Day 2

---

Day 2
I've not seen any ladyboys yet and still have all my internal organs!!
Today has been quiet as I only got 2 hours sleep last night, seems like all the other backpackers spend alot of the day chilling out and not doing much, No-one wants to spend any money tho which us something I too will have to get used to quite quick, I'm still in holiday mode, and feel I should be trying to pack as much intersting stuff into my days as I can but that will change within a few weeks I feel as it sinks in that I have all the time in the world and to take my time and spread my money.

It's still not hit me that I don't have to go back to work although I haven't really thought about the place once, that part of my life now is beginning to feel quite insignificant in this crazy world. Culture shock is something I read about in backpacking guides before I came out here but I severly underestimated it, it's been very intense over my first few days but I'm now starting to relax and take things a bit more slowly.

Just sitting drinking a beer on Khao San Road is a mind blowing experience for a Newbie like me but I'm fast getting used to it, people watching is probably the best in the world here once you get your head around things. There's kids that can't be any older than 7 or 8 trying to make you feel guilty for their situation, they really pull your heart strings and it's so so hard to say no but it's just as essential I've been told, which makes sense I guess, If they make alot out of you there's more reason for other parents to send their kids to do the same. There seems to be a very dark side to things around here, Its very hard to imagine my own little brother in this place!
There's so many dodgy looking White guys walking around with a tiny Thai woman in tow, it's weird because there's absolutely no shame shown at all, everything around here is just accepted as the norm! But even with all these grotesque sights, sounds and smells there's an underlying sence of community out here. The constrasts are so stark but seem like normality for these people, I don't know if I'll ever get used to it but one of the weirdest things is that the longer Im here the more normal it seems to Me! :-s

---