transportation.

This is how we get around...I took all of these while I was waiting 15 minutes for my bus. Not an awesome picture, but it's the guy pedaling a bike and has that seat attached. The only time I've seen these in action is when they're pedaling around little old Thai ladies or a long trains of tourists. This is a tuk-tuk - my thai book defines it as a motorized tricycle. These guys are good for getting around the city in a hurry (they drive cRaZy) but get pretty expensive if you go more than a couple km.

This little blue guy is a baby song tau - this is my thai dream car - is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen? This is a normal song tau - these run from about 6 AM to 4 PM along the super-highway and you just flag them down and hop in the back - they tell you how much you pay when you get off. The other day I was taking one of these home from school and it was very full. There was an older man on it and he made a boy about 17 years old get up and give me his seat - he had to hang off the back. Well, that spot wasn't large enough for my rear end - so he made another boy around age 14 get up and sit in his friend's lap. Soooo sweet.

The bus system here really is unbelievable. So incredible. I wish we had public transportation like this in the US. The silver and green bus on the right is a "fan bus" and those travel from city to city and stop anytime someone flags them down. The seats are made for petite thai people, though. 5 seats across - not super comfortable...but for a $2 bus ride that takes you to all the way to Chiang Mai, you don't complain. The other bus - the yellow and green one there beside it is an "air con bus" and those have 4 seats across. There's also a VIP bus - which runs about $8 US to Chiang Mai. Those have 3 seats across and while the fan bus can take up to 4 hours, the VIP does the same trip in about 2.5.

This is my friend Kyndra on her rad fino. Motorbikes are pretty much the transportation of choice around here. I have to say after driving one for a month or so, I understand why. The gas is so cheap - like $3 a week. They wouldnt really fly in America though, b/c our cities and towns are so spread out...oh, that...and we're too performance driven to spend the extra time that it would take on the motorbike on the road. However, you will notice how everything just pretty much stops when it starts raining...

Thai Phrase of the Day: Khit waa khun khung aap naam prowaa mii men kha. I think you should shower b/c you stink.

*concidence? you decide. The Thai word for "a stinky smelly" is men. (hmm)