Plane Time Wrap Up!

I'm on the plane ride back to London and I just watched the most depressing movie ever. My entertainment system seems to be messed up so does whatever it wants. I finally got the movie section up and a random movie just began. The intro sequence looked interesting so I thought I'd see a bit more. It was a Korean movie about a woman who takes care of her whole family including her senile mother and no one ever does anything for her. Then she gets sick and spends the rest of the movie dying! Gahh!! And she is all proud and so doesn't tell her awful kids so they kept treating her like crap and the husband is no help because he is too grief stricken to help her so it's still just her taking care of grandma as she runs away crazy with dimensia. And by the way she has an alcoholic brother who only takes money from her and hits his wife and gambles. Needless to say I have been bawling for the past 2 hours much to the horror of the quiet Asian man sitting next to me. I even had one or two of those trying to stifle a sob and then you accidentally snort moments. Spoiler, she dies at the end... I've broken out my computer and put on some cheery music to try and change my mood. I figured it was also time for some reflection. I spent the last week split between 2 islands on the east side of Thailand's south coast. I was a bit nervous traveling by myself, but I had literally gone 10 minutes on the ferry to the island before I was chatting to a group of travelers from Canada. They were a fun group, fresh with the excitement that the first week of a trip brings. We split ways at the pier but said we'd try to meet up later on. I had no plan for accommodation, but I had an idea of where I wanted to go. I checked the prices for taxis from a few different drivers and was surprised that the price was exactly the same no matter who I asked and there didn't seem to be any chance of haggling. This was something I had never encountered on this trip. A nonnegotiable price? Were there tuk tuk unions set up on Koh Tao and my guide book had failed to mention it? I was about to give up and pay the 200 Baht when a driver offered a free ride (I'm listening) if I stayed at the resort he works for. 'Can I see it before I commit to staying?' Long pause. 'Yes, it's ok.' I hopped into the back of a pick up truck with a few other travelers and we were off, simple as that. Once at the hotel I looked at the room, a very nice resort with a pool, air conditioning and a room with 2 sizable beds. Had I had another person with me it might have been a good deal, but as I was alone, 800 Baht per night was a bit out of my price range. I himmed and hahed around the room, checking out the bathroom and the pillows, I finally asked 'none with an ocean view?' 'No' 'Oh.... I really had my heart set on it... Well it's very nice but let me check at one other place and then I'll be back. Thank you so much!' And I was gone! I walked around the corner and checked into a dormitory. 2 cheats in 2 days?? I was so pleased with myself. I went directly to the beach trying to get the lay of the land. The island is small... so after about 20 minutes I had the place covered. Now what? There was a sign for kayak rentals so I bought an hour and took to the sea. The water was so clear I could see the ocean floor even after paddling out 100 meters or so. While afloat I decided that if one is to travel alone they need activities. So, I went to shore and went about signing up for various tours around the island. I found an all day snorkeling trip for the next day and a yoga class for that night. The yoga class was fantastic, it made me really sad my yoga retreat had been cancelled. The instructor had all these sandbags that she would come around and place on you as you stretched in order to get you deeper into the pose. At the end, as we were lying on our backs focusing on our breathing she came around and put lavender scented pillows on our eyes and massaged our necks and scalps. I could have kissed her. When I went back to my hostel I made a friends with a guy from Canada and we decided to go to the lady boy cabaret show. We went for drinks at the bar downstairs in our hostel first, where we made quick friends with the staff. Apparently connect four is a popular bar game here, and the locals are experts. I have not played since the age of 10, however, so after a few drink betting rounds I was getting pretty tipsy. But we couldn't stay! Lady boys wait for no man! So lady boys are considered a third category of gender in Thailand and they are well loved and accepted part of the culture (as far as I could see). The show was basically like any drag show you've ever seen, featuring hits from Gaga, Cher and an end medley of ABBA. My Canadian friend was pulled up on stage at the end and put in sequins and a blonde wig. We stumbled home afterwards to find the guys in the bar still playing connect four. We declined any more rounds and made our way off to bed.

