Sunday, June 19, 2011

Day 1 - Arrival in Bangkok

So after nearly 24 hours of travel time, we finally arrived in Bangkok just after 6 am local time.  We quickly headed to the hotel, dropped our bags off, washed up, and headed out to explore.

Quickly, we came to a couple a surprise realizations.  This city is actually quite beautiful, and the people are extremely nice and helpful.  Not at all the way I pictured it (and although Jourdan claims to have known what to expect, I don't buy it).  Also, as people mentioned, everythign is REALLY CHEAP.

We walked over to a local Wat, or temple, and met a very nice man who proceeded to explain all about Bangkok to us.  He mentioned that Sunday (today) is like a sabbath for the Buddhists, and there is a celebration going on now, in honor of the King's 84th birthday. 
We then jumped into an open air pedi-cab, or Tuk-Tuk, to go visit a variety of Wats around the city.  After nearly 4 hours riding around, the total bill was equivalent to just about 66 cents.

While on this tour, we stopped by Bo Wonniwet (where we met the guy), Intharawuhan (large Buddha), Wat Sakat (Golden Mount with city views), Lucky Buddha (normally closed to the public), Wat Benchamabophit (marble temple with monks mowing the lawn), and the Throne hall exhibition.

Also while on the tour, we stopped by to pick up some custom made suits, shirts, and ties.

After a nice pad thai lunch, and a walk around some open air markets, we decided we were in the mood for some massages.

We got a 30 minute Thai massage for a wopping $4 including tip - NO SEX.  Then after another short walk, we decided to get an hour long Swedish massage for $10 including tip - NO SEX AGAIN.

Some problems we are having:  VERIZON SUCKS.  Jourdan's phone isnt working for data, and neither is the air card for the computer.  That might limit posting abilities. 

It is now almost 5:30 pm.  We are going to go down to group orientation, and then head out for the night.




More to come soon.  We will try to put some pics up here, but for time reasons, we will wait till we get home to share the rest.

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