“泰”奇之旅

蓝天白云、阳光沙滩、清澈的海水、舒适的温泉、迷人的水下世界、形形色色的小吃、华丽神秘的宫殿庙宇，乃至现在清新得没有PM2.5的空气，这样的泰国印象有没有强烈地吸引着你，任性地来一场“说走就走的旅行”呢！

My Thailand Adventure
“泰”奇之旅
By Amirah Ahmad 马玉芳 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: 开始；bid farewell to: 告别。
2. 当我们乘扶梯下去安检时，我看到父母正渐行渐远，起飞前的紧张在我心中不断累积，扩散到了我整个胃里， 20磅的背包也让我肩膀紧绷起来。escalator: 自动扶梯；butterfly: （因害怕、焦急或神经紧张而引起的）颤动感觉；accumulate: 积累，积攒； lb: 磅。
3. flashback: 闪回，倒叙。
4. logistics：算术运算。
5. kindergarten: 幼儿园。
6. bangkok: 曼谷，泰国首都。
7. spring: v. 弹，跳。
8. Pad Thai: 泰式炒河粉。
9. Pattaya: 芭堤雅，是泰国一处著名海景度假胜地，享有“东方夏威夷”之誉；Chiang Mai: 清迈，是泰国第二大城市，也是泰国北部政治、经济、文化的中心；Pai: 泰国拜县。
10. Dubai: 迪拜。
11. fog up: 起雾；instance: 例子，事例。
12. degree Celsius: 摄氏度。
13. run-down: （房屋等）破败的；usher: 引领，招待。
14. 但我的兴奋很快就被泼了冷水，一只我见过最大、最恐怖的老鼠从我的脚边一溜而过，当时我正津津有味地嚼着不知什么动物的烤肉，说不准就是它同类的肉。menacing: 威胁的，恐吓的；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: 曼谷大皇宫；ornate: 装饰华丽的；breath-taking: 惊人的；Buddha: 佛像。
17. Koh Larn: 可兰岛，距离芭堤雅九公里，是芭堤雅海滩外最大的岛；ferry: 渡船；clad: 覆盖；dreamy: 梦幻般的，漂亮的。
18. sip: 小口喝。
19. dazed: 迷乱的，恍惚的；trek: 徒步旅行，疲惫地行走。
20. 尽管挤在一大堆游客当中，我们显得有些邋遢，但我们还是品尝了烤蚱蜢、烤蛆虫、烤青蛙、烤蟋蟀这些小吃，这绝对是难忘的经历。raunchy: 邋遢的；one too many: 许多的；grasshopper: 蚱蜢；grub: 蛆虫；cricket: 蟋蟀。
21. miniature: 小型的；shrimp: 虾；season with: 用……调味；spice: 香料，调味品；lime: 酸橙。
22. devour: 狼吞虎咽地吃。
23. suspend: 取消。
24. bladder: 膀胱；chug: 一口气喝完。
25. 作为一次新奇的体验，我们去逛了夜市，和固执的小贩交涉了好久，最终以合理的价格做了一次泰式按摩。stubborn: 固执的，顽固的；vendor: 小贩；massage: 按摩。
26. Muay Thai: 泰拳。
27. novice: 初学者。
28. laughing stock: 笑柄。
29. incompetence: 无能；endearing: 可爱的。
30. ingredient: 原料。
31. bareback: 不用鞍地。
32. substantiate: 证实；tremendously: 非常地，极大地。
33. tumultuous: 欢腾的，喧闹的。
34. billowing: 波浪起伏的。
35. hitchhike: 搭便车。
36. commute: 乘车往返于两地的路程；suck: 吸取。
37. tuck away: 把……藏起来；array of: 一排；magnificent: 宏伟的，壮观的。
38. rinse: 冲洗。
39. wrap up: 完成，结束。
40. mishap: 小错误，小事故；adrenaline: 肾上腺素，兴奋。

（来源：英语学习杂志 编辑：许晶晶）