Sitting in the Trat night market is a culinary and olfactory delight. Pad thai and fried rice all around. A street of all kinds of fresh, fried, steamed, and any other method of cooking. The fruit is ripe and sweet. The cashews are cheap and giant. Two large fried chicken drumsticks for $.30 each. A bowl of noodles cooked next to you for $1. I had forgotten why everyone likes Thailand.
Laos was pretty good for food. But outside the big cities it can be hard to find. Cambodia was very hit or miss. If there were tourists, there was food. If not,then you had to get lucky. Trat is not a tourist city. It is a way-point to either Cambodia or Koh Chang. Yet, here there is a vibrant night market with tons of cheap delicious eats.
The difference between Thailand and the other countries are in some sense so mior and yet already after 2 days it feels entirely different. The biggest and immediate sense you get is that the people (for the most part) are not struggling to survive. The prosperity of peace has done amazing things to uplieft Thailand way beyond the level of its neighbors to the west, north and east.
I hope to be able to return to Laos in time and see the changes following the path as some of its more fortunate neighbors.
Laos was pretty good for food. But outside the big cities it can be hard to find. Cambodia was very hit or miss. If there were tourists, there was food. If not,then you had to get lucky. Trat is not a tourist city. It is a way-point to either Cambodia or Koh Chang. Yet, here there is a vibrant night market with tons of cheap delicious eats.
The difference between Thailand and the other countries are in some sense so mior and yet already after 2 days it feels entirely different. The biggest and immediate sense you get is that the people (for the most part) are not struggling to survive. The prosperity of peace has done amazing things to uplieft Thailand way beyond the level of its neighbors to the west, north and east.
I hope to be able to return to Laos in time and see the changes following the path as some of its more fortunate neighbors.
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