Oh my. Where do I begin? It is almost 5pm here and I am sitting out on the patio of my hostel listening to a bunch of Thais play sports in an open dirt lot across the street. I am almost too exhausted to type right now but I must write about my day before I have more to write about...
If I didn't already believe in fate then I most certainly would after today. If you remember in my earlier email that booked a my room for the day after I was supposed to, you'll remember that I had to stay in a coed room instead of my panned all-girls dorm. Because of that mistake, I met two people in my coed room who had recently arrived in Bangkok. They were here with two other of their friends who were in a different room and they will be in Thailand for two weeks. The two people who were staying in my room are Kate and Trenton. Trenton is from Montana and Kate is from Texas, and their two other friends, Rachel and Mac are from Anchorage, Alaska. After I talked to Kate and Trenton a little this morning, they invited me to find some breakfast and come hang out with them and their friends. We joined up with another guy named Josh from California and we took to the streets to find some food...
Oh my gosh the food! Chicken on a stick (WAY better than my previous meat on a stick) and some really delicious sticky rice/banana thing. I was really happy to be with other people, and I really got along great with the people in the group. Josh wasn't a part of the group either and it is his first time in Thailand too. After we got some food, the day from there on out feels kind of like I dreamed the whole thing. All of a sudden we were all in a tuk-tuk heading to a HUGE temple to see the Reclining Buddha. A tuk-tuk is kind of like a three-person cart attached to a motorcycle and they are all over the city with drivers to take you around. The drive to the temple took us through Chinatown and some really crazy parts of Bangkok, there is so much to see, I can't really take it all in. The temple was absolutely stunning, I will tell you right now that don't get too excited for pictures because I left my memory card in my computer and couldn't take any pictures. (actually I had room for three pictures in my internal camera memory, but I am still trying to figure out how to get those on to my computer). There were many Buddhas and many different things to see- but the actual Reclining Buddha itself was absolutely amazing. Google it and you will see what I mean. WOW.
We trotted around the temple grounds for a while, taking our shoes on and off as we entered the different temples. Then we found another tuk-tuk (but not after a man put a snake around my neck and then insisted that I pay him 100 baht without asking before hand) (Mom this is similar to the man in Cabo who gave us the huge iguana to hold and then wanted money), and then we were off to find a boat to cross the river to another temple. Rachel and Mac just came from two weeks in Cambodia and Laos and are obviously skilled travelers because Rachel lead the way on the whole thing. We tried to get a boat driver to get us simply across the river, but the best we could get was a good deal on an hour boat tour around the river to get us across to the other side. We decided to take the deal and do the boat tour. I couldn't help saying to myself over and over "oh my God, I am on a BOAT in THAILAND on a beautiful day, someone pinch me this can't be real. We went up and around the canals and river and saw gila monsters laying in people's lawns, run-down houses, amazing houses, and temples.
We finally ended our tour and were on the other side of the river. The next temple we went to was absolutely stunning. We climbed up the NARROWEST stairs to the top and had the most amazing view of the entire city. After that, we walked down the street and found a sit-down restaurant and ordered many different dishes and all shared. I can't tell you how fortunate I feel to have met these people! After we ate, we took another tuk-tuk back across town and to the hostel. I am now so disappointed to have to change rooms, but I am so glad I had the chance to meet these new friends. I am feeling much less scared of the big giant city. Today was one of the most adventurous days of my life. Completely spontaneous and everything went so absolutely wonderful. They are also here in Bangkok for two more nights, the same amount of time I am, and they are heading down to the island of Ko Samui- which is where I wanted to be headed next. They said we might as well make the trip together and I am thinking that I will take the overnight train with them down to the island. I haven't ironed out the details yet but I will share them with you as soon as I know <3
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| Oooh it's real alright. |
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| Me and Reclining Buddha |
I would also like to get a word in here about how thankful I am to all of you for your support and love. I don't know where I got the nerve to do this big adventure, but I certainly wouldn't be able to keep it together without all of your help. Whenever I start to feel overwhelmed with my decision to come here, I just remember that I am so overwhelmingly lucky to be in a position to do something like this. There is a lot of poverty here and plenty of run-down neighborhoods, but everyone seems to still be happy. So with everything I have, I will be happy too <3
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