After a chill last weekend, Bangkok is back in full force.

Working ahead paid off, as on Friday we were to discuss our writing assignment and finish up another few odds and ends. However, since I already did the assignment, I got the go ahead to take the day off. That was much appreciated, as this program is so fracking intense. As I talked about last week, I pretty much am either working, or sleeping, and... that's it, aside from weekends. And even on weekends I need to catch up on homework. Ugh.

So for more fun things, on Friday I went to Ayutthaya, which used to be the old capital of Thailand (Siam). It's about an hour and some change north of the city, but I feel that trip could be 1/2 the time if it went through Bangkok at a decent speed. I'm sure there's some reason it goes 5 kph until it leaves the city proper, but it seemed like a waste of time. After arriving, I stopped into a bar to rent a bike for the day. I would very much regret this decision.

I first rode to the Floating Market and Elephant Village, which is a sentence I never thought I'd say in my life. It was too early in the day though, and was just a few shops without much of interest. Except for the elephants. I was walking around, thinking "Where are the damn elephants", when suddenly I turn a corner and I'm face to face with one. I mean, I've seen elephants before, but I've never actually been all up in one's face... err, trunk. I was eating an ice cream, which he seemed quite interested in. Next to him was his owner, who would let you feed him cucumbers and plantains. I've heard the elephants in Thailand are sometimes not treated well, and you should avoid patronizing "tourist elephants". But at the same time, I was like "Damn, when's the next time am I going to hang out with an elephant?" Also it was really fun to hold out a bunch of plantains, he would just grab them out of your hand with his trunk, and boom. The entire bunch, gone in one bite.

Back on the road, I stopped at Wat Phanan Cheong. Yes, this is a Wat and I said no more Wats. HOWEVER, it also has the largest buddha in the world. Let it be known I am a big sucker for "The world's blankiest blank". Anyway, this buddha is damn big. But it's also in a room not much bigger than itself, so it's quite difficult to get a good picture. On the way out I stopped to get a drink from the vendors. They had bottles of Pepsi there for 10 baht. So I hold out a 10 coin, they look at me, and say "No no, 12 baht." I point out the 10 price tag, and they say no no. Ugh. If there was no price tag, I would probably have just paid the 12 and gone on my way. But the fact that they are clearly upcharging me, just because I'm a foreigner, pissed me off. I tossed the drink on the counter, gave him a rude look, and stormed off. Asshole. I don't think your buddha would like what you're doing. I bought another drink down the road. Actually, at the Japanese Village. It was a nice little stop off for the air conditioning, but didn't have anything to do except watch a 10 minute video on how this used to be settlement.

And here is where my day got very interesting. I realize now the map I use did not maintain the same scale throughout, because they wanted to keep everything compact. So I'm biking along, thinking "God, where is this place?" I see a fancy looking building up ahead, and stop to check. There's a family out in front of their house, and I ask if this is Bang Pa In. They said no, its 4 km down the road.

Shit.


Do I just go back? I'm kind of halfway inbetween? Before I can decide, he invites me to sit down and get some water. I'm joking around with his son, when I notice he has a motorcycle with an ice cream thing on the side. I ask my new friend, Tiger, how about for 100 baht, he takes me there and back, saving me 8 km of biking and god knows how much sweat and time. He agrees, and then son hops on back of the bike. I'm wondering where to sit. Why, on the ice cream of course! This was perhaps the most comfortable ride of my life, as my ass got to be quite chilly. We stop to get gas on the way, and I offered to buy the kid some candy. We went inside, and I gestured that he could get whatever he wanted. I could tell he wanted the expensive Japanese candy, but was hesitant to ask. I picked it up, and gave it a thumbs up, thumbs down. He smiled and took it. For the rest of the day, he just kept touching and looking at the box. I bet Tiger made him save it for his brothers and sisters. Tiger was wondering where my hat was, and I said I didn't have one. He gave me his spare, which is why I looked like a cowboy.

So we get to Bang Pa In, and in the parking lot there a lots of buses and groups of Chinese tourists milling towards the entrance. Well screw that. Tiger charged right through the middle of them, playing his ice cream music. Meanwhile, this stupid foreigner in a cowboy hat is hanging off the side of the cart, singing along to Pop goes the Weasel, waving, and shouting "Ni hao!" What a sight that must've been. The palace itself is very impressive, and took about an hour to see everything. When I got back, Tiger was there waiting for me, selling ice cream. His son was sitting in the shade, just looking at the box of candy. Back we went, retrieved my bike, and I realized it was already 5 o'clock. Pretty much everything closes at night, so I figured, it's not even worth going into the city. So I decided to wait to do that another time and headed back.






After grabbing dinner and coming back to the hostel, I met my new roommates. Mike (good name), and John are travelling together after having met 2 days prior. That's the amazing thing about backpackers - you can meet someone, and boom, suddenly you're best friends for the next few days. They had never been to Khao San Road, so we went out there to drink. We found a club there, which was pretty crazy. While I was walking through the crowd this guy randomly smiled and gave me a bear hug, and said how cool Russians were. I had not spoken to this guy before. I don't know who is he. Later I find out he's from Georgia. But he, for some reason, decided I was Russian. He went on for a while how much fun he had in Russia, how I must like to live there so much, and by the time I was able to get in a word in, I decided it would be too much effort to correct him.

"Da. So, you like Russia, yes?"

He went on another Russian love rant to me, until he excused himself. He gave me another giant hug, picking me off the ground, and suddenly disappeared. I just stood there in bewilderment for a moment. Ah well. We went back to the hostel, and I had to wake up the next day for another crazy time.

One of my classmates in the CELTA program has lived in Bangkok a while, and does Muay Thai. He invited us along to a class with him. So we got put through the beginners Muay Thai lesson. You know how in Bangkok, hangovers have hangovers and sweat sweats? In Muay Thai, my muscle aches have aches. I feel like I've been hit like a bus, hence why I'm staying in this Sunday. But something I do like about Muay Thai, is that from day one you're doing useful stuff. I learned proper form for punches, kicks, and movement - which I can't imagine ever coming into play (I hope), but I did feel that even after a couple of hours I could handle myself a bit better. Not that I'm stupid enough to say "I took one Muay Thai Lesson, I am now a swirling force of destruction.", but I could see myself continuing it if I stay here. After we all had lunch at a Mexican place, which honestly, is probably the best Mexican food I've ever had. And after that, we stopped off at a convenience store for a plethora of various drinks. These were combined into a sort of whiskey concoction that tasted just like carbonated water but had around 30% alcohol content. Amazing. I must remember this.


The last thing on the day was a run out to Muang Thong Tani, a district to the north of Bangkok. We were going for a football (soccer) match between the local team and some other bunch of losers. It ended in a tie, which was a little anticlimactic. But holy crap. Thais really, really like football. Everyone had the team jersey on, and when a goal was scored, went absolutely ballistic. I don't like how far away this stadium is, but I wouldn't mind adopting a team closer and following them on a more regular basis. The enthusiasm they have for it is infectious. Being the only foreigners there, we got asked for a lot of pictures. Ahh, I've missed being the token white person.

Now we come to Sunday, and I refuse to leave this hostel except for food. I have a giant bruise on my leg, and my arms are so sore they're hard to lift. However, if anyone here tries anything... I would still hide like a little girl.