Bus Ride back to Bangkok - Monday the 24th

I caught the bus from Chang Rai to Chang Mai. Wishing I had made it a couple hours earlier so I could catch the 13 hour train ride back to Bangkok, it was getting late and the next train didn't leave until 5:30 am the next morning.

When we got to Chiang Mai, there was a party bus about to leave for Bangkok! I gladly bought my ticket and asked the ticket agent, "hey my friend, can I get one of those seats that has an empty one next to it?" On the bus I was sat on the first floor in the seat I asked for, right next to the bathroom where I could almost taste the poo. I leaned across the empty seat, and asked a friendly Thai, just to make sure, "we go Bangkok?" He looked at me through his hospital mask and replied in perfect English, "eat shit my friend." I said, "ok, thank you" and nodded. On the way to Bangkok, a Military Guard, stopped the bus and went to the second level. After a few minutes he left, hands in pocket almost sulking. I heard a teens voice say, "we weren't even doing anything, jerk!" I got to thinking... what goes on up there? Could Bangbus have started in Thailand? Then my attention focused on a crazy looking guy who at first looked like a Monk, but then appeared to be Hispanic after a closer look. His huge jade ring meant Burma though...

Chiang Rai - Booking my ticket back to the USA - Sunday the 23rd

Grabbed another mocha ball green tea and found a more affordable laundromat. I was getting alarmed with the prices on return airline tickets and ready for a change of location. Few of the women I was meeting on my short daily walks to the restaurants weren't what I was looking for, and most seemed disinterested. I was obviously "looking for love in all the wrong places." The heat made it even more unappealing to hang out around town and the language barrier made communicating and not offending people too difficult. I had tried enough of the food and didn't have the time or energy to spend more time in Chiang Rai. What was I supposed to do? Walk around and hold my Google Translator up to women and ask, "you have boyfriend?" Outcomes are arrest, fighting a boyfriend, or a short fling with a half-wit. I do admit, I could have tried harder. I went to book my flight back to the US and the tickets had more than doubled. That and they had horrible connections, some taking close to 60 hours. I looked at the prices and it seemed as if each day, the ticket price dropped by my daily cost of living. Was someone controlling the prices and trying to drain me of a certain dollar amount? The price drop per day bottomed out around $500. I finally found one that was expensive and booked it.

Saturday the 22nd and 93 degrees in Chang Rai

It was so hot today I thought about frying some eggs on the pavement, but grabbed a mocha ball green tea instead. The park was full of Thai families and their children. They had their usual food stands setup around the perimeter. I don't know how they stand the summer heat.

Friday the 21st

Went for a walk and bought some food at a local open market. Came back, ate, and rested. Went to 7-11 for beverages. When I returned there was water sprinkled in the shower and my feet (from the floor) seemed sticky. I can't help but wonder if that is what happens when a special person visits while I'm gone and I have sticky rice in my fridge?

Thursday the 20th

The tips of my socks seemed to turn yellow overnight. Balanced my credit card statments all day, waiting for the invisible (retarded) man to turn my socks back to last night's condition. As I lay here in my room I can't help but recall the signs advertising Thailand's fight against sex offenders, much like California's crimestoppers, on the bus back from Chang Khong (Laos Border). Probably had nothing to do with me, but it sure was a strange visit to Chang Khong.

Wednesday July 19th Bus Ride

Decided against going to Laos. I bought some pork belly and caught a bus ride back to Chiang Rai.

Some jerk (sometimes it is a retarded maintenance man or pesky old woman) probably used my bathroom while I was gone, because the lid did that thing where it leans to one side. Bathmats had some yellow on them, could it have been from my socks in the rain? They were starting to stain. No it couldn't have (it rained that night).

Tuesday Bus Ride to Chiang Khong - 18th

Took a bus ride to Chiang Khong. An absolutely horrible woman in her 40's who looked 60, kept tapping my knee... she was literally poking my knee over and over again, "kiss me, kiss me." TAP TAP TAP, "where you go, where you go?" I told her sorry I had to sleep. As we passed the street to the Laos Border crossing she flipped out again, pointing towards the border, "Where you go?! You go there! You go there!" I think I paid 7 nights (including tonight) at Pimann Inn and someone switched my notebooks, where I began to continue keeping record, to screw with me, unless I forgot to log today... Don't know how since the notepads only left my line of site for a few minutes here at the Namkhong hotel. The hotel was interesting...

Monday in Chiang Rai

Went for a walk and had a mocha ball coffee. Visited the town center.

Sunday

Rented a vespa and went to the laundromat.

Saturday

Still had a touch of the flu and considered renting a vespa to visit a couple tourist attractions. Decided against it and went back to my hotel room.

