Thailand v. Kenya

Ian and I have been discussing the similarities and differences between Thailand and the places we've traveled in Africa, and we've decided that, for both of us, travel in Africa did an excellent job of preparing us for travel in Thailand, because we know there's nothing to worry about here.

Certain things--cheap in-city public transportation; the ability to go to the bus station and get on a bus going where you want ten minutes from when you arrive, whenever that is; vibrant market places; raw sewage stenches in otherwise picturesque settings; people bathing, fishing, and washing clothes in a river clearly fed by surrounding sewers; mosquitos which may or may not be carrying dread diseases--these are all things we've encountered in other parts of the world. But Thailand is much more complex than just those surfaces. People are healthy here--they have good medical care, abundant food (we've seen lots of chubby children), housing, and a variety of luxury items like cars, computers, cell phones, etc. It's nice to travel in such a place. We've obviously not inconspicuous--far from it--but we're not perceived as so much luckier than the Thais. And, of course, there's the internet cafe culture, which may or may not have hit Nairobi.

And a quick rundown of what we've eaten today:
Pad Thai with pork, little shrimps, and tons of veggies from a huge wok at the edge of a clothes market
crystalized orange fruit (mango? galanga? We don't know)
dried, pickled mango (Ian can't eat it, but I think it's really good)
little stuffed sweet cookies
A Chinese bean-paste pie with onion (I didn't really like it, but Ian sucked it down)
Pepsi
Thai iced tea from a drink cooler at a Family Market

Yum!

Tomorrow, on to Ayuthaya, where we're meeting Ian's friends R&K. Although, we realized yesterday, we're pretty sure we have the date wrong and they're planning to meet us on the 2nd. Ah well, we're ready to continue our adventure . . .