Thailand Pt. 1

I'm in Pai, in the north-west part of Thailand. Half of my month in Thailand is finished, and I got a paranoid premonition that if I take my rented scooter out to watch the sunset from a scenic vantage that I will get smoked head-on by an oncoming car. So, instead of testing it, I'll tell about my the first leg of my trip.

I arrived in Bangkok on the 9th of May. I took a cab out to my hostel, which I had discovered online. It was satisfactory, but sort of out in the middle of nowhere. I met a young English lad name Tom (I think) and we walked around and discovered our environment. Turns out, we were in sort of of a slum, so one of my first impressions of Bangkok was that it was poor and dirty. People were living in shacks, there were myriad prostitutes on the main street, and one lady made a motion with her hand and her mouth and then pointed to her granddaughter, whom she was clutching by the hand. In retrospect it seems obvious that she was asking for charity for food, and I feel a bit bad for not giving her any.

The next day Tom and I took the river boat to Khosan road, which I understand is the main travel hub for all backpackers in South-East Asia. I've never seen filthier water in my life--when we began it was an opaque dark brown, but by the time we made it to our destination, it had turned hard black. Despite being warned, we got ripped-off by a tuk-tuk driver, but eventually we met up with Tom's friend Dougie, who showed us around.

After a trip to Siam square, a huge park with huge lizards, and a tour of Khosan Road, which culminated, for me, in a feet cleaning by fish and a Thai massage, I started back to the hostel. It was only 8 o clock, but I had decided, after a raging 2 week binge in Korea, that I would not drink at all in Thailand. Also, Jaime was going be at the hostel soon.

She was late, but she got there in one piece. I hadn't spent more than a couple hours at a time with my cousin since I was 14, so I wondered how we would get on. I tend to get sick of most people after a couple hours, so it would potentially be a challenge. Luckily, we both turned out as pretty easy-going adults, and have been getting along well.

The next day, we went to Siam Square, Khosan Road and the royal palace along with a couple other travelers that were staying at the hostel. We had a time. I drank quite a few Chang sodas with lime.

I wanted to go to Koh Chang, and then back to Bangkok to meet up with my friend, Yuki, but alas, it was not fated to be, and we took a sleeper train south the Sarithani. From there we went to Krabi and Ao Nong beach. We spent a couple of days just beach-bumming. I was thinking about taking diving lessons on a nearby island, but decided I was happy just chilling out. I was reading Kishnamurti and starting to think about booking a place in a meditation retreat.

After Ao Nong beach, we decided to check out Phuket Town, Phuket. It turned out to be pretty unexciting, especially since I wasn't drinking, and Jaime, for the most part, was following suit. I think by this point we still hadn't stayed awake past 11 on any given night. We took a flight out of Phuket and arrived in Chaing Mai quite late. We saw lots of hookers and eventually found a place that was not too bad.

We changed accommodations the next day after Jaime found a place that was only 150 baht/$5 per night. We stayed in Chiang Mai most of the week. We did a jungle trek and stayed overnight in a village with some other travelers. I got leeches on my legs and saw some big spiders. The next day, we  did a shorter trek and then four of us split off from the larger group to ride elephants and ride on bamboo rafts. One of the other travelers lit up a joint in the back of the truck that was carrying us. Apparently it's not hard to find here.

On the second to last day in Chaing Mai, I scrapped myself up pretty badly after wiping out on a scooter, but I got my wounds tended to in short order, and decided (for some reason) to walk around in the night market with my gaping wounds occasionally eliciting points and gasps. The next day we went to Pai.

Pai is a lovely little community that is a little farther of the beaten path, but very touristy, despite its location. Today I rented another scooter and Jamie and I went to check out Pai Canyon and a waterfall. I'm relaxing , drinking a lot of fruit smoothies and reading a bunch.

Tomorrow, Jamie and I will split ways. She is going to Laos, and I stopped taking my Lariam about a week ago. So, I am going to Phitsanalok to hopefully participate in the meditation retreat I signed up for. If I don't get in, I will go farther east to Ubon and go to Wat Pah Nanachat and see if the monks will let me stay there for a few days, then go to Khao Yai national park.

Either way I hope to finish my journey chilling out in a beach bungalow in Koh Chang. Let's see how it turns out!