Today was a travel day but it was still a lot of fun. It was our last day in Chiang Mai and our first day in Bangkok.
We started out by going to the university for a cooking demonstration. They made a noodle soup with chilli paste. I had some, although it was quite spicy! I actually wasn’t a huge fan, it’s a very northern dish and I prefer southern Thai food. I think there was too much anchovy paste for my taste. Everyone else liked it though so that’s good!
After the cooking demonstration we went to hear a lecture from the Mae Jo University president. He seemed very enthusiastic to talk to us and really wanted to talk about life advice rather than university topics, although he did tell us about the university as well. When he concluded, we had a certificate ceremony that was like a mini-graduation. It was actually really cute that they did that for us, and the Thai buddies got the certificates as well. I really loved how enthusiastic this university was to host us, and I really hope that my university is just as good when we have visitors.
After the certificate ceremony we had lunch. There was a choice of green curry or the red curry we’d made earlier. I opted for the green curry as I knew I didn’t love the red. I’m not huge on curry so I still didn’t love the green but I definitely liked it better than the red.
When lunch was over, we did gift exchange and said farewell to our buddies. Benz got Lauren and I some nice dream catcher earrings. I gave her a Miami water bottle with a Blues lanyard and some Miami stickers inside. She said she really liked it. Katie, another buddy, found me and told me that she’d gotten me a present as well because we’d been hanging out on the trip. She got me some honey juice I’d been collecting from others because I loved it so much and an elephant pouch with a little elephant keychain inside. This was so sweet because she really wasn’t obligated to get me anything.
After that we boarded the bus for the airport. Once at the airport, we said goodbye to our buddies and got on our flight to Bangkok.
The flight to Bangkok was on Air Asia again so not the best flight but we made it to the ground so I guess it was fine. When we got to Bangkok we stopped by the hotel then headed out to do laundry and find dinner. We went to a night market called the Art Box and totally loved it. There was live music as well as tons of street food and artisan clothing. It had sort of hipster vibes that I really liked. It was a really cool place and definitely a good start to our time in Bangkok.
On our way home, we stopped at a 7/11 and I bought four different chocolate items. That’s when I realized I hadn’t had chocolate in awhile. Finally, we headed back to the hotel.
It was a really good day. I was sad to say goodbye to the buddies in Chiang Mai but I’m really happy to be in Bangkok and looking forward to exploring the city!
Allison Around the World 