We flew DC to Detroit to Tokyo to Bangkok for a total 24 hours of traveling, which I was dreading prior to our trip but now barely remember. We arrived at our guest house just after midnight after passing at least three Seven Elevens and a few gilded framed posters of the Thai King. The rain had just stopped so it was pretty damp but cool, a relief from the over 100 degree weather in Washington, DC. We were starving so Ben went down the street to a corner store for some packaged snacks — fried soy sauce drenched seeweed, rice crackers, lychee juice box and dark chocolate and almond pocky sticks. After the snack, we still couldn’t sleep so we stayed up with a Lonely Planet guide we borrowed from reception. The sheer overwhelming amount of information and the idea that every other traveler is armed with this book reminded us why we opted to go with a moleskin scrapbook packed with pasted blog posts and written advice from other travelers and ex-pats.
We woke up early this morning and went down for a breakfast in the street-side covered patio surrounded by lush plants, kitsch ceramic figurines and a series of make-shift water fountains connected by pvc piping. We both ordered coffee immediately followed by pad thai with shrimp for me and chili basil chicken and rice for Ben. We westerners are so strict about what constitutes breakfast yet in Thailand, it’s the usual lunch and dinner fare. We watched the tuk-tuks (uncovered taxis), bicycles and people stream by. Along the thin margin of the sidewalk across from the patio of our guest house, a young man and woman began setting up a food cart replete with umbrella, plastic chairs and stove top. They carried large pots of food from which they served up rice, fried eggs and bags of what looked like stir fry.
The stores don’t open until 10 and we need to buy some deet and pick up some prescriptions from the pharmacy before we head out for the day, so we’re taking advantage of the air conditioning and Wifi to decide on what to do today, follow up on some work email (our one condition for traveling so long) and write this blog post. I’m already so happy I brought the Mac Book Pro despite the weight. This means more blog posts to come so stay tuned!
Glad you are safe and getting the lay of the land. Sounds very exciting. Keep us posted- email us if you don’t post.