Day 2

Thursday morning we woke up at dawn after sleeping the whole night through. Staying up the whole day yesterday was extremely effective. We started out with the best cup of coffee that I have had in a very long time. Our hotel is on this charming, though touristy, tree lined street off of the main backpacker's road. It's incredibly quiet and pleasant in the morning. There is a soft breeze that cuts through the trees and pushes away the stench and the heat that would otherwise accumulate during the dry season.

We reluctantly ordered a pancake with fruit and honey at the vendor on our little street. How could a pancake in Thailan be any good you ask? It was great. It was a cross between a pancake and a French crepe and I think it has coconut in the batter. The fruits on top-- dragon fruit, mango, pineapple, papaya, and banana-- were incredibly fresh and sweet, especially the mango, which was unlike any mango I have ever had (sorry Jackie). This sounds weird, but I think they water down the honey with beer. They serve it warm and it tastes fizzy and malted. It's bizarre, but delicious. I think I will ask them about it.

We set off for our first touring day. On the way to the river we met a nice newly-wedded couple from Chile who were going to the Grand Palace. We went along and enjoyed a stroll through the two hunderd year old compound. We separated from Pillar and Patricio and made our way southwest and found a stall that serves roast duck soup. I had to stop. He had the duck hanging and the frangrant broth boiling. He had three sizes of rice noodles to choose from (we chose medium) which he bathed in hot water for a few seconds before putting them in a bowl. He added the broth and pieces of the soft duck and we added some chile. Needless to say, we had seconds (at one dollar a serving, how can you not). I definitely tasted a lot of chinese five spice in the broth and in the duckmeat. It was incredible.

I tore myself away from the hanging golden ducks to explore the nearby market. Every corner in Thailand is colorful and vibrant. There are people around every turn. If you think you are ever going to walk down an empty street, forget it. Ten million people have to hang out somewhere. The market is especially crowded. Technicolor produce, cooked food, Thai iced tea and coffee stalls (yum), old ladies serving weird black and green jelly drinks in bags that I haven't tried yet because of the tap water but I really want to anyway, line the streets. It is my kind of paradise. I found a women selling lime leaf and I rubbed the pungent green between my fingers, breathed deep, and smiled at her in approval. She gave me an actual kaffir lime, which I have never seen before, to smell. It is bumpy and has a unique fragrance that flavors many Thai delights. I am bringing the little guy home with me.

After some wrong turns, dead-end alleyways, and side roads that lead to abandoned piers, we found our way onto a water taxi. While there in no expensive way to get around, water taxi is definitely one of the cheapest at 13 baht (less than 50 cents). We took a ride back to our area, where we were met by day three of the new year celebrations. We were soaked again by the time we got back to our street, so we decided to sit and have a beer, talk to some traveling Europeans, buy a water gun, and join in on the festivities. All the westerners comment on how three days of water fights is overkill, but I am glad we got to experience it. And I am glad we got here on the second day, because three days would definitely have been too much. It's enough that our wet clothes are hanging on every possible knob, hook, and hanger in the room.