Thung Song
A day was spent in Thung Song to double-check that everything was
in order. In the process, I ate everything in sight but stopped short of
going into KFC. My eating spree started at the morning market and
continued through the day, up to the night market. LOL. The exciting
part was coming upon an intriguing festival. Devotees en route to the
temple revealed cheeks pierced by metal spikes, accompanied by a
procession of dancers and, of course, the ever-present fireworks. The
affair was colourful and boisterous, not to mention bizarre.
I felt increasingly weak as the day progressed, and I had quite a
fever by evening. I feared I had contracted dengue fever, as my
illness came with all the body aches and upset stomach. The night
was spent tossing and turning, and it was 3:30 before I dozed off. A
racquet outside my window woke me at 6.30, and I realised the fever
had subsided. How weird, having such a fever and having it all gone
by morning.
Once off the beaten touristy track, little English was spoken. It’s
unsurprising, as English isn’t one of Thailand’s official languages.
English wasn’t even spoken at the hotel, but it’s not too difficult to
indicate your intentions when entering a hotel. Not feeling well, I
toyed with ordering a basic pizza instead of eating my usual fried
noodles. Still, the process proved a tad more complicated than
foreseen. In the end, I settled for the traditional fried noodles.
I received word that the document posted in India had been traced
and had finally reached its destination (many phone calls later).
Hallelujah!