Traveling the World

So yesterday we got to our accommodation (an apartment). For 4 people it costs 2100 baht per night. We only have 3 people with us right now, since the other two were stuck in Shenzhen last night because of a typhoon.

In the afternoon we got schwarma (I had 2, Nick had 2, Matt had 1) and mango milk shake (each had 1). The schwarma cost 60 baht each ($1.77) and the mango cost 40 baht each ($1.18 each). So we spent 420 baht at one place ($12.39). We made the Arab man VERY happy.

After lunch we went down to Nana Square (on Sukhumvit Road, one of the longest roads in the world) to where all the expats and foreigners hang out. While there we saw an elephant walking on the road and paid 20 baht each to feed it and pet it (don’t worry, got pictures and video of it ). One thing that’s very interesting is that sex is everywhere. It’s not hidden in Thailand. Every bar we drink in, every street we walk down, there are girls (and ladyboys) hooting and hollering at us. This is because Thailand is a service country (and not the good kind). Most of the foreigners come here for sex, they call it Sex Tourism.

Last night we went to an Indian restaurant, and ended up getting 3 meals (Butter Chicken, Chicken Korma, Paneer [Indian Cottage Cheese with vegetables], and Naan (like pita bread). Total cost was 1135 baht (or about 220 yuan, or $11 per person). It was very expensive because we got charged 30 baht per water and 70 baht per rice, plus a service tax of 10% and a 7% VAT tax.

Later in the day I tried to text Lucia but hadn’t set my phone numbers to be +86.. so the text didn’t go through. Went to bed around 11pm because this morning we went out to the JJ Weekend Market (one of the largest and most famous in the world). At the market I bought some sew-on flags of the different countries I’ve been to (and ones I will see very soon) and had A&M Root Beer for the first time in many months. Tried to buy a pair of shorts for a fair price of 250 baht ($7.50) but the guy decided to renege on his deal.