welcome to you!
I know I have kind of lost momentum updating my journal from the road, so my apologies to whoever comes here (from home) to read about my travels. Today is a very suitable day for updating though, I have some spare time before I take my flight to Hanoi and I think I should write about Thailand while I'm still here!
I'm actually feeling rather disappointed right now... I heard from Anthony in Korea earlier this week that he would be back in Bangkok on the 11th (yesterday). I didn't think I would still be here but I was having SUCH a hard time getting a flight back to Vietnam and couldn't get a fare for a reasonable rate until today. So I was SO EXCITED that Anthony and I would get to meet up AGAIN! But I heard from him last night that in fact he doesn't arrive in Bangkok until late tonight. We both agreed this was a great shame! It would have been amazing to get to meet up for the 3rd time! And have another peachy time at the Peachy Guesthouse! (haha! I don't mean anything by that, shhhh)
Well, what a pity. I really like Anthony-- I've never had a friend like him before. I do hope to reunite someday and have more wild adventures! Thank you very much indeed for your delightful company!
In fact, I have had nothing BUT delightful company here in Thailand! Carl from Quebec and Judith from Germany and Sato and Asuka from Japan and I all quickly became a little Thai massage family. And I got to meet up with Brian from home which was crazy! I've never met anyone from home while travelling before. It was like Brian said- "This is so strange, the last time I saw you, you were in my kitchen!"
I wasn't even thinking about coming to Thailand when I planned this trip, but Brian was going to be here and it was only too easy to tag-along with Anthony overland, so I came! And I am so, so glad that I did! Its true that I have a penchant for falling in love with every place I travel to, but Thailand especially I LOVE!
I loved Thailand right from the beginning, as soon as Anthony and I were dumped off the bus on the infamous Khao Sahn Road and we were immediately assailed by the magical rush of energy that is Bangkok. I was just amazed by how much LIFE there is here! So many different expressions of life... all of the individuality and the style... so many wild people to see (stare at! gawk at!) here in Bangkok!
Anthony, who had been here before and disliked it intensly, was already starting to squirm in discomfort, but for me, I was enchanted and excited. There's way too many people here, its crawling in falong (foreigners), its STEAMIN hot (literally STEAMING after it rains), the sex industry is alive and well and in your face and awful, and there's just too much of too much of too much... but I just really kind of like this city! Wild and wicked as it is!
It was very nice, however, to get away from Bangkok after a regrettable jaunt down to the seedy side of town one night for curiosity's sake. Very grim, NOT GOOD!
So four nights in Koh Samet-- a paradise island!-- with Brian and Aew was a most welcome escape! I was lazy to the max there! It was brilliant! And I absolutely loved getting to know Aew better, I like her so much!! Such a warm and lovely person, such a beautiful smile. My fingers are crossed that her visa interview goes well tomorrow so she can come to America to visit for a few months and we can sing karaoke in Brian's kitchen and she can cook dinner with her feet! hahah!! And I can learn more Thai, yay!!
After Koh Samet it was right back to Bangkok for my massage course at Wat Po. The class started out very slowly, I have to admit I wasn't very impressed after the first day. But things got a lot better after that and I fell in love with everyone in my class. Carl and Judith and I spent all of our after-school time together and had some very late nights around town. And Carl was always eager to teach me a little bit of French, which it turns out I was awesome at. Maybe I shall study it in college!
After I graduated from massage school and got my official certificate proclaiming me a massage master I got to catch up with Brian and Aew again and then I had a few more days of stuffing around the city and now I'm off again! Back to 'Nam!
I'm really excited to get back to Vietnam, I'm so looking forward to reunting with my feelings of adulation for that country! I can't wait to see the ubiquitous Vietnamese flag emblazoned with a yellow star on a bright red field everywhere I look. And it will be back to motorbikes crowded with entire families, miraculously weaving between the endless traffic; back to the constant honking of horns, proclaiming "hey i'm right here! keep doing what you're doing, just move over an inch!"; back to tiny plastic chairs and beer gardens on every corner; back to ultra-narrow multi-story and often wackily ornate houses, hotels, and buildings. Back to the land of smiles and the endless chorus of "Hello! Hello! Hello! Where are you from? You want to go moto?!"
Yep, back to Vietnam!
I will only have four full days before I take my flight home, so to honest, I'm not sure I'll bother venturing out much further than Hanoi. I will really have to come back to this side of the world again and absolutely make sure to see the north of Vietnam if I don't make it there this time. I COULD do it in 4 days, but its a very, very long train ride so I'm still not sure what I'll do. Tomorrow morning when I wake up in Hanoi I'll decided how much energy for travelling I have left.
