traveling alone, little girl?

I made a friend! I had a tour of Bangkok this morning that I could have skipped. Despite the tourist overload, the royal palace was beautiful and I bought a gigantic book that explains the entire mural that surrounds the palace, but it was so hot and touristy and I was forced to wear my jeans to respect the king and I was slightly miserable with the combination of the heat and my cold. Nevertheless, Willy kept me entertained, and spoon fed me some lovely information. We also visited the Jim Thomson House, which is a museum of a former American's home in Thailand. He had combined six traditional Thai houses to create one beautiful abode on the river bank and he was the one to introduce Thai silk to the rest of the world. He provided the costumes for the movie 'The King and I' and immediately helped Thailand become world renowned. However, Willy and I were forced to go on a group tour of the house and I was absolutely miserable and claustrophobic to be around so many tourist at once. Nothing good came of this tour--I ended up splurging on beautiful silk in the gift shop afterwards. Next, I treated Willy to a farewell lunch and we parted ways. At last, I felt as though I could explore the city on my own, because I don't mind getting lost as long as it is daylight (which I did). I wandered through the local streets, as opposed to the touristy markets, and stumbled upon a school supply store that felt a little like home once I stepped inside. I wandered through the school book section for an hour, flipping through the pages of the books, despite the fact that I had no idea what they said. Then I went upstairs and wandered through the art supply and musical instrument section and finally ended up in the English teaching section where I came across many wonderful items. I settled on a poster with all of the Thai fruits written in English and Thai. After browsing the school supply store, I made my way to a toy store where I was able to pick up way too many small notebooks and stickers that had silly English translations on them--look forward to a present if I love you (Lilly, Lauren and Jenna, I have wonderful presents picked out just for you!). I returned to the hotel and was supposed to go and finally meet up with the folks I will travel to Laos with, but ran into many complications along the way. As I walked back from my shopping spree, I was stopped by the police (being as spacey as I am, I failed to notice the fact that every person around me had stopped and the traffic was stopped in the middle of the road) because the royal family happened to drive by as I was trying to get back to my hotel. I am staying close to a traffic circle where at least five streets intersect and the police stood in the middle of the road blocking each street. First, about five police cars passed with their sirens blaring, next came three or four elongated Mercedes, followed by about ten identical red cars, more long cars, more red cars, and finally twenty or so cops on motorcycles concluded the party train. I had absolutely no idea what had just occurred, but traffic soon continued as normal and the people around me carried on as though nothing had happened. I returned to my hotel and asked about the incident to discover I had just witnessed the royal family. I went upstairs, powdered my nose, and went back downstairs to go and meet up with Christopher and his wife for the supper that we had arranged. Christopher had left me a note telling me where to meet him and I asked the lady at the front desk to help me tell the taxi where to go. Every taxi that she stopped, including the tuk-tuks, had no idea where I was headed and I was unable to get in touch with Christopher via the phone number he had given me. I went back inside the hotel rather upset that I was going to spend another evening alone only to meet a wonderful Belgian woman who is also traveling alone. She had just chosen a spot that she wanted to dine at and asked me to join her. We hailed a tuk-tuk and were on our way. Turns out she is in Thailand until January with no set plan ahead of her. I explained my itinerary and she expressed interest in joining me once I returned to Thailand after Laos. After supper, we proceeded to the nearest bar and naturally talked about boys and makeup for the next three hours (not really). We grabbed one last large Sangha to go, and returned to the hotel. Finally, the discreet Christopher Hill and his wife returned from their mysterious supper and at last we were able to meet--they seem like good people. Helaine (pronounced Ellen or Elline) came out with me to meet him and we discussed the possibility of us reuniting when I returned to Thailand. Christopher said it was no problem and he would start inquiring immediately. I returned to Helaine's hotel room to finish my brewsky and exchange phone numbers/email addresses and now I am supposed to be asleep, but I'm too excited about the prospect of a travel companion to not write about it... She is absolutely lovely and has been on many similar adventures as myself and seems like the perfect travel companion. While I am in Laos, she will travel north and will then meet me in Phuket once I return. Tomorrow I am off to Laos with Christopher and his wife, Audrey (she has a French manicure and I'm not so sure what I think about that on a trip where we are supposed to be getting dirty, especially considering she has already been traveling for a week) and we will meet up with the Financial Times journalist, who I am hoping will be good looking and full of conversation. Wish me luck carrying all the shit that I purchased today in addition to all the shit I already have on my back!

Missing all you lovelies, but so happy to be on a new adventure. There is a little twinkle in my eye that has been missing for a while...