Luang Prabang

February 10 – Woke up and saw Robbie and James, our English friends who’d arrived earlier the day before.  After breakfast we all piled into minivans again where we were taken to the Lao boarder.  Had a very frustrating and hilarious encounter with a group of Chinese tourists who apparently do not respect the sanctity of a line. After we got our Lao visas ($35), we all boarded buses that took us to the Mekong where we would board the slowboat.  Had an amazing first day with everyone on the boat drinking Lao Lao beer and singing along with the guitar songs some of the guys were playing.  Around dinner we arrived in Pakbeng where we got off the boat and walked around town to find a place for the night.  Ended up at a guest house where Sam, Jeremy and I split a queen bed and James and Robbie slept on mattresses on the floor.

February 11 – After a little confusion with the slowboat situation, our little crew found some space on the back of one of the boats where we all sat on the floor.  Another amazing day drinking and playing cards, I honestly was a little sad to see the day end.  Got a taxi with everyone into town and checked in to our hostel, Central Backpackers.  Went out to dinner with Sam, Jeremy, Robbie and James and then went to Utopia, the main tourist bar in Luang Prabang, for a drink.

February 12 – Went to the Kuang Si Waterfall around 2pm and had such an amazing time there with all my new friends in this incredible place.  There are so many different levels of waterfalls and pools and the water was menthol blue it really was amazing to see.  

When we got back into town we went to Lao Lao Garden for dinner, Utopia for a drink and then to the bowling alley to continue the night as everything else in Luang Prabang closes at 11:30pm.  Everything was great until we were driving home and had the taxi driver take us to get some food before heading back to the hostel.  He dropped us at a sandwich stand and everyone was getting food, and then he started getting a little pushy about getting us back, so some of us got back in the taxi and all of sudden Mike, one of the Candian guys in our group and the driver started yelling at eachother and everything escalated rather quickly when the driver pulled out a knife and was threatening to stab him.  A friend pulled Mike away and we all quickly paid and walked the rest of the way home.  We were all just glad nothing bad ended up happening.

February 13 – Sam signed up for a design class for the day, so I spent most of the morning walking around town.  Bumped into Pia, a Chilean girl in our group, and sat down for a coffee with her.  Stopped into Ock Pop Top and bought a blue silk scarf (230,000 kip/$30), took a nap and headed out with a few friends to get dinner in town.  One of the famous Luang Prabang dinners is the 10,000kip buffet, which comes out to a little over a dollar to fill up your plate with all kinds of vegetables and carbs.  10,000kip more for meat and a seat at the tables.  Went to Utopia again for a drink after dinner.

February 14 – Went for a run along the river in the morning and ended up stopping into a local travel agent who booked Sam and me plane tickets to Siem Reap on the 16^th.  Ran back, had breakfast, showered and went to sleep.  The whole crew went to the waterfalls again and while it was definitely my favorite place in Luang Prabang, I just wasn’t feeling up to going and I’ve learned that its really not a good idea to push my body here.  Went out for a Valentine’s dinner with Sam and Pia at Tamarind, a restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet book.  Highlights: pumpkin, coconut & ginger soup and the purple sticky rice dessert.

February 15 – Went a bit out of town in the morning to the Ock Top Pop factory to see how all the scarves are made, came back to the hostel to nap, I had the buffet dinner again mainly for the squash and other veggies that were surprisingly well cooked, and Tamarind again so Sam and Pia could have the soup.

February 16 – In the morning we did a little shopping at market where Sam and I both bought fabric that had been used in traditional Lao costumes.  Got a sandwich to go and rushed back to the hostel to catch our tuktuk to the airport with Pia.  Got into Siem Reap and after some initial taxi confusion, finally made it to our hostel for the night - Downtown Siem Reap Hostel ($8).  Met up with Gabe and took a quick walk through town to get some dinner.

Chiang Mai

February 4 – A few of the Pai gang headed out for Chiang Mai in the same minibus group.  Spent a few more dollars versus the public bus for a quicker journey with seats that actually fit our legs.  Laura, a British girl from the group, had stayed in Chiang Mai before so we followed her as we searched for a place to stay for the night.  We all had dinner at the market near Thapae Gate, went to THC Rooftop Bar and then out for the night at the downtown bar area, which was this fantastic little street corner with every bar playing different kinds of music.   Our favorite was the live band that played upbeat reggae music.

