Carolina Calderon

Thailand & Korea

I'm back in NYC now, but, after leaving Japan, I spent 12 days across Thailand and 5 days in Seoul, South Korea. Both places were so far off my radar, in terms of places I thought I'd visit in the near future, so it was refreshing to travel without any expectations.

On this half of the trip, I walked an average of nine miles a day.

Thailand

I only booked this part of the trip a week in advance, and it definitely felt "clunky". I spent four days in Chiang Mai, six days in Phuket & surrounding islands, and three days (including Thanksgiving) in Bangkok.

Upon first landing in Thailand, where the weather was ~ 30 degrees warmer than Japan, I wandered around the old town & enjoyed my first (of many) Thai iced teas. Northern Thailand is known for Khao Soi, a curry noodle soup that's also my favorite dish at Soothr, my go-to Thai restaurant in NYC. Of course, trying the real thing in Thailand was a million times better, and quite affordable compared to the US dollar: my lunches averaged $2-$4.

I've always believed that the best way to get to know a place is to walk through it. Slow travel is a luxury, in our busy worlds, and treks are the slowest way to travel. That's why I love going on solo or guided hikes, especially when I can experience a homestay in a community along the way. In Chiang Mai, I booked an overnight trek with a homestay in a Karen hill tribe village, which turned out to be one of the most grounding experiences of the trip. There's something special about pushing your physical limits and stamina, and receiving the kind of mental clarity and happiness I get from being out in nature. After about four hours of hiking through waterfalls and rice farms, we arrived at the homestay around 2PM, but I still wanted to see more. So, a smaller subgroup left and completed a another 2 hour loop hike to another waterfall. Now sufficiently tired, I took a cold shower, and enjoyed the dinner -- including a pumpkin curry -- the host family prepared for us.

The vegetation and dry red dirt on this hike reminded me of the Guatemalan highlands. Of course, the Guatemalan highlands are more temparate, and, even in the dry season, Thailand is more tropical. I saw lots of mica flakes & sheets in the dirt, which would catch the light at the right angles and glisten.

I had a flight to Bangkok scheduled for the night I returned from the trek — not my best planning moment.I should’ve known I’d be too exhausted, but I pushed through anyway. In hindsight, I probably could’ve used a nap instead of rushing from one adventure to the next! I arrived exhausted in Bangkok, frustrated at the difficulty in actually getting a ride share to leave the airport. However, the next morning, upon seeing the major sites like the Emerald Buddha, the Temple of Dawn, and the Royal Palace -- and enjoying a Michelin-starred lunch for $30 -- I felt reinvigorated.

In Phuket, I imagined six days of a perfect beach vacation. Pina colada in hand, I pictured the sun shining all day long. Reality? Only the first day was cloudless ... the rest were clouded over with drizzles and rainstorms. But, I made the most of it!

I visited the Phi Phi islands for two days, known for its iconic beaches and nightlife, and enjoyed neither. The only way to see Maya Beach (famous from Leo DiCaprio's movie) and the other iconic spots was by boat, and on a cloudy, cold day, that wasn't enjoyable. I did see a shark while snorkeling though! I didn't get to enjoy the nightlife either, because of a sudden allergic reaction I had either in response to the lotion/oil used during one of the many Thai massage treatments I received, or simply some cat hair that got in my eye. With one eye swelled shut, I got help from a kind girl at the hostel to go to a pharmacy and spend some $$ on pills, rinses, drops, and ice packs. Humbled, I moved on to the next island, Koh Yao Yoi. Here, the boat dropped me off in the middle of a thunderstom and I trudged to the next hostel, arriving soaked. After the rain cleared and the tide fell, I walked along the beach, and, according to Google Maps, in the middle of the ocean.

Something interesting I noticed on this island (and all of Thailand) was that the cats had a short, lobbed tail. Reddit and Google weren't able to answer if these were genetic or done on purpose to avoid the cat jumping on tables. I find it hard to believe that someone is out there chopping half the tail off every street cat, but, I also have never seen a cat with a naturally lobbed tail.

