藍天白云、陽光沙灘、清澈的海水、舒適的溫泉、迷人的水下世界、形形色色的小吃、華麗神秘的宮殿廟宇，乃至現在清新得沒有PM2.5的空氣，這樣的泰國印象有沒有強烈地吸引著你，任性地來一場“說走就走的旅行”呢！

My Thailand Adventure
“泰”奇之旅
By Amirah Ahmad 馬玉芳 注

The excitement began to kick in once I bid farewell to my parents and Katie and I were officially on our own. As I saw my parents walking away while we rode the escalator down to security, pre-flight nerves and butterflies began to accumulate, spreading throughout my stomach and tense shoulders burdened by my 20lb backpack.

Let’s flashback to Thanksgiving break: My eldest brother texted me casually asking if I wanted to travel to Thailand with him and his wife during spring break in March. Taking the matter lightly, I began to inquire about the cost of the ticket and some other logistics . He suggested I bring my best friend since kindergarten , Katie. I then texted her asking her about the probability her parents would let her travel to Thailand with me. Katie’s parents surprisingly approved, my parents shockingly agreed, and I booked our tickets to Bangkok , Thailand on November 30.

Now, let’s spring forward to March 4: Katie and I were on our way. After months of daydreaming of Pad Thai , elephants, and most importantly hot weather, we were finally starting our adventure. The plan was that Katie and I would meet my brother and his wife in Bangkok, travel to Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Pai, back to Chiang Mai, and finally back to Bangkok to catch our fight back.

After an exhausting 24 hours of travel, six hours of which were spent at the Dubai airport, we arrived in Bangkok. We took a cab ride to the hotel we were staying at, where we also met up with my brother and sister-in-law. The most wonderful thing about landing in Bangkok was undoubtedly the instance my glasses fogged up due to the heat. I was finally in hot weather after enduring an average of -17 degree Celsius weather back home.

During our first day in Bangkok, we had breakfast at a run-down, outdoor restaurant, managed by an older looking lady who ushered us to sit. I was excited to dine, Thai-style. My excitement was quickly shot down as soon as the largest, most menacing rat scurried by my foot as I munched on grilled mystery meat that could have very well been his brother. Needless to say, my first meal in Thailand was sub-par .

After a day of touring the Grand Palace in Bangkok, which was a city of ornate, breath-taking temples and statues of Buddha, we headed to Pattaya. Katie and I were thoroughly enjoying the heat of the sun as much as we did the location.

The next day we ventured to Koh Larn, where we took a ferry to the beach, clad with magical white sand and dreamy blue waters. The entire day we sun-bathed, swam, sipped on coconut water, and dined on fresh seafood.

Sun burnt and sun dazed, the four of us trekked to Pattaya’s main walking street which was certainly very interesting. Though a little raunchy with one too many tourists, we snacked on roasted grasshoppers, grub, frogs, and crickets which was certainly an experience. My brother, the more experimental one with his food choices, also bought a cup full of live miniature shrimp, seasoned with spices and lime, to eat for dinner. When I took an adventurous bite from his meal, the live shrimp were suicide jumping off the surface of my spoon. It was surprisingly extremely delicious. I certainly felt guilty devouring a live animal, but it was delicious nonetheless.

The next morning we caught a flight (barely) to Chiang Mai. We arrived at the airport nearly 20 minutes before boarding for the flight was suspended . Running to our flight with full bladders after chugging entire water bottles with over packed luggage, we were exhausted by the time we finally sat down in our seats and flew to Chiang Mai.

The next two days Katie and I explored Chiang Mai by ourselves. We adventured through the night markets, negotiating with stubborn vendors, and got our fair share of Thai massages . One morning, we ventured to a Muay Thai training gym where Katie and I received a Muay Thai lesson from a Thai native who had been practicing Muay Thai for years. As the only novices at the gym, we were undoubtedly the laughing stocks of both the trainers and trainees. Although they found our incompetence both humorous and endearing, our trainers were certainly very helpful and encouraging.

The next day we found ourselves in a Thai cooking class, where we first headed over to the market in a group of 5-6 excited tourists to grab the ingredients for the meals we would be making. We made six delicious Thai meals under the supervision of young, Thai locals excited to teach their ways.

After our class, Katie and I met up with my brother and headed over to a Muay Thai stadium to watch several rounds of Muay Thai between children, women, and men alike. Needless to say, we learned a thing or two on how to improve our own Muay Thai.

The following morning, we caught a bus to Pai, a small town in northern Thailand. In Pai we rode on an elephant, named Soi, bareback and bathed with her. Taking turns, we would climb up onto Soi’s back and she would humorously shake us off into the river and we’d swim back to the shore. The experience was certainly one of a kind, and substantiated my love for elephants tremendously. After our elephant adventure, we rode our motorbikes to a secret hot spring.

