Goin' down South

After having been severed from the internet for two days, we have alot to say. Our first full day in Bangkok was a bit of a bust. Jetlag took the best of us and we both fell asleep at 4:00 fully intending on waking up in a few hours and going out to celebrate the king's holiday with the good people of Bangkok. Before we knew it we woke up almost simultaneously at 5:00 in the morning the next day, to the sound of thundershowers. Luckily the air-con kept us in perfect hibernation. We were now fully rested and were able to delve into the day completely. We started by having breakfast in a little restaurant a few blocks away from one of 5000 or so 7Elevens. The clouds then parted and our day was to be full of sunshine and adventure. We started into the city and of course were bombarded with offers for cab rides, food, "fish" massages and Steve's favourite, suits. After just wanting to walk around initially we decided to take a Tuk Tuk and go on one of the tours every single man, woman and child knows of in Bangkok, I swear they're all in on it!!

We covered most of the monuments, all three buddhas, standing, sitting and high up in the sky, as well as a great silk shop, where we were expected to buy suits. We managed to do all of this, as well as stave off heat stroke, all before catching our 7:00 bus ride to Phuket. We somehow ended up in a small cabin type room on the lower level of the bus, filled with backpackers and cockroaches alike, both trying to survive in the harsh environment. Bangkok to Champon, Champon to Sukurat, and after being told our bus was going to pick us up three hours later, a small van bus ride to Patong, and we had arrived. The close quarters of the van bus had allowed us to befriend a solo German traveller, a Canadian couple bound for Tokyo in a couple of days and a handfull of other characters. The sun followed us to Phuket and decided to turn up the heat. Now, with our ferry ride booked to Koh Phi Phi (pronounced "pee pee") we write this blog from an Internet cafe across from our fairly nice hotel. We're ready to leave the more touristy and definately North Americanized Patong to lie low for a while in white sand beaches and limestone rock formations. We will enjoy some snorkelling, mingling with monkeys, and sippin' on some good old "Chang" in the beautiful landscape this island has to offer. Being here obviously took us completely by surprise at first. The immensely different culture, the new smell every 10 seconds, rapidly changing weather patterns and not to mention the various Thai characters we encountered so far in our travels, has really opened our eyes. We are adapting as best we can and are embracing this unknown world which once experienced, really isn't as intimidating as the world thinks it is.

PS