My Thailand Adventure

Amirah Ahmad

The excitement began to kick in once I bid farewell to my parents and Katie and I were of ficially on our own.1. kick in: 开始起作用，生效；bid farewell to: 告别。As I saw my parents walking away while we rode the escalator down to security, pre- flight nerves and butter flies began to accumulate,spreading throughout my stomach and tense shoulders burdened by my 20lb backpack.2. 当我们乘扶梯下去安检时，我看到父母正渐行渐远，起飞前的紧张在我心中不断累积，扩散到了我整个胃里，20磅的背包也让我肩膀紧绷起来。escalator: 自动扶梯；butter fly: （因害怕、焦急或神经紧张而引起的）颤动感觉；accumulate:积累，积攒； lb: 磅。

Let’s flashback3. flashback: 闪回，倒叙。to Thanksgiving break: My eldest brother texted me casually asking if I wanted to travel to Thailand with him and his wife during spring break in March. Taking the matter lightly, I began to inquire about the cost of the ticket and some other logistics4. logistics: 算术运算。. He suggested I bring my best friend since kindergarten5. kindergarten: 幼儿园。, Katie. I then texted her asking her about the probability her parents would let her travel to Thailand with me. Katie’s parents surprisingly approved,my parents shockingly agreed, and I booked our tickets to Bangkok6. bangkok: 曼谷，泰国首都。,Thailand on November 30.

Now, let’s spring7. spring: v. 弹，跳。forward to March 4: Katie and I were on our way. After months of daydreaming of Pad Thai8. Pad Thai: 泰式炒河粉。, elephants, and most importantly hot weather, we were finally starting our adventure.The plan was that Katie and I would meet my brother and his wife in Bangkok, travel to Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Pai,9. Pattaya: 芭堤雅，是泰国一处著名海景度假胜地，享有“东方夏威夷”之誉；Chiang Mai: 清迈，是泰国第二大城市，也是泰国北部政治、经济、文化的中心；Pai: 泰国拜县。back to Chiang Mai,and finally back to Bangkok to catch our fight back.

After an exhausting 24 hours of travel, six hours of which were spent at the Dubai10. Dubai: 迪拜。airport, we arrived in Bangkok. We took a cab ride to the hotel we were staying at, where we also met up with my brother and sister-in-law. The most wonderful thing about landing in Bangkok was undoubtedly the instance my glasses fogged up due to the heat.11. fog up: 起雾；instance: 例子，事例。I was finally in hot weather after enduring an average of -17 degree Celsius12. degree Celsius: 摄氏度。weather back home.

蓝天白云、阳光沙滩、清澈的海水、舒适的温泉、迷人的水下世界、形形色色的小吃、华丽神秘的宫殿庙宇，乃至没有PM2.5的清新空气，这样的泰国印象有没有强烈地吸引着你，任性地来一场“说走就走的旅行”呢！

During our first day in Bangkok, we had breakfast at a run-down, outdoor restaurant, managed by an older looking lady who ushered us to sit.13. run-down:（房屋等）破败的；usher: 引领，招待。I was excited to dine, Thai-style.My excitement was quickly shot down as soon as the largest,most menacing rat scurried by my foot as I munched on grilled mystery meat that could have very well been his brother.14. 但我的兴奋很快就被泼了冷水，一只我见过最大、最恐怖的老鼠从我的脚边一溜而过，当时我正津津有味地嚼着不知什么动物的烤肉，说不准就是它同类的肉。menacing: 威胁的，恐吓的；scurry: 急跑；munch on: 津津有味地咀嚼；grilled: 烤的。Needless to say, my first meal in Thailand was sub-par15. sub-par: 低水平的。.

After a day of touring the Grand Palace in Bangkok, which was a city of ornate, breath-taking temples and statues of Buddha, we headed to Pattaya.16. Grand Palace: 曼谷大皇宫；ornate: 装饰华丽的；breath-taking: 惊人的；Buddha:佛像。Katie and I were thoroughly enjoying the heat of the sun as much as we did the location.

The next day we ventured to Koh Larn, where we took a ferry to the beach, clad with magical white sand and dreamy blue waters.17. Koh Larn: 可兰岛，距离芭堤雅九公里，是芭堤雅海滩外最大的岛；ferry: 渡船；clad: 被……覆盖的；dreamy: 梦幻般的，漂亮的。The entire day we sun-bathed, swam, sipped18. sip: 小口喝。on coconut water, and dined on fresh seafood.

