A hobby you want to pursue while traveling ;-) (Day 58 of the world trip)

01/11/2019

Last night was quite fun :) Jonas asked Singha if he wanted to drink beer with us and he agreed, but then he came down dressed up, with a camera around his neck. We weren't sure if we were allowed to drink beer in the common room because there is also a bar here and a sign forbids drinking 'outside alcohol' between 6 pm and 12 am. Hmm. Also, we didn't have a bottle opener and after waiting for a maximum of one minute, Singha explained that he was actually in a hurry :D He is meeting a Thai woman at the hotel and as if that wasn't awkward enough, he asked us if we wanted to join them :p We politely declined and went to the common room (pouring the beer into our opaque water bottle).

Here in the common room, there is a TV and fitting for Halloween, they were showing a horror movie :O By the way, the film was from Wales, which is pretty cool^^ The sound was low, there was music playing in the background anyway, and then a group of American girls (+ 1 nerd wearing mismatched comic socks, flood pants, and a few extra pounds. We couldn't figure out how he fit into the group of six stylish American girls, but okay ;-) ). The girls had also transferred alcohol and were drinking a bit, and above all, they were talking and laughing very loudly... One girl from the group had apparently smoked something last night and was so dazed that she fell and had to go to the hospital with a cut on her head. So, she (not surprisingly) wasn't there last night :p

Well. Jonas and I amused ourselves with the movie and put words in the actors' mouths to make it a) less scary for me and b) because it was just funny. A horror movie without sound is not very frightening^^ At some point, our host joined the conversation and we talked about our different experiences with horror movies, ghosts, and superstitions, which was super cool^^

When the Americans left (they initially left their trash but then our host told them to clean up the table and they did :D ), our host turned up the volume on the TV and it got a bit more exciting and spooky, but since we were still chatting, it was okay ;-)

Our host then offered us to go to Khao San Road in the evening. Two other guests had also asked her about it, and it would be financially attractive for all of us to go together in a taxi. We left it open for now but decided to wait until midnight (that's when our host finishes work and we can leave). After the movie ended, we had a conversation with her (I really need to ask her name^^) about various things.

She comes from the Philippines and worked as a nanny in Thailand for two years. Since I have also been an au pair myself, and I have some babies in my circle of friends, we talked about parenting, school systems, etc. It's really great that we can always sit and chat with "strangers" in the evenings here. It makes traveling a lot of fun!!!

At 11:30 pm, it was clear that we wouldn't go because some people backed out... Jonas and I wanted to at least go to Cowboy Road, which is a 5-10 minute walk away. We had already seen the decoration during the day, but as expected, it looked completely different at night. In front of each bar, there were lightly dressed ladies offering their "service" and in the bars themselves, many men were surrounded by Thai women.

It was an interesting experience, but not one that we want to repeat... On Phuket last year, there was also such a street, but there were also "normal" clubs and rock cafes, etc. Here, the purpose of why you visit this street was unfortunately very clear :/

After maybe a total of 30 minutes, we made our way back and went straight to sleep^^

This morning, we got up after 8 o'clock, but unlike yesterday, our host wasn't here at 8:30 am, so we went back to the rooftop terrace. There we booked our onward journey - tomorrow evening we will take the sleeper bus to Chiang Mai at 8:30 pm, arrival there is around 6:30 am, so it's a long journey :D

At 9 o'clock, we checked again about breakfast and were warmly welcomed and then served while we also booked our accommodation in Chiang Mai. Most of the time, Jonas and I quickly agree, which makes things pretty uncomplicated :)

After breakfast, we wanted to go bouldering right away, but the gym doesn't open until 1 pm, so we went back to the rooftop terrace to watch YouTube or read. The sightseeing from yesterday was enough for us. It was cool, but we're not the type who looks at the same city for several days in a row :D In Delhi, we could do it because we had the metro card anyway, but here, we didn't feel like it :p

In the early afternoon, we walked to the bouldering gym and on the way, we passed a parked Ferrari, various other fancy cars, and a Lebanese restaurant, among other things. The apartments in the high-rise buildings have security guards, and well. You can already tell that when we're looking for a bouldering gym, it's always in a neighborhood where exactly the people who can afford it live ;-)

The gym itself is located in a large complex with several buildings. Doctors, clinics, cafes, or a supermarket, everything was there. But what interested us was the sports complex, where you can find, for example, a swimming pool, a small gym, an indoor sports field for badminton, and of course the climbing gym. Jonas briefly considered whether we should only do bouldering or also climbing, but I was in favor of just bouldering because I wasn't sure if we would handle the equipment well. Besides, most of the routes were lead climbing and not top rope, so I was already intimidated :p

All in all, the gym was really nice and the routes were very varied! We both had fun ;-) I even managed to do a few beginner routes, which was enough for me :D I tried a lot but only had success occasionally^^ Jonas, however, was definitely back in his element, even though he got tired faster than usual. He climbed enthusiastically and tried routes that didn't work several times, until they often worked in the end. He definitely has more stamina than me :D :D

After bouldering, we went back to the hostel, showered (we really need to do laundry soon with a proper washing machine. Hand washing left a bit of a smell in our clothes...:p) and then went to the mall for dinner. We still had half of our balance from yesterday on the card and we had three main courses, three desserts together, and still had money left! :O

Nevertheless, we got toast and yogurt at 7-Eleven, which we have partly eaten now, an hour later^^

Now Singha just arrived, so let's see what the evening brings :D

Tomorrow will be another relaxing day, as we will only continue by bus in the evening, but yes, we're used to chilling by now :p ^^