Where Was I?
Thailand
Total Flights: 1
Abu Dhabi > Bangkok
When Did I Go?
Nov 5 – Nov 15
Currency
Thai Baht
It’s been a while since checking in here on the blog. Once I joined a group tour back in November, my schedule intensified and I had less free time. Between that, finding strong WiFi, and trying not to give up days of my travel to spend writing and uploading photos, I fell behind. But, I’ll hopefully be able to get caught up to my current location of Sydney.
Here are some of the highlights
Bangkok
I had a week in Bangkok before my tour started, which gave me some time to explore the city.
The Best Thing I Saw
A 20km bike tour around old Bangkok was probably the best thing I did. Bangkok has quite a reputation as a busy city and for good reason, but this bike tour went through some back streets and alleyways that would make you think you were far from any kind of modern city.
A seven hour bike tour can be hard to gauge for keeping my sugar in line, but I was happy (and amazed) that I stayed in good range the whole time and finished the tour with a blood glucose reading of 99.
A few more shots from the bike tour
Other Highlights
I also went on a street food tour and tried some new kinds of Thai food that I really enjoyed. The street food was all very cheap and I would end up eating it often for the weeks I spent across all of Southeast Asia.
ICONSIAM was one of the biggest malls I’ve seen and had one of the most amazing food markets on the ground floor.
After a week on my own, I picked up the group tour in Bangkok and ate some more street food before getting a chance to see some of the temples at night. I also went to the Lebua Tower, which gained popularity after they filmed a scene in The Hangover 2 at the Sky Bar on the roof.
It was then time for an overnight train to Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai, located in northern Thailand, was a contrast to Bangkok and seemed much quieter and laid back than the hustle and bustle of the capital city. I only had two full days in Chiang Mai and I wanted to make the most of them. I arrived on the overnight train around 7am and by 8am I was off to Flight of the Gibbon for one of the world’s highest rated zipline adventures. It was my first time ziplining but from what I had read, this was the place to do it.
This was an activity I had to plan ahead in regards to my sugar as it’s something you can’t bring a bag. I usually bring my diabetic bag everywhere, but with certain things like ziplining I had to stuff my pockets with what I needed (which is why I wore cargo pants). I intentionally let my sugar go a little higher to avoid a low, but it went higher than I intended and that was due to an unforeseen circumstance. My pod got ripped off on one of the ziplines, which wasn’t a complete shock and was something I tried to be prepared for. If I had really planned properly, I would not have worn my pod on my stomach and maybe placed it on the back of my arm. But, I would have had to have planned that when I put my pod on almost 48 hours earlier, and that was one I didn’t think of. But, if I do zipline again, I’ll try and remember to not put the pod on my midsection. I finished the zipline adventure without a pod, which was ok because it was only about an hour before I was able to get back to the base where my bag was locked up with my emergency pod and insulin. If this was something that was an all-day tour and I lost my pod, I would have had to leave the tour. I really try not to ever go without a pod for more than 2-3 hours because after that my sugar would really get too high. In this case, it was just an hour or so and my sugar went up to 199. All things considered, it wasn’t too bad.
I did a Thai cooking course later that night and learned how to make pad thai, egg rolls, tom ka gai soup, and massaman curry. It was very interesting cooking with ingredients I had never used before and all the food was very good (and spicy!)
The Best Thing I Saw in Chiang Mai
Elephant Nature Park Tour
This was one of the best days of my entire trip, getting a chance to see the elephants up close. The Elephant Nature Park is a sanctuary and rescue center in northern Thailand where hundreds of elephants are able to roam the land. While my group was not able to attend the actual ENP, we were able to go to one of their satellite parks where four of the rescued elephants now live.
The tour included feeding the elephants, going on a walk through the forest, and bathing them in the river.
I know that when my year of traveling ends, this will certainly be a day I’ll remember. If you go to Chiang Mai, don’t miss out on the chance to spend a day with the elephants.
Chiang Rai
Before moving on to Laos, we had one more night to spend in northern Thailand in a city called Chiang Rai.
