What the country of smiles left me

By: Gabriela Viterbo

They say that “everything depends on the color of the glass with which you look”. I didn’t really believe in this saying until I visited Thailand for the second time in 2022.

The first time I stepped foot in the old Angkor empire was in 2017 together with my husband. It was our first time in Asia and we had first visited Singapore where the order, the mix of cultures and the food had fascinated me.

In Thailand we spent 15 days touring the north, south and center. Although the beaches, the temples, the flavors leave no one immune, the chaos to cross its streets (mainly in Bangkok), the tuk tuks at full speed and the warning of scams colored my experience.

But the revenge came in 2022. Due to the pandemic, I had not traveled since 2020 and I no longer worked in a dependency relationship, so I think these two factors played in my favor.

This time we came from Paris because on this trip we linked Asia with Europe, with the magic that those contrasts imply. As soon as we arrived, the heat didn’t bother me because I really missed Asia. This time the glass he was looking through was pink.

I loved every moment in that country, not for nothing is the country of smiles. Being in cities that we already knew (our destinations were Bangkok and Phuket) gave us the security of knowing how to move, laughing at situations that before overwhelmed us but at the same time fascinating us with places that we had left pending.

I enjoyed every meal, every strange fruit because this time I was already a cook. I brought spices and coconut milk as souvenirs; I was amazed by each temple I saw, trying to get to know as many as possible and running into one in the middle of the city is something that I still can’t get over.

I meditated inside the Big Buddha in Phuket, I became obsessed with the Thai coffee, I learned more about religion and spirituality, I walked through its markets, I asked a lot, I was happy to eat where the locals did, I became friends with the spiciness and I came back in love with thailand

One last piece of advice before saying goodbye is that if a trip does not turn out as expected, does not meet your expectations, do not get discouraged and just in case check your glasses, you may need a change of glass.