Kate vs Thailand, Round 2

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Arriving back in Chiang Mai was a different experience than the first time. I enjoyed it much more thoroughly, due to the company I had. The Swedes were a blast! They are definitely some of my favourite people I've met. Easy to talk to, good sense of humour, and just a lot of fun. We ended up doing the same 1 day trek I did the first time I was in Chiang Mai, but we had a different guide and we visited different hilltribe villages. I actually ended up learning a lot more because of our guides proficiency with the English language. The elephant riding and bamboo rafting was the same, except that the bamboo rafting was 100 times more fun! We had a crazy driver who kept trying to tip us off the raft, so we were constantly screaming, laughing, and hanging on for dear life! He kept yelling "Oh my buddha!" before he'd try to flip the raft.

I also picked up a few Swedish phrases (Jessica was the most strict teacher, always yelling at me for my pronunciation), but they were impressed at how much I picked up in a few short days. I wouldn't be surprised if I ended taking a trip to Sweden in the future!

The guesthouse we stayed at was great. The staff were amazing... so friendly and helpful with information on treking, traveling, and the city of Chiang Mai. Shout out to Libra Guesthouse! I'd definitely recommend them. It was also nice to see my Canadian friends, Derek and Lindsay, who I met on New Years in Vientiane, Laos. They have found teaching jobs in Chiang Mai, so it was nice to catch up with them as well.

The only downside to being back in Thailand is that I got sick, again. I think Thailand hates me. I wasn't as severely sick as I was in Kho Tao my first week, but sick enough that I laid in bed all day with a very high fever. It must have been a 24 hour bug because I am feeling much better, although still a little weak. At least the Swedes were sick as well, so we all laid around together, cracking jokes and laughing deliriously when we were awake.

I made the 12 hour journey back to Bangkok last night. I had the entire back seat of the bus to myself (4 seats in a row), so I got to stretch out a bit. The only problem is that they blast the cold air from the vents above you, and most of them are broken, so you can't close them. I ended up crumpling up some old receipts and plastic bags into the vents to try and diffuse the airflow because I was starting to wonder about how I was going to make it out of the trek without getting hypothermia!

Being back in Bangkok. What can I say? It's been 2.5 months since I first arrived. Frightened, wide eyed, overwhelmed, and soaking up everything around me. Now I'm just unfeeling and jaded. Nothing shocks me anymore. I'm starting to feel like I'm being pulled under by exhaustion. The kind of exhaustion that starts in the middle of your brain and makes you feel fuzzy before taking you down the long, slow descent into being numb. Mind, and body. I no longer react to the madness around me. It's just colours, shapes, and white noise. The only thing that gets a reaction out of me is children. The cute, well behaved ones might muster a smile from my lips, and the screaming ones still make my blood boil. And "the smell". It's the one smell that I've come across throughout Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. It's the sweet, hot smell of fish and fermenting vomit. I'm not sure any other way to describe it. Tuk-tuk and taxi drivers rarely harass me for their services anymore. I'm sure the look of fresh meat has worn off and they can tell that I know their scheming ways.

Luckily, I'm off to the island of Kho Chang tomorrow, and then possibly some smaller islands. It will be nice to soak up the sun for about a week. My tan is fading and I am desperately in need of some time to kick back and relax. I've booked a flight to Saigon for January 25, and will be there until February 3. It will be nice to celebrate my 24th birthday with my Saigon family! I arrive back in Bangkok on February 3, and then have the long journey home on February 4th! Less than 3 weeks, yipee!!

Well, that's it for me. I have to go pack as I'm off to the islands at 8am tomorrow morning. I'm tired of carrying my large bag with me, so I'm leaving it in storage and downsizing to a much smaller bag.

Much love ~K xo

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Comments

[Amelia]

I'm going to start saying "Oh my Buddha" now. That's a sweet phrase.