Best Thing I Saw Near Chiang Rai
On the way to Chiang Rai, the highlight was Wat Rong Kun, or in English known as the White Temple.
Just beautiful
We also stopped at The Golden Triangle, which sits on the border of Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos and has been historically known for opium trade.
Other Highlights
The only other memorable sight from Chiang Rai was the clock tower we saw at night. They put on a short show which included music and lighting the clock up at certain times at night.
Thailand was an amazing country (so much so I went back later on the trip) with nice people and some of my favorite food on the planet. I’ll add in the section on the islands in a later blog post, but as for the major cities on the mainland, I left knowing this would be one of my favorite stops on the tour.
The Sugars
Highest high: 257
Lowest low: 45
Avg Morning: 94
Avg Afternoon: 138
Avg Night: 121
Insulin Pods: 4
Avg Basal Rate: 1.10
Emergency sugar supply: Skittles, glucose tablets, energy drinks, fruit, juice
I already mentioned above about a few of the obstacles I ran into while in Thailand for the first time. I had dealt with a pod getting ripped off before, but that was the first time it had happened on the trip. It’s one of the reasons why I always carry at least one extra pod in my bag and usually I’ll have a few in case things like this happen. But to go into a little more detail about what travel can be like for a Type 1 diabetic, it’s situations like the ziplining that make you understand why preparation can be so key.
I had to prepare ahead of time to make sure my sugar was at an appropriate level. It’s one of the few types of day trips where I actually could not bring a bag with me for the whole journey. There are some venues that won’t let you bring a bag in, but if you explain it’s medical they’ll allow it. However, a ziplining trip you actually can’t wear the bag and zipline so I knew I had to fill my pockets with the necessities. When I carry a bag, I’ll usually have at least one energy drink along with my candies and tablets. But, because I could only fit what I could into my cargo pants, I just lined them with glucose tablets and a container of skittles along with my PDM, testing strips, and lancet. At the start of the trip, there were lockers so I could leave my bag there which held the rest of my supplies (insulin, extra pod, drinks) and I knew the entire trip was only about two hours. So, if something like a pod were to fall off, I could survive until I was reacquainted with my bag. But, if I were to suffer a low, I’d need to address that immediately, which is why I have to carry the tablets and skittles in my pocket. As I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, when I do these kind of activities I’ll usually try and aim my sugar target a little higher than normal to make sure I avoid a low, but you can never be certain.
Before I arrived in Thailand, I had done pretty extensive research about where I might be able to pick up more diabetic supplies. Thailand is one of the few countries in the region known for their medicine, and in fact I learned many U.S. citizens actually fly to Thailand for surgeries or treatment because of the high quality and the low cost compared with the states. While they did have insulin in Bangkok, I learned from the pharmacist I spoke with that they did not have insulin vials, which is what I use to fill my pods. I would only be able to pick up insulin cartridges which are used in pen needles. If this were an emergency, I would have certainly made the purchase, but I wasn’t in desperate need of anything, this was just to add to my supply and I knew I could wait until later on my trip to try again.
I actually ran into an emergency situation in 2017 when traveling with family in Copenhagen. My PDM broke and I didn’t have a spare with me, so I had to find a local Danish doctor to write me a prescription for insulin pens. It wasn’t ideal, but it kept me alive for the few days I needed until I could receive a new PDM in the mail.
But, for Thailand, it wasn’t necessary.
I was impressed I was able to keep my sugars in a pretty good range for my 10 days in Thailand. With the heat and the amount of noodle dishes, I thought I’d struggle a bit more to stay in a good range but most of the days I felt pretty good.
I felt like a real diabetic badass after posting the 99 following the bike tour. That was after 20km around Bangkok on a bike, going through a rain storm, mixing in beer and carb loaded foods, and somehow I ended up right where I wanted. I don’t think I could do that again if I did that day over 99 times. It must have been the praying at the temples we stopped at along the way. I think it was Jay Z who said ‘I’ve got 99 problems but my sugar ain’t one.’
Next up will be Laos and Cambodia.
Keep those sugar levels steady
Jeremy
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