Tuesday, June 26, 2012

What was supposed to be a boring day...


This was the day that I thought I’d have nothing to write about, and while nothing monumental happened, the day was filled with little gems all over the place!  We flew up to Chang Mai today, which is in the northern part of Thailand and more in the jungle area.  It is the second largest city of the country, and compared to Bangkok it is TINY. The morning was pretty relaxing, I got to catch up on journaling and rest a bit before packing up to go. 

We got to the airport a little early (okay a lot early), mainly because we had to check out at noon and our flight didn’t leave until 3:30, so we had some time to kill. We ate lunch at this little place that was quite good for being in an airport and I had the most amazing blueberry smoothie!  I loved it. And now it’s time for the TMI: I also love the airport for selling tampons! I started my period today, and while I knew this going into the trip, I totally forgot to bring any tampons.  I went to the 7-Eleven to find some supplies and I only could find pads. That means using pads for a whole 5-6 days. Eww. Gross. I’ve never done that, and I really didn’t want to do it now.  I thought that maybe the airport might have them (trying to cater to Westerners), so when I found a pharmacy, I jumped at the chance, and SUCCESS! Tampons! I’ve never been so excited to see hygienic supplies in my life.

Anyway we got to our flight and eventually got on and this is where the first story comes into play. We took off uneventfully and things were going well.  The captain had taken the fasten seatbelts sign off, and then about 10 minutes later he put it back on. We went along on our way with no turbulence and then all of a sudden the plane dropped MAJOR altitude. As the plane recovered the man sitting a few rows up and over from me had his Coke in his hand, the contents of which went flying out of his cup, hit the ceiling of the plane and went everywhere. At that point all I could do was laugh.  Since we were flying back safely, all I could do was laugh (and I did, a lot!). My next thought? “I’m really glad I wasn’t in the bathroom!”

The next funny moment came when we got a taxi from the airport. It was pretty uneventful until Matt told the cab driver it was okay for him to turn his music back on.  The music was pretty loud, but his bass. Wow. It was so loud and it vibrated the car. It was just like sitting in some 18-year-old boy’s car. He had two huge subwoofers and I think they were going full blast. It was so funny because it was just out of place. It was unexpected for a middle-aged Thai man to like his bass high.

When we go to the hotel, the manager, Fahrung, greeted us. She is so enthusiastic and smiley; she’s great.  She and this other little woman whisked our bags up a flight of stairs before we even knew what she was doing. After settling in we wanted to go to the Walking Market. Fahrung took us out to find a taxi, and before I knew it she’d grabbed my hand and ran out into traffic. It was really funny and of course traffic stopped for her, but it certainly took me by surprise. 

The market was great, we did some bartering and I was able to find some fun things. Dinner that night was great, we were able to have it out on the river. It’s a little cooler here and so much more manageable. This wouldn’t have worked too well in Bangkok.  There was also this old guy playing the guitar that was fun. He took us by surprise at how good he was.  Matt also took some time to show me some stuff of how to use my camera more effectively. It was a very peaceful night and it was very much needed after the craziness of Bangkok. 

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