When Outdoor Adventures And Extreme Sports Meet Luxury Lifestyle
This was the start of our Rosa’s Road Trip.
Our road trip van came to a stop. I woke up and realised we had arrived at Lhom Sak Fresh Market in Petchabun province, Thailand.
The sun had just risen, but the market had been awake for a few hours already.
First there was a light whiff of typical fresh market odour mixed with the smell of exhaust fumes from delivery motor bikes.
A few more steps forward and we were greeted by the scent of greens and spices.
To ski, or not to ski. That is the question.
I got an invitation from good family friends to join them on their ski trip in France back in April 2014.
I am a boarder. Snowboarding is hands down my most favourite sport. Back in the days when I was finishing my high school in Vancouver, I would go up to Cypress mountain every other week or so and board until the mountain closed. After leaving Canada in 2004, I never got the chance to go snowboarding, but I every single day I daydreamed of riding fresh powder.
Then the invitation came. Saiphin and Alex are my very good friends despite the almost-20-year age difference. They and their friends take their children on a road trip to France every year to ski, and that year they planned to go to La Champagny or Champagny En Vanoise.
Certain things are difficult to explain in words. The sensation you get when you are diving through fresh powder, racing down a steep mountain is one of them.
Skiing/Snowboarding is a sport to many people. To some, it is so much more. There is something about being up there in the mountains. You can take the ski lift up to the same peak every morning and you will still be in awe seeing what surrounds you.
What is the most out-of-this-world experience you have ever had?
ประสบการณ์ที่ฟินที่สุดในชีวิตของคุณ คืออะไร?
Were you expecting it to be so unforgettable?
How did you feel afterwards?
My last day in Iceland couldn’t have been any better. If you are planning to visit Iceland, I strongly suggest you prioritise this over other excursions.
และประสบการณ์นั้นเปลี่ยนแปลงอะไรในตัวคุณหรือเปล่า?
My good friend Cod Starusayang said to me me “Dude, you HAVE to go diving in Silfra in Thingvellir National Park. I did it and it was just out-of-this-world–nothing like I had experienced before”. To be honest, though knowing Cod is a very well-travelled individual, I still wasn’t convinced when he told me so. Not because I hadn’t done scuba diving before and hence I would only be able to snorkel, but it was because I am from warm sunny Thailand and we have some of the World’s best diving spots visited by thousands and thousands of international travellers each year. Why would I want to go diving or snorkelling in ICELAND in the winter?
เพื่อนบีคนนึงบอกบีว่า “บี! เธอต้องไปดำหน้าหรือ Snorkel ที่ Silfra ที่ไอซ์แลนด์ให้ได้!!! มันเป็นประสบการณ์ที่หลุดโลกสุด ๆ แบบที่เราไม่เคยได้ทำมาก่อนเลย!!! ตอนแรกที่ได้ฟังเค้าพูด บีก็คิดว่า เอ๊า! เรามาจากเมืองไทย ซึ่งเป็นประเทศที่โด่งดังทางด้านทะเลและการดำน้ำ ทำไมเราถึงจะต้องไปดำน้ำที่ไอซ์แลนด์ด้วย?
WELCOME TO LAND OF ICE!
Glacier hiking is another activity one must do when visiting Iceland and I did mine on the “Sólheimajökull” glacier tongue, which is an outlet from Iceland’s 4th largest glacier, the”Mýrdalsjökull” (I later made the right guess that the Icelandic word for glacier is “jökull”).
The not-so-pleasant journey there alone, to the very south of Iceland, took almost 3 hours due to the weather condition and all we could see outside our coach window was the colour white. However, the sky cleared up as we were approaching the hiking site. As soon as we arrived, everyone suddenly perked up and dashed off the coach to see the change of view (which we could actually see) as well as to get some very fresh, clean air.
I was nearly blown away. Literally.
The path which led to the “view point” on one of the rock edges was closed due to slippery ground and strong wind, but I noticed some people had ignored the sign and hopped over the little gate and so I followed them.
I had never stood at a place so mighty, intimidating, insanely cold and dangerously windy. I was all wrapped up in layers of body warmers and an oversized water-proof ski jacket but the humidity and the force of the wind somehow managed to penetrate effortlessly through my clothes and sent chills to my every fibre. The icy and slippery ground didn’t help either. I made sure that every single step I took was stable, because if I slipped and fell by any reason there was a possibility the strong wind could push me straight into the angry stream of Gullfoss.