Day 120! Wow… 4 months! Where has the time gone?! My cousins are in Thailand, I’m about to turn 26, and I’m still having the time of my life! Today’s adventure starts off with a bit of a scare… but ends with an impressive night of Muay Thai!

As I just teased to… I woke up at 3am with a bit of a scare. My a lot of my body was super puffy and I had hives all over my back (I’ll spare you the pictures)!

I had no idea what had happened. Out of nowhere I’m sick and have this happen? Right when my cousins come too?? Well at least I had my cousin Mina to help me out.

She had some allergy medicine for me to take for the time being. I then hopped in the shower and then set out into the streets to find a 24/7 7-eleven to hopefully find something that would be even more helpful.

But when I stepped outside, the lady boys were out in droves.

I had to bob and weave my way to the convenience store and avoid being solicited by the very aggressive lady boys.

I made it to 7-eleven and they didn’t really have what I needed so I went back to the hostel and went to sleep.

In more positive news, I woke up early after for a family FaceTime! It was my siblings birthday! And this commencing our birthday week.

I then went back to bed for a bit and set out to find a pharmacy… but it was closed.

So I went back to the hostel and then found out that my cousins actually had the medicine I was looking for. So I took some and then set out for breakfast with them.

I’ll be honest, I usually avoid restaurants like this… but this one was incredible and cheap! Also it was super aesthetically pleasing. On top of the looks, it tasted great as well. I bet we’ll come back to this restaurant for sure.

We then set out on a nice walk around the city! I was starting to feel a bit drowsy from the meds but I was already feeling a ton better.

I showed them the main gate of the old wall and we explored the alley ways of this beautiful city which led us to some gorgeous temples! We also found a graffiti alley and some ginormous koi fish.

Thailand (along with a lot of SE Asia) is going through a major heat wave and facing record high temperatures. So after this hot walk, it was time to relax in the pool!

This was actually a big highlight of the day! We met a number of new friends and it really gave Mina, Ben, and Sam a taste of the power of solo traveling!

We thought we heard some Hebrew, which enticed Mina, and I nudged her to go say hello and find out! She did and turned out they were in fact from Israel (there’s a lot of Israelis in Thailand). We ended up hanging out with them for awhile and planned on meeting up with them later in the day!

We then went and showered. Ben and I were hungry, so we set out to find some food.

We walked and walked, but just like when I’m by myself, every restaurant was closed or at least closed till dinner time.

But as always, it worked out and eventually landed at a great restaurant!

For 130 Baht, we shared a very large pad Thai, pad kra pao, and Thai tea! It was a delicious meal… another place we might go to again!

Sam and Mina joined us right as we finished and we went wandering around the streets near the restaurant.

There were a number of handmade stores and it appeared that the street was full of them. We had a nice time exploring the beautiful items, but eventually we started to head back to the hostel.

On our way back we got distracted by a temple… and then distracted again by a sign with a big bowl of hummus on it.

So, we decided to go check it out!

This another type of restaurant I’d generally avoid since it’s not Thai. But the prices were actually very reasonable!

Even though Ben and I just ate, I was starting to get hungry again just by looking at the menu… so Ben and I split a very filling falafel wrap!

It’s been awhile since I’ve had hummus and falafel and this Turkish style Mediterranean cuisine was exceptional.

They gave us free pomegranate juice at the beginning of our meal. And at the end of our meal they gave us free baklava.

After devouring another amazing meal, we started our walk back home.

And what we didn’t realize was, today’s May 1st, May day! And as we were walking home, there was workers march through the streets of Chiang Mai.

This was such an interesting and unique thing for us to witness.

Now what was kind of ironic. As the rally got to the main square, the food trucks started showing up! For a pro communism rally, it was pretty funny to see the food stands swooping in to profit.

We then went back to the hostel to chill for a bit before our night activity!

Mina, Ben, Sam, and I went out into the warm night to walk 15 minutes to the Night Bazaar!

Not only were we in the mood for some shopping the massive market. Ben and I were going to go see a Muay Thai match as well!

After a bit of shopping, our Israeli friend, Yoni, joined us. Ben, yoni, and I parted ways with Mina and Sam and wandered to the nearby arena for a night of traditional Muay Thai!

I had never been to this stadium and the fights were engaging, intense, and very entertaining! Ben thought they were pretty brutal at first, but he said they grew on him in the end.

This is exactly how I felt the first time I witnessed Muay Thai. I’m not a big fan of fighting, but the tradition, tactical nature, and respect of the fighters is very impressive to watch.

After a fun night, it was time to head back to the hostel and hopefully get a good nights sleep with no more illness!!

It’s so fun having my cousins here! I’ve had to change my travel habits a little bit, but it’s totally worth it. To get to experience the backpacking life with them and to give them a taste of what my life has been like for the past 4 months has been a real treat! I can’t wait to see what this trip has in store for us.

– Elie