train ride back was longer than our flight time, almost 24 hours, but we actually got two whole beds to sleep in and plenty of sitting room so it was infinitely more bearable. The funny part is, this ride was barely more than a round trip train ride to NYC from Trenton. A great deal, especially with the train-station food service; that is, the vendors coming on to the trains with their cold fried chicken and sticky rice. As hungry as were come morning, it was delicious. They also had cold balut which was odd, as I hadn't seen it before in Thailand; I wonder if there's a sizable Philippino population in southern Thailand? Sadly I never saw it freshly prepared, so I didn't get to try it. Jenny probably prefers it that way.This time around just lounging around the neighborhood proved to be a
lot of fun, and most of all tons cheaper than it was the first time. It was a great way to wrap up our trip. Every weeknight in Banglamphu Park made for great people-watching, between the pre-sunset aerobics and children and families just playing together. Oddly there also seemed to be a lot of white people practicing for the circus for some reason. Perhaps juggling was just the fashionable thing to do while we were there? It seemed everyone and there mother was there in the evening, probably since the park is such a well-located respite from the horrible air throughout the city. Plus it's right on the water which keeps things cool, even if it does stink a bit.To make sure we got to the airport early enough we woke up way before the sun and hustled
6km to make the first bus from the Victory Monument to the airport. Cabs could make that sort of thing a lot easier but we really were on our last few dollars. Jenny was miserable and we were both sweaty but we got to the bus and had no issues reaching Suvarnabhumi in time. In fact, we were super early and our long walk was pretty much entirely unnecessary. I'll just consider it time well-spent exercising. The Air Japan flight had great on-demand movie selection, the American Airlines flight absolutely did not, and my flip flop survived all the hiking for two months only to snap on the plane on the way home. I had to brave the very last leg of the (fucking freezing) trip home with it duct-taped to my foot, but I was just happy to be off the plane at that point.And now we're home again. We've traded the heat for the cold and we already miss everything. The food, the people, the culture, the squat toilets. Still, we're very excited to be back with people we know and especially with our animals.
So what now? South America? Back to finish southeast Asia? Maybe eventually. First things first, gotta get jobs and maybe a gym membership. I lost a lot of weight over there.
Maurice loved his hoodie.