February 5 – In the morning we gathered up our things and moved to Deejai Backpackers Hostel, which itself was a really awesome place but location wise was a bit far from the city center.  Had some initial taxi drama and ended up having to pay 100baht each even though we didn’t use the taxi for the day, but at that point police were being called and we all figured we’d rather pay than deal with a bad situation.  After getting settled in, we headed over to the pool down the street and spent most of the day lounging there.  Got some street food for dinner and headed to a muay thai fight (400baht/$12).  They started with young boys fighting and worked there way up to the top age group, where the winner won a few hundred dollars.  Headed down to the bar area after the fight was over and spent the night out there again.

February 6 – Woke up late, walked over to the local park and spent a few hours lying under the trees with a few friends.  Decided to go see a movie, and on our walk over we saw Wat Sri Suphan, this beautiful temple with incredible silver work all over it.  Saw Wolf of Wallstreet which I enjoyed more just because it was such a familiar activity more than the movie itself.  Early night in to rest for the long next day.

February 7 – Woke up and tuktuked over to the tiger kingdom where waited for a few hours to get our fifteen minutes with the baby tigers.  It was really cool to interact with them but tigers sleep during the day so in general they weren’t all that active.  For the money and time spent I don’t think its an activity I would do again.  Stopped at the snake farm for a few pictures with a large python and then drove up to Wat Doi Suthep where we explored the area a bit. 

On our way back into town we were greeted with beautiful lights and music which symbolized the beginning of the flower festival in Chiang Mai which just happened to be February 7-9.  Got dropped off in the city center and walked around all the food and craft stalls.  I bought a beeswax batik indigo scarf (500baht/$15).

February 8 – Slept late and spent most of the day walking around town with Sam.  Stumbled upon this store full of beautiful woven scarves and spent about an hour there admiring everything and talking with the employee there who told us about all the fabrics, patterns and villages that make the scarves.  Bought two scarves, one yellow and one red for 2800baht ($85) – which I struggled painfully with as this was my most expensive purchase of the trip so far, but I really do love them and the prices are incredible compared to what you would pay for a silk scarf in the US.

Spent our last night in Chiang Mai walking around the flower festival and headed to THC Rooftop Bar again for a quick drink.

February 9 – Woke up early and got picked up by the tour company we’d booked through the hostel for a day with the elephants.  We really wanted to go to Elephant Nature Park, but they were all booked, so we went with “Patthana Elephant Park”, which we later learned is really a pseudo name for the Panda Tour Company.  I knew I didn’t want to ride the elephants so I was already skeptical about the whole day, and then when they started training us it just didn’t seem like they were treating the elephants well.  When Sam and I finally did get on our elephant and started walking around the park loop, I really did not feel comfortable on it.  To make matters worst, we had the worst “mahout” there, and our elephant clearly was scared of him, so when he started yelling at it to keep going the elephant was definitely upset, and that’s not a great thing to pick up on when you’re on top of it.  So Sam and I asked to get off and ended the day early.  Really unfortunate that our experience ended like that but lesson learned I guess.

Got back to Deejai, walked to a local market for some dinner, and got picked up around 7pm for the start of our journey to Lao.  Ended up sitting in the front of a minibus with an Australia named Jeremy that would become one of our good friends on the trip.  Six hours later and we pulled into some remote hotel where they put us in rooms for the night.

Pai

January 29 - Got into Chiang Mai two hours after scheduled arrival time, and after getting passed the initial ambush of people trying to sell us bus tickets for 300baht and taxi for 200baht, we found a tuktuk driver to take us to the bus station for 40baht each and booked a public bus up to Pai for 80baht each.  You really do get what you pay for – the bus was slow and extremely cramped.  I had my knees out in the isle because they didn’t even fit in the seat.  A fun ride full of 20 somethings all talking about their traveling experiences and plans.  Got to Pai and walked to our hostel, Darling Viewpoint, and quickly realized we did not want to stay there long.  The “dorm” was really just 12 matresses thrown on a floor together, so we changed our four night stay there to only two and decided to find a new place for the rest of our time in Pai.  Spent the night walking around the streets shopping and eating street food (as we’d do every night in Pai).

January 30 – Our first full day in Pai we met up with Gabe, Emilie’s friend from Michigan who we met on Koh Phangan.  He stayed at Spicy Pai, a hostel we would have stayed at had there been any beds available.  A group of people from that hostel were going around for the day on motorbikes so we tagged along, Sam with Gabe and I rode with James from England.

