The eagle has landed, the fleas are on the dog...

Sawatdii from Thailand! We have finally made it to the land of smiles after what seemed like quite the arduous journey here. When we got to the San Fran airport we found that our plane was going to be delayed about four to five hours which would mean that our connection in Beijing would be missed. The flight to China was pretty uneventful but when we got to China all the fun began. We rolled in around 10:30 local time which meant that our flight to Bangkok wouldn't be able to leave until the next day. Air China told us they would would put everyone into a hotel for the night which was fine by us by not by some of the other people on the flight. At one point a large amount of yelling ensued by a fellow Chinese flyer who eventually punched one of the Air China workers causing him to leave the airport by stecher (talk about easy going). We were put on a bus which sat at the airport for about a hour and a half not running in the 32 degree weather, but finally were taken to a hotel somewhere in Beijing. Not knowing where the hell you are in China is a great experince! Once we got checked in it was 3:30AM and were told to be ready to leave back to the airport at 5 so we could figure out flights to Thailand. So after about an hour of sleep we were back at the airport where we got a flight transfer through Thai Airways into Bangkok. We arrived in Bangkok around 11 AM local time but our bags did not. We contacted Air Asia and they said they were still in China but would send them on the next flight down which was scheduled to get in at 6 PM. So we waited. Thankfully after alot of nail bitting and a little prayer they did arrive and we were able to leave the airport. The highlight of all of this is that now we can at least say we have "been" to China.
Thailand truely is an amazing place. If any of you end up coming here at anytime be prepared to be treated like a king. Everyone is so happy and helpful and unlike places like Mexico you don't feel like you're getting screwed everytime you turn around. We learned that you have to be a bit savvy when it comes to the tuk tuk drivers (they are these sweet little three wheeled go-kart things that will take you just about anywhere for 20 Bhat (60 cents)) because they will try to con you into taking you on a tour all over the city but will in reality take you to numerous gem shops and suit tailors where they will get a commission if you buy anything. It really pays to be a cheap ass though because they didn't get dime from Gray or I and once we realized what the gimick was all about we just smiled and left.
We told the taxi driver from the airport to drop us off at Khao San Rd (the backpackers ghetto) and we would find our way from there. Walking down that street with a full back pack on without a clue where you're going or where you're going to stay quite the mind warp. The road at night is pretty cool though filled with street vendors, little food carts (which do have amazing...CHEAP...food), 7-11s, and guesthouses/pubs. We eventually walked down this little soi (lane/alley) which was pretty dark and dingey, only about three feet wide, but at the end was this little guesthouse called Barn Thai which we thought we would check out. It seems like a great deal to us when we found out that it was only 300 Baht a night (9 bucks) for the both of us. Granted we are staying in a room about 12 x 12 with one double bed (yes we are sharing) and thankfully a fan. Its clean though and they are cold showers and toilets (no paper, but a hose like you would find at your sink to get the job done :) ).
This morning at five I got up, let Gray sleep, and decided to do some of my own exploring. I made my way down to the river, the Mae Nam Chao Phraya, which is where a ton of the local commerce is done with little bamboo rafts taking food to the markets, longtail boats and larger express boats which are like river busses. I jumped on one not really knowing where it was heading but eventually figured it out and jumped off at the Royal Palace and the Wat Phra Kaew probably the most famous temple in Thailand. Both are closed today because one of the princesses died a week ago so they are having a huge cerimony for about a week. I met a Bhuddist monk who strangely enough was from Wisconsin but had moved over here to serve. He explained to me that every morning the monks go down to the markets and the people will give them food where upon he says a prayer of blessing for them for their day. The food is given to the homeless people in that area. Talk about a sweet welfare system. Ended up talking to him for about a half hour...really nice guy...weird though to see a six foot five white monk but at least he spoke English!
Well thats about all the adventure that I have the time (or the Bhat) to report. For those of you who actually made it this far thanks for reading and I will try to post again soon. You can post comments to this blog and I would love to hear from you too! These next few months are going to probably be the most educational of my life because there is so much to learn about people just being in this so very different culture.

Laa Kawn! (Goodbye)


P.S. We will be probably leaving Bangkok in about another day or so and then heading down south to the islands and the beaches. There is some sicko deep water solo climbing down there and I'm going to have to partake!