Well, its just about time to catch the mini-bus to the airport.
So off I go... home soon!
I'm actually feeling rather disappointed right now... I heard from Anthony in Korea earlier this week that he would be back in Bangkok on the 11th (yesterday). I didn't think I would still be here but I was having SUCH a hard time getting a flight back to Vietnam and couldn't get a fare for a reasonable rate until today. So I was SO EXCITED that Anthony and I would get to meet up AGAIN! But I heard from him last night that in fact he doesn't arrive in Bangkok until late tonight. We both agreed this was a great shame! It would have been amazing to get to meet up for the 3rd time! And have another peachy time at the Peachy Guesthouse! (haha! I don't mean anything by that, shhhh)
Well, what a pity. I really like Anthony-- I've never had a friend like him before. I do hope to reunite someday and have more wild adventures! Thank you very much indeed for your delightful company!
In fact, I have had nothing BUT delightful company here in Thailand! Carl from Quebec and Judith from Germany and Sato and Asuka from Japan and I all quickly became a little Thai massage family. And I got to meet up with Brian from home which was crazy! I've never met anyone from home while travelling before. It was like Brian said- "This is so strange, the last time I saw you, you were in my kitchen!"
I wasn't even thinking about coming to Thailand when I planned this trip, but Brian was going to be here and it was only too easy to tag-along with Anthony overland, so I came! And I am so, so glad that I did! Its true that I have a penchant for falling in love with every place I travel to, but Thailand especially I LOVE!
I loved Thailand right from the beginning, as soon as Anthony and I were dumped off the bus on the infamous Khao Sahn Road and we were immediately assailed by the magical rush of energy that is Bangkok. I was just amazed by how much LIFE there is here! So many different expressions of life... all of the individuality and the style... so many wild people to see (stare at! gawk at!) here in Bangkok!
Anthony, who had been here before and disliked it intensly, was already starting to squirm in discomfort, but for me, I was enchanted and excited. There's way too many people here, its crawling in falong (foreigners), its STEAMIN hot (literally STEAMING after it rains), the sex industry is alive and well and in your face and awful, and there's just too much of too much of too much... but I just really kind of like this city! Wild and wicked as it is!
It was very nice, however, to get away from Bangkok after a regrettable jaunt down to the seedy side of town one night for curiosity's sake. Very grim, NOT GOOD!
So four nights in Koh Samet-- a paradise island!-- with Brian and Aew was a most welcome escape! I was lazy to the max there! It was brilliant! And I absolutely loved getting to know Aew better, I like her so much!! Such a warm and lovely person, such a beautiful smile. My fingers are crossed that her visa interview goes well tomorrow so she can come to America to visit for a few months and we can sing karaoke in Brian's kitchen and she can cook dinner with her feet! hahah!! And I can learn more Thai, yay!!
After Koh Samet it was right back to Bangkok for my massage course at Wat Po. The class started out very slowly, I have to admit I wasn't very impressed after the first day. But things got a lot better after that and I fell in love with everyone in my class. Carl and Judith and I spent all of our after-school time together and had some very late nights around town. And Carl was always eager to teach me a little bit of French, which it turns out I was awesome at. Maybe I shall study it in college!
After I graduated from massage school and got my official certificate proclaiming me a massage master I got to catch up with Brian and Aew again and then I had a few more days of stuffing around the city and now I'm off again! Back to 'Nam!
I'm really excited to get back to Vietnam, I'm so looking forward to reunting with my feelings of adulation for that country! I can't wait to see the ubiquitous Vietnamese flag emblazoned with a yellow star on a bright red field everywhere I look. And it will be back to motorbikes crowded with entire families, miraculously weaving between the endless traffic; back to the constant honking of horns, proclaiming "hey i'm right here! keep doing what you're doing, just move over an inch!"; back to tiny plastic chairs and beer gardens on every corner; back to ultra-narrow multi-story and often wackily ornate houses, hotels, and buildings. Back to the land of smiles and the endless chorus of "Hello! Hello! Hello! Where are you from? You want to go moto?!"
Yep, back to Vietnam!
I will only have four full days before I take my flight home, so to honest, I'm not sure I'll bother venturing out much further than Hanoi. I will really have to come back to this side of the world again and absolutely make sure to see the north of Vietnam if I don't make it there this time. I COULD do it in 4 days, but its a very, very long train ride so I'm still not sure what I'll do. Tomorrow morning when I wake up in Hanoi I'll decided how much energy for travelling I have left.
Well, its just about time to catch the mini-bus to the airport.
So off I go... home soon!