The next day it was time for my snorkel adventure. I was picked up at my hostel by a motorbike taxi and taken to the pier. The guide told me that we were a small group today, only 3 of us. I looked at my 2 companions, an older Russian couple who spoke little English. The woman was not even wearing a swim suit saying that she would just hang out on the boat and the man looked sullen, or perhaps he just looked Russian, it's hard to say. Great, I thought. I had been excited to meet some people, it was a 7 hour tour after all. Other people started showing up, however, and I realized (much to my relief) that there were many guides sharing the same boat, and that they all had about 3 travelers with them. We stopped at 5 different spots around the island. I saw beautiful coral, tons of colorful fish, 3 sharks and a school of fish so large that from far away I thought it was a giant rock in the water and was stopped dead in my tracks when I realized it was all fish. The school was amazing because you could swim through the middle of them and they would flee in all directions creating a ring around you as far as you could see. The sharks were not so large (about 1 to 1.5 meters) and I was told they weren't dangerous. I told my guide I wanted to see one and he led me around for ages pointing in different directions to me under the water. I followed and then there it was! A shark about 40 meters away! I was so proud I was facing a fear and was this close to one in the ocean. Then 2 more sharks showed up, and my brave new attitude started to sour. I wouldn't say that I panicked... but I suggested to my guide that we had been out long enough and that it was probably time to head back. I suggested this by swimming away in the direction of the boat.  The tours last stop was at a small private island right off the coast of the main island. It had a white sandbar from which you could swim to what they call the Japanese Garden. It was a beautiful stretch of coral in every direction with clear clear water and tons of little fish. The day was perfect, I wore a t-shirt for most of it to prevent my back from burning, but unfortunately neglected the upper part of the back of my legs - so I have a pretty funny looking burn on my butt. Oh well, for 7 hours on a boat, I think I did pretty well. I also met a couple on board from Portland and they asked what I was doing the next day, I told them I was leaving for a different island and they said 'oh, us too!' so we decided to meet on the morning ferry and try to find a guesthouse together. When I got back from my all day adventure I was worn out. I showered and tried to take a nap, but although my body was tired, it had neglected to tell my brain which was wide awake. I decided to go for a walk and after only a few minutes ran into the group of Canadians I met on the ferry on the first day. They said they were headed to dinner so I tagged along. We sat on the beach in giant bean bag chairs as the sun went down over the water. After, I went out and got a few drinks with some girls I met from England and then it was home to my hostel/bar where the staff were singing Thai karaoke. I watched them rock out and after every song they would explain to me (over the microphone, even though I was a few feet away) what the song meant and if there were any love songs they were inevitably dedicated to me. I was actually getting quite sad to be leaving Koh Tao, 2 days was nearly not enough and the island was so small it had been so easy to make friends and then run into them over and over again. But, it was time for the next adventure.

