THAILAND! Bangkok: Day 1-2

We are in Thailand!  We are actually in Thailand... I may need to say it a couple of more times so it sinks in better for me.  We are actu- no I'm just kidding I'll stop that.  Anyway, it has been nearly 48 hours now since we landed in Bangkok, and boy has it been an adventure.

Before I highlight Thailand thus far, let me touch on how the trip over went: long.  Holy cow was it ever a long time.  We woke up to start the trip at 4:30 on Monday, and we hammered on solid until Monday morning (granted there is the part where we hop over the dateline, but still the total trip took quite a lot time).  The flight from Seattle to Beijing was 11 hours alone. It's safe to say that I've had my fill of airplanes for awhile, however, it was totally worth it!

Before the last leg of our journey, from Beijing to Bangkok, we met about six fellow backpackers.  We started to shoot the shit, and began becoming acquainted.  Among them was a Canadian named Kurtis.  We got to talking, and the topic of where we were staying in Bangkok came up.  To and I told Kurtis we had a hotel lined up. Was it ever a relief knowing there'd be a placed for our exhausted selves to rest. Kurtis was exhausted too, but he didn't have anything lined up, so Anthony and I offered him a spot in our room for the night.  He was a bit shocked, but gladly obliged, so that was that. We made a backpacking buddy before we even landed in Bangkok.  Some time later we landed in Bangkok.  I could not believe where I was.  For the past month or so, it always felt unreal to me that I'd be heading to Thailand, and even then, when I first arrived, it still didn't feel real.  The three of us (To, Kurtis, and I) made our way through customs, then baggage pickup, then currency exchange.  The real journey finally began.

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Crazy journey to hotel will be inserted here after June 22 2013 or after I
get the chance to tell it in person

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We arrived at our hotel, and crashed hard.

The next day the three of us woke up and decided to check out JJ Market. We were all so pumped to see what it had to offer, not only that, but also what Bangkok in general would be like. We stepped out of the hotel in the thick heat (although it is winter here right now. I couldn't imagine what it's like during the summer) and attempted to make our way to the nearest subway station. We ended up trolling through a small neighborhood, one that probably isn't too accustomed to foreigners. Never in my life had I felt so out of place. Between the three of us our vocabulary was rich: sawadee krap. That's literally the only thing we knew how to say; it means Good Day (with the polite "Krap" added to it). Kurtis was hungry, so he ended up ordering food at street vendor/mini restaurant with the smile and point technique. He wasn't sure what he had ordered, but it looked and tasted good. A full plates worth of food, 3 glasses of water, and a side dish for a whopping 35 baht (or so I think. I can't remember exactly). To put things into perspective, 1 US Dollar equals about 29 baht; yes, his entire meal was just over a buck. After Kurtis finished his meal, we attempted to head to the subway station. Eventually we made it, but only after we had made a huge circle. As we walked up the stairs, I noticed a security guard standing next to a metal detector. Our packs were full of metal, so we'd have to take all of our stuff out and then put it all back in again. That couldn't have been more wrong. We walked through the metal detector, it beeped, the guard motioned us to head over his way, he grabbed a flashlight, and quickly peered into each one of our bags, and then sent us on our way in mere seconds. We chuckled at how "thorough" the search was. Kurtis had a sizable pack, full of pockets which were full of many things, but I guess it didn't matter. The guard literally only looked at the main compartment, and sent us on our way. Worked for us! We made our way to JJ Market by subway (which only cost a dollar) and realized that it was quite quiet; maybe a bit too quiet. Sure enough JJ Market, more locally known as the Chatuchak Weekend Market, was only open on weekends... wow we were stupid. We decided to keep walking and check out the area around the market. An Indian gentleman approached us, must have known what we were up to, and let us know that it was indeed closed and that we should checkout JJ Mall instead, so we did just that. Before reaching the mall, we stumbled across a huge pet market. Thousands of fish, hundreds of birds, and even baby squirrels were for sale. You could buy almost any animal you desired; it was amazing. There were too many things to mention in this post. After escaping the "pet market," we found ourselves at the doors of the four story high JJ Mall. There, once again, was an abundance of everything. After leaving JJ Mall, Kurtis decided he could go for a nap, so he parted ways to find himself a hostel and some zzz's. It was now just To and I in Bangkok. Later that evening we found another sidewalk restaurant near the Night Market (which we had got to by using the incredibly fun and charismatic Tuk Tuk). There we had a mixed seafood dish consisting of squid, oysters, shrimp, and some other stuff all over drunken-like noodles, and a savory pork stir fry. To complete the meal we both bought a large bottle of Chang beer (my first legitimate alcohol purchase!). Boy was it the perfect day to wrap of a long, hot day on foot. Oh yeah, and we did visit the Night Market itself. Some of its "inhabitants" provide content too raunchy for this blog. You'll have to inquire about this in person. After all of that, we made it back to the hotel and crashed hard. Just like I'm about to do now. Goodnight from Bangkok!