Transportation - Genie

We did it.

We got our own transportation.

Today we hiked into town as early as Amanda could get me out of bed. (Our bed is incredibly uncomfortable and I'm having a lot of problems sleeping. Jet lag: none. Sleeping in a Thai bed: none.) By the time we left our apartment, it was 9:45am and 35 C (95 F). We walked 3.5km (2.1 miles - I'm gonna start making you do your own conversion math soon) before arriving, miserably hot at the Mut Mee Guesthouse an hour later.

We headed there because the bike rental place is across the road and we knew we could get some cold water on the cheap from the MM. We grabbed bottles of water and sat under a hut cooling down. The owner, Julian, came over and started talking to us.

I've decided he is one of the most interesting people in Nong Khai. We swapped stories. He taught us about the history of Vietnamese people in Thailand after the French invaded Laos in 1895. We taught him about the Amish people of America. He asked what we were doing in town and we stated we were on the search for bikes. Julian, the trip MVP, whipped out his phone, made a call, chattered in Thai for about three minutes, hung up, turned to us and said: "he'll be across the street from here in 10 minutes to help you get bikes."

It really was that easy.

We met this lovely Vietnamese man outside the Mut Mee fifteen minutes later and he quizzed us on what we were looking for.

I wanted a motorbike. I vehemently wanted a motorbike.

He asked me if I'd ever been on one before. I had once, way back in the day. Mr. Dave Smith had one that I rode around for a couple weeks when I was an early teenager, but I'd never taken one for a spin outside the comfort of my parent's driveway.

I hopped on behind him and he showed me the wheels. It turns out riding a motorbike is very similar to riding a bike and a horse at the same time. We got back to the MM and we swapped spots. It's either just as instinctual as I assumed it would be, or I'm just naturally a good rider? I really do think all those years of going everywhere on a scooter/bike/horse put me ahead of the competition. So thanks Mom and Dad for the opportunities I was provided when I was younger.

Amanda got a bicycle. It's actually a really pretty bike. It's got a basket on the front big enough for a small backpack. She tried the motorbike and decided not quite yet. We're going to practice on some quiet roads by our apartment and hopefully by next month, the confidence factor will be there.

The hardest part about the motorbike is driving on the roads with other people.

The whole time I was riding back to the apartment, I was repeating to myself: "LEFT SIDE. LEFT SIDE. DRIVE ON THE LEFT SIDE. LEFT TURN ON RED. LOOK DOWN THE WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD FOR APPROACHING TRAFFIC BEFORE TURNING RIGHT. LEFT SIDE."

By the time we got back to the apartment it was about 3:30pm and we desperately needed to plan some lessons for the week.

We dropped our new transport at home and walked over to Lofter. The employees know us now and greeted us enthusiastically when we arrived. It's kind of like going to Acoustic now... except nobody is making me a hummus sandwich.

Now I have to stop procrastinating and make a powerpoint about sex.

You thinking I'm kidding?

We're doing the birds and the bees in basically all my classes in the next two weeks.