Day 3 in Thailand

Today was a beautiful day! It was a bit cooler than yesterday and I spent most of the morning drinking coffee, eating Thai rice & vegetable soup, and chatting with Lex who works at Noi's House. I downgraded to a smaller and cheaper room and I'll stay here for the week. After changing rooms I went for a quiet walk out to Mae Ping river where I sat in the shade and people watched. I wanted to go there last night but the streets were a bit dark and ominous after my pad thai dinner (so yummy) so I waited until today. Around 1pm I arrived at a Thai cooking school and spent the next 4 hours making vegetarian Thai food with a Danish and German couple. I was just thinking this morning that I wanted to meet some Germans to refresh my German language and - poof! - there they were. Unfortunately, I was not brave enough to speak more than a few sentences. These days, every time I try to put a few words together in another tongue it comes out Korean. However, the cooking was a success! I was the only one making vegetarian food, so I made green curry paste, a veggie curry dish, and a TVP and sweet basil dish alone with my instructor, Toon. The Danish couple and I made Thai spring rolls together, and all 5 of us feasted on our deserts of fried bananas with ice cream and mango with sticky rice. It was all very easy, if you can find the right ingredients, and I'm excited to cook Thai food back in Korea! I wandered off a side street on the way back to my guesthouse and met a few locals, then took a well-deserved nap. Today was the weekly "Sunday Walking Market" just inside the Old City gate and I intended to do my souvenir and gift shopping here where, I had heard, prices were better than even the Nightly Bazaar. I don't think it was true, but there were some unique crafts and I bargained, haggled, and bought plenty. I even gave in and sat down for a sidewalk Thai foot massage. I figure, although probably not a great quality massage, it's worth the experience and definitely the 60 Baht (roughly $2US). After 2 1/2 days of strictly Thai food, I was ready for a change in menu so I tried some Middle-Eastern cuisine at a packed cafe called Jerusalem Falafel. I was escorted to an empty table for 6, but ended up joining a solo French traveler and we talked for an hour about Asia, teaching, travel and yoga over falafel and hummus. He showed me a little vinyasa yoga studio nearby where I'll join him for a morning class tomorrow. The wonderful part about traveling alone is having an excuse to meet people and talk with both locals and foreigners. This is exactly the way I like to experience other cultures. Now for a banana smoothie and bed.