Bangkok

We got back into Bangkok at around 10:00 local time and we got to our hostel the Lub D. It was an amazing hostel. It was clean and classy and really felt more hotel like than anything else. If you are going to Bangkok I highly recommend it. We checked in and it took us a while to get everything figured out. There were a couple slight mis-communications but we managed okay and got everything all figured out

After we checked in, we went over to Khoi San Road where there is a lot of night life. I pretty much stayed with Lisa the entire time and we walked up and down the road trying different thing. We had a nutella and banana "rotee" which was superb and we also had some pad thai off the street and a passion fruit smoothie. Delicious. All of it. After a little bit of time, we met up with the guys and they got their fill of pad thai and we headed back to the hostel.

I love hostels. I met some of the coolest people. Lisa and I stayed in a women's only room because there wasn't enough space for all of us to stay together so I got to meet a girl that lives in Minnesota that traveled through northern India and then went down to Australia to work for 5 or 6 months. I met another woman that left her job (as a dance teacher in England) and left with whatever money she had and started traveling. She was in India for about 2 months and then got to Thailand and was about to meet a friend to travel over down into Malaysia. She said that estimated that her money was going to run out in about three weeks and thats when she would head back home to work for 5ish months, save and then leave again. I think that is the absolute coolest thing that anyone could do. I guess I value being able to see different places a lot and having the guts to just save and leave and save and leave would be the ultimate way to live...if I didn't have strings. But alas, I am too much of a chicken to do that.

Anywho- We woke up the next morning, got ready, ate some breakfast and then negotiated a Tuk-Tuk ride to go down to the pier. (We really had to negotiate well because they wanted to charge us a large amount and then they wanted to stop the fashion district on the way..shady business!) We negotiated to 10 baht per Tuk Tuk (Pretty much an auto-rikshaw) and made our way to the pier. The driver took us to the wrong pier but we just walked to the next one (the correct one). We got on the public boat and it took us down the Chao Phraya River. We got to see a bunch of cool temples from the side but eventually we got to our destination: The Grand Palace! We got off the boat and walked through market areas and entered the Grand Palace. Pretty much everyone in the group (minus me) was in violation of the dress code for that area so they had to borrow different articles of clothing (Guys need long pants and girls need to make sure that everything from their knees to over their shoulders is covered).

After we all added our articles of clothing, we entered the Palace. Everything was bright and shiny- gold plated and all. The statues were gorgeous and everything was just magnificent. It was a huge place and certain places were blocked off or were being renovated but overall it was a really cool place to see. Definitely check out pictures if you have time.

We left the Grand Palace and took a 3 baht water taxi over to Wat Arun (Temple of the Dawn). We payed the entrance fee there and climbed the ridiculously steep steps up to the top to check out the view. It was a little creepy coming down because you really have to hold on to the steps behind you or to the railing or something because one misstep and you are tumbling down stone steps. From the top of the temple you could see the Bangkok skyline as well as the Grand Palace and the Chao Phraya River. It was definitely really cool.

We headed back from the Temple of the Dawn and split up. Evan, Lisa and I went over to the Weekend Market and the rest of the guys (Ray, Tim, Justin and Steve) went to a spa to get massages. We ended up at the market around the time when they were starting to close but we still got to see a lot of neat things. They sold more than your stereotypical souvenir things (actually, I don't think I saw ANY souvenir type things). They had all sorts of different stores/stalls. Some with paintings, others with lamps or clothes or kittens. Yes, I said kittens! There were these people on the side of the street that had puppies and kittens in a crate for people to buy. Evan and Lisa played with them for awhile while I looked around for things for friends. I did hold a puppy though (first time ever holding a dog! It was adorable!)

After looking around a bit more, we got back to the hostel and met up with the guys to go out to eat dinner. We ended up at an Indian restaurant where I only got Samosas. I felt a little uneasy because I walked in and heads turned and stayed turned in my direction but thats oh well. We ate and then headed back out to walk around the city for awhile. We went into a 7-11 because people were hungry after a while, and while they were all looking around, Justin, who is on an Indian Dance team at the Univ. of Pennsylvania, wanted me to teach him some Bharatanatayam moves (Indian Classical). I blew him away with my VERY limited knowledge and tried to teach him the steps in the middle of the store. It was really funny. We ended up at a club that was like three clubs in one. Noone drank or anything but we got in for free so we just decided to dance and then leave. I really miss music and dancing. I really am not super picky about the music that is played..(though they did play Jai Ho...which is very much a club song but Justin would randomly pull out Indian steps which I thought was absolutely amazing.)..I just love dancing. It was sooo fun.

We got back pretty late and went to bed almost immediately.We woke up in the morning, checked out and headed on our way to Bangkok Airport to head back to Hong Kong.

Overall it was a super fun trip and I am so glad that I went! I was definitely skeptical but I had a great time!