First we went to the Chinese Village, which to be honest was this really tacky tourist attraction that was extremely inauthentic, with a human ferris wheel and a concrete castle.  We drove up the hill a bit for some tea and a nice view.  Then we went to Mor Paeng Waterfall, which was really cool because some guy was playing the didgeridoo, another older man was juggling and people were jumping and sliding into the waterfall.  That pretty much sums up Pai.

Then we headed to Land Split where the man working there gives you free juice, taro roots and banana chips and you pay whatever you want as a donation when you leave.  They also had the biggest chicken I have ever seen, which also happened to be blind so it was pretty easy to pickup and get a picture with.

We all headed back to Spicy Pai, and I switched from riding with James to riding with Leo from Sweden.  Leo had a Honda Phantom and I was really excited to ride on it and we headed out to the Canyon to watch the sunset.  Leo and I got there about ten minutes before everyone else because he was driving so incredibly fast, and then I got off the bike on the right side – big mistake – and burnt the side of my calf on the exhaust pipe.  I guess they call it the Thailand Tattoo because it happens to so many people here.

Watched the sunset at the canyon, which is the amazing landscape of trails with extremely steep drops on either side of the path.  The group climbed up through the trails but I stayed behind because I was barefoot and my leg was really starting to hurt.  Did our typical Pai routine of shopping/eating and headed to bed.

January 31 – In the morning Gabe came to pick Sam up to go to the hotsprings while I stayed behind because I didn’t want to go in with my burn.  Went for a run instead, which in retrospect was a very poor idea because my wound got really dirty.  Came back, showered and headed to the pharmacy where I picked up some antibiotic cream for burns and some proper bandages.  Packed up all our stuff and Sam and I headed down the road a bit to Family Huts, where we got our own bungalow with a bathroom for 400baht ($12) a night.  We’d been paying 150baht each at Darling so we didn’t mind the extra 50baht for more comfort.  The location was also much closer to the main road where we spent most of our time.

Walked and shopped with Sam during the day.  Got ready for the Reggae on the River which was this concert a good walk out of town.  Had a lot of fun sitting in a little teepee talking with one of the bands that was playing that night.  After a great night of dancing and hanging out with new people, Leo said he would take us back to our place.  I think Leo and I were both a little disoriented in the dark and without seeing our typical landmarks, but I saw a ridge I thought I recognized as the one close to where we live, so he dropped us off there and we started walking.  Turns out we were 10 km out of Pai, so I flagged down a passing motorbike with two young guys on it and without speaking very much English, we somehow communicated that we needed to head back into town.  Thankfully, they agreed to take us into town and the four of us rode about 15 minutes until we saw something we actually recognized.  Made it back to our little bungalow and promptly fell asleep.  Pretty stressful/terrifying experience in the moment but the next day Sam and I had a nice laugh at the shenanigans we got ourselves into.

 February 1 – Woke up late and got breakfast with Sam along the main street.   Spent the day lounging at Fluid, the town swimming pool.  That's about the extent of our activity for that day.

February 2 – Got up early with Sam and walked over to Aya, the local motorbike rental shop, and picked up a Honda Icon.  I think it was around 120baht/day ($4/day), but I opted for the additional damage and theft insurances which brought the total to 200baht/day.  They gave me a two minute tutorial and sent me off on my way.

We headed to Spicy to meet up with the group and headed off to a set of hotsprings where the road was described as “treacherous”.  Already apprehensive about driving a difficult route my first day out, as we were pulling out of the gas station Gabe pulled out of the gas station too quickly and bailed when he saw a car coming straight at him.  So then the three of us were then racing to catch up with the rest of the group going about 80km down the freeway and then realized we got lost.  Somehow we all found each other and paid our 40baht to get in.

Drove for a few minutes with no problems until the paved road ended and the dirt road began.  I trailed the group down an incredibly steep, dusty road full of holes and I admittedly almost ate it at the beginning as the brake (left hand) and gas (right hand) are easily to confuse your first day.  Made it down and watched everyone enjoy the natural hotsprings while I minded my wound and had a lovely time sitting under the trees reading Thoreau.

