there are too many arrangements to make a group of best friends travelling together, I decide to travel alone.
The idea of a solo travel sounds liberating at first – a week in The Land of Smile, Thailand. It feels like I have an infinite freedom, but apparently, there are some constraints too, which I do not anticipate. Because in a new place where you neither speak the language nor have a tour guide, you practically count on yourself on how you have fun and stay safe at the same time.
Arriving in Surin, a town in the northern part of Thailand, I am greeted by the humid, cold air of a Monday morning street at a traditional market. My friend picks me up and we head to her in-campus apartment housing, five minute walk to where she teaches. Failing to get some sleep after 13 hours flight from O’Hare, Chicago – thank you, jet lag – I decide to walk out and see the surrounding area.
Later in the day, my friend brings me to an elephant village. It was one glorious memory where I make my first direct contact to the beautiful elephant. Back when I studied Southeast Asian Literature course, I read that elephants – particularly the white ones are heroes, a legend to the Thai and Vietnamese. They fought in wars and they represent great strength and purity.
In the real world, there is no white elephant. I was disappointed when my professor delivered the fact. But to be in the land, where I was only able to read the legend of it, I feel there is a magic when I touch the trunk and see the eyes of the graceful elephant. She responds by touching her tip of her trunk to my feet. She probably thinks I will feed her, but I have nothing in my hand.
I usually busy taking pictures, but I let myself enjoy the experience and interact with this friendly and calm female elephant. Wrinkles of her trunk and her watery eye look capture my attention. An elephant trainer asks me to sit on her trunk as the tall beautiful creature bends on her knees. A second later, she carries me up in the air. Wohooo!
A perfection defines my first day in Thailand. However, a happy beginning does not echo until the ending. That magic moment with the big beauty evaporates as I leave Surin.
Things in Bangkok go down to the worst as I find myself trapped in a tuk tuk, a motorbike with a carriage behind for tourists to sit.
I understand how I can be in that confusing situation. With a Thai-like face, people should be mistaken me as a local and therefore I will not get tricked. However, I walk with a map on my hands, which is a green alarm to some people who want to make profit – there, a tourist, go go go! So, instead of going on the right direction, I stop and correspond with a guy who looks like wanting to show me the direction to the Grand Palace. Big mistake. The guy leads me to that tuk tuk with an angry driver shouting “Welcome to Thailand!”. We go from one place to another, and on each place, another person welcomes with hospitality and a smile, touchy stories and then offers some purchase.
Yes, I freak out in my expressionless face.
Remember a scene in Home Alone movie where Kevin makes friend with an old scary women who feeds the pigeons? I think I am Kevin in that scene. Trying to take a rest after walking inside the super huge Grand Palace with splendid historical royal Thai belongings, a woman hands me a small plastic bag full with corn seeds to feed groups of birds hanging out freely in that area. I do feed the bird, and feel touched by the woman’s gesture.
Only after that, she said, “Ninety baht.” Ha! I leave her with 20 Baht and rush to get a cab.
By the end of the day, I am exhausted. Arrived at my Moroccan style hotel, my jetlag is totally cured by the adventure of that day. I manage to knock out myself to a deep sleep a second after I touch the bed. In my dream, I feel relieved that my day in Bangkok is over and that I am heading home.
This solo travelling has made me feel lost and insecure. But to me, I learn that this is the point of a solo travel – to be lost in your own freedom and to experience confusion in the middle of excitement.
About the Author: Emma Datu, M.A. in Southeast Asian Studies, fulfilled her dream to travel to Thailand upon her graduation from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. She currently teaches at Prasetiya Mulya Business School in Indonesia and enjoys teaching, cooking, and practicing yoga.
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