And so, fighting the jet-lag, I get myself a good breakfast and decide to get my bearings. I am full of bright ideas of stuff to go and see, but honestly, my body absolutely refuses to volunteer the energy necessary to get my shit together and predictably, I am drawn like a moth to the flame to the ‘farang’ wonderland that is Khao San Road. I soon realise that last night, in my jet-lag induced fug, I didn’t actually get to the Khao San Road and I had only wandered along a neighbouring street, so you can imagine my distain for the real Khao San! I won’t go into too much detail, but with the music, the stalls, the tourists and chaos of signage screaming silently at me it’s enough to give my brain one of those spinning disc icons that my computer gets when I ask it to do too much at the same time!
I have some stuff to sort out i.e. decide what I’m going to go next and so I get to the task in hand and check out guest houses and travel options, all the while fighting off the offers of tut-tuk tours and the advances of old women in traditional garb trying to sell me stuff… Lady, seriously, I don’t want to buy a carved wooden croaking frog toy/percussion instrument! It really doesn’t matter how many times you ask me!
After a couple of blocks of this, I really need out, so I stroll down over to the river and take a seat in a quiet spot. Sitting taking in the passers by, I suddenly have a minor panic attack… what the hell am I doing? I have just left friends, family, security and a perfectly good job, got on a plane halfway around the world, with no solid plan, no real contacts, I’m alone and prone to episodes of minor depression… I must be crazy! After a sneaky cigarette, I find myself thinking about what made me happiest when I was away from creature comforts in China and I decide I need food… I need good old -fashioned street food and I need it NOW!
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