Lunch across the street from the hotsprings and headed back to Spicy.  Checked out Coffee in Love, spent some time at Mor Paeng Waterfall, and enjoyed a rest at the Strawberry Farm.  On our drive home we stopped when we saw an elephant on the side of the road.  Fed him a few bananas and got our photos in.

February 3 – For our last day in Pai we spent most of the day walking around and soaking up all that is Pai.  Really no pictures do it justice – something about the vibe there is just amazing though.  I bought a dress (500baht/$15) from this lovely woman who we’d visited a few other times, as well as a brass and rose quartz bracelet (300baht/$9) from a street vendor.

Sam and I made it our mission to make it to the big Buddha for sunset, and on our way got a little lost and ended up driving up and down this incredible difficult road.  Somehow we both made it out okay and sprinted our way up to the top of this hill just in time to see the sun set.  Met Gabe for at a bar called Why Not? Because…why not?  Headed over to Ting Tong for our last drink in Pai and headed to bed.

Koh Samui

Sam and I took a ferry the morning of the 20^th to hop over to the next island over, Koh Samui, to begin our week long silent meditation retreat.  Took a taxi to The Icon, and then got picked up by the retreat staff and taken to a secluded oasis in the island hills.  Had a few initial conversations with other retreaters and was a little sad to think I wouldn’t be able to talk with them more the next week.  Took a tour of the property with the group and checked out our accommodations, which was a long room with many wooden boards, straw mats and a wooden pillow for each person.  Yeah…a wooden pillow.  That evening we started the silence and began to fall into our daily routine.

4:30am – Wake Up

5:00am – Morning Reading

5:15am – Sitting Meditation

5:45am – Yoga

7:00am – Sitting Mediation

7:30am – Breakfast

9:30am – Dhamma Talk

10:30am – Walking/Standing Meditation

11:00am – Sitting Meditation

11:30am – Lunch

2:00pm – Meditation Instruction and Sitting Meditation

3:00pm – Walking/Standing Meditation

3:30pm – Sitting Meditation

4:00pm – Walking/Standing Meditation

4:30pm – Chanting & Loving Kindness Meditation

5:30pm – Tea

7:30pm – Sitting Meditation

8:00pm – Group Walking Meditation

8:30pm – Sitting Meditation

9:00pm – Bedtime

9:30pm – Lights Out

The whole week blends together now, but overall I thought it was a really great experience.  The whole purpose of the week was to teach us about the belief in Buddhism to live completely in the present.  “Nothing whatsoever should be grasped at or clung to.”  In Buddhism, the ultimate goal is to be completely unattached from things, people, your body/emotions, etc. 

The first few days I was really engaged and the days went by quickly, and on day three the meditation and the talk from the retreat volunteer Pierre, really broke me down in the best kind of way.  He talked about forgiveness, of yourself and of others, and it was so powerful and related so well to my life.  I left the retreat with the reminder that forgiveness, along with gratitude, are two of the most important capabilities in one’s life.

Around day four I started to lose focus and spent the majority of my days daydreaming, which is exactly what you’re advised against because the goal is to always live in the present.  Each day was a struggle both physically and mentally, and through it my mood shifted frequently between extreme confusion and intense clarity.  The fact that we weren’t allowed to talk didn’t ease any concerns.

On the last full day of the retreat, they drove us to a beautiful beach where we all sat together and meditated.  They then told us we had an hour to roam around the beach, and at this point everyone decided the silence was broken.  We all stood by the water’s edge and a few even felt compelled to jump in with their clothes on.  Once back on the retreat grounds, we ended the night with the opportunity to share how we got to the retreat and what we learned from it.  Despite my discomfort with public speaking, I got up and shared my story.  After each person shared it seemed as it gave the next person courage to share their deeper stories.  One person shared his struggle with depression and suicide, another told us he’d recently found out he was HIV positive – it was a good reminder that everyone has their struggles in life and to try to be empathetic as you never know what others are going through.  

The morning of the 27^th I woke up as usual, headed to the meditation hall, and this time took a seat at the head of hall to read the last mornings reading.  It was called “Chief Seattle’s Message” and it was a speech he’d given to his tribe in the Pacific Northwest in the late 19^th century.