Sun burnt and sun dazed, the four of us trekked to Pattaya’s main walking street which was certainly very interesting.19. daze: 使目眩；trek: 长途跋涉。Though a little raunchy with one too many tourists, we snacked on roasted grasshoppers, grub, frogs, and crickets which was certainly an experience.20. 尽管挤在一大堆游客当中，我们显得有些邋遢，但我们还是品尝了烤蚱蜢、烤蛆虫、烤青蛙、烤蟋蟀这些小吃，这绝对是难忘的经历。raunchy: 邋遢的；one too many: 许多的；grasshopper: 蚱蜢；grub:蛆虫；cricket: 蟋蟀。My brother, the more experimental one with his food choices, also bought a cup full of live miniature shrimp, seasoned with spices and lime,21. miniature: 小型的；shrimp: 虾；season with: 用……调味；spice: 香料，调味品；lime: 酸橙。to eat for dinner. When I took an adventurous bite from his meal, the live shrimp were suicide jumping off the surface of my spoon.It was surprisingly extremely delicious. I certainly felt guilty devouring22. devour: 狼吞虎咽地吃。a live animal, but it was delicious nonetheless.

曼谷大皇宫

The next morning we caught a flight (barely) to Chiang Mai. We arrived at the airport nearly 20 minutes before boarding for the flight was suspended23. suspend: 停止。. Running to our flight with full bladders after chugging entire water bottles with over packed luggage, we were exhausted by the time we finally sat down in our seats and flew to Chiang Mai.24. bladder: 膀胱；chug: 一口气喝完。

The next two days Katie and I explored Chiang Mai by ourselves.We adventured through the night markets, negotiating with stubborn vendors, and got our fair share of Thai massages.25. 作为一次新奇的体验，我们去逛了夜市，和固执的小贩交涉了好久，最终以合理的价格做了一次泰式按摩。stubborn: 固执的，顽固的；vendor: 小贩；massage: 按摩。One morning, we ventured to a Muay Thai26. Muay Thai: 泰拳。training gym where Katie and I received a Muay Thai lesson from a Thai native who had been practicing Muay Thai for years. As the only novices27. novice: 初学者。at the gym, we were undoubtedly the laughing stocks28. laughing stock: 笑柄。of both the trainers and trainees. Although they found our incompetence both humorous and endearing,29. incompetence: 无能；endearing:可爱的。our trainers were certainly very helpful and encouraging.

The next day we found ourselves in a Thai cooking class,where we first headed over to the market in a group of five to six excited tourists to grab the ingredients30. ingredient: 原料。for the meals we would be making. We made six delicious Thai meals under the supervision of young, Thai locals excited to teach their ways.

After our class, Katie and I met up with my brother and headed over to a Muay Thai stadium to watch several rounds of Muay Thai between children, women, and men alike.Needless to say, we learned a thing or two on how to improve our own Muay Thai.

The following morning, we caught a bus to Pai, a small town in northern Thailand. In Pai we rode on an elephant,named Soi, bareback31. bareback: 不用鞍地。and bathed with her. Taking turns, we would climb up onto Soi’s back and she would humorously shake us off into the river and we’d swim back to the shore.The experience was certainly one of a kind, and substantiated my love for elephants tremendously.32. substantiate: 证实；tremendously:非常地，极大地。After our elephant adventure, we rode our motorbikes to a secret hot spring.

The journey there was incredibly tumultuous33. tumultuous: 欢腾的，喧闹的。.

With steeps hills, uncontrollable billowing dirt, and sharp turns,34. billowing: 波浪起伏的；sharp turn:急转弯。our motorbikes could barely handle it. At one point,my sister-in-law and I hitchhiked35. hitchhike: 搭便车。with a truck driver also conveniently heading towards the hot spring. Though the dangerous commute had sucked the energy out of us,36. commute: 乘车往返于两地的路程；suck: 吸取。we washed away the worries with the warm water at the spring.Tucked away behind a beautiful array of trees, the hot spring was magni ficent.37. tuck away: 把……藏起来；an array of: 大量；magni ficent: 宏伟的，壮观的。I was able to clearly see the hot spring floor as I rinsed38. rinse: 冲洗。off the dust, dirt, and sweat into the clear water.

Finally, we wrapped up39. wrap up: 完成，结束。our trip with another Thai massage and one last round of shopping in Chiang Mai.

Easily, this trip was one of the best trips I have taken. Filled with exciting moments, mishaps,adrenaline rushes,40. mishap: 小错误，小事故； adrenaline:肾上腺素，兴奋。mistakes, and risks, Thailand was an adventure. The fact that I was able to explore with my best friend of 13 years made the experience all the more enjoyable. The only question that remains now is: where next?