I woke up the next morning and was again driven via motorbike to the pier. There I saw the couple from Portland already waiting, sitting next to their bags looking very tired. We all perked up once on the boat, however, because the in boat entertainment was the Sean Connery/ Nicholas Cage masterpiece The Rock. I almost wanted to stay longer to see the end of it. While on the boat we were approached by a woman who ran a hostel saying she'd give us a good price for a beach bungalow and a free ride from the pier if we booked with her right then and there. We felt a bit pressured because we had had no time to look around or compare prices but in the end we decided to do it. I was pretty excited, the room cost 50 Baht less than what I was paying at the dorm and I would have my own room right on the beach. Got there and it was pretty sad little hut, just enough room to stand up in and hotter than all hell with a small fan. Evan and Rachel didn't seem too happy with the accomodation so we paid for the ride from the taxi and went to a bungalow down the beach a bit with AC and with a porch directly in front of the ocean. If the tide got high we could have poked our legs through the railings and dipped our feet. Our first day we basically hung around the beach and when we felt more up to it went to the main beach front where we thought we could get some free BBQ. Our guide book was right, there was free BBQ! The book also failed to mention that it ended at 4pm. We showed up and were going to have to pay full price so we continued to walk until we found a place that was more reasonably priced. The next day we went on a day trip adventure to so and so National park. It's an island chain that's preserved so you can not stay there, unless you arrange specifically and then you can only camp. It took about 2 hours to get there and instead of docking at a pier, we were let off the side of the boat into kayaks which we all took to explore the side caves that surround one of the islands. The day was great, we spent it kayaking, swimming and hiking to caves on 2 of the main islands in the park. We were given lunch on the boat and around 4:30 we headed for home. We met two German guys on our boat and invited them over for a few beers on our porch. We had some dinner at a restaurant one bungalow down on the beach and then went out to explore some of the local night life. We wandered into a bar that seemed to be full of mostly locals and soon realized they were all prostitutes. Whoops... A few middle aged men came in to 'have a drink' and after we finished one round we decided to head out. The owners seemed happy to be rid of us and I think the feeling was mutual. Next we went to a bar with a live band playing, with a Thai girl in a D.A.R.E. t-shirt singing covers of Western rock songs. We were all getting pretty tired by this point and started to walk home along the beach. We saw a woman selling balloon lanterns. I bought one, and the lady lit a piece of toast fastened in the center of it on fire. Once enough gas had built up inside I let it go into the moonlight. The lantern is supposed to bring good luck, so here's hoping, in any case it was beautiful to watch as it raised further and further into the air and then eventually burned up in the distance. Next day we rented motorbikes, went to the waterfall, i loved the bike so took it around the island some more and found a quiet beach on the north side of the island there was no one there so i took a dip in the nude. Felt great, but it was getting late and I had no desire to ride home in the dark. Went to the next beach over and got an oil massage and then a fancy dinner. then a tuk tuk home so I could pack for my final trip towards London. Still on it, I can't believe it, but I am only 40 minutes away from landing, so the trip has almost officially come to a close.

I think the thing that surprised me most about this trip was how home sick I got during parts of it. I have never been a person who gets home sick, at least not easily. It's interesting leaving home and the comforts of your every day life. I've always known I had good things, but it may have taken me half the way around the world to realize how good I do have it and how much I love it. This trip has been one series of jaw dropping sites after another. To try and pick one event or one moment that was the best would be impossible. Each country has given me a new eye opening wonder that are all hard to explain. It's like if ou have ever walked through the Louvre (or any other giant, great museum) and by the end of the day felt desensitized to the masterpieces all around you. I feel like if I had spent any more time in SE Asia I would not have appreciated it anymore. Ending the trip with time chilling on the beach was perfect, especially after the taxing experience of seeing the Angkor Wat temples.  My favorite part might have been performing in the village in Bali and feeling the energy of those performers and the crowd. The whole process of getting into the makeup and dress and being welcomed by a village and made to feel like family. I will definitely remember this trip and the people I met on it for the rest of my life.