Our last breakfast I spent chatting with Pierre as I was so interested in his life and how he’d arrived at this meditation center to guide us all.  Turns out he was an economist in Canada with three failed marriages behind him, and a few years ago he’d left that life and moved to Thailand to practice Buddhism.  He encouraged me to keep meditation and mindfulness in my life.  I think the biggest thing I realized during this week was that my whole life I’ve been floating, just getting by being genetically blessed with some general intelligence and athleticism.  I’ve never really applied myself to anything or followed through with things I attend to accomplish.  This week, even though at times I wanted to leave, I stuck with it and that alone felt really rewarding.  I hope that when I go home, if nothing else, I live every day with a little more intention and determination than I had in the past.

Headed off into town and walked around until we found a place to stay.  Sam and I split a little beach bungalow at New Huts on Lamai Beach for $15.  Spent the day lying on the beach and fell asleep to the sound of the waves that were 30 feet outside our front door.

Koh Phangan

Illness combined with miraculous recovery combined with extreme partying has delayed my documentation of the trip, so now this whole week is a big blur of activities.  Our first day here Sam, Emilie and I went to Ao Haad Yao, a beach of the west side of the island.  We met up with some of her friends from Michigan that night at Amsterdam Bar to watch the sunset, and then headed over to their hostel, Ringside, where we got ready for the Jungle Party.  Taxis dropped us off literally in the middle of the jungle where they had set up drink stands and a stage for a DJ.  Had a nice time dancing and getting to know the Michigan group.

The 15^th was the day of the Full Moon Party, so we went around town to get neon t-shirts for the night.  Again went to Ringside, and then took a taxi over to Haad Rin, which is a beach on the east side of the island.  As we walked onto the beach, we were overcome with the music and lights on display at each different section of the beach.  There were people playing with fire (Sam even jumped over a jump rope that was on fire) and people hanging out on the beach, but most everyone was just dancing and having a great time.  Initially I was very concerned with how crazy the night would be, but overall I thought it was well put together and maintained, and only a few people had looked like they’d overdone it with the alcohol buckets.  Talked to a lot of interesting people that night and watched the sunrise from the beach.  

Understandably, we spent pretty much the whole day of the 16^th in bed sleeping.

Took Emilie to the pier at 6am on the 17^th and it was really hard to see her go.  She’s at the end of her traveling journey and we’ve just  begun ours.  Met up with the guys from Michigan later in the day and headed over to Koh Phangan National Park on the east side of the island.  A small beach with much courser sand, but there was a whole neighborhood built into the side of a cliff and it was a really cool place to spend an afternoon.  Had dinner at the local market across the street from Miriam’s (spring rolls for 10baht, pad thai for 60baht and fruit shakes for 30baht).

On the 18^th the boys picked us up on their motorbikes and we went to Wipeout for a few hours to watch them attempt a water obstacle course.  We headed back to the beach they were staying at and spent the rest of the afternoon there.

On the 19^th Sam and I headed out to the streets to find a place to stay as the room at Miriam’s was booked for the night.  Literally walked down the street and paid 250baht to stay a dorm style room.  We also bought our boat ticket to Koh Samui (200baht). 

A Tribute to Modern Pharmaceuticals

January 13 – Disclaimer: this is not a happy post and thankfully unrepresentative of the majority of this trip so far.  I want this blog to be share the full picture of my experience her so if you don’t want to hear any bad news, don’t read this.

In retrospect, there are many things that happened the day before that resulted in one of the absolute worst days of my life.  While I had been feeling a little off through the majority of Myanmar, I had thought it was just getting used to the food there.  After so much traveling, heavy exercise and not drinking enough water I was extremely dehydrated, and woke up a few times during the night only to try to fall back asleep.  When I did finally get out of bed, I knew something was really wrong, so I opened the door to our room (and thankfully Sam had picked up that I was out of it) and everything went white and I couldn't support myself anymore.  Sam and some hotel staff guided me onto the bed and got me some water.  After a little while I was feeling a little better, talked briefly with my parents and then packed up all my stuff and headed down to the taxi that would take us back to the airport.  At this point I was a complete zombie and so grateful to be with Emilie and Sam who really helped me with my luggage and whatever else I needed.

