Leaving for Angkor

Had a great day seeing Phanom Rung historical park--it is supposed to be a preview for Angkor Wat and if that is the case I am prepared to be very impressed by what we find in Cambodia--can't wait!

Ready for some Khmer temples!

We just arrived in Khorat, northeastern Thailand, after a twelve hour bus ride. We will see some Khmer temples tomorrow as our preview for Angkor Wat, and take in some of the beauty of Thailand's Isan province. It is much cooler here and actually has a very suburban feel, not something I was expecting coming so far up north and out of the tourist sphere. So far I have very much enjoyed Thailand and have been happily surprised by how well developed it is, especially considering what I've been learning about their government structure. Talk soon!

Bangkok to Ayutthaya, and now in Chiang Mai!

We left for Ayutthaya, Thailand's old capital, yesterday morning and spent the day there bicycling around and looking at temple ruins. We then gorges ourselves on delicious Thai food before taking the night train to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, where we will spend today and tomorrow. It is a bit cooler than Southern Thsilsnd and has a much quieter feel. And it's still very cheap--a private room with A/C costs $30 total and our guest house has free wi fi and a pool, hard to go wrong! Today we will shower and head to the Sunday market, which should be very fun. Tomorrow we make take an elephant care class and go to the temple on top of the hill and inside a protected park, which I am very much looking forward to. And of course, try to avoid getting eaten by mosquitoes! So far with the DEET it's been great, but if I don't wear it I become a tasty mozzie snack.

Stuffed!

Today I stuffed myself with delicious Thai food during a cooking class in the afternoon after visiting the Jim Thompson house in the morning. What a good day! Tonight we are heading to the Moon Bar at Vertigo for some great city views. And tomorrow we head to Thailand's old capital, Ayutthaya, for a quieter feel.

Loving Bangkok

So far I've loved what we've seen of Bangkok. I met up with my travel companion two nights ago and we got up early to see some beautiful temples. We took the river boat to Ko Ratanakosin and, as I've heard many a time, had many scams tried on us just after disembarking. An apparently nice man stopped us and looked at my map, telling us that Ko Ratanakosin was closed until 1 pm that day and that we should see a different Wat instead. He also told us that my companion, wearing shorts, wouldn't be allowed in. He was about to get a tuk-tuk to take us somehere better before I hurried us away. More people stopped us to tell us it was closed, he wouldn't be allowed in, only Thai people could visit today, etc. Even if there weren't tuk-tuk's around, they tried to con us. However, we didn't listen and were rewarded: the complex was open til 4 and if clothes weren't appropriate (like shorts) they provided pants free of charge. We explored for about three hours, and it was stunning!

We ate lunch at the least dodgy street market we could find, and I thoroughly enjoyed my food. We headed to Wat Pho in the afternoon, and after getting Buddha'd out we headed back to our hostel in Bangkok for a quiet night so my companion could get acclimated to his jet lag.

Landed in Bangkok. My, how western!

I got into Bangkok about 7 hours ago. The airport was immaculate, and had much better A/C than the Vietnamese one. It's very obvious from the start which one is the wealthier country. I took the sleek new airport train to the city center and the BTS (city train) to get to the street near my hostel. Everywhere we stopped there were TV's playing Thai and English ads for different cosmetic products, Canon cameras, and even KFC. Like with everyone here, I'm amazed at how bilingual this country it. Not only do they need to know another language, but also an entirely different alphabet. I don't know how good they all are, but it seems like they are better at speaking English than the average Vietnamese person and since their ads are in English I can guarantee they are better at understanding it.

After I got off the train, I was surrounded my McDonalds, Burger King, and Starbucks. I hadn't eaten lunch and had a weak will after no American food the past week, so I caved and got a giant Starbucks drink, which was delicious (and served to me in very good English) but it cost about twice what a meal + drink in Vietnam would cost. First world luxury comes with a price! I then found my hostel, which is very nice, and took a long shower. Now I think I'll do laundry (we have a hanger in the room) before I get caught up on this blog so my clothes have time to dry. It's not like any of you are awake anyway!

It seems like since Bangkok is more western, it may be easier to use my Visa card here. In Vietnam, it was pretty much all cash--you could never rely on someone having a credit card machine. We'll see how it goes though. I would recommend for anyone travelling to get at least $100 of the native currency before they get out of the airport. I wouldn't have been able to take the train without it or get on my Hanoi shuttle either. Don't rely on them taking US dollars (though that's your best plan B, for sure).

Leaving for Bangkok!

My flight for Bangkok leaves in 3 hours, so I need to finish packing and take a taxi to the airport. I can't believe a week has gone by already! I'm so looking forward to my next adventure.