Thursday: Flight from Singapore to Bangkok, then an overnight train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai (Thursday night)
I wish I could say fall recess began smoothly but in all honesty it was the complete opposite. About 2 minutes into the bus ride to the airport I realized I never booked my plane ticket OUT of Chiang Mai, I completely forgot the 100ml carry-on container policy (goodbye bathroom products), was reported as a missing person (while seated in my assigned seat… long story), but things looked up as we departed from Singapore.
We arrived in Bangkok (1½hr flight from Singapore) and immediately took a cab to the train station where we boarded an overnight train to Chiang Mai (Northern Thailand). The train was surprisingly more pleasant than I had expected and actually significantly more comfortable than my NTU dorm bed. The train trip was about 15hours long, we slept for the first 9hours and had a beautiful view of the country all morning until we arrived in Chiang Mai early afternoon.
Chiang Mai is definitely one of my FAVORITE cities so far it’s located in the beautiful green countryside of Northern Thailand. All the people we met in Chiang Mai were so friendly, helpful, and happy. This was also the only city we visited that didn’t have people constantly trying to sell us something we didn’t need.
Day 3: Our first official full day in Thailand
We signed up for an “Adventure Tour” that begun with a minibus picking us up at 8:30am and driving us an hour out of town to an elephant camp. Seeing an Asian elephant was my number one goal for Thailand, I was so excited! Alexa, Manone, and I all sat on top of a very hungry elephant for a bumpy ride through the jungle. Our elephant snatched the 3 bouquets of bananas we bought to feed it right from our hands, then stopped every few minutes to eat the plants and again would reach its trunk back to us just to make sure we didn’t have any more food. It was cute at first until the elephant exhaled through its trunk into our faces.
After the elephant riding was over we hopped back into the minibus and were taken to a river where we rode bamboo rafts downstream, then a 2hour trek through the jungle to waterfall. During the trek we visited 2 tribes and saw rice fields until it started to pour rain (which made for a VERY muddy adventure back).
I wish I could say fall recess began smoothly but in all honesty it was the complete opposite. About 2 minutes into the bus ride to the airport I realized I never booked my plane ticket OUT of Chiang Mai, I completely forgot the 100ml carry-on container policy (goodbye bathroom products), was reported as a missing person (while seated in my assigned seat… long story), but things looked up as we departed from Singapore.
Chiang Mai is definitely one of my FAVORITE cities so far it’s located in the beautiful green countryside of Northern Thailand. All the people we met in Chiang Mai were so friendly, helpful, and happy. This was also the only city we visited that didn’t have people constantly trying to sell us something we didn’t need.
After the elephant riding was over we hopped back into the minibus and were taken to a river where we rode bamboo rafts downstream, then a 2hour trek through the jungle to waterfall. During the trek we visited 2 tribes and saw rice fields until it started to pour rain (which made for a VERY muddy adventure back).
The midnight meals with Malaysian students inspired me to plan a weekend trip to Kuala Lumpur (KL), the capitol of Malaysia. Traveling to KL consisted of bus, to MRT station (4 stops, then another 4 stops on a different MRT line) then a bus to the Singapore border, bus across the bridge to the Malaysian border, and finally a 4-hour bus ride to the city of Kuala Lumpur. Upon arrival we immediately dropped our bags off and proceeded to find dinner. I am embarrassed to admit, but instead of getting adventurous with some nice Malaysian cuisine we decided to play it safe with pizza from a reggae themed restaurant down the street from our hostel. 
Bintan, Indonesia was my first trip outside of Singapore. After nearly 3 weeks of being cooped up inside Singapore, several international students and I planned a last minute trip to Indonesia for the weekend. Bintan is only a short 1½-hour ferryboat ride from Singapore. We booked a rooms online at the Nostalgia hostel, a sister resort to one of the nicest resorts on the Island. Luckily we had access to a shuttle bus and all the nicer resorts facilities, but I would HIGHLY suggest paying the couple extra bucks to stay in an actual hotel or resort. We reserved a “beach bungalow” that appears as paradise to the untrained eye, but in reality is only a death trap set above the ocean (at least during high tide) infested with mosquito’s, geckos, crabs, in addition to a variety of insects.
able to spend 2 days here and due to safety precautions didn’t venture far from either of the two resorts. Luckily the rest of the trip was more positive.
