Two Days to Relax

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I've been fortunate enough to not get sick from food while traveling. Until now. I was lucky enough to become ill just in time for a 10 hour journey from Siem Reap to Bangkok: an early morning bus ride with no bathroom, an hour at the border with no fans, and a cramped mini-van with barely functional air conditioning. Dehydration, hunger, cramping, and excessive heat make for a winning combination.


I spent yesterday at a park, just taking in the warm air and sunshine. Obviously, I was still a bit weak after Sunday. I sat by the lake, read, and watched school children playing and riding boats. There were a lot of them there, perhaps for some school event. Also wandering around were lizards that were about a meter long. I felt both fascinated and frightened by them. They watched us as we watched them.

While I was there, another foreigner approached me. I forget why he started talking to me originally, but often one tourist will just start talking to another tourist and it felt perfectly normal. He ended up telling me about how to buy tickets for the ferry (and how to perhaps get the non-tourist tickets), and which sights he found most interesting. He's been here a week, relaxing and waiting for friends. Since I wasn't sure how I was going to use my next few days, I found this incredibly helpful; Bangkok has a lot of things to see and do and trying to pick and choose can be overwhelming. He was good enough to give me his map, too, since mine didn't show a lot of attractions outside of our immediate area.


Today, I spent most of the morning stuck in my hotel room not moving. So much for getting out and seeing the city. I did venture out for groceries and felt a bit better after eating and resting some more. By nightfall, I headed out to eat at Starbucks, knowing they'd have real orange juice and something safe to eat. I sat outside on their patio (while everyone else went inside) and watched people on the street while I read fora few hours. It felt good to get out for a while and get some fresh air, take in the sights and sounds of the city. It's amazing how different this neighborhood is from Khao San Road--and how much more I like it.

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Photos

This guy and his friends were wandering around.
He was a bit over a meter long.