so this is my last night at patong beach, phuket. while i am not ready (or wanting) to head back to work, i think i am ready to leave this place. don't get me wrong, i had an amazing time, but i would like to leave before things get boring. you know when a concert ends with the best song of the evening? well i sort of want to leave on that high.
i never thought i'd travel alone and not be nostalgic and terrified the entire time. but here i am, one week later, in a country where people barely know any english, and i did things i've never done before. i went snorkeling, white water rafting, elephant trekking and atv-ing. i haggled like crazy and made sure things that were selling for 2000 baht, i bought for 100 baht. that's right, 100! i went canoeing and as i thought, i was terrible at it!
i never thought i'd travel alone, but here i am and 7 days later, i've seen things and places i never knew existed. i visited the 'james bond island'; i saw fish that were magenta, some turquoise and some rainbow coloured! i saw maya bay (where The Beach was shot), and i stepped on sand that was almost as white as snow. i swam in water which was very deep, but so clear you could see the ocean floor.
i have travelled with strangers, and befriended a few. i took a ride on a stranger's motor-bike, because i trusted my street skills (thank you karachi). i learnt that even people who travel can be ignorant and rude and unaware of any culture other than their own. i have discovered that people across the world can be lecherous and vile, and that when you travel as a single woman, either people will be very kind to you, or they will flirt with you and try and take advantage of your being alone.
and i know now that i am equipped to handle this situation, and most situations.
i am independant in a whole other way.
i am different in an entirely new way.
but now, it is time to head back to a reality that i hope will not be mine for too long.
since i know i can be somewhere new with no one familiar around me, it is time i plan my sweet escape.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Your experience really echoes mine when I was on my own in Russia. That was also one of those experiences that taught me that that I could rely on myself fairly well, and it's stayed with me ever since.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had that kind of experience as well. *hug*