Aaand we're back

Sooo...I got back from Thailand a few days ago. It was some good times. I did some things, I saw some stuff...I spent some time on the beach, I got my tan on (although it's going to be gone before anyone gets a chance to notice), I did some snorkeling (lot's of cool fish and corals, but no sharks), some hiking through the jungle, rode a few elephants, saw a few tigers, rode a bamboo raft down a river, and saw a muay thai fight (which was sort of cool, but on the other hand, it wasn't quite as good as I had heard, it seemed like they were holding back). Would I recommend it? Yeah, probably, but I would have changed some things too.

First off, I wouldn't have gone by myself. Sure I met people over there; I wasn't lonely per se, but let's be honest, these people aren't your friends. I think back to trips my friends and I took to Winnipeg or Minneapolis in college, and as much fun as we had in those less than exotic cities, how much more fun could we have had in a place like Thailand? There wasn't anything about the trip that wouldn't have been improved by having one or two of my best boys with me.

Second, I would have either brought more money, or stayed for less time. Eventually I realized that I had much more time than money to play with, so I had to limit my sight-seeing/diving/tours/whatever. I'll admit, especially in the southern islands, I did get a little bored. The plus side to all this free time was that I got to spend a lot of time napping in hammocks and on the sand, and also do a lot of reading. I think I ended up reading 7 books, which is more than I've read in years, let alone a single month. Some were better than others, but the best one by far was The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. I picked it up because I recognized the title from the movie, and it turned out to be really good, although quite depressing at times. It's about a teenage girl who gets murdered, and then watches from heaven as her family goes on with the rest of their lives without her. I'll admit, in comparison to the rest of the book, the ending seems a bit fluffy and thrown together, and there were a few loose threads that never went anywhere, but very enjoyable nonetheless. I also read The Virgin Suicides (again, depressing, but very well written), Ham on Rye (slightly vulgar, but well written, and made me grateful that I never lived through the 30's), About a Boy, Escobar, The Lost Girls, and H.S. Thomson's Hell's Angels.

Originally, my plan was to work my way up North to Chiang Mai and then down South through the southern islands, but on the plane, I decided that I couldn't take anymore cold weather and so I went South first, and it was just what I wanted. Miles and miles of white sand beaches, calm turquoise seas, perfect weather, and endless supplies of fresh fruit smoothies and pad Thai. For two weeks I woke up under swaying palm trees to clear skies (usually) and a day full of eating, napping, and occasionally swimming. The only downside was the countless Europeans on holiday who, the majority at least, had no business in their chosen swimwear, and speedos were just the tip of the iceberg. I'm talking fat old ladies, easily clocking in at two fifty, maybe even three hundred pounds, in a string bikini. It was horrid, believe you me.

But like I said, eventually I did get a little bored; you can only nap so many hours a day and eat so many meals, so I packed up and took an overnight bus to Bangkok, and then a full day bus to Chiang Mai. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I got there, but when I finally did, I wondered why I hadn't gone there earlier. Not only was everything cheaper, almost 50% for everything, but the hotel was nice, the restaurants were cleaner and better tasting, and there was way more to do. It was here that I found the best restaurant of the trip, this Mexican place right across moat (yes, moat. there's a moat around the old city where I stayed) from my hotel. Since leaving America, from time to time I'll come across a Mexican restaurant, always with high hopes, and always leaving disappointing. But not this place. It was delicious. They brought me my steak burrito and I nearly wept- sour cream, real guacamole, and hand made tortillas. I made it a point to go back there as often as I could the rest of the time I was there.

That was the most active part of the trip, I did things almost every day, like the jungle trek, or going to the tiger zoo, or even just walking around the city to find new bookstores and restaurants. That was probably my favorite city of the trip. After Chiang Mai, I went to Ayuthaya, the ancient capital city, not too far from Bangkok. It was in Ayuthaya that I rode a few motorcycle taxis, which I had always heard were ridiculously dangerous (and they are, but sometimes I didn't have much choice), but they are also probably the single most exhilarating thing I did. It's quite a rush riding down a freeway against traffic at high speed with the wind whipping through your hair. Almost enough to make me want to get a motorcycle when I get back to the states. Almost. It was also in Ayuthaya that I learned why you should never go swimming in rivers/canals in Thailand. I had heard before of the giant stingrays in the rivers, and I believe that, but I was like, yeah whatever, and the same with parasites. But one day, I was eating lunch at a place on the river and I look down at the bank and what do I see but this huge komodo dragon looking lizard, easily 6 or 7 ft. long, swimming up and down the bank. That wasn't the only one I saw while I was there either. I'm not going to say they were poisonous, I'm not going to say they would attack people, but I'm not going to be the one to roll those dice and get anywhere near those murky waters anytime in the future.

And then one day, as quickly as it came, it was all over and I was home, to a less than warm welcome, literally. My water pipes were frozen, and my computer was too cold to start, so I did the only thing I could do, crawl in bed under the covers and wait. I fell asleep for a few hours, and after trying things again, my pipes were still frozen, but I discovered that my power adapter was switched to off, instead of frozen as I first suspected, so at least I got my computer back.

I woke up this morning, threw on some clothes, stepped into my high-tops and went to the mall to get some food. I had more or less only had airplane food and cookies for two days, so I was a bit hungry. As I sat there eating my bagel and coffee watching the people walk by, it hit me how glad I actually am to be back. I'm not talking a 'sleep in your own bed' kind of glad to be back, although that is nice, I mean more of a 'I'm glad to be out of Thailand and back in Korea' kind of glad. Don't get me wrong, I've said it many times, I had a good time over there, and the cold here still may kill me, we all know that, but damn is it nice to not have to constantly keep an eye out for being hustled, to be able to be in a clean and kept-up place, or worrying about the rest of the laundry list of things that I was mentally complaining about while I was gone. Holy smokes.