Bangkok Day 1!

Hello everyone!!

Nicole and I made it safely into Bangkok and have had a great time so far! There is so much to blog about that I don't even know where to start. I guess I should begin with customs. Before we got into the line to go through customs, there was a new line I had never noticed before. (Remember 1 year ago I was in Thailand on a family vacation.) There was a camera scanning us and men watching us behind a rope. I assumed it was a terrorist check, but after speaking to a local Thai, he said they were actually checking our body temperatures to make sure we didn't have fevers! Apparently if we did, we would have been escorted to a Thai hospital for a mandatory 3 day watch. Ahhh just one of the effects of the swine flu scare. Needless to say, Nicole and I were healthy and didn't have to deal with that chaos. We got into a public taxi and arrived at our hostel just before midight. Our hostel is definitely not bad for $10 per night. We have A/C, a private bedroom and private bathroom. Our beds, however, are literally hard as rocks and I could not sleep our first night. I was way too uncomfortable! The next morning, we enjoyed a complimentary breakfast before hitting the busy streets of Bangkok.

Our plan was simply to wander and take in the culture. We couldn't walk more than a few feet with our maps out, however, without being approached by the locals who wanted to help us (or scam us.) Two women explained that it was a Buddhist holiday (or a govt holiday, I'm not sure) and that all tuk-tuks received free gas that day, so we could visit all the local Wats (temples) for 10 baht each! $1 US = approximately 33 baht. If you do the conversion, you will notice that we got off really good! (In the end, we decided to tip him bc we felt bad and still ended up paying only 60 cents each for a 3 hour personal taxi!)

We saw a variety of temples in Bagkok, including Standing Buddha, Lucky Buddha, and the Golden Temple. Standing Buddha was huge! Inside one of the meditation rooms here, we saw a monk meditating with chanting music in the background. When I first entered the room, I thought he was a statue. So crazy. There are several people that work inside these temples and some are friendly than others. At the Lucky Buddha, the man that gave us the history on that particular Buddha also informed us that his brother opened a Thai restaurant in West Hollywood Los Angeles. Haha. Everyone loves the fact that we are from California, and a lot of them seem to have friends or friends of friends who have settled down there. One guy asked if we were from Oakland. How random! Aside from the 3 temples, we also did the obligatory jewlery shop and tailor shop where they try to get you to order custom suits and clothing. We politely declined and were on our way.

After our crazy tuk-tuk/rollercoaster ride (they are insane drivers) we took a taxi boat down the river to the shopping/downtown district of Bangkok. We were starving by this point, and honestly had the best intention of eating street food...but by the time we got off the boat, and then off the Metro (we went through several modes of public transportation for about $3 yesterday) we were too hungry to search for something and went to the first cafe we saw.
"Bug and Bee" boasted a vegan selection so I couldn't say no! Nicole and I each ordered noodle dishes and were so happy to rest our feet in a nice, hip, cafe with A/C. When we started eating our food, however, we both nearly cried...It was WAY too spicy!! I completely forgot that my tolerance for spicy Thai food in the US is WAY different that my tolerance of spicy food in Thailand. I ordered a vegan item off the menu that had 2 chili peppers next to it, obviously indicating it was spicy. My eyes were watering, my nose was running, and my lips were bright red after a few bites! I couldn't eat more than half of it. Sad that I couldn't finish my delicious dish, but quite a funny experience.

Next, we walked to the city park. Once we saw the park, it took is over 15 minutes to figure out how to cross the crazy Bangkok streets and get inside without getting run over! Once we made it, it was definitely worth it. This was the first place where we could just be. There were no tuk-tuks, no motorcyles or cars, no street vendors. It was just us, the lake, several park benches, and old Thai men running laps or using the outdoor fitness equipment. We were enjoying our late afternoon stroll when we got our first taste of monsoon season and it started pouring rain on us!! We busted out our expensive and newly purchased rain jackets, but that only kept half of me dry. The other half, including my feet and Rainbows, was soaked! All the Thais were running to shelter to wait it out. Apparently we didn't get that memo and thought we could walk it off. I do not recommend this if you want to stay semi dry. Oh well.

Once the rain passed (only 20 minutes) we browsed the shops and got sucked into a frozen yogurt shop. Yes, even Bangkok has self serve fro-yo, and they call it that too! Mine was about $1. So, it may not sound like we are "roughing it" just yet, but come on. Who knows what the future holds? Cambodia definitely will not have these kinds of luxuries, and Malaysia is supposed to be pretty expensive.

By this time, we have been out from 9-5 and are exhausted, so we make the same crazy public transportation trek back to our hostel and crash for a 2 hour nap. We forced ourselves out of bed and went out to the "backpackers district" around 8pm for dinner and drinks. While it was only a 10 minute walk from our hostel, this street was incredibly different and full of tourists. The street is busy with street vendors, a night market, bars/clubs, live music, American music (think Flo Rider), massage parlors, etc. If you want it, you can find it here. We had a great curry dinner and then sat at a bar to take in the scene. Unfortunately, none of the tourists were very social with us, so we didn't get any traveling tips. This area is really fun, though, and we actually went there earlier today for shopping and lunch. (I had falafel! yum!) However, it is SO LOUD that I would never be able to rest, so I'm glad we are a few blocks removed.

Sorry if this post was a bit too long, but I wanted to get it out there as I remembered it. Our first day in Bangkok was amazing, and our second day is proving to be just as great so far. Tomorrow, we plan to do a half day trip to the floating market and then see a live Muay Thai boxing match!!

Since Internet is less than $1 per hour in Bangkok, I'm sure you'll see me on here again soon.

Love,
Asia