First week in Bangkok

Wow, what a difference! These past few days we have been with a local CSer and it has made a world of difference compared to the backpacking area we were in (although that was lots of fun too).

A couple nights ago Toom (our CS host, pronounced tomb) took us out for supper around his area of town. It was wonderful for so many reasons. First, we spent the whole evening out and not once did we see one tourist, actually we haven’t for days now! Second was the food….oh my goodness the food. There are stands every few feet of something new to try and quite frankly I feel like I am trying it all. Im going to have to check myself soon or im gonna end up coming home double my size. But I just cant help it, the food here is terribly delicious and I cant seem to get enough.

Through the night though I was definitely granted my wish of taking it slow, the Thai people seem to be very good at that. Walking for example, I had to slow my pace by WAY more than half of how I normally walk. Walking slow and taking your time believe it or not is actually a lot of work, it definitely took a while before I stopped saying in my head “can we just freakin hurry up”, but really what is the rush anyway? We also picked up a fruit that has a really strong smell to it….apparently, although I really couldn’t smell it at all. Because of that we were not allowed on the air-conditioned bus and out of respect we wrapped our already packaged fruit in three different bags so no one else would be bothered by the smell. Isnt that amazing? Quite frankly I was blown away. Just out of RESPECT we would not get on a bus that had air running through it in case the smell bothered someone, it made me realize I officially have no idea what respect is at home cause I thought that was madness (although I liked the idea). Also, I started talking on the bus and Toom politely asked me to stop. At first I was quite taken back, like “whats his issue” kinda deal, but then he explained that the Thai people like to relax on the bus. Usually they are coming or going from work or something else that is busy and they just appreciate some calmness, ha all I could think about was how much my Dad would like these customs. Needless to say in just a few short hours I was amazed at the general respect and kindness that is shown around here, I loved it.

So far the trip has been great. Its been really relaxing with absolutely no sightseeing, temples, beaches, or adventure but quite frankly that is just the way I like it. I am sure over the next four months I will get my fair share of all that jazz so im not too worried about rushing through it now. Tomorrow Juan and I head to Ban Phe and then heading to Ko Chang for a while on the beach. Really not too sure what the plan will be after that, basically we have just been taking it day to day so im excited to see where we end up.

Anyway, I should go, there is a bakery that has the best cream filled doughnuts in the world and I want to get one before they close. Haha yes indeed, my trip is currently strictly based around food.