My comments on Vientiane are short and sweet. i met an awesome friend named Kim on my bus to Vientiane (we orignally met at the Kings Speech in LP, Lao) We ended up sharing a hotel room and exploring for the second half of the day. she had a flight to Cambodia the next day and so we jam packed some stuff in. My stomach was still upset but i kind of worked through it as it was much easier having a friend to walk and talk with. we took some pictures at a famous statue near the water but the highlight was undoubtedly when i was able to play some ultimate frisbee on the banks of the Mekong as the sun was setting with some expats. i think i could have thrown up about 5 times in the 15 minutes i played but it didnt matter in the slightest bit. For dinner kim and i went to a roadside restaurant and i ordered way to much food. i think i ate about a third of what i ordered before i couldnt finish. I was going to buy a ton of souvenirs but needed to rest back at the hostel immediately after dinner so nothing came from Vientiane shopping wise. After kim got back to the hotel we hung out and talked for a bit and even watched some "Blue Bloods" on television before getting to sleep. Although i was kind of under the weather hanging out with Kim was an awesome experience and im super glad our seats were next to us on the bus and we were able to meet again. Shes awesome and im sure we'll meet again. Also, seeing how i left my battery charger in Chaing Rai before i left I had been asking everyone i saw that looked like a tourist if they had a charger i could use. I met these two girls from Denmark that did and they were awesome to talk to and charged it for me overnight and dropped it off at my hotel before leaving town the next morning. so sweet.
After taking a night train south from Nong Khai I ended up in Ayutthaya. My night spent in Nong Khai was spent trying to feel better after getting some kind of stomach virus after leaving van vieng. Even in vientienne spending the day with Kim I was constantly not feeling right and making the trip to The bathroom far to often. Nong Khai was a nice place to recoup as it was on the banks of the river and had relatively few foreigners. The only thing I really did was try and get lost one night. Amazingly I got lost and found myself in the middle of a massive Thai festival. Tons of carnival games, multiple stages, sporting events and wildlife expos it was what you would expect from the Topsfield fair or the Big E in America. I saw some super cool stuff, the semi finals of a kick sack match, and ate some interesting foods. It was a cool site to behold and the beat part about it was I went about 3 hours without feeling ill which was great.
Leaving nong khai the night train dropped me off in Ayutthaya. About 2 hours north of Bangkok Ayutthaya is famous for its ancient relics and monuments surrounding the city. I arrived early and found a guesthouse above a bar for a relatively good price. Happy to drop my bag off after some 15 hours of travel I took a brief nap and by 2pm had rented a bike And was out exploring some ruins. I got good and lost and saw some cool stuff throughout the day. On my way back at night I got caught in the first rain I had seen in 4 weeks. Never pleasant on a bike I made it home eventually, soaked to the core and ready for some rest. It had been a long day and I was still getting better. The bar below me had some nice Thai music so I was lulled to sleep by Thai accents singing chili pepper and oasis songs along with the occasional drunken accompaniment from some expats. Not as bad as it sounds I quite enjoyed it actually!
Feeling significantly better ( about 75%) the next day, I again rode the bike around Exploring before catching a train to Bangkok around 2. Although the bartender told me what time the train departed he was off by half an hour and I ended up having to waiting about 2 hrs for the next one. Not up for rallying for an hour long adventure in the heat if the day with my pack in I was content with finishing my
book. The Wind up Bird Chronicles wasn't as good as I had hoped for but had kept me intrigued for alot of hours. As I sit here and edit this post I somewhat regret that statement because I was quite interested in it and have thought a lot about it since I finished it. I would say I recommend giving it a chance.
The ride to Bangkok was uneventful as I listened to my iPod ( wolfgang gartner essential mix for a few before zeppeliin 3 took me to sleep and brought me into the gates Of Bangkok. I awoke as the last person on the train had tapped me and woke me up. Immediately I was awake and alert and ready to take on the world.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone, then edited back at a computer
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