Hello Bangkok, Goodbye Airports!

All,

I hit the ground in Thailand two nights ago. Sorry for the delayed posting to this point, but things have been pretty much non-stop since then. Let me describe...

After getting off the plane I slipped right through customs. Apparently, my rush to get a Thai Visa at the consolate in DC was unnecessary because white kids with backpacks must look very trustworthy. As I walked through security without so much as having to put my backpack through the x-ray machine, I saw Nico waiting for me immediately outside of the international arrivals area. As most of you know, I don't plan very well. David and Austin can attest that I often ended up on the worst possible flight because of neglecting to book until the very last minute. That said, somehow Nico and I managed to hook up with about 2 emails as to when we each arrive and where we'd meet.

We took out cash and bought SIM cards and quickly hopped in a cab to downtown. It took us about ten minutes to get in, drop our bags off, and take off running to meet up with Nico's buddy Prynn for Beers. Let me tell you, even with a tolerance that would rival most Russian soldiers, 2 beers after sleeping 5 hours in a 72 hour period did me in. We grabbed pad Thai (the street food here is DELICIOUS) on the street and went to sleep.


Our first full day in Bangkok was spent being touristy. We got the whole experience. We saw the old city, we went temple hopping, we rode in tuk tuks (the little motorcycle taxis), and we got scammed. As Thai people say, it was the Farang tax (Farang = Gringo). I'll Expand. After deciding to go Temple hopping, we found a tuk tuk driver to take us around and after seeing 2 or three unbelievable Wats - traditional Thai Buddhist temples - complete with incredible statues of Buddha standing up to 30 meters in the air, our driver convinced us to drop by a tailor shop that was "only open one week a year" so we could decide if we wanted to buy suits. We opted in, because Nico is in desperate need of new work clothes in the states, and found the operation to be pretty classy. I mean, seriously nice tailors. That being said, Nico bought and was fitted for suits that looked great, but we found out afterwards that the shop we went to pays drivers tanks of gas to bus in Americans. Damn. We probably ended up paying an extra couple hundred bucks but, that taught us to be a bit more weary in the future.



We later met up with Prynn again in Downtown Bangkok, which makes downtown DC or Houston look like Bethesda, and grabbed dinner, foot massages, and got ready to go drinking. Much of the night was spent in a haze after heading to Prynn's favorite bar. For 25 bucks we got Whiskey bottle service, so hell, even though we were already drunk we opted for another. I mean, who wouldn't go ahead and get another 8 shots for 8 bucks.

As per the norm, I made friends with some interesting new people... lady people... and got them to come join us at our all Thai bar. (The one thing this placed lack was a single other person that spoke English). I arrived with the girls to our table to introduce them to Nico, only to find no Nico's to be found. When he re-appeared 20 minutes later he was showing his intoxication. A lot. It took all of 15 minutes for the girls to get scared off. It was HI-larious. Did I mention that Nico can be pretty awkward when housed? (not that I am a ton different, just Nico went out big last night).

We left the bar and grabbed some street food. Nico and Prynn were interested in Pad Thai, but I wasn't that hungry, so I decided to go ahead and get some crickets, some grubworm, and a cockroach. Yeah, I was drunk and y'all know I will eat about anything. Expect pictures. Oh, and yeah... I am not eating cockroach again. Tastes like squishy dirt wrapped in 5 burnt cornhusks. The crickets and grubworms werent so bad.

Prynn and I took Nico home and then headed out again. Much more insanity continued.

Note: I won't often write about women, this was just to call Nico out. Those Nico followers reading this, you've all seen me at my worst and it's bad.
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Today we hit a boat tour and the national museum. I'll update about this soon, but as my hands are starting to cramp and I'm sure you're board, I'll let you stop here.

Miss you all, but not enough to come home. Hah. Later.