Birthday at the Pal-alice

It's my birthday!! Happy to me! We woke up this morning at 4:30 am so we could watch the sunrise over Angkor Wat. It was a bit cloudy but really nice to be in the temple with few other people when it was really cool with no sun. We walked around a little and then headed back to the hotel for an hours nap and some breakfast. Then we rented bikes!! Ainhoa has not rode a bike since she was 10 years old so she was a bit nervous to say the least, but I convinced her she wouldn't have forgotten and she shakily took some practice laps before we headed out onto the main road. She rode well, but like a grandma. I virtually didn't pedal the whole way trying to coast to go slow enough for her to keep up. I kept shouting back encouraging words and telling her speeding up wouldn't hurt, but she stayed at her snail pace the whole way there. We started at Angkor Wat, picking up where we had left off that morning. We stayed in the temple for over 3 hours going through all of its halls and courtyards. We had a wonderful guide book that told you the stories of every inscription so we spent a long time walking around spotting stories from the Ramayana and Mahabarata as well as some Cambodian creation myths about how the gods got their immortality. Then we went to lunch where the women next to us got ambushed by about 20 kids and then she proceeded to buy one thing from each of them. When we left her she had a coconut in front of her with many bracelets and postcards and she was haggling over the price of some magnets. God only know how long she stayed there. We hoped on our bikes and went out of Victory gate to that other temple and then one more Ta Keo, not worthy then biked to Ta Prohm the one in ruins. We were kicked out of this temple because it was getting late and the sun would soon be down. As we were leaving it started to rain and then we biked in the rain for a good hour at least. We went sooooo far many miles! I had a great time, We sang and just embraced the fact that we were getting soaked. God bless Ainhoa for her first time on a bike in years being so adventurous with it and not hating me forever! We got home and showered and then went out for dinner and a drink. We wanted to celebrate my birthday but were so tired from our day we literally had one beer and then turned to each other and said 'bed?'. We talked to our waiter for a while who spoke better Spanish than English so said Ainhoa, Lost my camera! next day more temples

Went to Phnom Penh saw the memorial at the killing fields went to a night market I got a ring, i lost the ring the next day... of course went back to bed next day had a whole exploration plan but decided to sleep a bit longer instead and it was a good idea i went out into the city around 10ish and accomplished everything I had wanted to do in under 3 hours. I saw the Palace, National Museum, their big Wat and walked along the river for a while. It really only took me those few hours to be completely sick of Phnom Penh so i headed back to my hotel and drank a coke in the lobby and watched looney tunes with the kids until it was time to go to the airport. I don't necessarily blame Phnom Penh for my disinterest in it. I think I was just sick of traffic, dirtiness and so many people. Luckily I was off to the islands! Now, when I started my trip My bag was exactly the regulation size that Air Asia would accept to carry on board. In the past month, however, I may have done some shopping... In fact I have accumulated some pretty odd shaped souvenirs so when I turned up at the airport I figured it would take a miracle for me to not have to pay the checked bag fee. I went to an empty bag scale and put my bag on. A disgusting 13 kilos... I had to get it down to 7. I opened it up and began to take out clothing until the bag reached the precise weight I wanted and then I proceeded to the bathroom. I put on 2 bras, underwear, 2 bathing suits, 2 pairs of pants, 2 pairs of shorts, 6 shirts, over all this a baggy legged jumpsuit, and on top of all that my Bali temple shirt, I then wore my sarong as a decorative scarf - I was a vision. I nonchalantly pushed my cart up to the actual check in desk, trying not to sweat too much in the Cambodian heat under all my clothing. It was going well... 'Anything to check?' 'No,' I replied 'I think it should be alright.' She eyed my misshapen bag filled now with a giant puppet and bulky wall hangings I had bought from the temples. 'Would you please put it up on the counter?' 'Why of course!' The scale took a while to determine the exact weight and then landed exactly on 7 kilos. 'How much am I allowed, again?' '7 kilos' 'Wow, what d'ya know?! Lucky, huh?' I was grinning from ear to ear. I only saved about 20 dollars, but the satisfaction of getting past people trying to nickel and dime you is one of life's finer pleasures in my opinion. Once safely past security I went to the bathroom and came out 8 kilos lighter. Off to some island paradise!

