So… today has been a lesson in a number of things. Firstly, dealing with the heat. Wow, is it hot. I mean, it is bearable at night with a breeze, it is after all, the Thai winter! But… daytime… ok… remember, THAI WINTER! Daytime is about as hot as it ever gets in Ontario… and this is the coolest time of year! I’m not going to complain because I complained a couple times in Italy and the UK about being cold… so I have no right.
I made the move from Khao San Rd. to Rieng’s house. It took a bit of organization and a few trips to the saunas (also known as public phone booths) to sort things out, but once that was done I was relaxing and getting acquainted with her in her A/C’d office. She works as some uber powerful health-care person… she has an assistant… how cool. Anyway, we took the bus and a public van (with A/C!!) to her house, which is a bit out of the city. It is a beautiful house that she shares with her two sisters, a brother-in-law and a nephew. I am reasonably certain that there are no nicer people in all of Thailand… my god they are friendly! I couldn’t be happier having left Khao San Rd. I mean, the place is sort of a legend in backpacking… but really it is just a lot of “friendly†Thais trying to make a buck… err… bhat.
True, I’m far out of the city, but there are things to see out here, and it is only 20 bhat or so to get into town – though I don’t think I’m currently brave enough to try it alone.
Rieng, Ree (not sure of any of these spellings), Tha, Tee and Mackie all went out for dinner tonight. They treated me to an amazing Thai meal at a karaoke restaurant! Rieng tried incessantly to get me to go up and sing… but I was firm in my resolve! I DON’T DO KARAOKE!
I learned the term Farang, a name used to describe foreigners, is actually the word for Guava (splink splink – that’s for you C man). Kha is a bit of a beer buff and we ended up drinking Heineken all night (along with a Laos beer he put in front of me right when I met him).
To top it all off, Tee gave up her bed (even though I protested for her not to) for me. I’m talking King Size mattress in an A/C’d room!!
So, I think tomorrow I’ll take it easy and just sorta be mellow. Maybe actually get a full night’s sleep for the first time in over a week. I would have gotten one last night, the bed was comfortable enough, but my ambitious plans sorta went down the tubes when I ended up chatting with two girls (Frida and Eleanor – which is crazy because I had been telling Cass a couple of days ago that I thought Eleanor is one of the most beautiful names for a girl) from Sweden (yep, they were both blonde.. go figure) who were my room neighbours at the guest house… we chatted until about 1:30 and then I was woken up by cleaning or some such nonsense at like 8… so… yeah.. maybe tonight will be better.
I threw out my boots today. Well, more just left them behind at the guest house (in case anyone can find use for them). It was sad, they served me well… but I bought a pair of flip flops and really don’t need them anymore – and there’s no way I am carrying them around for two months… but I will need a pair of shoes or something for when I fly home.
Rei, Rieng’s sister, invited me to this birthday party for a friend of hers at an art gallery tomorrow night… so that should be cool. I am getting so cultured – but I’m a little concerned I’ll not have very nice clothing to wear. Also, there might be some girl/woman from California turning up here tomorrow… so that might be cool.
I checked out bus info today and I think I’ll take the bus to Chiang Mai on Sunday or Monday, stay for four days or so (depending if I get hooked into an elephant trek to discover the hill people. From Chiang Mai, I come back to Bangkok, might stay a couple more days there… and then I think I’ll head down to Malaysia. I have to cross the boarder to get my stamp renewed anyway… so I figure I’ll just hang out there until the end of February and then come up to Koh Pha Ngan for the full moon party on the 6th of March – then across to Krabi or some other nice place on the western coast of the country.
Rieng and family are helping me find an acoustic guitar. I think I might be able to get one (used) for about 1,000 Bhat… or about $30-40 dollars. As much as it is an expense I cannot afford, I think it will actually allow me to save money, as I’ll not be looking for things to do all the time and will rather just be content sitting on a beach jammin’ out. Perhaps I can also fleece some bhat off the tourists by busking if I need to.
Well that’s all for now… tune in next time – same Bhat Time, same Bhat Channel.
Peace.
