The Beautiful Khon Kaen

This trip was two weekends ago and one I was very excited about! I was finally reuniting with the sisters! Two sisters came here to teach with each other at the same school and they rock. Bailey is just as obsessed with Taylor Swift as me, so obviously we became friends instantly and her sister Jessie is also on board with Tay. We bonded over the week at orientation and I have not seen them since so I was super excited! Mary was also making the long journey to Khon Kaen with me which rocked because she is awesome and I also got to see her the previous weekend at Khao Yai. Our plan was to take the bus there and a plane back so we could get some more time with the sisters because the bus ride was 7 hours. We figured we would get there late Friday anyway so why not just sleep on the bus, and it was the price difference of about $7 for the bus and $70 for the plane ticket so why not save money one way...... IT WAS A HORRIBLE IDEA!!! Maybe if we would have went with a nice bus company, but my god. When we arrive at the bus terminal a bus was leaving around 11 pm, so sweet we will arrive around 6 maybe get a couple hours of sleep on a bed and can start our day. Well it didn't go like that. When we got on the bus we asked to keep our bags with us, which was a pain because they are travelling backpacks but we had snacks and sweaters if we got cold and what not so the annoyed bus driver made people move so we could have the extra leg room to put our bags on the floor at the very back of the bus. Sweet, these seats are nice, we get the whole back row with 5 seats. Well now the bus looks full but people keep coming on.... Now our 5 seater row is fitting 6 and my butt is being invaded buy a seat belt buckle... lovely. Whatever it's fine i'll position it right and fall asleep and these y hours will fly. Oh no wait 8 more people walk on the bus and now the bus driver is pulling out plastic stools with no back to sit on in my extra leg room. So now people are also sitting on my legs. After everyone got settled we left an hour late. I was dozing on and off during the bus ride, but it was hard because I didn't want to fall sleep on the guy beside me and every bump pushed that seat belt buckle a little further and yea lets leave it at that... So it wasn't the best spent $7 of my life but it got us to Khon Kaen by 7:00am. We asked the gentleman beside us wearing an official uniform if he knew what building or Tuk Tuk we should take to get to our friends condo and he told us to follow him got in the back of a pick up truck with us and then rode with us to our stop and paid our fee. Soooo nice. I will stop saying it until they prove me wrong, but Thai people are the nicest I have ever met. Once we got to the condo and had our hello's, our day started right away! Bailey and Jessie's coordinator was taking us at 8:00am to go to Cobra Village! So we grabbed some coffee and breakfast at the 7eleven and jumped in the car. Once we got to the village we walked around before the show started. There were cages everywhere with so many different types and sizes and lizards. The whole time I kept thinking about how much my mom and grandma would be hating their life if they were here lol. When the show started they had a women who would dance with a python around her neck, then some guys who would fight the cobras, and even some young children maybe 9 years old, who would fight and dodge smaller snakes. It was crazy, then we got a chance to hold the python.... So many thoughts running through my head, like yes do it Melissa when will you ever get a chance to do something like this again.... wait Melissa you hate snakes don't do it are you crazy... I don't think my mom will ever hug me again knowing there was a snake around my neck lol. In the end I did it and the snake actually felt so cool! I was scared and had my picture taken and told them to take it off right after but glad I did it. After that we stopped at this one temple and got our fortunes told. You would take a container of sticks and shake it until one fell out. this stick would have a number and then you would go to a box with that number and grab a paper from that box. If you did not like your fortune you can get rid of it by placing it in one of the elephant statues at the temple, but if you liked it then you have to hold on to it. I loved them. It really felt meant for me and spoke to how my life is playing out right now. I will post a picture on my blog of it, but it really spoke to me and made me feel secure in the decisions I have made in my life thus far. Then we stopped at the Khon Kaen University because Jick (Coordiantor) has her cow living there. Yes her cow. She had him as a pet but he got to big so now the University keeps him at the farm. He was huge!!!!!! And also super cute. We had lunch at the University which was delicious and then off to our massages we went! This would be my first Thai massage and I was super excited. Well it was awesome and my body felt great after but man do they get into your muscles. I had bruises all over my thighs and lower back lol but I felt like I could take on the world after! We went back and showered and got ready for the evening. We took a Tuk Tuk to the lake and sat and watched the sunset, it was stunning. It was a moment that truly made me grateful for everything and everyone in my life. Then we went for dinner and I got some Pad Thai. It was yummy!!!! It is so much better here, I will never eat Thai food back home again because it will suck. We got our pre-game on at their room and played Canadian cards against humanity. The best thing I brought lol they Americans think it is so funny and that all the cards are super Canadian when I still don't see it. They didn't even know what Tim Hortons was..... I've been teaching them a lot lol. Then we hit the town. The area that they live in is filled with foreigners which was nice for a change to talk to multiple people that speak English! I met a guy too that lives in Burlington and went to school at Guelph! So that was cool to talk about home home :) We went to a pub first then a dance bar. It was all so fun and all the Thai people there took so many pictures with us. It was a fun night! The next morning was rough, but I got a nice breakfast with bacon finally!! Ahhhh it was the best ever. It also came with pancakes, eggs, toast, sausage and orange juice. It was called the American breakfast lol. Then to the Airport we went. The plane ride was well worth the money because it was only 40 min and I was so much more comfortable! This was I got home by a reasonable time to go to bed and have another eventful week at school! Can't wait to go back and visit again!