the wwoofing deathtrap

I left yesterday morning to go to Thamafaiwan village in Issan to do wwoofing where I was supposed to be helping build mud-brick houses and organic farming for afew hours a day in exchange for all meals and accomodation. Things didn't quite work out that way. After about 8 hours on a bus from Bangkok to Chaiyaphum I got on a tuktuk and then a truck to take me to Thamafaiwan village, smackbang in the middle of nowhere. I sat on the truck for 2 hours with a bunch of people staring at me with their mouths open. Aparently they don't get many foreigners out these ways. And no one could speak a word of english and my awesome skills of being able to say 'hello', 'thankyou' and 'cat' in thai weren't of much help. So after sitting waiting for 2 hours the truck finally started to get going, only to stop 100 metres down the road to buy fruit and then again afew more minutes down the road to run errands and then again and again. I was just gratefull to be on the move, heading towards Baan Sairoong (Rainbow House). 2 hours later it was dark and raining and I was the only one left on the truck. Turns out the driver didn't know where he was going and we were completely lost. Luckily we came across some monks who could speak english and I told them where I was trying to go and they told the driver how to get there. All he cared about was getting his 200 baht and I didnt care as long as I got there. So I finally got dropped off at Baan Sairoong and the guy running the place wasn't there but his scary scary friend said I was to stay with him, all said while he was looking me up and down. I didn't have much choice but to stay there because I was miles away from anywhere. 7 kids and another guy were there and I was told I would be sharing a bed with 2 of the kids. I called the guy who was meant to be there and he said he was in Bangkok for afew months and that I was to look after the kids and cook and clean everyday.hmmm. I ended up sleeping in a chair by the bathroom while a pack of manky cats and dogs and lizards ran around. I mulled over what to do and thought I should give it afew days at least, but come morning I actually thought I probably wouldn't get out of there alive so got up early and left. 12hours later I'm back in Bangkok finally and feeling much safer and happier. From the bus depot instead of a taxi I got a ride on a motorbike which was rad. I had to squish my arms, legs and toes up when we were weaving between tiny gaps between buses and cruising along towards oncoming traffic.
I've met up with Ben and Jenny from America that I met over the summer at Cooks beach and that's been real nice and good timing that they happened to just get into Bangkok tonight. Its the end of their 10months worth of travelling so they've got lots of tips for me and showed me where you can get water from machines around town which is much cheaper than buying it from the 7-11.
So the plan is that we're gonna hang around Bangkok for a couple of days and then head south to Hua Hin and escape the heat at the beach.
Oh and just for Annie, the food I've been eating here is much the same as what Id normally eat in NZ anyway: rice, veges, and tofu only all the veges are super fresh and there's lots of really yummy spices and sauces. Last night for dinner I had vegan spaghetti and meatballs (made of ground up chickpeas and veges) - not very thai, I know. The best thing here is all the fruit juices and especially the bannana soy shakes and food is so cheap!

khao san road

Another day of random adventures... I met this guy from Laos whos travelling around Bangkok for university and we went on a massive walk around and got some beer to drink at the park by the river. Its so insanely hot here and I really wanted to go swimming in the river but it looked like once i got in there, I wouldnt be able to get back out again and would probably be run down by boats. Im not sure where we ended up but there was heaps of scary people who looked like they were dead and /or dying on the footpath. One lady had a monkey tied to her leg and it tried to grab me when I walked past. I haven't seen much of the packs of stray dogs that I'd been warned about, but plenty or rats that could possibly pass as dogs.
I've moved out of my nice comfortable guesthouse to a much cheaper much grosser one, still on Khao San Road. I like that it has windows with no glass so I can get some kind of breeze and dry some washing so that's a good thing. I'm missing my private bathroom already cos the shared shower here doesnt have a door that closes so I had to constantly try to hold it closed. At least the giant hole in the door lets me see if anyones coming haha.
After all the walking I did today I thought I'd treat myself to a thai massage where I spent an hour getting twisted into all sorts of contortions and got climbed on and hit.
I'm going to hunt down the vegan apple crumble with custard tonight yum.

Still alive....

Well, Ive arrived in Bangkok and managed to find my way out of the airport, into a taxi, and to Khao San Road. Dropped off in the middle of 4 lanes of traffic in true madmantaxidriver style. Finding the guesthouse I'd booked two nights at was another story... i never did find it. Khao San Road is pretty insane and Itll be nice to get out to do wwoofing away from all the backpackers and dance music.
On the first of many times getting lost I stumbled upon an alley full of vegan and vegetarian restaurants so I've been feasting down on lots of yum stuff. Getting lost usually works out to be a good thing - I decided to go walking to try and get my bearings abit and got horrible lost so jumped in a tuk tuk and went of to visit some temples. The tuk tuk driver is now my best friend. I think we're getting married. He was rad - drove me around for over 4 hours and explained all about the temples to me and showed me how to do the prays and chants and then let me drink from the fountain of holy water. surely holy water cant' give you giardia......
When I figure out how, ill post some photos of the temples - they're amazing and so sparkly and gold. Oh yeah and I didnt get charged a cent for the whole tuktuk ride and he's decided to be my personal tuktuk driver while im in Bangkok and will drive me around anywhere for free haha.
I've got one more day in Bangkok and then I'll be heading out to Thamafaiwan Village in the issan to do some wwoofing for 2weeks which will be nice - I think the insanity of Bangkok would get to me before long.