Getting sold tourist trips has always been the same. They package together an experiences of a one size fits all manner. Take you around to private restaurants, museums, snack counters, and busses. You wait on their time tables and go to their destinations. It isn't all bad, many of the people you meet are fantastic with great life stories. People talk about the farm cooking school they went to; they harvested fresh herbs and vegetables to cook into their Thai meals. The day spent on mopeds cruising around the countryside of small rural towns. Nights sleeping in floating houses on rivers. The beautiful waterfalls and beaches that they bathed in. They also however talk about the tiger temple with doped up sleeping tigers. The elephant rides with bull hook prodding. Getting driven around Bangkok in tuk tuks where they take everyone to the same 7 Buddhist temples. Giant Buddha, marble temple, golden mount etc. They take you to tailors, to their family restaurants and for a long boat ride. It's all one big game that varies only in small details. Each foreigner tells the same story. Not to say it is bad, but I've never traveled in a country where everything felt so catered and packaged. It doesn't seem to matter which tuk tuk, which travel agent, or which taxi you hooked up with. The stories were all very similar.
All this bitching and moaning probably stems from not having control over the timing of events. Between the river boat and the train ride to the south we stayed in a fancy hotel, are incredible sea food, met a lovely couple from Monterey and Ireland. And dig car bombs at 1 am. That spontaneousness feels amazing and gets everyone in good spirits (especially with lots of spirits. I invited the Irish guy, who flys for Norwegian Airlines, up to Fort Bragg next time he was having a multi day layover at SFO. He was having a layover this week in Bangkok and had met the girl from Monterey on tinder. They seemed pleased with their connection, and pleased with meeting us. It probably turned their blind date in to a more relaxing double date. I bought rounds for them, they bought rounds for us, it was perfect. He said he will come visit and hook me up with flight hours at LLR Little River since he's a certified Flight instructor. I told him I'd take him salmon fishing in return.
Some cool things I saw these last few days. A seal swimming, some Dolphins, my first ever flying fish, and a thin jersey girl with the words Good and Girl tattooed in cursive on her upper thighs below her cutoff shorts. She wasn't fooling anyone. I got my haircut, rode on a train (where the attendant secretly sold you beer since Thailand's trains are dry. I also saw a guy with a monster fannypack and nothing else. I thought Oh My God! I've found another Fanny Trekker. But then I spoke with him and he said all his stiff is in a rolling luggage bag he is sharing with his girl friend. I could be accused of the same cheating because of traveling with Jo, but I refuse to keep anything in her bag. Maybe for a second, but as soon as we start moving, it's all repackage into my fannypack. His was also twice the size of mine. With a mat and shoes dangling off of it. It just looked like a small daypack that was uncomfortably being carried around his waist. So until further notice, I remain the worlds only Fanny Trekker.
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