Angkor Wat by tuk tuk

Started at 8am with Tony we visited the Angkor Thom structure which has inside of it many different temples and various terraces. The biggest of these being Bayon. This temple is covered with faces that they think are a combination of the king and a depiction of god. The king blended his features with that of the Buddha to show how he himself was a descendent from the gods. Immense, Ainhoa crying about it all.blah blah, then we went to some other ones and then had lunch at ZTony's sisters restaurant. I had some fish and rice and it was very good. Then we experienced our first taste of Cambodian rain. We only have one umbrella between us so most of our time was spent huddling together as Ainhoa shot photos of everything she saw. Went to a few more, one I liked best was the jungle looking one, it rained but it was still nice because it was warm and the stones were releasing a nice heat as the rain cooled them. Tony asked if I would marry him while at lunch and said he'd like Cambodian babies, said I could stay with his mom and we could all be very happy. We ended at Thamonomon where Ainhoa fell in love with some apsaras and so took a very long time, I went and waited for her in the tuk tuk as it was raining slightly still. Tony and I talked about how he felt about Cambodia now versus the Cambodia he grew up in. People here seem very excited about the future of the country. The man who greeted us at the border told us many Cambodians have to go to Thailand or Vietnam or China to get work, but not for long he said. In a few years they will all come back and have jobs here he kept saying. Tony said he liked his government now, that it was much better. He told me about his childhood, how his father died when he was 13 and he was pretty much homeless after that, living with friends. He's 31 now and his father dies in 1993. I didn't want to go into how he died, but from everything I have learned that was a pretty bloody year so it's very possible he was killed. Tony started to tear a bit when telling me this, he looked away and we saw two lady boys coming up towards the temple. He started to laugh and pointed saying 'gay'. He asked if we wanted to go to a discotheque but we said no we were getting up early tomorrow so maybe another time. We had dinner at the hotel and it was super good! Curry of course... what else?

Cambodia!

Woke up early and got breakfast at our spot then waited in front of our hotel for the minibus driver to pick us up. We waited for him for a good 45 minutes and then the van appeared and 5 of us in total scrambled in with all of our junk. Within the first hour and a half Ainhoa had to pee very badly. She asked the driver if we could stop at a gas station to which he said no, no stops. This went on for over a half hour. Ainhoa was walking back in forth in the bus jumping up and down in circles trying to control herself and the bus driver still wouldn't stop. At this point another girl had to go as well so they both attacked the driver. The girl, from Ukraine just started whimpering please as Ainhoa yelled I will pee on your seat! The driver would not relent, he had a strict schedule to keep to apparently. Ainhoa was literally about to jump out at an intersection and run to some near by bushes when the driver yelled back 10 minutes. We finally pulled up to a gas station and Ainhoa and the other girl went at a mad sprint towards the toilets. Not before the driver told us 5 minutes, you no eat. No one listened to him, we all bought snacks and ate them as the driver filled up the tank. In another 2 hours we stopped near the border of Thailand and Cambodia for lunch. A man at the restaurant who we were made to believe was with the bus company came over and helped uss unload and order and then fill out our visa papers for Cambodia. Then he said so I will go get visa for you, only 1000 Baht (about 35 USD). No, no, we said we get our visa at the border ourselves and for only 20 USD. He tried to convince us that the border would take too long, more than 2 hours he warned and he threatened that the bus would not wait for that long of a period and would leave us there. We stood firm though and told him we'd take our chances and that as we had paid all the way through the bus would wait! He seemed disgruntled and skulked off to another booth in the restaurant. We drove only 5 or 10 minutes to the border and were met by a guide from the Cambodian side of the border who would take us from there. This man was completely different. You ready he asked? I'll lead you to the border and you will go through and get your visa yourself and I will be waiting for yu on the other side. He took a glance at our papers. The one given us from the bus company in Thailand he tore up. You won't need this, this is part of their scam to get you to get visas through them. Glad you didn't. He explained to us how everything would work and what we needed to do. He walked along the no mans land with us giving us information about Cambodia and the people. He was overall very helpful and seemed genuinely like a good person. We made it through the border in about 20 minutes, mainly because you have to walk through from one office to the next as you go through a number of windows to make sure you don't have diseases and have all your papers. We ended up on another minibus with only 5 people again. We made one pit stop where a pushy Cambodian woman opened the sliding door to the van and said in her high pitched heavy accent. 'Your driver no speak English, time to get out. You use the bathroom you have to buy something, so first we go toilet then we all buy cool drinks, you follow me!' We all groggily went into her shop where everyone used the toilets and then were overpriced for cokes. It's a brilliant plan, we were not used to the currency at all and this was to be our only stop until Siem Reap. Her first offer for a coke translated to about 3 USD at which point Ainhoa and I laughed at her. We eventually got it for about a dollar, still a bit much, but whatever we did go bathroom now it was time we buy cold drinks. The ride through Cambodia wasn't too long and we were shortly dropped off in a small looking town. There were tuk tuk drivers there waiting and we took one for 2 dollars to our hotel that we had booked online. He asked us if we had a plan for tomorrow and we said the temples and he offered to take us around the next day. We didn't know exactly if that's how these things were done but we decided to say yes. His name was Tony and he knew the owner of our hotel, they grew up next door to each other in a small village right outside of Siem Reap. We put all our stuff down in our new room and set out into the town we went to Pub Street which is the center of the Old French Quarter, their central downtown area. There is a lively night market and stalls of food, clothes and other trinkets all along the river. We had a traditional Khmer dinner where they bring a small BBQ to your table and then pour in broth and vegetables as your meat cooks on the top of it. It was delicious and we were just thinking how lovely Cambodia was when a kid came up trying to sell us postcards and some books. We said no but the kid would not leave. He was very good at what he did and we eventually broke and said we'd buy some postcards, but then he didn't have change for our money so he then waited for us to be done with our food so we could get change for him. He sat with us for at least a half hour. He did an excellent job of looking sad and giving us some serious Western guilt.

