You TUK TUK me all night long, and other tales in Thailand

This is a Tuk Tuk.  You WANT and MUST ride in one of these.  It is quite an experience.  

Let me condense these next few days of my Bangkok time for you with some of my favorite things about Thailand; Coconut shakes, Thai massage (everyday), this crazy heat which makes jumping in a pool the most delightful, tuk tuk rides, shopping, amazing street food, sky train, river boat rides, Thai omelets, and of course the majestic Grand Palace.  

Thailand is magical.  The people are beautiful and my time here has been more than amazing.  Deb and I met up with another friend Emily who is also from Seattle, but was already in Thailand!  We had no idea she was here, but the magic of facebook brings us together.  We met up with Emily and had an amazing day touring the Grand Palace.  This place is gigantic, majestic beyond words, and seeing it's beauty is overwhelming.  We had a gorgeous day in the heat exploring and photographing this palace.  We ended our day with a swim and foot massages, not a bad life.  

The next morning we had the most wonderful day.  Emily joined Debbie and I again and we had a private river boat tour that included stopping in many places along the way.  (so we thought)  The thing about being in another country of course is how things get translated, or lack of translation.  This river boat did not stop once, just drove on and on.  The driver spoke no english, and our understanding was to get out of the boat at certain points to explore temples and gardens.  Oh well, this will be one of many little misunderstandings along the journey.  Regardless it was a fantastic boat ride and we had a lovely time on the water.  

Afterwards we took the Bangkok sky train to a part of town called Siam which has a very modern and strange mall.  For instance these photos were to let you know who goes in what bathroom.  

There were also movies playing in the bathroom, and profound quotes on the stalls.  

Later that evening we connected with another friend of Debbie's; Ishya who was visiting her mother.  She lives in a suburb of Bangkok.  We were able to see a real Thai home, this one was fancy.  It was pretty surreal to be there.  We had dinner at this very nice resturant on a popular street called the Sukumvitt (the crab salad was amazing!)  and then headed to one of the tallest and best views in the city.  It was a perfect way to end a perfect day.   

Day 1 Seattle to San Fran to Beijing to Bangkok

Hello and SWADEEEEEKAAAAA my sweet friends and family.  It has been a whirlwind these last few 12 days or so, but I am here now ready to explode with stories.  I am so glad you are reading this and i appreciate your patience and anticipation...so here goes!

I'm pretty sure that hilarity and randomness follow me wherever I go.  Which I secretly kind of like.  I like to start all my trips out with some sort of mishap before I even get on an airplane. I figure why not just get it out of the way as soon a possible.  Air china does not exist at the seatac airport, nor should it.  Needless to say it's offiliated with United, which we found out on our second go around the airport terminal departure area.  Once we got on air china in San Fran, it became quite clear what was in store for us.  It's a funny airline, and I do not mean that in a comical way.  

I am starting my travels with my sweet friend Debbie, known to others as Hot Deb. Which is so true. She is strong and fiery and gets what she wants.  This will be a good travel buddy for me, like just now I wanted another glass of wine and she made it happen.  I like her.  The flight was long but I mostly slept.  12 hours later we arrived at the Bejiing airport, which in my mind I thought would be bustling and crowded.  Nope, It was deserted and freezing.  Such a weird set-up there and lots of security and seriousness.  On to another flight to Bangkok, which was about 4 or 5 hours.  I pretty much slept the entire way.  I was thankful for that.  It was a long day of travel, an entire day in fact and once we arrived it was about 1 Am.  Deb's bag was missing (of course) no surprise there.  Note to self do not fly Air China.  So after figuring out that it would arrive the next day, we got ourselves into a cab and headed to Khosan Road.  Khosan road is known for being a backpackers Mecca.  And boy was it ever.  Full of people, and shopping, and food, and things you just don't expect.  It was the perfect place to start.  

I love getting into a cab in a new place, city, country and looking out the windows to see it for the first time.  We got dropped off in front of some hostels/hotels.  We had an idea of where we were staying, but nothing had been booked yet.  Debbie has been here several times and knows her way around quite well.  I will just give you some highlights of the 4 places we checked out, before finally getting a nice room.

*Little Thai woman takes us to see a room: Stomps on some kind of rat tail which surrys under the door across from the room she is showing us.  Tail is detached from critter, and she scoops up tail with some trash and tells us not to worry.  (we decided not to stay there)

*Heading down some dark ally to find a place and seeing a mangy cat chasing a cockroach

*And just for future reference the pictures do not look like the actual rooms. 

It was an adventure and we had been here less than an hour.  We found a nice place with a pool, so necessary it is hot here!  This city really never stops, so we ventured out to check it out and get some food.  So busy and noisy and colorful and friendly.  I was immediately drawn to it.  My first meal was Phad Thai....DELICIOUS!  Finally after a hilarious night of meeting travelers; including the Canadian that had my name tattooed on his chest, and walking this wild street, around 7 am we got some sleep.  

Preparing for departure

Hey there beloved family and friends!  I am trying out this blog thing for my upcoming travels and adventures.  Thank you for reading, checking-in, and following the soon to be excitement that will no doubt (hopefully) be interesting, funny and entertaining.  I do this for you.  Enjoy my dears.