Andrea and Gabe

So...we're back in Bangkok hanging at an airport hotel so that we can wake up early and get to the airport before 5:00 to fly back home. Sigh... Our last days here were beautiful. We continued to ride the motorbike around the island. We drove to lanta old town, a cute, one road town with a long pier and 100 year old stilt houses. We went to a hammock shop and got a hammock chair for the front porch. We returned to viewpoint restaurant and had a mango and a watermelon shake.. Very refreshing in the heat. We went to kantiang bay, where the beach is big, clean, quiet, and sunny and we played in the waves. It's crazy when the water is so warm. We hit up another street market for some snacks. We had ... read more

we came back to Chiang Mai for 4 more days in the city, which have been great because the sun came out. Thursday, we walked down Loi Khro Rd. ( a hot spot for bars and international food) and wlked through the Arts and Cultural Center. Then we went back to our favorite market restaurant for the third time. Friday was wonderful...we got picked up at 8:30 and spent the day at the Thai Farm Cooking School. They take you to the market to see where they buy their rice and sauces, then they bring you to their organic farm where they grow all of the produce for the cooking class. The kitchen is an open air building in the middle of the farm. We made red and green curry, tom yum goong, cocunut milk soup, ... read more

We've hit a few days of rain here in Chiang Mai...but we're still getting out and walking the city. The forcast says it should clear up by wednesday. Last night we stepped outside of our hotel (this hotel is much more commercial and upscale than we've been used to so far on this trip...not as fun, but at least we got to watch roddick/federer while falling asleep last night) and we were in the night bazaar...TONS of crafts and foods...I've really been getting used to the night markets. I love walking around outside at night and eating a full meal for two for around 8 dollars max. And our bargaining skills have really improved. It's really convenient to have it all right outside of our door...but there's also a McDonalds, Starbucks, and Subway across the street...lame. ... read more

So... We've had an amazing few days. Khoa Yai National Park is our favorite place in the universe! We went into a bat cave, we saw 2 million bats leave the cave for the night, and we also saw: gibbons, great horn bill, maceques, horned spider, golden web spider, scorpion, millipedes, water dragons, a beautiful waterfall, and much more. The people have been amazing and the food is cheeeeeeep. Last night we got to Ayuthaya (1st capitol of thailand) and we ate at a night market, where we are going to return to tonight...it was delicious and I got to use some of my thai! We road bikes through the ruins and it was so nice to feel the breeze in the hoooot weather. We are going to get a 6 dollar massage for an hour ... read more

Woke up at 7 this morning and felt great! So good to be not on a plane. So...Bangkok is incredibly HOOOOOOOOOOOT AND HUUUUUUUMID. We are taking a quick break from the heat to write this entry. Our hotel is wonderful (small and friendly, but we have a computer and internet in our room). We've already tried some new food (dragon fruit and some thai coconut taco thing) and everything is so cheep...our lunch was only two dollars total for the both of us. We're just warming up to speaking a little Thai, but so far the few sentences we've said have worked! We went to the Grand Palace and Wat Pho today...crazy amazing sights(it's a weird thing that everyone in Bangkok tries to tell tourists that the sites are closed when they're not. luckily we knew ... read more