The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic really derailed a lot of my plans this year. My travels, of course, were put on hold. I had planned to visit a new country or two, but after returning to Thailand from the USA (by way of Xiamen, China), I got stuck in Thailand when the pandemic broke out.
I had planned two trips to visit my family, in summer and at Christmastime, but sadly I had to cancel both of those trips as well.
Finally, my wedding was postponed a year until December 2021 in the hopes that the borders will be opened and my family will be able to attend.
While there have been a lot of disappointments this year due to the pandemic, I've also had a lot of great adventures and experiences! It's been a long year, but I've done a lot since 2019.
🌎🌍🌏
I visited my first Sikh Gurdwara, receiving a warm welcome and the shared sacred Parshad meal. This was a new experience for me, and a very special one at that! The Sikh Gurdwara in Bangkok is the second-biggest in the world outside of India, and is located in the city's historic and extremely colorful Little India neighborhood.
I went on several walking tours with my weekend walking group at the beginning of the year. We explored Chinatown, various abandoned temples, Rattanakosin Island, and more.
In March, I went on an incredible trek at the "Greenland Trail" in Nakhon Nayok Province, which is underwater for most of the year. It's one of the most beautiful parts of Thailand that I've seen!
And I finally got to visit the famous "Dragon Tower" which I had been meaning to see for years.
And then... COVID-19.
Even though Thailand was the second country after China to see an infection, things didn't get serious here until April. At that time, the government issued a very strict lockdown order, a curfew, a month-long alcohol ban, a mask mandate, and mandatory contact tracing. I received an emergency visa extension (which I'm still on to this day) and subsequently quarantined myself at a hotel for a fortnight over Easter.
April, May, and most of June were uneventful. I stayed inside, as did nearly everyone.
The most we could do was take a staycation or two.
By mid-June, however, Thailand was COVID-19 free (thanks to everyone staying wearing masks and staying indoors as they were supposed to), and in late June we here in Thailand began venturing out once again.
My first time outside of my neighborhood felt like a really, really big deal, even if it was a fairly quiet getaway to a meditation retreat in a neighboring province.
The great thing was that there were (and still are) no tourists here in Thailand! It's great for those of us who are living here (though sadly bad for the Thai economy, which relies heavily on the tourism industry). Most of the normally crowded sites are nearly empty, tour companies are having to cater more to locals and expats, and everyone treats us foreigners with more respect now that they know with certainty that we live here and aren't just backpackers.
I visited Bangkok's newest huge landmark, the Big Buddha of Wat Paknam.
And a few days later, I got to join a super special trip via kayak on the city's historic canals! Normally, there is too much traffic on the waterways (they don't call Bangkok the "Venice of the Orient" for nothing!) but a friend and tour guide got a special permit to lead a group on a private tour of one of the city's oldest and most storied canals!
Later, I flew down to Phuket Island with my fiancée to join her boss as he lit 10,000 firecrackers in a Buddhist ritual at a famous temple. It was my first time out of Bangkok in a long time. Even though it was just a day trip (a very exhausting day trip!), it was so nice to be traveling again!
When my walking tours started back up, I signed up for as many as I could! We visited Koh Kret, the Mon island in the Chaophraya River, took a train journey to the famous "Crocodile Head Market", and explored the "Mystery Caves" of Ratchaburi Province.
Later on, we took a day trip to see the Great Stone Buddha and the Bamboo Bridge Market in Suphanburi Province.
I went exploring quite a lot on my own as well. I set out on foot on my days off to discover the secrets of Bangkok's Old Town, which up until now I had really failed to explore. One day, I visited the Devasathan, the center of Thai Hinduism and the headquarters of the kingdom's elusive sect of royal court Brahmains.
In August, after having been stuck in the city for months, my fiancée and I decided to take full advantage of the cheap travel deals due to lack of tourists and spend a week in Krabi Province in the south of Thailand.
We toured Koh Poda, the Hong Islands, and Railay Bay, and ended the week with a kayaking trip to see the province's rare bioluminescent plankton and the most incredible sunset that I've ever seen in my life.
About a month later, we went out to explore Bang Kachao, the "Green Lung of Bangkok", where life is more laid-back and you can ride a bicycle amongst the mangroves.
In October, we took the train south to Prachuap Khiri Khan Province where we explored an incredible mountaintop temple and went camping for the first time in Thailand (a new hobby of ours!).
And even though Songkran Festival had been cancelled in April due to COVID, the Loi Krathong Festival in November was just as special and beautiful as always.
One day, I took one of the biggest adventures of my life and embarked with some friends on an epic 80 kilometer bike ride from Bangkok to Nakhon Pathom Province to see the Giant Chedi's annual temple fair. Getting there was hard, but the return journey nearly killed my poor legs!
Just before Christmas, Thailand reported its first case of COVID-19 since the summer. I suppose our second wave is beginning. Provinces have begun panicking and locking down. I guess our good times of no tourists and no COVID are at an end.
We cancelled a trip we had planned to spend the winter in the far north, instead opting for a much closer-to-home adventure. Pinky and I packed up our camping gear and headed out to Namtok Samlan National Park (not too far out of the city) for camping, hiking, cooking, and enjoying the cool winter weather.
We spent Christmas week camping at the park, and it felt so good to get out in the fresh air away from the awful traffic, noise, and pollution of the big city.
Just at the end of the year, I discovered a new hobby that I wish I had known about during our first COVID-10 lockdown: virtual adventures. So far, I've joined two, a crossing of the English Channel and the trek up Mount Fuji. As I get outside to walk or jog, I can log my distances into an app. It shows me where I would be (virtually, of course) along the journey. As I exercise, I receive virtual postcards full of amazing photos and information about the journey that I'm on, and at the end, I receive a beautiful medal.
I've already signed up for a few new virtual adventures for 2021, since I'm sure that travel is still out at least for the first half of the year. It's a great way for me to stay fit while still feeling like I'm traveling.
Food
I had the opportunity to dine at Bangkok's secretive North Korean restaurant, which is actually run and operated by the North Korean government. I hope that Capital One didn't flag my card when it saw a charge from Pyongyang...
Holidays and Festivals
Happy New Year from Michael, Pinky, and Cricket!
The year has been strange, but we have to keep moving forward, right? The news of the COVID-19 vaccination is really an incredible accomplishment for science and humanity! Hopefully, there can be some sort of vaccination passport which will allow us to travel without quarantine.
My 2021 Goals:
- Visit 1 new country that I've never been to before
- Trek Mount Fuji (Japan)
- Trek Mount Kinabalu (Malaysia)
- Visit my family in the USA and travel to a national park
- Go camping on Doi Inthanon, Thailand's tallest mountain
- Jog/walk 2021 kilometers
- Complete more virtual adventures
Sending my love to you all.
- Michael
1 January 2021
BONUS VIDEO!
Here's a collection of the adventures that I had in 2020. It may not have been the most exciting year, but it's one I'll never forget.
Here's a collection of the adventures that I had in 2020. It may not have been the most exciting year, but it's one I'll never forget.
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