26 degrees Celsius "cold spell"

I arrived in Bangkok, Thailand on March 13, after a 16 hour flight to Hong Kong, a 3 hour layover, and then a 2.5hour flight to Thailand. I was greeted at the airport by our old neighbour Mark, who moved to Bangkok after backpacking through the country when he was 19. It was nice to see a familiar face in such a foreign land. This is the first place I've travelled to where I can't even read the letters, let alone understand the english 'translations.' Mark and his girlfriend Dao drove me back to their big house in a suburb of Bangkok, where we feasted on a Western meal of ribs and french fries. A few friends of theirs came over in the evening and we had a couple drinks (I tried rice whiskey for the first time!..with LOTS of cola to disguise the taste!). I went to bed early though - the time change is about 11 hours right now (normally 12, but daylight savings time took away an hour).

Mark and Dao's house just outside of Bangkok, Thailand

The next morning Mark, Dao, and their friend Peter gave me a great tour of downtown Bangkok. We took tuk tuks, and a river boat (almost like a subway only on the river) to get around. They took me past Democracy Monument - where in 1992 hundreds of Thais were killed in a protest against the military's reign over their country. From there we took a tuk tuk to Khao Sahn road - the backpacker's haven. It is full of hostels, shops, 7-Elevens, and tons of people. We also went to the Golden Mount Temple, a beautiful temple with a great rooftop view of the whole city.
We stopped midway through the day at a bug stand. Dao bought some fried ants mixed with herbs and onions, but we could have also chosen from a large selection of other insects including large red grasshoppers, an assortment of beetles, frogs, etc. I have yet to try any of these so called delicacies.

Bug stand in Bangkok - includes large grasshoppers, many kinds of beetles, larvae, frogs, ants fried with onions and herbs, and some other insects that I have no idea what they were.
Yum yum..?

On our way home we got lost for 2.5 hours so instead of going out for a nice Thai dinner we ended up ordering pizza (2 for 1!) and watching "Family Guy"on DVD. The roads here are so twisted, with such confusing signs that it is easy to get lost, even if you have lived here for a few years already. If you are pulled over, a simple 200 Baht bribe will free you from any tickets (about $6CAD). As for pedestrians, I have been advised to live with a "No fear" type of attitude. If you cross confidently without looking, then you won't get hit. It's only if you spend minutes contemplating your safety and waiting for a good time to cross will you a) look like a complete tourist, and b) never make it across the street.

On March 15 I met up with my G.A.P. adventures tour group at the Royal Hotel in Bangkok. With this group I will be traveling through Cambodia and Laos for the next two weeks. We went out for a nice dinner, and then I went to explore Khao Sahn road with two girls from England - Rosie and Jessica.


I am now in Cambodia, but will give more of an update of life in Cambodia later on. Jessica, Rosie, and I are heading off to find a nice meal. So far, I have not had a meal cost me more than $2.50 USD.


Ps. These posts will most likely not be edited very well because I will not have a lot of time to look back on everything that I have written - please excuse any errors. I will either be racing against the clock to save money (in areas where internet is more expensive), or I will be racing to get out the door to see other exciting things.