Day 14 / Low key / Boat Cruise
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What a lovely low-key day I had. We didn't have class so everyone slept in late. Construction is going on across the way though so it was very difficult sleeping in. They work on the project every day of the week. It's strange looking at the construction site. It looks nothing like a US construction site... no hard hats, no cats, just this weird drill thing that is being used to make the foundation. (They don't dig a hole first. Bizarre, right)
At around 10am I got up, posted about yesterday, and then went to reserve the dinner boat. After we (six of us) met at this fancy hotel, and got an American style buffet. It was good but very very expensive. Oh well. You should have seen the dessert table though! There must have been 50 different kinds... I tried hard not to make myself too sick by gorging on them...
After I went back to the hotel (this is now around 1pm) and took a nap. At 3pm I went with Kelsey and Ally to the Chiang Mai cultural museum. I enjoyed it but man! do they love their dioramas. It was like a super intense book report... It's always interesting walking around different places though. An odd thing you notice is that either there will be a cat or dog usually roaming the building. This particular building had a black cat with bright yellow eyes that was super friendly and kept following us everywhere. No doubt to make sure we didn't get in too much trouble...
After, we did a preliminary walk through of the Walking Street. The Walking Street is pretty much exactly how it sounds: a few streets shut down for the weekend from 4-11pm that are filled with roaming shops. Watching people set up was very very interesting.
Then it was off to the boat cruise. First of all you'd expect the river to be really buggy. I didn't see a single bug let alone a swarm of bug. They must spray or something. Second of all, the river (called the Ping River) is unbelievably brown. Some of it has to be from pollution but I think some of it is also from the fact that it is constantly raining. (Did I mention the reason I took a nap was a Thai Monsoon???)
The ride was your typical boat ride except that the boat was a long traditional Asian-style boat. We all got hamburgers and french fries for dinner. I am not sure how the Thai students felt about this but they ate particularly slowly, even for them. Plus they don't pick hamburgers up. They cut it with a knife and fork.
Julie and I were sitting with two Thai students Sita and Ohm, both of whom are really awesome. Sita's family is originally from the south and lives on an island. I guess he owns a couple of elephants.
Ohm is extremely shy. He got in a really bad motorbike accident a year-ago and has been very quiet ever since. At least that's what the Thai students say. He is pretty much the nicest person ever.
After dinner we went back to the Walking Street which was far more lively. I can't even begin to explain how awesome these little pop-up street fairs are. You definitely have to know how to haggle and get what you want. Usually, you can get them to drop the price anywhere from 100-180 baht (3-6 USD). I've gotten pretty good. You just have to pretend you are not that interested from the get go. If there is something I really like, I usually don't haggle that much.
Anyways I picked up a few things here and there. I met a very kind soul last night named Poy-Pei while I was shopping. He had no hands and only one leg but that didn't seem stop him from having a huge smile on his face. We talked for awhile about nothing specific. His English was incredible.
Anyways I have to get ready to go visit Phrao, one of the poorest districts in Thailand. My Professor's NGO the Warm Heart Foundation is based there. I am really looking forward to it! We have about a 2.5 hour drive to get there over a windy mountainous pass but I don't get carsick. In fact, I'm bringing a book. I need to read as many books as possible so I don't have to carry as many on to the Seychelles. The thing is, however, I don't really want to part with my books either -- after I've read and marked them up so much...
Decisions, decisions!
At around 10am I got up, posted about yesterday, and then went to reserve the dinner boat. After we (six of us) met at this fancy hotel, and got an American style buffet. It was good but very very expensive. Oh well. You should have seen the dessert table though! There must have been 50 different kinds... I tried hard not to make myself too sick by gorging on them...
After I went back to the hotel (this is now around 1pm) and took a nap. At 3pm I went with Kelsey and Ally to the Chiang Mai cultural museum. I enjoyed it but man! do they love their dioramas. It was like a super intense book report... It's always interesting walking around different places though. An odd thing you notice is that either there will be a cat or dog usually roaming the building. This particular building had a black cat with bright yellow eyes that was super friendly and kept following us everywhere. No doubt to make sure we didn't get in too much trouble...
After, we did a preliminary walk through of the Walking Street. The Walking Street is pretty much exactly how it sounds: a few streets shut down for the weekend from 4-11pm that are filled with roaming shops. Watching people set up was very very interesting.
Then it was off to the boat cruise. First of all you'd expect the river to be really buggy. I didn't see a single bug let alone a swarm of bug. They must spray or something. Second of all, the river (called the Ping River) is unbelievably brown. Some of it has to be from pollution but I think some of it is also from the fact that it is constantly raining. (Did I mention the reason I took a nap was a Thai Monsoon???)
The ride was your typical boat ride except that the boat was a long traditional Asian-style boat. We all got hamburgers and french fries for dinner. I am not sure how the Thai students felt about this but they ate particularly slowly, even for them. Plus they don't pick hamburgers up. They cut it with a knife and fork.
Julie and I were sitting with two Thai students Sita and Ohm, both of whom are really awesome. Sita's family is originally from the south and lives on an island. I guess he owns a couple of elephants.
Ohm is extremely shy. He got in a really bad motorbike accident a year-ago and has been very quiet ever since. At least that's what the Thai students say. He is pretty much the nicest person ever.
After dinner we went back to the Walking Street which was far more lively. I can't even begin to explain how awesome these little pop-up street fairs are. You definitely have to know how to haggle and get what you want. Usually, you can get them to drop the price anywhere from 100-180 baht (3-6 USD). I've gotten pretty good. You just have to pretend you are not that interested from the get go. If there is something I really like, I usually don't haggle that much.
Anyways I picked up a few things here and there. I met a very kind soul last night named Poy-Pei while I was shopping. He had no hands and only one leg but that didn't seem stop him from having a huge smile on his face. We talked for awhile about nothing specific. His English was incredible.
Anyways I have to get ready to go visit Phrao, one of the poorest districts in Thailand. My Professor's NGO the Warm Heart Foundation is based there. I am really looking forward to it! We have about a 2.5 hour drive to get there over a windy mountainous pass but I don't get carsick. In fact, I'm bringing a book. I need to read as many books as possible so I don't have to carry as many on to the Seychelles. The thing is, however, I don't really want to part with my books either -- after I've read and marked them up so much...
Decisions, decisions!
1 comments:
HI Sarah..sounds like you had a restful and fun day off. I am curoius to see how your trip goes today and what you decide to do!
Love,
MOM:)
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