Pamper Day

We woke up late and headed straight for breakfast/lunch at our favorite outdoor stall. We split some curry and Tom Yum soup with some shakes of course. After lunch it was time for Ainhoas last Thai massage... sad day. This massage was the best thing that has ever happened to me. It was so good, she had magic hands I swear. After the hour I was so happy I was uncontrollably laughing and crying tears of joy. Nothing after that massage will ever be the same. I wanted to take the massues home with me. Then I got a haircut and a manicure and pedicure.  and we bought yet more stuff, the things we had been eyeing all week but had continulously walked by until our last day. I bought  a bag and a few presents for people back home. We walked around for a bit and found another area close to Khaosan which had a similar vibe but much more relaxed. This seemed like the family friendly version. The restaurants were all busy, most of them with live music. Twinkle lights and lanterns everywhere Somehow it was meal time again and so we ate at an outdoor stall. Went home and packed for our journey to Cambodia the next morning.

Ayutahha

Ayuttaha!! woke up pad thai breakfast took a tuk tuk to the train station. Hoped on a train heading north, thought we had missed the early train but there were no lines so we whizzed straight through. The 10 minute tuk tuk to the train station cost us 40 Baht each, the 1 1/2 hour train ride cost us 15 Baht each... go figure. It was a train for locals mainly, so Ainhoa and I felt like the only tourists, an excellent feeling. Vendors walked up and down the aisles screaming prices a third of what they were on the tourist train we took in Kanchanaburi! I slept most of the way so missed a lot of the scenery but it was probably a good idea in the end, we had a lot of walking ahead of us.  When we got to the station us and the other tourists unloaded, most of whom immediately got into tuk tuks. Ainhoa and I, however, opted to walk. "it lies in a bend in the Chao Phraya River, where it meets the Pa Sek and Lopburi rivers - to completely surround their capital with water, early residents dug a curving canal along the northers perimeter, linking the Chao Phraya to the Lopburi.  Ayuttaha was built at the converging of two rivers, and in order to fortify the city, waterways were dug to connect the rivers, making Ayuttaha an island. "Ayuttaha was named by King Ramatibodi after a mythical kingdon of the gods portrayed in the pages of the Ramayana. The city was completed in 1350 and was a powerhouse of Southeast Asia." It was the center of trade, the arts and technology until 1688 when it went into internal conflict and then was completely destroyed by the Burmese in 1767. So this was to be a historical adventure!! We visited Wat Mahathat first which is the one with the Buddha head in the overgrown tree, then walked across the street to Wat Ratchaburana which had the giant structure in the middle which we climbed up and then it felt as if someone had poured water on my head b/c my body could not take the heat. We walked along the edge of the Phraram Park and then stopped for lunch at a local market. Not before seeing elephants! Also Ainhoa can not ride a bicycle so we walked everywhere... we were super hungry but could not find a cheap restaurant just tons of shops selling sweets. They looked amazing, but not what we wanted to eat as our main meal for the day... The stalls were all exactly the same as well. You'd think with so much competition for one type of dessert they would diversify so people like Ainhoa and I can find real food. Lunch was yummy but over priced. It's amazing how when you get used to a currency howyou can suddenly be outraged by paying more than the average. You haggle and haggle over 10 Baht and then realize that it's only about 25 cents. I guess every penny counts. Just funny how it is still cheaper than