Asian smells

ประเทศไทย, 2015

Some memories from my first trip in Thailand, a short holidays that made me fall in love with South East Asia and its smells, colors and sounds.

I still had a “stable” life at that time, but this trip and the emotions I felt there had a big influence on the decision I took a few months later: to quit the job and become a full-time traveler.

Some memories from my first trip in Thailand, a short holidays that made me fall in love with South East Asia and its smells, colors and sounds.

I still had a “stable” life at that time, but this trip and the emotions I felt there had a big influence on the decision I took a few months later: to quit the job and become a full-time traveler.

Alcuni ricordi del mio primo viaggio in Thailandia, una breve vacanza che mi ha fatto innamorare del Sudest Asiatico e dei suoi odori, colori e suoni.

In quel momento avevo ancora una vita “stabile”, ma questo viaggio e le emozioni lì provate hanno avuto una forte influenza nella decisione che ho preso alcuni mesi dopo: lasciare il lavoro e diventare una viaggiatrice a tempo pieno.

«Although we are a family of 7, we travel very often.<br>I prefer spending money on memories than on things. Things get old, get damaged, broken, stolen. You have to protect them, to take good care of them.<br>But my memories… they’re all here, in my brain. No one will ever steal my memories.»<br><br>- Erwin, from Netherlands
Mornings in Thailand are foggy. Always. Whether you wake up in a big city or in the middle of the jungle, things will be hidden behind layers of thick air.<br>Let's take the case of the jungle. You get out of your wooden cottage half sleepy and see narrow ghostly shapes all around you. Somewhere in the horizon, far far away, there's a small indistinct orange ball rising up quickly.<br><br>So that's how mornings steal your sight.<br>But they give you something in return: hearing. You hear from crickets to frogs and from birds to monkeys jumping in trees to collect bananas. Creak, chirp, croak, tweet, whoop, screech, creak, creak; the jungle can be very noisy. You see only vague shadows, but you hear everything.<br>That's the magic of mornings.
«There was a market here once. Then they built the railway. But why should this affect our market? It has always been done here and we keep it here.<br>So we rather continue our selling in this place and took quickly everything out of the tracks as soon as the train comes, three times per day.»<br><br>- Thai girl summarizing the Thai mentality, at Maeklong Railway Market
«What surprised me most in men of the West is that they lose their health to make money and then lose their money to restore their health. They are so anxious about the future that they forget the present, such that they live neither for the present nor the future. They live as if they will never die, and they die as if they had never lived.»<br><br>Most of the people in Thailand live a very simple life. And who says we're happier than them?
There's not much you can do in the jungle when it's dark. But an awesome way to spend the evening is to share dinner and stories with other backpackers.<br>All the best to the German who's travelling randomly around Thailand for a month, to the two Polish guys who quit their jobs to wander around the world, to the Italian who's studying ways to imitate them (yeah that's me), to the other Italian who doesn't live in a stable place and to the Thais who joined our conversation.<br><br>Impressive how you can get along with unknown people met on the road!
There's a magic moment of the day when you can lay down in the very warm water and watch fishermen coming back home. Their longtail boats cross a flat orange/pink surface where everything is calm and slow.<br><br>Those moments should last forever.
That's the place I liked most in Bangkok: a great restaurant by the river. Delicious food and atmosphere.<br>Best thing about it? I have no clue how to get there again. Just book a night train, go to the station hours in advance, go out and walk randomly in small desert streets, let your instinct choose the way in crossroads, enter an apparently creepy restaurant and here you are!
Take your backpack, rent a scooter, drive aimlessly in a tropical island and you're ready for the greatest adventure of all times!
«Thailand is full of electric wires and cables. They're everywhere, far away from any basic security standards. Every time I come back here I tear my hair out» - Max, from Italy, electrician
«Sometimes experiences can be disappointing, like the two safaris we have done: we've barely seen animals. But other times unexpected things surprise you a lot. Take the place full of butterflies we saw yesterday: that was amazing. I completely enjoyed that moment.<br><br>So that's the way I go on: forgetting disappointing memories and focusing on positive things»<br><br>- Erwin, from Netherlands
I was snorkeling when I felt something touching me. I turned my head and a big black thing was next to me. It made me jump out of the water and cut my foot with the corals.<br>Thanks for the huge scare, Thai dog!
«Koh Phangan is a very safe place where most troubles are self inflicted. Motorbike accidents are fairly common; the unsightly scar has become known as a “Koh Phangan Tattoo”»<br><br>That's one of the tattoos I got. Very proud of them!
I don't know if it's really possible to capture the magic of some moments. But that's what I try to do.
After sitting on taxis, ferries, taxi boats, motorbikes, tuk-tuks, trains and busses, I though I experienced any means of transport in Thailand.<br>And then they said: «For the station? Get in the trunk of this car»
I've got hundreds of photos and videos. But no one will ever express the breeze blowing on my light trousers. The wet hair. The warm air. The cellphone with the map in the pocket. The loud sound of the engine. The overwhelming green. The well-known roads of my new island. The feeling, for a minute, of being so damn alive.
Sometimes you have to get dirty to be able to go on. My shoes complained, but my refreshed feet were in heaven