The journey there was incredibly tumultuous .

With steeps hills, uncontrollable billowing dirt, and sharp turns, our motorbikes could barely handle it. At one point, my sister-in-law and I hitchhiked with a truck driver also conveniently heading towards the hot spring. Though the dangerous commute had sucked the energy out of us, we washed away the worries with the warm water at the spring. Tucked away behind a beautiful array of trees, the hot spring was magnificent. I was able to clearly see the hot spring floor as I rinsed off the dust, dirt, and sweat into the clear water.

Finally, we wrapped up our trip with another Thai massage and one last round of shopping in Chiang Mai.

Easily, this trip was one of the best trips I have taken. Filled with exciting moments, mishaps, adrenaline rushes, mistakes, and risks, Thailand was an adventure. The fact that I was able to explore with my best friend of 13 years made the experience all the more enjoyable. The only question that remains now is: where next?

Vocabulary
1. kick in: 開始；bid farewell to: 告別。
2. 當我們乘扶梯下去安檢時，我看到父母正漸行漸遠，起飛前的緊張在我心中不斷累積，擴散到了我整個胃里， 20磅的背包也讓我肩膀緊繃起來。escalator: 自動扶梯；butterfly: （因害怕、焦急或神經緊張而引起的）顫動感覺；accumulate: 積累，積攢； lb: 磅。
3. flashback: 閃回，倒敘。
4. logistics：算術運算。
5. kindergarten: 幼兒園。
6. bangkok: 曼谷，泰國首都。
7. spring: v. 彈，跳。
8. Pad Thai: 泰式炒河粉。
9. Pattaya: 芭堤雅，是泰國一處著名海景度假勝地，享有“東方夏威夷”之譽；Chiang Mai: 清邁，是泰國第二大城市，也是泰國北部政治、經濟、文化的中心；Pai: 泰國拜縣。
10. Dubai: 迪拜。
11. fog up: 起霧；instance: 例子，事例。
12. degree Celsius: 攝氏度。
13. run-down: （房屋等）破敗的；usher: 引領，招待。
14. 但我的興奮很快就被潑了冷水，一只我見過最大、最恐怖的老鼠從我的腳邊一溜而過，當時我正津津有味地嚼著不知什么動物的烤肉，說不準就是它同類的肉。menacing: 威脅的，恐嚇的；scurry: 急跑；munch on: 津津有味地咀嚼；grilled: 烤的。
15. sub-par: 低水平的。
16. Grand Palace: 曼谷大皇宮；ornate: 裝飾華麗的；breath-taking: 驚人的；Buddha: 佛像。
17. Koh Larn: 可蘭島，距離芭堤雅九公里，是芭堤雅海灘外最大的島；ferry: 渡船；clad: 覆蓋；dreamy: 夢幻般的，漂亮的。
18. sip: 小口喝。
19. dazed: 迷亂的，恍惚的；trek: 徒步旅行，疲憊地行走。
20. 盡管擠在一大堆游客當中，我們顯得有些邋遢，但我們還是品嘗了烤蚱蜢、烤蛆蟲、烤青蛙、烤蟋蟀這些小吃，這絕對是難忘的經歷。raunchy: 邋遢的；one too many: 許多的；grasshopper: 蚱蜢；grub: 蛆蟲；cricket: 蟋蟀。
21. miniature: 小型的；shrimp: 蝦；season with: 用……調味；spice: 香料，調味品；lime: 酸橙。
22. devour: 狼吞虎咽地吃。
23. suspend: 取消。
24. bladder: 膀胱；chug: 一口氣喝完。
25. 作為一次新奇的體驗，我們去逛了夜市，和固執的小販交涉了好久，最終以合理的價格做了一次泰式按摩。stubborn: 固執的，頑固的；vendor: 小販；massage: 按摩。
26. Muay Thai: 泰拳。
27. novice: 初學者。
28. laughing stock: 笑柄。
29. incompetence: 無能；endearing: 可愛的。
30. ingredient: 原料。
31. bareback: 不用鞍地。
32. substantiate: 證實；tremendously: 非常地，極大地。
33. tumultuous: 歡騰的，喧鬧的。
34. billowing: 波浪起伏的。
35. hitchhike: 搭便車。
36. commute: 乘車往返于兩地的路程；suck: 吸取。
37. tuck away: 把……藏起來；array of: 一排；magnificent: 宏偉的，壯觀的。
38. rinse: 沖洗。
39. wrap up: 完成，結束。
40. mishap: 小錯誤，小事故；adrenaline: 腎上腺素，興奮。

（來源：英語學習雜志 編輯：許晶晶）