Mustang Sally

Nattapong and I on the ferry to the wat.
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A girl in our group from MSU, Tracy, met Nattapong Chaloryoo on AIT's campus who offered to take her to Bangkok. Completely thwarting his intentions, she invited Chelsea and I. He picked us up in his '69 Ford Mustang with the wheel on the LEFT. It was a really nice car, and he was a really nice guy. He was born in Thailand, but went to high school in Auckland, New Zealand and college in California. He drove us into Bangkok and we ate at a little restaurant in the "hostel district' which meant there were lots of dirty European backpackers. I was completely fine with that, because I'd like to marry one of them :) It was just a cool part of town, and I'd like to spend more time meeting people there- hearing their stories. I like the program I'm here doing, but I'd definitley love to come back and backpack across Asia.

A tuk-tuk and a cab. They co-exist on Bangkok roads.
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Nattapong took us to Wat Pho- a temple with a reclining Buddha. I took my first tuk-tuk, which is a little motorized thing with basically a cart attached to the back. Not the safest form of transportation, but fast and cheap. No scarier than taxi drivers. When we got to the temple, I was wearing a tank top . I didn't know we were going to a temple, so I had to cover my shoulders with a shawl. We took a ferry for 3 baht (1 US dollar = 40 baht) across the river to another temple. They are all very beautiful, but I don't feel right sitting in reverence...

I like the program I'm doing here, but I'd definitley love to come back and backpack across Asia.

Tracy, Nattapong, and his Mustang
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Then we went to a shopping district- the Siam night market (or something like that). On the way, some white people were in an SUV and they pulled up next to us grooving and playing "Mustang Sally" in reference to Nattapong's unique (for Thailand) ride. We all laughed.

I got some "fisherman's pants"- they're big, one-size pants that are reallly light and comfortable that you fold at the waist and tie. Definitely a good buy at 160 baht. ($1= 40 baht). We said bye to Nattapong and took a taxi home, then met up with the boys and ate at the little Vietnamese restaurant on campus.