anything else I could ever buy in London or America. Long story short we felt slightly cheated so Ainhoa stole water off the table...! We left and went to Wihan Phra Mongkhon Bophit which was a modern looking Wat with a giant Buddha in it (go figure). The modern look isbecause it is a reconstruction of the original structure which was destroyed by a fire in the 2nd fall of Ayutthaya. It was raining but in Asian style were still made to take our shoes off. We walked through the rain to the temple, not sure how much more clean bare feet from the rain aer than shoes. But whatever, not my place to say. There were people doing the shaking number game. You have sticks with numbers written on them in a can and you are supposed to ask the Buddha a question then pray then shake your can and whichever stick falls out first, the number on that stick will give you answers to your problem. Ainhoa and I did this, however, unable to interpret the numbers we received the whole thing was a bit pointless for us. Next we went to Wat Phra Si Sanphet.  This wat is part of the grand palace compound and was used first as a residential palace but then turned into the royal chapel and all 'novice inhabitants' were kicked out. The temple complex is centered around 3 large chedis. They were beautiful. Chedis are used to hold the remains of a body that has been cremated, so the bones and ashes. These particular structures were extraordinarily large and in their day were painted with bright colors. Now even though the paint has faded and much of the carvings have been weathered, they were still impressive. Perhaps it was the light from the time of day or the wonderful overgrown feel of the trees, but this was my favorite temple of the day. It was very peaceful there and the shade from the trees allowed us to cool down a bit. We didn't want to catch the last train back because we knew it would be over crowded so took a tuk tuk to the train station. Once there, we realized train schedules are a bit of a joke here. The times posted on the walls were nothing like when the trains actually came. We bought a ticket for the next train which was going to be in 2 hours. We decided not to waste the time but instead head to one more temple just outside the old city walls. We crossed the river into what looks like the modern city of Ayutthaya and walked for a lot longer than we expected. None of the tourist maps we had were to scale... none of them! The temple that looked around the corner took us 35 minutes to get to. Once there, the temple was technically closed, but the gate was left open and there were plenty of people wandering around so we walked in. This complex was centered around a huge square pyramid structure. We climbed to the top and were able to see views of all of Ayuttaha. The sun was close to setting so it was pretty beautiful, we couldn't stick around for sunset though, and anyways there were too many clouds to have made it spectacular so we started on our long walk back to the station. We made it in plenty of time to stop at 7/11 and get a slurpy! The track for the train was crowded and most people were sitting on the actual rails waiting for the train to come. We had fallen into exactly what we were trying to avoid, every tourist was now heading back to Bangkok as were all the locals who obviously traveled for work every day. We had to stand for most of the journey back home. Also the fan in our section was not exactly working so we stood like sardines as the train vendors still tried to walk between us still screaming with their giant baskets. They would pass and push you from the aisle on to the families sitting. Once home, guess what we did? Did you guess massage? because then you'd be right. We got a foot massage and then sat in a bar watching Arsenal getting the butts handed to them by Manchester United much to the joy/dismay of the mostly English audience.

