Bangkok - March 11, 2011

Likes:

1. Air conditioning

2. Ice cream bars

3. The way Thai people pronounce “Buddha” with a heavy accent on the second syllable.  It sounds especially pleasing when in reference to the “Standing Bud-DHA” or the “Lucky Bud-DAH.”

4. Street Pad Thai without MSG

5. Did I mention A/C?

6. The new Iron and Wine album – so sick!

7. Black Swan and 127 Hours  - caught them both on the flight to Hong Kong.  Gripping….
8. No matter where you are in the world, poop jokes never get old!...shout out to my peeps at the West Wing :)

Dislikes:

1. Kind manipulation – I’ll explain in a minute.

2. Monks smoking cigarettes….seriously

3. Creepy looking guys with soft looking hands that I imagine are single-handedly fueling Thailand’s sex tourism industry.

4. The fact that you can travel ½ way around the globe and still stumble across Ronald McDonald and the Burger King…does our bad influence know no bounds?

We spent the day yesterday wandering around Bangkok.  March 10^th is apparently an important Buddhist holiday.  If I understand one gentleman’s broken English correctly, it celebrates the day that the Buddha achieved enlightenment…not bad.

The streets of Bangkok pulse with life.  Everything seems to be for sale – and I do mean everything:  from barbecued, smoked grasshoppers to 3 piece suits to peep shows of adolescent girls.  FYI – Jo and I did not partake of any of the aforementioned items – our purchases have consisted mostly of street food, bottled water and the occasional Coke or Singha beer.

           The whole traveling by foot thing seemed especially disturbing to almost everyone that approached us wanting to tell us where to go and how to get there.  Their recommendation: by Tuk Tuk, a small 3 wheeled taxi that would also take us to the driver’s favorite travel agency or clothing merchant.  It felt as if everyone was in on the take.  By day’s end I was frustrated by the degree to which I did not trust the genuineness of any stranger’s kindness.

            In one instance, we had a very nice exchange with a security guard at a temple that we visited.  He gave us some good advice and taught us some Thai phrases.  As we left we decided to continue walking rather than have him hail us a Tuk Tuk.  The degree of anger that he displayed that we did not follow his suggestion was alarming.  Another Tuk Tuk driver literally followed us down the street asking multiple times to give us a lift.  He seemed truly mystified that we would prefer to walk.

            We met a kind Thai gentleman in the Temple of the Lucky Buddha.  He taught us a prayer, exchanged stories of his honeymoon and told us of his work as an English teacher.  He seemed to truly enjoy showing off his skills with the English language.  He also HIGHLY recommended that we tell the tuk tuk driver that by that time we had broken down and hired to take us to “Top Ten”, a place to get cashmere suits and designer dresses made for cheap.  We parted ways smiling – until the driver (whom we had not asked to take us to “Top Ten”) proceeded to drop us off at "Top Ten" and encourage us to go in while he got a coupon for gas.  After several hours of these experiences plus a healthy dose of heat and a lack of food intake, we were ready to retire to the sanctuary of our air conditioned room at the Sawasdee House.

            Despite the relative negative tone of the past several paragraphs, I can honestly say that yesterday was a brilliant day.  When I look back what I will remember is wandering the streets of a truly enchanting city with my beautiful wife.  Multiple times a day we look at each other and acknowledge how blessed we feel to be here.

             Tonight we will take an overnight bus to a ferry that will land us tomorrow morning on Koh Tao Island in the Gulf of Thailand.  We plan to spend the next 6 days there and then head back north to the city of Chiang Mai.

            Bangkok is exciting – it is nonstop.  At the moment it is a bit more than we’re looking for.  The tranquility of a sandy beach and turquoise waters beckon us south and we are obliged to follow.

With Love to All

Chris and Jo