Quick update on things. I didn't get a chance to write yesterday--we ended up doing something spontaneous. We went to get breakfast in the morning at McDonald's on KhaoSan Road. I know, typical Americans haha. But they have the most delicious Ovaltine there! Then we decided we should take a train somewhere random. We took a tuk-tuk to the train station, but trains in Thailand take longer than buses. So, after getting help from a nice Thai worker, we took a taxi to Victory Station and bought a ticket to Hua Hin for 180 baht. Yep...that's $4.50. It was a 2 hour cramped mini-bus ride to Hua Hin. We stopped about halfway there at a "gas station." It's gas pumps but then the store part is outside. We got to use a squat toilet that you flush with a bucket. Nice experience lol.
Anyway, Hua Hin was cool--busier than I had anticipated. Awesomely my camera broke on the way to Hua Hin. Yeah...third day of the trip. So frustrated. Anyway, we looked for a beach for a bit, then decided we'd try the Hilton haha. We just moseyed on in there and headed out to the pool area--sooo nice. Then we went onto the beach and walked along the shore for quite awhile. And next? We rode horses on the beach! It was 400 baht--that's like $13--for a half hour. I tried riding in flip flops--big fat fail. Then barefoot. Not comfortable. Also, the saddles were English style--not my favorite. Also, they must treat those horses terrrribly. They ride them for long periods of time without giving them water (in the hot Thai sun), and you can tell the horses are scared of the workers. Mine would shy when the worker came near. I wanted to canter, but my horse was either tired or lazy. I got to canter a few times, shortly. My calves have some nice bruises from getting pinched in the leather stirrup straps. But it was really cool to fulfill a lifelong dream!
We wanted to head back to the Hilton pool area to dip our feet, but the security guard asked us if we were actually staying there lol. DANGIT. So we chilled on the sand and then headed back to the minibus station. We bought return tickets and then walked around Hua Hin for an hour or so. We went to Swansen's to get yummy ice cream. Air conditioning is always a plus :)
We headed back to the station just in time to get on the bus back. Right off we had to gas up the minibus. WOW. The lines here for the pumps are insanity. We waited behind atleast 10 cars, and there were many many pumps. We were there for atleast 45 minutes.
We didn't get back to Bangkok until about 9. We walked around Victory Station area--good shopping there. We got corn from a vendor, and then we tried to find a tuk-tuk for ages. We failed miserably. We ended up in a taxi. We went to Khao San Road where we went to the Kodak shop (also a tattoo parlor lol) and I bought a camera--Olympus u7020. It was 9000 baht including an extra battery.
Then we went to...you guessed it...McDonald's lol. We wanted Ovaltine haha. After that, we went back to the hostel. I tried to charge my camera battery, but the charge light kept going off. I was so upset, thinking that the charger didn't work. Nella was sleeping, so I went by myself to Khao San Road at 12:30. Maybe not the best idea. Sunday at Khao San was CUH-RAZY. Blasting music everywhere--everyone trying to play their music over the surrounding shops. Also, drunk people. Anyway, the shop was closed :( I went back to NapPark and realized that maybe the battery was already charged. Yep. What a waste of my time lol.
I slept from 1:30 to 4:30. We left NapPark at 5 in a taxi to Don Mueang Airport. Our flight was an hour and a bit. Chaing Rai is super green, and it's very overcast. Apparently the rainy season came 2 months early this year lol. It's very basic here--thatched roofs on most of the buildings, no hot water, no toilet paper (hoses instead), dirt roads, etc. The other volunteers are all super nice. There's a couple here that's doing a year of travel around the world. Wow. They're pretty amazing and VERY nice. We had lunch at 11:30--boiled egg, rice, SUPER spicey curry (our mouths were burning like crazy.)
Anyway, today is a lazy day. We have orientation tomorrow. Nella and I will probably walk to the village. That's what's going on in Chiang Rai!
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