KhaoSan Road

Yesterday morning we had to have our University required health exam (blood work, urine sample, chest xrays...the whole shabang). I received a clean bill of health for those inquiring minds. I felt like I was on Grey's Anatomy in this get-up.
Since the hospital was in Bangkok, we decided to spend the remainder of the day in the city. We ended up splitting up into two groups. One went venturing into the city as the other group (the one I was in) went to get a traditional Thai Massage....aaaaaaah. For 250 baht (equivalent to about $8.00usd) I received a one hour beating of a lifetime. This is not your typical calm, serene, just lay there and relax massage...no no no you are an active participant in this game. This petite woman used her hands, forearms, elbows, and feet to stretch me sideways. At one point she was completely on top of me kneading her elbows and putting pressure on certain points on my back...it was great!
Afterwards we trekked it up to KhaoSan Road to meet up with our other group. In order to get there we had to take a subway, the skytrain and a river ferry. The KhoaSan Road area is known for the cheap hostels and the place where international backpackers hangout. We met up with our group and were asked if we wanted to try the ants they purchased. Um, um, um...okay sure why not. They are a delicacy here you know. Those little creatures were flavored with lemon and onion and completely DISGUSTING!. I will never eat them again.
We ended up staying at this bar for quite some time and had full reign of the upstairs. The beer was flowing and the dancing was hilarious. It was a lot of fun. When a group of us were calling it a night we had to walk to the main road to catch a cab. And of course there were street vendors everywhere and I got what was probably the best pad thai I have ever eaten. What once was pizza or burritos at 1am has now officially been replaced by pad thai!

P.S. Its been 8 weeks and 5 days since I quit smoking. YAY ME!