Goodbye my friend.

Today my friend Chen came to Bangkok to hang out with me for the last time. I arrived at 6 this morning via the train, and only have one night here because I am heading down to the islands near Phuket tomorrow with my friend Derek and his sister Liz! Chen decided this morning to take a bus from Pattaya, and I was so excited because I didn't think I'd get to see her again before I left Thailand (she was in China renewing her passport during my last week in Pattaya). I met her at the sky-train and we walked to the mall and had lunch. After that we had a great time taking pictures with random people around the mall, and just enjoying each other's company. We manage to laugh so much even though the communication barrier is sometimes difficult. Chen has come to be a great friend and I really hope I get to see her again someday!

 He was nervous.

 Fresh squeezed oj...basically on every street corner. the best!

hehe

the magic of Chiang Mai.

The past few days spent in Chiang Mai were probably my favorite of all the places I've visited in Thailand. The minute I arrived at my hostel, I knew there was something different about this place...something special. My camera and I took a walk, and we ended up walking all day and eventually rented a bike because my legs were tired and I still had much more to see! My guidebook described Chiang Mai as a laid-back, artsy, "up and coming" city...and it was just that. The street I stayed on had art galleries followed by cafes, followed by little shops and restaurants. It reminded me a little bit of Santa Barbara. At night, the streets are lined with white twinkly lights and paper lanterns that seem to hang from the sky. It is a wonderful place.

 my room at the Parami Guesthouse. I highly recommend it if you are ever in Chiang Mai!

 Fresh flowers at the local market.

Cooking Class!

The hostel that I have stayed at my last two times through Bangkok is awesome. It is called Saphai Pae and I recommend it to anyone traveling in Thailand. The staff is so friendly and the hostel is just all around awesome. I stayed there Monday and Tuesday night before heading down to Chiang Mai on the overnight train. My checkout time on Wednesday was at noon, and my train was not until 6pm, so I had a lot of time to kill. As luck would have it, my hostel was offering a free cooking class that very afternoon!!!! I signed up right away, and it was so much fun. We learned how to make Thai Green Curry. I love cooking, but you'd never know it because I only really* know how to make Pasta Fajoli and tortolini with sausages bahaha...but I grew up taking cooking classes through the city and it is still something I enjoy. I am excited to make it when I go home.

 the ingredients!

 yum.

 cooking station.

 my cooking partner.

 Thai eggplant. So good!

 the chef in the restaurant at Saphai Pae hostel.

 basically Top Chef status.

 laughing because it was so spicy! hehe

 wooooweeee hot stuff.

the group!

Cambodia for a day.

Cambodia for a day? Try 40 minutes...45 max. On Tuesday this week, I had to do a day-long visa run to Cambodia. I signed up through a company I found online, and after the day was through I was to have a stamp in my passport allowing me to stay in Thailand for 15 more days. Due to the fact that I had not originally committed myself to a year of working for the school in Pattaya, they did not provide me with paperwork and therefore I was initially only able to get a Non-Immigrant B "Single Entry" visa, allowing me to enter Thailand one time for a period of 90 days. Those 90 days would expire the next day (Wednesday) and in order to get a renewal stamp for longer than 15 days, I would have had to leave Thailand and re-enter via airplane. That would have been way too expensive and because I was only planning to stay for a little bit longer, I just went ahead and got my 15 days and planned to the rest of my trip accordingly! We left at 9:30AM in the morning from a coffee shop in Bangkok (on the other side of town from where I was staying...15 sky-train stops to be exact) and didn't arrive at the border until after 1PM. Crossing over from Thailand to Cambodia was like night and day. The minute I stepped into Cambodia, I was swarmed by children begging for money. They were hanging on my legs and grabbing my arms, saying "madame, money please." It was really sad. Everything directly over the border was filthy and rundown. I know there are beautiful parts of Cambodia, but the border is not one of them! After everyone got their passports stamped, we got back onto the bus and headed back. Due to a massive storm on the way back, I didn't get to my hostel until after 8:30 that night. It was a veryyyy long day.

 My bus partner :)

 Beautiful countryside.

 Entrance to Cambodia. (don't be fooled by that Lexus)

 A different world.

 Cute kids.

 Weird decorations on the Thai side.

 First time I wore my hair down in...a long time. It didn't last long...too hot out.