Once in the airport I really started to feel bad, so Sam shipped a few of my things home while I pleaded with people in the security line to let me in front of them so I could get to the pharmacy inside the terminal as soon as possible.  I talked to a pharmacist who gave me a concoction of various pills, which I promptly took and promptly threw up.  Yup…I was that girl, puking in an airport trashcan.  Cool thing about being sick at the airport was that I got an escort that wheeled me around everywhere I went so at least there was that I guess.  So we were waiting by our gate and I was really having trouble being a functional human being so I tried to take all the pills again and made myself a little home in the closest bathroom.  Again pills unsuccessfully stayed down, and there was definitely a point where I questioned if being on a flight, bus, and then boat for the next ten hours was really a good idea for me.  Pushed through, took a nap in my own row of the plane, and started to feel better (probably because there was nothing left in my body). 

Only ate a slice of toast and drank lots of water for the next 24 hours.  After getting to Koh Phangan and getting a new set of antibiotics, I immediately felt better.  The body is really an incredible machine.  Even though I remember that I felt like I was on the verge of death, my body can’t recall that feeling anymore (thank god).  Fingers crossed that was my one and only bad health scare here.

Mandalay

January 10 - Woke up at 4am to get all packed up and took a taxi to the jetty to get on our boat headed for Mandalay.  Boat left at 5:30am and got into the city at 5pm.  Not a bad boat ride, especially since there were only about 10 passengers, so no fighting to get a good seat in the recliner style chairs.  Served an egg and banana for breakfast and fried rice for lunch.  Beautiful weather and such a nice way to see the Myanmar delta area.  Ticket was $35.

Interesting conversation with Sam on the boat ride over.  I think during trips like this its not uncommon to have that "what am I doing feeling".  Sam and I are both confused about what we want to be doing with our lives and what the "right" decisions are.  Both of us are also a little scared to return home and be faced with decisions and responsibilities that we don't want to deal with quite yet.

Twelve hours stuck on a boat leaves little mental protection from the wandering mind.  Thinking a lot about past decisions and struggling with things that aren't going to change.  "Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past."  Very fitting quote from George Orwell's 1984 which I read a few weeks before I left for this trip, completely unaware that it had such strong ties to Orwell's experiences in Burma in the 1920's.  I've been reading Emma Larkin's Finding George Orwell in Burma for the past few days, and its been very helpful in understanding more about this country's history, which I knew very little about before.  Not sure if Myanmar has recovered from its sordid past or if the peaceful and friendly atmosphere here is merely a facade.

The Irrawaddy River is a very interesting place.  I'll quote from Larkin as she puts it much more poetically than I could.  "It is a hauntingly timeless landscape.  The rivers are milky brown-the colour of weak cocoa-and water hyacinth grows so thick it sometimes covers the entire surface with softly undulating blankets of vivid green...Small huts of bamboo and thatch sit amid the forests of mangrove and coconut trees, and every so often the golden tip of a pagoda can be seen above the greenery."  Everything moves rather slow here, but I don't see it as the dreary and monotonos place I've heard it described as.  Then again, I'm only just passing through.

January 11 – Woke up and met Mr. Htay, our taxi driver for the day, outside ET Hotel.  Initially a little concerned with his driving capabilities having a lazy eye and all, but turns out he was a great driver and an overall good person.  Started off in the morning at the Mahagandayon Monastery in Amarapura where hundreds of monks line up for breakfast each morning.  It was cool to get a better glimpse into their daily lives and routines.

Stopped for a quick peak into a silk weaving factory, which really is remarkable to see how much work they have to put into each piece.  Then off to Sagaing Hill where we walked up hundreds of steps to explore a few of the many interconnected pagodas.  Really could have spent a whole day there wandering from temple to temple but with only one full day in Mandalay we had to keep it brief.  My favorite was U Min Thonze Cave, which was this long, narrow room with buddhas lining the wall with pieces of glass in mosaic patters behind them.

After a quick stop for lunch, we crossed Myit Nge River by ferry boat and took a horse and carriage to explore the Inwa village.  After taking the ferry back to meet up with our taxi driver, we went to U Bein Bridge to watch the sun set.  The bridge itself is really just flimsy pieces of wood nailed together but it’s so long and perfectly positioned in the foreground of the setting sun that it really does look remarkable.

January 12 – After breakfast we took a taxi to airport and flew into Don Muang airport.  Piya’s mom had informed us that we were coming in a day before some serious protests in Bangkok so we booked a hotel close to the airport called We Train.  After grabbing some food from the restaurant downstairs, Sam and I went on a run around the neighborhood and then played a game of basketball with two guys staying there as well.  Overall it was a nice, relaxing day to prepare for the day of travel ahead.