48 Hours In Bangkok

Our four month tour of Southeast Asia has officially begun!

After a few glitches in our departure from Vancouver (delayed flights, missed connections, long bus rides to secondary airports and countless hours waiting at airline gates) we finally arrived in Bangkok tired and sweaty.  It took us well over 36 hours to get here.

As I was trying to get comfortable in my airplane seat on the second leg of our journey from Tokyo to Thailand, I have to admit I was questioning my ability for this type of travel.  My bones ached, my head hurt.  My eyes were dry and scratchy.  My butt was flat and numb.  I was cross-eyed with exhaustion.  "Maybe I'm getting too old to fly half way across the world," I thought.

Nope!  I thought wrong!

The minute we landed I felt energized by this bustling, noisy, overwhelmingly busy city.  We hit the ground running and have had an incredible 48 hours in Bangkok.

We are staying at a hostel near the city centre.  Inside it is quiet and calm.  Outside the street is noisy and full of taxis, motorcycles and people.  Joe and I love to take our morning coffee out onto the patio and watch the world go by.

 We cannot get enough of the food.  We go from snack to meal to snack and back again.  All day long.

 Chatuchak Weekend Market.

 Toilet paper stands in for napkins.

 This little busker was killing it on the sidewalk with his dance moves.

Cables and wires hang everywhere.

 A Squamish friend (Hi Liz!) introduced us to Aoie.  This lovely young woman took us on a tour of the city, out for dinner and then for a walk through Chinatown.  We had a wonderful afternoon and evening with her.

 The bright lights of Chinatown.

 Chinatown was crowded and noisy and so much fun.

Food vendors are everywhere.

 As you all know, Joe loves food.  He loves to cook it, he loves to eat it, he loves to talk about it.  Here he is, across the street from our hostel, buying us a couple of skewers of chicken satay to go with our breakfast.

The hostel provides 'western' food for breakfast.  We sit outside with our fried eggs and toast every morning to watch the world go by.

We visited the Grand Palace yesterday.  We didn't realize it was a holiday in Thailand until we saw the throngs of people doing the same thing we were.  The bumping and jostling made for a very memorable experience.

 This group of tourists and their selfie stick were so cute!

 There is something to see everywhere you look!

 Shrines are everywhere.

 Lighting candles.

 Temple domes rose high above us.

 Lotus flower and friends.

Reclining Buddha.

 It is so hot, we have to drink a lot of these every day.

 Markets are everywhere.  Everyone sells, everyone buys.

 Joe buys a cup of coffee from this man every afternoon.  A third of the drink is sweetened condensed milk.  His newest favourite flavour!

Another Squamish friend (Hi Aaron!) introduced us to Jane.  This warm and wonderful young woman took us out for a spectacular Thai meal.  What a great evening.

A huge thank you to Aoie and Jane for welcoming us to Bangkok with open arms.  Thank you for showing us the sights, taking us for dinner and for your friendship.  It is people like you who make our travels so memorable. 

We are flying north to Chiang Mai this afternoon.  We have a house- and dog-sitting gig for a veterinarian while she travels to South Africa for 10 days.  

Joe and I are looking forward to our next adventure!