****AMY'S TAKE ON THINGS*** 

A slice of the scene in Bangkok - lots of people (7.5 million of 'em), heavy humid air and the smells of diesel, street food, and something plain bad hitting your nose all at the same time. If you look at Pickett from the right angle, you can tell he's glistening just a bit from the heat. Hare a few notable adventures from our first few days. I know Pickett's mom said to keep it clean for the grandmas but I have to tell it like it is.

....rude awakenings....

The first night here in the hostel, we were awakened at 4am by our "neighbor" in the next room. I wrote neighbor in quotes because you could hear everything as if he was our roommate - the walls are partitions and the doors to the rooms are frosted glass sliding doors. So you can imagine my first culture shock when we realized that the guy brought home a Thai "lady friend" and we laid there and heard EVERYTHING. Unbelievable.

...making friends approximately 100 times faster in Bangkok than we did in Asheville....

The first morning we met a great english speaking german couple about our age and we have been sight seeing with them each day. When they said it was their first day in the city, we assumed they were travelling newbies like ourselves. But then we learned that it was only their first day HERE and they have actually been travelling for 19 months. Whoa. 





....getting duped in Bangkok.....

The four of us went to see the Grand Palace on the first day and a nicely dressed man approached us saying it was closed until 3pm due to a Thai Holiday. He suggested instead that we take a tour in the tuk-tuks....a three-wheeled open air scooter-type thing with a cloth cover - driver up front, two in the back. I tried to protest to Pickett and the germans but it happened so fast that before I knew it we had agreed and off we went. When I caught my breath I told Pickett, "this is EXACTLY why I'm anal and read the 'dangers and annoyances' section of the guidebook first!" Then I showed him the warning in the guidebook, which reads: "Beware of professionally dressed strangers that approach you to let you know that a sight is closed for the day. Always check for yourself. Remember what your mom told you about talking to strangers! Any stranger seeming 'helpful' is actually getting a commission from sending you to a less frequented tourist attraction and is wasting your time. Also beware of tuk-tuk drivers that will offer a cheap tour only to drag you from silk shop to shop." The next 2 hours were exactly as promised by the guidebook - and we couldn't get the madness to stop!! I showed the germans the guidebook warning at the first stop and we all felt stupid, but when we tried to protest to the tuk-tuk driver, he got really agitated and fiesty. He said to me, "What your problem?! I take you to silk shop and you just have a looking looking. Five minute. Just lukee lukee, no buy, no proble, but I have coupon. I help you, you help me. Just a lukee lukee!" By about 2:30, I'd say the driver and passengers were mutually annoyed with each other and we finally got him to drop us off and the Grand Palace. Pickett said sarcastically, "wow, look, it's open half an hour early!" and we finally got off to see our first real sight of the day.

I won't even get into the way people drive here and the fun of having diesel exhaust in your face while weaving through traffic in an open-aired 3-wheeled scooter.

...and back to Pickett....
Since I'm technologically challenged and lazy, I'll just add stuff to this blog along with Pickett. Signing off now - due to and inspite of the adventures thus far, we're having a great time! I cranked down on my homesickness when the germans said, "you're homesick already?" and made me feel like a pansy. The four of us are taking an overnight trail north to Chang Mai tomorrow (non-airconditioned train car...gonna be fun. I'm not sleeping in the bunk beneath Pickett.)