a little goes a long way..

why did i bring clothes to thailand? or anything for that matter? why didn’t anyone clue me in on this before? for instance, why did i buy two $25 guidebooks in the states when i could have gotten the same books here for $3?? i could’ve saved myself quite a lot of dough if i’d come with an empty suitcase and bought everything here.. or really, i could’ve come totally empty-handed, bought a suitcase, clothes and everything else for a fraction of the price i paid in the states.

i don’t understand how the economy works here. last night, i tried my hand at haggling.. i was browsing scarves, and the woman selling them said 150 baht. that’s a little under $5. i smiled and said no way.. she then took it down to 100. still no from me. she asked, how much? 40, i said. that’s a little over a dollar. i guess the scarf took like a couple of cents to make, but gosh. i think she was very happy with the 40, because she didn’t blink once before she said okay. i think she would’ve been happy with even a 30. moral of the story is never pay more than a third or a quarter of the asking price. holy cow. in seoul, you could easily blow $100 in a night. here, it’ll probably last you a couple of weeks without a problem.