Chicken Fried Rice, and I Don't Care...

We left New Zealand last week Friday on a 12-hour flight to Bangkok, Thailand. With personal TV screens, movies and TV shows on demand, three meals, and all the free alcohol you wanted, the flight with Thai Airways was one of our best.

Bangkok is as nuts as everyone says it is. We stayed at a guesthouse on Soi Rambutri, just around the corner from the famous Khao San Road. That area of the city is like a nonstop carnival with really good food stalls.

On our first day in Bangkok we did the regular tour of the city via tuk-tuk, which is a motorized three-wheeled speeding death machine of awesomeness (no seatbelts, of course) that took us to see temples and other attractions, including the giant Chatuchak Markets. These markets have over 15,000 stalls, selling everything from puppies to clothes to snakes to ninja stars, and everything in between.

Another day we went to the shopping district with four huge malls within 1 km of each other. At one there was Versace on the first floow, Maserati and Lamborghini dealerships on the fourth floor, and IMAX on the seventh floor, where we watched "Avatar" in 3-D.

After three busy days in Bangkok we decided to head to the beaches for some R&R. We've been on the island of Koh Chang for four days now, enjoying the warm sun and refreshing sea. A few days ago we rented a scooter to explore the island and found monkeys eating garbage - the raccoons of the island. We also did an elephant trek, where we bathed with the elephants in a stream, fed them, and rode them. Our guide got off and let us take turns "driving" the elephant while sitting on its neck.

The food here is amazing - we haven't had a bad dish yet. Pad Thai, fried rice, and Thai curries are staples of our diet now. We've also been indulging in Thai beers, as they are very cheap and tasty. You can get a 660mL bottle of 6.4% beer for less than $2 CAD. After a hard day of relaxing on the beach it really sorts you out!

We're planning on heading north of Bangkok next, as we'll be exploring the southern beaches when Carrie and Nick are here in May.

A final thought, and something no one tells you: Thai toilet systems apparently cannot handle toilet paper, so you get a spray gun to clean with, and toilet paper goes in the garbage. In our beach hut you flush via bucket. As in, you keep pouring buckets of water down the toilet until it is flushed.

Ahh, life in Thailand!