drum roll please...

I always knew this day would come. I knew it long before I started the blog. I knew it because it has also happened with every diary/journal/memoir i've ever started. There comes a day when you realize that weeks have flown by and you haven't written a word!

Now of course, I face the daunting task of recapping the last few weeks of my adventures in all their glory, while still moving forward in time... So here is my best attempt to summarize with illuminating details:

Recently, I have become very accustomed to taking night buses. The main form of transportation in thailand, buses can be very comfortable. The chairs are wide and comfy, they black out the lights nearly 15 mins into the trip for sleeping, and there are even bus attendants. They have funny little hats and everything! The only problem is when the dude in front of you (the one with the sickeningly greasy hair and huge flakes of dandruff) puts his chair back so far that is face is quite literally in your lap! Ew!

With the exception of one weekend, I have embarked on a bus journey every weekend since arriving in Kalasin. It's not that I don't love the city, its just that from what I do here during the week, there isn't much left to do on the weekends. After all, I came to Thailand for adventure!

Bangkok: One of my most frequented destinations, Bangkok has so much ground to cover. Every time I enter the city, I don't know what to expect. Adventures to date include many temples, the national museum (for some culture!), chatuchak weekend market, central world (the most intimidating mall since south coast plaza), losing half my toe nail to an escalator (shout out to my nurse Jo), a thai movie theater (nicer than a broadway playhouse, seriously!), chinatown (dim sum yum yum), khao san road (like venice beach mixed with um... i don't know, but it's madness), thai food, indian food, mexican food, middle eastern food, italian food... and that's just in 6 days!

Christmas begins even earlier in Bangkok than in the States.

At Central World with Steph and Jo.

A temple in Bangkok known for having over 150 buddahs

Lopburi: Last weekend, I had the unique experience of visiting Lopburi, and ancient city of ruins that has been taken over by gangs of monkeys. Basically, it's terrifying! It's like being inside Jumanji! The first day we went to a ancient temple that had a museum inside. We learned the history of the city, the kings, but no mention of monkeys... Odd. We then prowled the grounds and explored the ruins. They were so massive, and so crumbled, it was like being back in Pompeii, Italy.

Afterwards we hired a sawungtow driver (this is a safely, modified pick up truck... who am i kidding, its a truck and the passengers sit in the bed of the truck, clearly one of the safest forms of transportation after motorcycle taxis) for the afternoon to take us to the sunflower fields. All the way there we sang a slightly butchered version of the Beatles song "sunflower fields forever." After a long drive, we arrived at the base of some very strange cliffs that looked like something out of Lost, but as far as the eye could see were sunflowers (Ali you would have died!)

After a cheesy photoshoot, our driver took us back down the way and stopped at many of his friends' places to try to get us to buy something so he could get a coupon. To all of this we politely replied "Mai ow ka, " until we came to the floating bar... A beautiful wooden raft built on a lake/river serving icy cold refreshing beer. How could we say no?

The next morning was the monkey festival. The local people create a feast for the monkeys and they run rampant over the grounds of another ruin. It was frightening, but we managed to take a few pictures without receiving any monkey bites (although another friend from Kalasin was not so lucky...)

So those are some of the adventures to date. It was been so wonderful and time is flying by, just as you all warned me it would... maybe i'll have to stay for longer :)

xoxo