Hi gram,
We made it through a week! I am so excited to have a day off tomorrow. This morning, we did a longer than usual walk. We walked over to a nice temple up on a hill overlooking the town. A mile of it was up a steep hill, probably a 4-5% grade, but that uphill climb ended at the temple with a great view. When we got back, my yogurt and muesli breakfast was SO delicious! I could have eaten a whole second jar of it, it was so good – probably because I’d worked up an appetite.

After breakfast, Klaus led us through TRE, an exercise designed to reduce and relieve stress, trauma, and emotional baggage. It was an odd feeling, the legs shaking and body trembling. I’ll definitely do it some more and see if the effects are cumulative, see if I notice a difference in my mood and demeanor. Later, we convinced our yoga teacher to make it a stretch and recovery session to end the week. The stretches and slower pace, holding each position a little longer, felt amazing. Next, we walked over to the cafe for lunch where everyone else received fish stew, but I was treated to chicken soup that was out of this world flavorful! I savored every drop, then headed back and packed up my cabin.

After our final Muay Thai session of the week, I packed up my last few things then David and I walked our luggage over to our new residence for the rest of our stay here, Nice Residence apartments. It’s basically a hotel room with a kitchenette and washing machine, but the one thing it has – the main thing missing from our cabins – is air conditioning! Sleeping with cool air is going to be so amazing! We each took a shower and I did a load of laundry, then we headed out to meet our friend Chris to go market hopping.

We started at the Tamarind market, which had a lot of food vendors with every variety of food available, from meats to veggies to seafood to sweets to rice and noodles to beverages of every type. I behaved myself, although I was very tempted by all the delicacies. After dinner, we walked next door to the Cicada market to look at lots of art, women’s clothing, and Knick Knacks. I saw a few things that would make great gifts, but I’ve vowed not to pick up every little thing I like because my luggage would overflow. Next, we walked out to the street and caught a ride on a local “bus” – a city-run public transit that’s just a green pickup truck with seats and standing room in the back. For 15 baht (about $0.42), you can ride as far as you want.

We took it down to a local night market that spanned a few blocks of a street. The road was packed with stalls selling food, clothes, desserts, luggage, and just about everything else. We even ducked down a side market where David and Chris got fish pedicures, where the fish eat the dead skin off your feet.

I wasn’t brave enough to try it that night, but hope to go back and try it before I leave. Back on the green truck bus, we headed back the way we came and all went back to our homes, exhausted and ready for bed.