Today I woke up running on 4 hours of sleep, excited for the day. Until I met a misogynist 17 year old boy staying in my room. He asked me how old I was and why I was traveling, fair questions. But after he learned I was traveling alone he asked, “how can you be a woman and traveling alone? How do you expect to take care of yourself?” I said, “I can take care of myself just fine, thank you” and left the room.

On a happier note, I went to the Weekend Market with Ben, a guy I met in the hostel (remember, my first friend?) We took the Skytrain and went to the market.

Now this wasn’t like your regular market… it was HUGE. We were provided a map when we walked in because it was like a maze. They say, if you like something you should go ahead and buy it because you won’t be able to find it again. Everywhere I turned there was something new to see. Anything you could ever need was in the market.

I bought fun pants, which is just one step to making me feel like a true backpacker. After shopping, we had lunch. Most authentic and cheap Thai food is found in the street on carts. I ordered red and green chicken curry over rice and Kiwi juice. My lunch was 50 baht, which is about $1.50, and it was one of my favorite meals thus far.

Now for my second night in Bangkok… It was interesting. We went to the Red Light District, which is exactly what you think it would be, sketchy. If you want to know what the Red Light District is, keep reading. If you don’t want to hear about ping pong shows and naked women, do yourself a favor and stop reading.

Ok here is goes….

As we walked down the street there were women in bikinis trying to persuade us to come into their strip club. We chose the one that was the most crowded. It was free to get in, but we had to buy a drink for 175 baht. I ordered Tanqueray and tonic, bad choice. I’ve had Tanqueray enough to know that it was definitely not Tanqueray. Tip: Order beer out so you know exactly how much alcohol you’re getting. Because they will try and cheat you.

Now let me paint you a picture of everything I saw in this strip club (if you can even call it that)… In the left corner there was a guy in an orange shirt grabbing a woman’s breast under her shirt and having the time of his life. There were about ten women on stage swaying back and forth and looking miserable. I couldn’t look at them. It made me uncomfortable because it was obvious that they did not want to be there. Then, there was a guy straight across from us getting a hand job by a stripper as the manager was watching them, I’m guessing to make sure he paid. Then came the grande finale, a naked woman came on stage with a box of ping pong balls. She put lube on them and inserted the balls into her vagina and popped them out one by one. She aimed them at men who had ping pong paddles. They played ping pong with a vagina. Sorry mom.

Wow, I just felt really uncomfortable writing that. But that is what this trip is for, bringing me out of my comfort zone and embracing new adventures. So cheers to new adventures and cheers to never going back to a Thai strip club.

Funny fact: the light fixtures in the bathroom were so low that my head hit it when I stood up.