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Published: April 7th 2008
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After we had our fair share of sun on Koh Tao we departed for Bangkok on the ferry. We arrived in the evening to our Guesthouse, near infamous Khao San Rd., and realized now we really are not in Kansas anymore. Our sterile room was nothing more than four white walls, a bed, a light, a bathroom, and thankfully an air conditioner. I'm glad we upgraded to $25 a night in order to have a refuge from the heat. We dropped our bags and wandered the streets of Khao San road, which immediately puts each of your senses on overload. Picture Chinatown in NYC in July, times 10. Neon lights, horns honking, motor bikes screetching, a combination of techno music and Bob Marley thumping, tuk tuk drivers hassling you to take a ride at a "special pri' fo' you", street stalls bargaining with the hoards of tourists, food vendors chefing up pad thai and tom yum soup, women slicing pinneapples, mangos and watermelon all for under 20 baht. It was a sight to be seen especially for two whities from Colorado. We soon realized that Khao San road is the landing zone for backpackers arriving and departing Thailand. However, we learned
that it is not uncommon for 2 days in Thailand to turn into 6 months. It is full of hippies, preppies (who are pretending to be hippies and paying for Thai women to turn their beautiful hair into dreadlocks), gypsies, tatoo artists, heroin addicts, and tiny Asians. Despite the heat, we jumped in running, met some friends, drank a few big Changs, and learned a new card game. After two months of traveling and Greg's Thai pants, we have assimilated quite well and now look like seasoned backpackers.
The next morning we toured the Grand Palace and payed our respects to the famous Emerald Buddha. It was later established that the stone is actually Jade not Emerald, but either way it is a huge chunk of stone found in the northern part of the country! In Thailand you are rarely allowed to enter a home, store, or restaurant with your shoes on; in a temple it is never allowed and you must be careful not to ever point your feet at a Buddha. The Grand Palace was extravagent and colorful; the sheer size of it exemplifies the importance of religion and power in Thailand .
Similar to religion,
food plays a large part in Thai culture. Whether people are working, talking, or walking-they're eating. Knowing this and wanting to learn more about Thai dishes, I booked a cooking class for Greg and I at the only vegetarian class in the city, May Kaidee. The city's foul smells and lack of sanitation could turn many die hard carnivores into vegetarians. I was an easy convert! On our way to the market for morning shopping, May took us to a local woman's house who wakes up at 3 am every morning to make sure the dough is ready for all of Bangkok's egg rolls. At the market we learned about the different Thai ingredients and what to look for at local Asian markets in the US. Back at the restaurant we cooked (and ate) 10 different Thai dishes, learned May's famous cooking song, and rolled ourselves home 4 hours later. When we get back to the States you can all look forward to sampling tastey tom yam soup, pad thai, panang curry, and for dessert, sticky rice with sweet coconut cream topped with fresh mango!!
The shopping in Bangkok is out of control and is consumerism at it's worst.
You can find anything and everything and can guarantee it is a knock off and low quality, but the tourists can't help themselves. You quickly learn to ignore the salespeople yelling "Miss, miss you li' ni' watch. Pretty shir' fo' you. 100 baht, okay 60 baht. Special pri' fo' you." Well, maybe Greg hasn't quite figured it out 😊 But it's cause he is so nice, so you can't hold it against him.
Thanks to a recommendation from my Aunt Linda, we visited the Jim Thompson House one afternoon. Jim Thompson was an architect from New York and was responsible for giving worldwide recognition to Thailand's traditional silk industry. It was a pleasant escape from the city streets and we enjoyed wandering around the traditional Thai architechure and beautiful gardens.
After visiting the 50ftx90ft reclining gold Buddha and a few days of gastrointestinal problems, we hopped on a plane for Siem Reap, Cambodia (which Greg will blog about later). Unfortunately we were only in Cambodia for 4 days and are now settled in Mui Ne, Vietnam for a bit. Greg is loving the kite boarding mecca here and has been the talk of the beach with how fast he is learning. However, I'm not so sure that he is enjoying the gigantic jellyfish sting in his armpit!
Our time in Asia has been very enlightening and it has been wonderful to learn so much about another part of the world. The trip has been flying by and I can't believe we will be home in less than 5 weeks. Although, when the time comes, I think I will be ready...
Keep the blog comments coming our way. It is so nice to hear from everyone! We miss you.
xo
Lizzie and Greg
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Judy
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Whoa nellie, that's a big golden reclining Buddha!
Thanks for the GREAT update. So nice. Lizzie, I love the photo of you as little blonde smiling Asian chef. You've always loved Thai food 'cept for when you had a piece of red hot chili land and take up lodging in the subterranean recesses of your mouth when you were young. Be careful; you don't want to spoil a good thing... Greg, thanks for being such a wonderful travel partner! Yo le aprecio mucho. And thanks for restraining Lizzie's long held desire to have golden highlighted dread locks even though she would be the first dreaded log roller in recorded human history. Enjoy Vietnam! oxoxoxox