When I returned to Bangkok, I was determined to make the most of my final two days in Thailand.I discovered a Netflix series, "The Empress of Ayodhaya", which is a historical drama about recorded events during the Ayodhaya/Ayutthaya empire -- the old civilization that ruled most of modern-day Thailand. Immediately after landing, I booked a tour to take a day trip to Ayutthaya from Bangkok to see the real thing. It was so cool. Some of these ruins were built at the same time as the Incan ruins in Ecuador -- but the two civilazations could not be more different.

While in Thailand, I had to face the reality of what kind of travel, and what kind of traveler I want to be. Southeast Asia is known as a budget traveler's haven -- the US dollar goes really far here, which attracts different types of travelers. Is travel just an escape from the everyday grind? Is it a quick fix with temporary experiences and curated facades? Or is there something deeper behind it? I read an article from Agnes Callard, one of UChicago's most well known professors (although I never got a chance to take one of her classes) about the philosophy of travel. It made me reflect on my own journey. I took off from my entire life in NYC with three days notice, but where was I going? Why did I feel the urge to leave? I’m still figuring it out, but moments like sitting anonymously with locals and tourists at a conveyor belt sushi joint, or buying and smelling fresh lotus flowers at a night market in Bangkok, remind me that travel can be both a way to step away and a way to connect on a deeper level.

Seoul, South Korea

I took a red-eye flight from Bangkok to Seoul, immediately affronted by the harsh, cold air. Seoul received its largest snowstorm in November in 100 years two days before I arrived, and I transitioned from summer to winter immediately. Before leaving Bangkok, and having seen the weather forecase in Seoul, I bought a lightweight pink puffer jacket from Uniqlo -- I stood out like a sore thumb, as most Koreans I saw wore all black, or at least a black parka jacket.

Since I had booked Seoul just three weeks before arriving, I didn't have any time to research on Korean skincare procedures or clinics, if I had wanted to participate in the beauty tourism there. Instead, as the most non-invasive consultation I could think of, I got my color analysis done at a studio for $80. There, specialists drape you in swatches of different hues and tones and give you your "best" colors. In the US, this trendy consultation is upwards of $200. Turns out, all the colors I already know I like (and don't like) are the ones that are "best" for me -- thank god, I can still wear black.

As for skincare, I did dedicate time to browsing the Olive Youngs (their CVS/Ulta hybrid), and a very cool concept store, Amore, where you could walk through different rooms, washing your face and trying out their different skincare and makeup products. I'm happy to report, after a month of using these products, my skin has never looked better.

On my walk through Hongdae, a neighborhood full of university students, I saw several buskers and live street dance group performances to Kpop. On my first night, I went to ZEST, a world-famous cocktail bar in Gangnam. I tried a soy sauce based cocktail -- delicious! The next day, I visited the Gyeongbokgung Palace & other classic sites that were still open, despite the snowfall. The temples and palace were beautiful, and the richly colored painted wood was a stark contrast aginst the gray sky. The cafes and teahouses that I went to had beautiful, aesthetic drinks and pastries. Everything was orderly, and positioned for the best picture.

The food, and drinking, in Korea blew me away -- the fried chicken, the barbeque, and the soju. In Spain, you mix wine with soda or lemonade to make a tinto de verano; in Mexico, beer with lime juice and chili make a michelada; in Korea, you mix beer with soju to make somaek. On a Korean barbeque tour, our tour went to a beer hall afterwards, where, after one too many drinks, I lost my wallet. Luckily, I had split my IDs and credit cards in two locations, so I was fine, albeit sad at the sentimental loss of my old university ID.

I visited the DMZ on a day trip, which reminded me of the history I learned behind East Germany when I was there last October. Without knowing it, I was part of the last tours up to the DMZ for a while. The guide lent me her binoculars, and I was able to see little cars driving around in the North Korean village closest to the border. As a souvenir, I bought North Korean money, and enjoyed soybean ice cream from the farms of that area. That very night, the president of South Korea declared martial law (for six hours). If you ask my mother how I was doing on December 4, 2024, when she saw the headline, she'll tell you she was worried sick because I wasn't responding, and she thought the worst. I'm sorry, Mom, I was just out at karaoke! The next day, I steered clear of the protest sites, and my trip remained unaffected.

Seoul really was the perfect capstone to my four weeks in Asia.