Goodbye Pad Thai

The overnight bus ride from Chiang Mai to Bangkok was actually better than I was thinking it would be. Although I have never seen so many mosquitoes IN a bus. It was a pretty full bus and its open seating, but the window seat I chose had its neighbor seat arm rest broken so nobody wanted to sit there. We watched a pirated version of “The Town” on the TV screen too. We got in earlier than expected at 5:15am (as opposed to 6am). I orientated myself as best I could with where we got dropped parallel to Khao San Road. It was pretty fun to see all the night partying people stumbling around drunk as skunks. Fortunately, I had met a nice Aussie guy on the bus and he hadn’t booked anything for the night to stay, so it worked out great and we split a room just off the main strip. It had all the luxuries of A/C and TV as well….a big change of scenery to my Chiang Mai guesthouse.

A good shower, and some well needed hours of zzzzzz, we both got up around 10:30am ready for some brunch. We got on a local bus and headed to a market he heard of. It was 6 floors of fashion at pretty good prices too so I got some Thai fisherman pants that I had wanted for a while. One more ‘pad thai’ on Khao San Road for dinner and a couple more walks up and down the strip enjoying the company of hippy Thais before heading in for the night.

This morning I have a mini van ride to the airport for a 2:15pm departure to Penang and a new country…MaLAYsia!!! Penang is meant to be a foodie’s paradise with all sorts of culinary treats like curry. I get in at around 5pm and hope to find a place to spend the next few nights exploring town. I was recommended to go there by somebody I met on my travels. It is a UNESCO world heritage sight and isn’t a giant city but still pretty happening I guess.

I wonder if Thailand will be more or less expensive than Malaysia? I am already one month into traveling here in SE Asia which is so crazy to think. Another month and a bit to go.