So This is Thailand

Well I made it. I'm currently sitting in my hostel in Sukkothai and after a few days in Bangkok, I'm very happy I'm here. Bangkok was a totally crazy place. Coupled with the fact that being alone might be harder that I originally thought Bangkok didn't leave the best taste in my mouth. After a pretty crazy day alone on Thursday I booked a day trip to the Thai town of Kanchanaburi. There I saw a floating river market, the bridge on the river Kwai, and chilled with some tigers. The best part of the day was by far making some new friends. There weren't too many other native English speakers in our little tour but thank god for Fiona. We seemed to become fast friends which made the day truly great.

After some dinner and some beers on the totally insane Khao San Road I was off to bed to get up early for my venture north. The day started off just like the rest, pretty overwhelming but I found myself more at peace with this whole trip and being pretty much alone. The train ride up to Aruttiya was maybe the best part of the day. I was in the standing car which means that I just stood up for the whole 2 hour trip. The train was packed and people just kept getting on. This seemed like the most real Thailand that I've encountered so far. I was standing next to a family of Thai people that must have been on a trip somewhere. They had rice, water coolers and a gaggle of kids. It was somewhat comforting to know that even though there might be huge cultural differences between us everyone still is looking for the same thing, to spend time with friends and family.

I was in Aruttiya for only the morning and afternoon and then off to Sukkothai. I was the only white person on the bus but I made it here late last night. The staff was nice enough to make me dinner and give me some Thai Brandy which was great. Today I met some Canadians girls from BC and Alberta and we rented bikes and toured around the temples here. So far its been a great day and I'm getting much more used to being alone an meeting people. Tomorrow I head up to Chang Mai for the Songkran water festival. Everyone I talk to seems to be heading there too so I think it should be a pretty good time.

FOOD!
So here are my thoughts on the food of Thailand. I didn't eat that much street food in Bangkok, it sort of freaked me out a bit and I felt that I could probably get a better Thai meal and one of the many restaurants. I had some pad thai that was mediocre but I had some great yellow curry at my hostel. I've eaten lots of rice and last night the hostel staff made me a great pork and rice dish. I was told that Thais take the pork off of one plate with a fork and eat it with rice with a spoon. I was also told that Thais don't drink alcohol and eat at the same time. I told them that we eat and drink together all the time. I'm hoping to eat some noodle dish tonight but its pretty hard to eat when its so hot out all the time. Hopefully I'll get some good eats tonight.

Thats all for now!