A Naturalista's Experience in Thailand Where Natural IS Cool Enough!

In my  last post, I shared detail about my recent travel to Asia for seven weeks during the summer of 2014, where I explored whether Natural Is Cool Enough, in various locations including Singapore, Bali and China.  In this post I will share my thoughts about the last place I visited, Thailand, from a natural vantage point.  In Thailand, I traveled to Phuket and Bangkok. We (my husband traveled there with me) began our journey in Phuket, which is a lovely place where the primary focus is the beach/ocean.  It is a beautiful, natural location and our favorite spot was the marvelous caves that we explored in a canoe.  Once again, as expressed about the other locations in Asia, I felt no unusual behavior existed in regard to how people viewed my natural locks.  There were no odd stares, no requests to touch my hair or inquiries about it. In Phuket, most of the people were focused on the natural environment that we were in and the ocean.  I felt a sense of oneness with nature there and felt that my natural locks were perfectly in tune with the environment that we were in.

The limestone caves at Phang Nga Bay were absolutely spectacular and included a process of journeying through some of them lying flat on our backs in our canoe as some caves had low hanging limestone pieces and were dark inside, with only dim, natural light. Some images are below: 

Caves at Phang Nga Bay

Lying down in our canoe in the cave due to the hanging limestone...

        

Our next experience was Bangkok.  I'm not sure where to begin with this location but I guess I will start with the elephants. This was an absolute highlight as the elephant walked us gently through the wilderness.  We bought a very large bunch of bananas and watched him gulp them down before we started our journey.

 THE ELEPHANT EXPERIENCE

This was an incredible experience that I tried before in a prior journey to Sri Lanka but my husband was not on that trip with me so riding the elephant with him near Bangkok was especially wonderful.   We also ate amazing food in both Phuket and Bangkok.  What stands out the most about Thai food is the seasoning and creativity for the cooked meals and the beautiful and delicious variety of fruit.  Every morsel of food that we ate was delicious, from the fruit to prepared dishes, and of course Thai beer and fresh fruit juices.   I also enjoyed having delicious fruity concoctions straight from a pineapple. 

Assorted fruit provided in our hotel room everyday in Phuket

 DELICIOUS THAI FOOD AND BEER AND A FRUITY DRINK (Mai Tai) SERVED IN A PINEAPPLE !

The Patong Beach Area: A cool night spot for strolling in the evening and swimming during the day...

Tailors are everywhere to have clothing handmade for both men and women

     As for traveling around the city of Bangkok, we often did so in a Tuk Tuk, which is a small motorized vehicle.  They are fun to ride around in throughout the bustling city and very cheap. You have to negotiate and determine the price before getting in or you can really get taken for a ride, in terms of the cost.  We also took many taxis but for us, the Tuk Tuk was the most fun.

Tuk Tuk Traveling in Bangkok

    The sights in Thailand are amazing although too many to name here.  The most exciting for me were Wat Pho (the largest reclining Buddha in Thailand) the Grand Palace and  Khao San Road (an excellent shopping and hangout street) and the Floating Market (a culturally marvelous shopping experience). Pictures are below to give you a glimpse of these sites.  

 THE GRAND PALACE

 Wat Pho:  The Largest Reclining Buddha in Thailand

Khao Sam Road

 The Floating Market

     Overall, my conclusion is that, as was the case with every other place that I visited in Asia, natural hair is not an issue.  Based on my experience, I believe there will be no odd stares, no desire to touch your tresses and no questions about your natural hair at all with the exception of adoration or comments about how lovely your hair is (which happened in China).  In Thailand, my hair was a non-issue and from my vantage point, I believe that in both Phuket and Bangkok, Natural IS Cool Enough and that's N.I.C.E., of course.  I definitely recommend a visit there naturalistas, for a wonderful cultural experience!