Khao San Road

It’s great to be back in Thailand. I only spent a few days in the city back in 2008, but I feel right at home. I love this place! I have been staying in the touristy section of town just off Khao San (on a much quieter street) in the Guesthouse Merry V. It’s basic with only a bed, ceiling light and fan in a room with paper thin walls. There is not even an outlet. There is a cold shower and toilet down the hall (porcelain throne, not a squat toilet!). It’s as basic as you can get, but for $5 a night I love it! It does have a nice view from the balcony. Honestly, after living in a proper apartment for an entire year I am really enjoying the simplicity of it all. I am not used to the heat and humidity yet, so a cold shower is perfect. (def not something I can say very often)

I arrived at 3 am a few days ago and met some friends on the plane. We had a few beers to celebrate our arrival. (It was 72 hours from Tampa) I needed some pad thai (yeah you can still get street food at 5:30am) before heading back to the guesthouse. It was delicious! Somehow better than I remembered. Since I was already awake I decided to stay up a little longer to watch the sunrise over the city from the balcony. It was really peaceful with the birds chirping, locals sweeping the street, and an occasional rooster call. The balcony overlooks the more traditional thai buildings, a wat, the street and then the modern huge skyscrapers are in the backdrop, way off in the distance. I was able to watch the monks collect their morning offering, drunks stumble home, stray cats and dogs wandering, a squirrel collect some food from a tree and vendors start to set up their stalls for the day. It was like an episode of Sunrise Earth from the Discovery Channel. But the moment was all my own.

View from my balcony

Over the last couple days I have done very little. This is the first time in a long time that I have had nothing to do and can just relax. I’m not even sure how to do it anymore. I always have a million things to do and now I have to just wait. In case I forgot to mention it, the night before I started traveling the company let me know the course was pushed back 3 weeks. Too late to make any changes without buying a whole new ticket so here I am. I have gotten out to see some of the flooding right behind the guesthouse, I got a thai massage, ate at my favorite restaurant in the world – May Kaidee, have been running even though it feels like a sauna here, and got some books because I’m off to the beach. I have been too busy to read lately and I cannot wait!

Oh, I was responsible today. I bought some contacts! The contacts I have been wearing expired in 2007 which means they actually were expired last time I was in Thailand back in ’08. In Thailand you can just walk into any eyeglass store and tell them your prescription and get contacts for next to nothing. (Just how it should be =)

My new friends have guilt tripped me into going down to the islands with them for the Full Moon Party, so I’m on the night bus heading there right now. I don’t know if its jet lag, the heat or all the crazy nights these last couple months but I don’t feel like partying all night long. Don’t worry…. I will and it will be awesome, but I can feel myself getting older. After the full moon party (and all the after parties) I am planning on reading in a hammock overlooking the ocean, playing frisbee, swimming, snorkeling and hiking to some waterfalls. You may not hear from me for a while =)