#thailaind

Mike D Angelo ~ interview 180310 ~ 

Day 65 (Jan 12) - Ubon

Not sleeping at all. Always something keeping me awake. Lots of noises too, loud and near. Geckos can be quite loud, as are the mosquitoes. Jaa didn’t tell me I could put up a (rather dirty) mosquito net. Not sure what time Hannes got up, but he left in the dark, with his headlight on.  Woke up to find the house seemingly empty.

Jaa invites me to join the Aki, the Japanese guy, in a drive around Ubon. We first go to a coffee shop where everything is expensive. I decide I must buy something so I order a smoothie for 70baht (what elsewhere would be no more than 20-40). There's no vegan food anyways. Jaa explains how Thailand is being overrun by Isreali and Russian companies- like Phuket and Pattay. We stop at a market and I try a few new foods. Most are just ok, not too exciting. The good ones taste like similar foods from home. Jaa convinced me these rice paddies were vegan until I ate them and found they had egg. Jaa was surprised at my objection- she said because they weren't the kind with chicks it would be fine! Oh dear. Vegan clock reset. Also pick up a little pouch for my camera as I've been abusing it too much since I've lost the original pouch. Haggled it down 28 baht. Stop by the bank to convert the Aki's money. Long process as he forgot his passport- and they have many fraud cases there so they have to be careful.

It is insanely hot. 

Jaa takes us to the university games. But it's not the finals yet, there's less turnout and excitement. We watch a lot of the girls basketball but it's quite uneventful. Jaa stays to watch as we wander out to see other things, beach volleyball (intense warmup but repetitive game) and tennis. Frankly, not very interesting to watch. Jaa's friends team starts losing badly so she finds us and leaves. Not hard for her to find us, just had to ask where the white and Japanese guy were, everyone pointed us out. 

  Aki, is listening to Call Me Maybe from laptop (amongst other pop junk) and not flinching. How's he do that?He has the musical taste of a 12yr old girl. I can never escape it. 

  Bike around the nearby little lagoon and watch the sunset. Jaa sets up Aki with her friend they meet walking, and the two walk the lagoon loop. Everyone goes to eat barbeque. Nothing for me. Walk down street, still nothing. Buy a soy milk carton and corn. That's my dinner. 

Bangkok, Thailand and all its glory. Bangkok has changed drastically with the invasion of tourism, but it still manages to provide you with some of what makes it a great place to visit. The food was top notch and  the night life (for those that like to get crazy) challenges the likes of New York and Miami. This place seriously has insomnia.