Our first few days

Well, the plane ride did suck. The first flight was a little over 11 hours and I didn't sleep more than 15 minutes. Part of that had to do with the fact that we took off at 2pm, so most of it was normal waking hours for me anyway. I sat by two pretty interesting guys though, one Indian Boeing employee reading "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" and a Korean-Canadian partier who told us stories about drinking 99% of his days when he visits friends in Seoul. The layover was short and sweet, the next flight was not. It was half the length of the first flight but seemed to drag on longer since I was at this point a little delirious from lack of sleep but could not find a single comfortable position. I fell asleep for about 15 minutes right at the end only to be jarred awake by landing.

Keitlyn and I took a taxi from BKK to New World City Hotel, which was basically on the opposite side of the city from the airport and kind of a silly choice for us since we flew out the next afternoon. The hotel was really cute though and had an awesome breakfast, plus room service which we utilized that night to order some delicious spring rolls before passing out after about 25 hours of being awake.

The next morning we decided to go out and explore and as we wandered, a man stopped us on the side of the road and began pointing out temples on our map. He hailed us a tuk tuk and told us that since it was a holy day for them, drivers get free gas and so we could get a ride to 5 different temples for only 10 baht each (about 30 cents or so). At first it was great, the temples were really neat and VERY shiny. Towards the end of our trip, the tuk tuk driver started taking us to clothes stores and jewelry shops, which he eventually told us earned him gas coupons. I got pretty annoyed, Keitlyn got talked into buying a tailor made dress.

That afternoon, we flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia, a flight which lasted 55 minutes and flew low so we had scenery the whole time. Our ride from the airport to Bou Savy Guesthouse was incredible - the country side was breath taking and a refreshing change from the already overwhelming hubub in Bangkok. We fell in love with Bou Savy as well - the employees were very kind, we had a great room for a great deal and, on the outskirts of town, it was walking distance from the markets and bars but peaceful, save for a constantly crowing rooster. Our only full day in Cambodia was spent alternately gawking at temples and refusing the ubiquitous cries of "Lady! You want water? One for one dollar, you buy ok?" We actually did end up doing a bit of buying, as our Angkor Wat morning was followed by an Old Market afternoon. That night, we sipped drinks at a rooftop bar and watched two dueling lightning storms in the distance.

Now we're in Ko Samui, a southern island that actually reminds us a lot of Hawaii. Yesterday after settling in at Sandy Resort, our beachside hotel, Keitlyn and I took a dip in the Gulf of Thailand before heading over the Chaweng Beach, the party spot on the island. Needless to say, we had a great night, including our accidental trip through the redlight district whose classy establishments sport names like "French Kiss" and "Hot Bar." Yikes.

We're here for another four days, so I'm sure I'll update again soon with more Ko Samui stories! Miss you all :)

Off to Southeast Asia!

I'm leaving tomorrow morning for Thailand and Vietnam for three weeks! Keitlyn and I have a painfully long 11 hour flight to Seoul where we have a slightly scarily short 1 hour layover in which to make our next flight - 5 hours to Bangkok. We land at 9:45 pm August 28th Thailand time, hang out/pass out in Bangkok for a night before flying to Siem Reap on the afternoon of the 29th. There we'll hang out at Angkor Wat for a day - and I'll meditate in a temple! - and fly back through Bangkok to Ko Samui (a southern island off the east coast of Thailand) on the 31st. We'll hang out there for about five days, maybe ferry back to the mainland if it suits our fancy, and then back up to Bangkok on the 5th. Late night on the 6th Uncle Michael arrives and on the 7th we'll meet him and head over to Pattaya for a couple days so UM can nerd out in an enormous botanical garden and Keit and I can ride an elephant. On the night of September 9th, I say goodbye to Keitlyn who will head back home while UM and I head to Hanoi where we'll make our way down to the coast. I fly out of Saigon early on 9/17 (before the crack of dawn even occurs) and get back to Seattle that day at 11:20 am. Mom or Jane, one of you better be waiting for me as I will have been traveling for 24 straight hours (9 hour layover in Korea alone - I'll have to get creative....).

I'll try to keep this blog going while I'm gone so that you can all keep up with my adventures. See you in September!