Friday, May 09, 2008

We're waiting for a ride to the floating market...

but in the meantime, thought you might like to hear just a little about what we've seen. Imagine 400 people swaying in techno synchronicity in Lumphini park, a mesmerizing form of group aerobics. Breathtaking. Imagine a large lizard creeping up out of the pond to snap up the weakest exercisers. Imagine all the people enjoying the park in every way - cycling, rollerblading, rowing, paddleboating, running, badminton-ing, playing soccer, jazzercising, yoga-ing, and reclining stopping in their tracks, arms at their sides for the national anthem. That's national pride!

And there's food. Glorious gobs of food in every shape, size and array. Feet and eyeballs mixed in with piles of squid and hot thai chilis. Octupus, squid, crocodile... completely overwhelming. And not all gross, just many many options. And double the heat scale for your traditional American Thai food. We've been eating really really really well.

Bangkok is pretty overwhelmingly busy, from the crowded streets to the crowded supermalls. It's hard not to love, but it's really energetic. We're excited to get out of town and get some perspective on this place.

We've been intrigued by some fun phenomenon, like spontaneous clothing markets that spring up after the malls close in Siam Square, with hundreds (thousands?) of teeny boppers snapping up the latest brand name knock offs. We got caught up in the frenzy and landed a sweet sweater set.

We're finding that the services available for tourists aren't all they're cracked up to be. A day pass for the boat is 120 baht ($4) which seems like a good deal until you buy a single pass for 15 baht. We compromised and are using our day passes every day until we make up our losses, the operators don't seem to look at the date.

We really enjoyed the serenity of the Buddhist temple of the Jade Buddha at the Grand Palace here in Bangkok. Amidst the heat and craziness, there was a great sense of calm and reverence inside.

We'll have a better sense of Bangkok once we unwind in the islands a little bit, that's probably when you'll hear from us next.

6 comments:

Mackenzie said...

i'm jealous.
but happy for you.
all at the same time.

:) kenz

Anonymous said...

Thigh-land.

The Robertsons said...

WOW! So it's as we suspected... you two are up to big things!

Hadn't heard from you for a while, so we thought we'd check in on your blog. More moving and world-traveling. We'll be sad not to have you in DC but will look forward to visits and all the tales from your adventures.

Watch out for the spiney mighty Jesus while you're there. REALLY dangerous.

Love, DnA

Anonymous said...

Hey sis and Ry...sounds like fun! Thanks for the update. Looking forward to more adventure tales this week. Keep us posted.
Love ya!

RB said...

would love to see some photos... have you guys run into any of the Burma relief???

matt and whitney said...

WHOA....Can't wait to hear more! Much love to you both. xo.