My first souvenir

Who would have thought that my first souvenir would be a ribbon bracelet from the Mexican soccer team going to play in the collegiate World Cup here in Thailand? It was. On my flight from Japan to Bangkok I literally sat in the midst of the team. All 18-24 year old guys. I felt lucky to be able to communicate properly with someone after 14 hrs in silence since leaving SF. "Properly" may be giving my Spanish skills too much credit, but it was amusing nonetheless and I got a nice little bracelet out of it.

Other than that the trip was uneventful. I had a 3-seat row to myself from SFO to Japan so I was able to stretch out and relax. Got settled in without a problem to my guesthouse last night and slept decently given how hot it was.

Today I did my best to explore and soak things up since I'm only here until tomorrow. I ended up in some not-so-touristy areas, which was great from an "experiencing things" perspective, but not so much from the "I'd really like to be in this area" perspective. There are lots of cats walking around, and unusual smells - some food, and some I'm not sure what. Jim - there's plenty of Chinatown water here. You wouldn't like it so much.

The morning was a bit stressful when I was trying to figure out where I was. There are tons of people around who work for I-dont-know-who and try to get you to go see these same 3 places by tuk-tuk. They won't tell you where you are on the map or where anything else is, and they definitely won't stop talking so you can just politely leave. It was rather frustrating, but I ended up figuring it out and safely made it to the King's Palace. It's a gorgeous complex made up of temples and all sorts of ornate buildings. Across the street is another temple with a HUGE reclining buddha. The thing must be 30 feet high and 150 feet long. We don't have those in California.

I think my plan is to aim for a massage each day I'm in Thailand, and never go more than 2 without one. I spent the US equivalent of $8 today on a 1/2 hour massage that made me feel like I might just float away. I thought she was going to break my neck, and am guessing I'll be pretty sore tomorrow but it was definitely worth it.

This evening I'm meeting up with 2 future classmates who live in Bangkok and apparently there are 2 other GSB kids in town as well so it'll be a nice little party for us :) Then tomorrow I'm off to Cambodia!