Friday Chian Rai

The store with Thai whiskey that I found the day before put up a Sukumvit alcohol sign so I went back to my hotel and laid by the pool.

Thursday the 13th and still recovering from the flu

Some piece of trash is making it difficult to blog on my phone. Regretfully checked out of my hotel and planned my trip to Chiang Rai by the pool. I caught a bus from Chang Mai to Chang Rai. I have heard it is a good place to visit. Found the Pimanninn which was a pretty good deal and they had breakfast included.

Weds the 12th rested

Slept and laid around. 88 degree heat made it too easy to do.

Tuesday morning in Chiang Mai

Walked the town waiting for my hotel checkin. The hotel was great.

Monday walked to train station

Caught an all night train ride to Chiang Mai, like 13 hours and I was sick. There was a childlike Thai sitting in front of me, inspecting the soles of his feet. Behind him were some tourists in their 20's or 30's. One of them sprayed herself with deodorant taking no shame with her skirt. Towards the morning a shady man moved seats and sat next to the childlike man, staring at me while I was falling asleep. I played it safe and got up to use the bathroom. On my way back the childlike man was in my seat looking at me with an evil grin, so I walked past him at sat behind a Monk.

Sunday the town went crazy

Exaggerating so I can update my blog later. Everyone was just acting crummy. I walked to the light rail and noticed a bloated toad that reminded me of myself, drinking beer and eating noodles the past few days, (Thais have a funny since of humor).

I had some trouble buying a metrolink pass to where I was headed. Walked back to Yamyen as things got really weird. I was forced to catch a "Thai Uber" and got out of town. Barely made it to Bangkok. The street stores on my walk to the Bangkok hotel were too cool. They had lots of food and all sorts of exotic animals for sale.

My Bangkok hotel was a nice change...

Saturday in Yamyen hostel

Found a shopping center with a McDonald's where I bought some bhat. I got back to my residence, where I stocked up on food from the only good street vendor I could find (I lie, there was one other that had great chicken nuggets on a stick) and a lot of overpriced beer. Apparently, Sukumvit is full of alcoholics, you can only buy beer a few hours a day and it isn't cheap. I lay in my bed as a crazy woman screamed her head off in the lobby, patiently waiting for a chance to go get a second portion of pad thai noodles as I planned my exit strategy from the area. I was not going to paint myself into a corner with a zit doctor.

Yamyen Hostile in Sukumvit

After arriving in Thailand, it took some time finding a bus to the van terminal. The terminal seats had red Xs on many of them, not sure why. When my van pulled up, a cute girl in one of the vans spoke English and told me it was the right one. After she got off the van an older Thai woman told me to move up next to her. She was very nice and her instructions made since, but I felt there were many unspoken delusions of grandeur in her request. I was happy to get to my hostile and the manager was cool, but as usual I got a connecting room. At least you know where they are coming from that way. The bottle didn't break until around 3am. I have to say, the Thais have been very fair with handing back the correct change when buying things.

Making it out of Japan

As I sat at the gate trying to stay awake for my flight to Bangkok,I got an erie feeling as one un-Godly beautiful Japanese siren after another bowed to me before entering the ticket counter. I should have know better when earlier that day my priceline ticket would not work, a hacker kept killing my cell phone calls as I tried to reach them, and I was eventually forced through customs and immigration to reach the ticket counter. I felt like Tom Hanks... but this wasn't a place I felt I could survive for long. Back to the unGodly beautiful sirens... Luckily an old wise man pulled me away and dragged me to two different gates as the monitors changed from English. Before getting me on the plane, he attempted to talk me out of my trance and left me with some great wisdom on the many different types of women Asia has to offer, most of which is better off not shared here. I was too busy praying that one of the flight attendants might actually be a Gaijin to get a photo, but this is me feeling like good old Tom Hanks.

I am starting a new blog because I have been locked out of my old one.

triplenets.blogspot.com is now mr-san-francisco.blospot.com AKA mrsanfrancisco.net The reason for this blog is actually two-fold... I also want to remember all the good times I have and unfortunately I actually have angry people break in and steal my manly diaries, among other things, as I write them. So here goes... my new adventure started about 48 hours ago. I embarked on a 29 hour journey to Thailand in search of love and Kung Pao Chicken. I caught a plane to Japan with a very hostile flight attendant. I dropped my jacket and she proceeded to actually start kicking it like a mad woman. The rest of the flight was polluted by an unknown nationality of people heckling me in Spanish from the row behind me. 21 hours later I was almost unnerved to find my credit card statement STILL not balancing, but was comforted by a pint and some amazing Udon Steak Stew.