Angry Urban Dweller: Day 21: Was It Something I Ate?

Listening: I'm no crazy creep. I've got it coming to me because I'm not satisfied. The hunger keeps on growing. I eat too much. I drink too much. I want too much. Too much.

What's my problem? I'm run down.

It's day 21 and my pace has caught up with me. I'm in Chiang Mai and today, I'm taking a "day off." It's a me day. A personal day, if you will. I'll be writing some post cards, eating fruit, trying to upload pictures (though I doubt it with these slow ass connections), and moving my bags from Goi's father's place to Goi's mother's place.

Yesterday, I spent the whole day feeling like arse. The day before, I spent climbing up a mountain to a temple in Chiang Mai. That night, I had dinner with Goi's father and got aquainted to Northern Thai food. I don't know if it was heat exhaustion or the food, but I woke up in the middle of the night feeling nauseous. It lasted the rest of the night and then until morning. The rest of the day I had a headache and my stomach was neither here nor there. I didn't vomit. I didn't have the shits. I just felt like crap. My friend Jennifer, the nurse from Canada, thinks that it's more heat exhaustion than the food. That makes me happy, but it's been about 36 hours, and I still really don't feel like eating much of anything. I forced myself to eat last night at dinner, and I had a cup of coffee this morning. I think I might get some pineapple a bit later on.

Anyhow, the trip from Bangkok to Chiang Mai was pretty good. Goi and I had the two sleepers closest to the car door, so we would hear it every time someone went in and out. The second class sleepers are a million times better than the sleepers from Amsterdam/Frankfurt to Prague. There was more padding and generally more space. Since I was the top bunk, I had no window. It was a good time to just listen to my iPod and do some reading.

My inner sketchy guy came out during the trip though. I knew he was coming out, but I was helpless to stop him. See, across from me, there was a girl. She reminded me so much of Alice that I couldn't help but looking over there. Goi said I was staring. I seriously couldn't help it. What was it about this crunchy Japanese girl? She knew I was looking at her too, which made me feel even worse. I was a sketchball.

So far, in Chiang Mai, I haven't done too mucyh. I have seen a bunch of temples, eaten some food, but the good portion of the trip comes tomorrow. Tomorrow, I go to cooking class at the Thai Farm Cooking School. I'm going to learn how to make a number of dishes that I will undoubtley be making for staff meal this summer. I'm excited about learning to make red curry, tom yam, fried basil with chicken, and a few other things. The following day, I'll pick up my Vietnam visa from the travel agent, and I'll tool around Chiang Mai some more. Three days from now I'll start my three day/two night jungle trek. It includes elephant riding, white water rafting, bamboo rafting, seeing four hill tribes, a bat cave, some waterfalls and some other stuff that is really just gravy. Luckily, since I'm staying at Goi's mother's place, I'm leaving 90% of my stuff there, bringing only some cash, and the essential clothes and pills.

The day after I finish with the trek, I'll be heading to Laos. Hopefully, I'll be able to meet up with Jennifer and Adam in Vang Vieng to do some tubing before I meet up with Goi in Luang Prabang. I'll probably be taking a minibus from Chiang Mai to Xiang Khong, crossing the border to Huay Xai, then taking the slow boat to Luang Prabang before taking the bus to Vang Vieng.

A couple of places have been cut from my itinerary thus far. I have had to cut out Chiang Rai and Vietiene. It's a bit disappointing, but it's just the nature of the time limits. Also, I'm having a hard time figuring out how to get from Luang Prabang to Hanoi. I don't want to spend the extra day in Luang Prabang to catch the flight, but I also don't wanto to spend two days doing it over land, as I have heard that it sucks. It's kind of a no-win situation. My main concern is to get to Halong Bay or Cat Ba by March 9th. I want to spend my birthday somewhere beautiful. Hopefully, I'll have friends there.

Anyhow, enough of my travel woes. I'll leave you with some outdated pictures.