Bangkok

Jessica writes...As you can tell we've been MIA for a while. Truth - we fell straight into island time. It seems to suit us after all our constant traveling.

So Bangkok...
Normally, we tend to avoid big cities. But this was the exception. 2 nights in Bangkok easily turned into 4. Local transportation is super easy - tuk tuk, boat, sky tram, bus, taxi - whatever you fancy. We stayed several blocks from Kohsan Rd - Bangkok's famous strip of bars, overpriced drinks, young tourists getting absolutely hammered and prostitutes. We got several offers from tuk tuk drivers to go to a ping pong show (use your imagination), but declined and headed to see a good cover band. The scene was just a little too much for us so we didn't make it back for a repeat night of drinking. Instead we opted for some pizza and beer in the comfort of HBO. After days of traveling, we are started to miss cooking (well I do at least). Donovan on the other hand could eat absolutely anything with curry in it every meal for a year. I've instead opted for pad thai, which is cooked up on every other street stand by our current home. I'm not sure I could ever get sick of it - well maybe, but then I can move on to fried rice :)

Now for the kicker - those of you who know Donovan will appreciate this. He actually made the suggestion - on his own, without the help of any irish or begging - to go to the mall. And not just one mall, but TWO!!!! It's only taken me eight years, 10 months, 20 days, 12 hours and 8 minutes. Cathleen, you would be proud! (OK, the small detail that I'm being forced to mention is that one of the malls showcased several Italian Sports cars - but I'm still proud and will promise to remind him every once in a while of his lapse in concentration).

On a separate note, Thais (and many other visiting foreigners) are obsessed with shopping. How else could Bangkok support their 6+ malls, their weekend market that extends over 35 ACRES and their daily night bazaar that's open until past midnight. It's absolutely insane and even crowded most of the time. The food stands that exist among the shopping makes the experience quite different than your average American mall or boutique shopping court. The prices are right or at least you can bargain them down to a price that is right. My game plan consists of asking half and sometimes a third of the offering price - it usually works out and if not the next stand sells the exact same item so I just keep moving. (Note: at this point, Donovan is usually left to his whiskey at some random bar OR off for yet another thai massage). I'm thinking that maybe if Austin malls had several pubs/massage places/sports that many man would actually consider a day shopping trip or at the very least several hours)!

On Saturday we headed to the weekend market, Chatucak Market - the 35 ACRE shopping extravaganza that housed so many freaking stands that I got lost in the pet section for over an hour. After a 5 minute break watching the cock fighting, I found myself in the chicken and rooster section where they actually also hosted a food stand of BBQ chicken skewers right across the hall. I'm thinking that maybe this practice is a little bit bad for business, not to mention disgusting. I couldn't get out of there fast enough. As I stumbled around a corner because of almost running into a passing motorbike in the 4 foot aisle, I came face to face with a parrot that was twice as big as Fuji and just a little bit smaller than Scooter. It made the loudest squawk that I have ever heard, though if it could talk it might have been pretty cool. Actually, considering that there were over 20 of these 4 foot parrots, maybe not. So in all, my hour of wanderings got me trapped in a different world with good stories for Donovan - if I could ever find him again.

At Siam Paragon, yet another Bangkok mall we went to, had the most unbelievable movie theatre. Ticket price includes an escort to your modern and super comfortable lazy boy chair, fully equipped with blanket and pillow, as well as superior electric reclining abilities. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (or something like that) never looked any better. Though, I did forget how majorly cheesy these movies were. Harrison Ford must have had to try hard to act that bad. Don't go. Unless of course, you have a soft spot for Indiana Jones flicks. Don't say I didn't warn you...

Four days in Bangkok was a blast! We both loved it. The streets aren't NY crazy busy and the people are very friendly. But it was time to move on.

Next stop...
flight to Surat Thani then
to a random dirty bus stop then
to another random even dirtier bus stop then
to a ferry dock then
to a boat to Koh Panghan then
to a half remodeled bungalow on the beach then
to another ferry to Koh Tao

signing off...click to see more photos...