Bangkok Ballers

Thursday: went to the waterfalls (Erawan) drove back in the bus with the group and were all dropped off near Khaosan Road. We checked into our new hotel and decided to go out exploring. We went to the flower market on the edge of Chinatown near the river near Memorial Bridge. it was awesome! Walked around a bit more and found a different night market looked at great Asian craziness gifts. Sat to eat at a cart, it began to pour. Caught a taxi home. Decided to go out, went to the roof top bar because there was a guy singing and playing the guitar. Good atmosphere, everyone sang along. Made friends with people from Jakarta and a Thai woman and her German husband. She kept ordering buckets of drinks, so we all got pretty drunk, we went to a different club when the roof top bar closed. Danced until that club closed and then crashed literally next door at our new hotel!

Friday: Woke up a bit late, skyped with mom and sisters, went home Ainhoa was still in bed. The plan was to go explore Chinatown, so we set out walked for a long time. It was cloudy but not raining so perfect walking about weather. Saw the National Theatre so checked out what was playing. A show called Khon, actually a style of dance, the name is not so original. Usually about 800 Baht, we asked for a student discount and got it for 200 Baht. Nice! Walked/shopped/ate for the rest of the day. Another great soup cart! best coconut drink I've had in my life. Endless streets of small market stalls. Amulet traders. saw the show which was interesting... walked back it began to rain, I got kind of grumpy walking in the rain, but we eventually made it. Met up with our Indonesian friends and went to a beer garden close by. Toni sang all night and was really good. met the guys from the Netherlands, woman from Belgium and Woman from Thailand. trend of thai women with white men but not the other way around, what's up with that?

Saturday: woke up, got ready and went to the BK Lounge to meet up with Pad. She showed up and we walked like 5 blocks with her to where she had parked her car. Drove across the entire city to Pad's favorite restaurant. Not fancy, but extremely tasty!!! What she called a court menu. Apparently cooks who worked at the Palace would learn certain dishes not usually made outside of the Palace, but then would open up their own restaurants and take the recipes with them. It was the best food I've had on this trip. Hands down. I could marry the spicy coconut seafood soup. Another type of soup with egg yolks that had been boiled in pig's intestines for some reason. great dish of beef and Thai basil deep fried so the basil was like a crunchy chip. Some chicken skewers with sticky rice and a sweet sauce and then raw shrimp with garlic and chilies and cabbage on the side. Sprinkled it with lime like ceviche. When they turned pink, we devoured! For dessert Pad ordered 3 small treats of syrup and different fruits/jellies over ice. Very refreshing after a spicy meal and for the heat outside. Afterwards, she dropped us at the skytrain b/c she was going to a wedding!! We took the train to a huge outdoor market called JJ's Market. Like a flea mark with hundreds of little stalls in and outside, winding pathways through it all. Went into a consumerism comma and had the urge to get everything! Got one or two gifts, but then a dress and skirt for myself. That's all I would let myself get, I could have spent so much more there, it's not even funny. Then went to Siam Square, once again by skytrain. got off and walked straight into a lip synce dance performance. Harajuki style girls in front of us knew all the songs, so it must have been popular music just being danced to. We have no idea why... why not I guess. Walked around the malls in a daze, completely shopped out. Walked around a little bit but didn't make it too far before we decided our feet were too tired to continue. Took a tuk tuk home and walked straight to a Thai massage place. Great massage, then home to drop off stuff and grab computer to figure out how to get to Ayuttaha tomorrow and to skype cameron/ family. Now to try and sleep through the noise and heat of our ridiculous room!!