Maiow-ka!

Sawadee-ka! (That is hello in Thai.) I just got back a couple of days ago from visiting wonderful Thailand with Nate. We spent time in both Bangkok and Phuket. We started in Bangkok, and got to stay with my cousin Katie, who is currently teaching English there. We ate some good Thai food our first night there at a roadside Thai restaurant. We ate a fish that had been fully fried (as in the full fish was stuck in a fryer and cooked), some rice and vegetables. Then on Monday, we headed to go see the Grand Palace. We got there and were sidetracked by fast talking Thais who told us to get in a tuk-tuk (a type of open air taxi) and see some other sites around the city. (Despite being 6'6", Nate actually fit in the tuk-tuk.) The driver did take us to a couple of cool temples, but also took us to 7 different stores-3 jewelry stores, 3 custom clothing stores, and 1 rug store. This is apparently par for the course when going on a tuk-tuk ride, except a higher than average number of stores.

We got back to the area of the Grand Palace once more, and asked about the temple hours. They said it was closed for the day because of a special ceremony going on. We then wandered around the outskirts and got approached by another man telling us about some more temples and saying a tuk-tuk would take us there. We decided to go, and the driver took us to where we wanted to go, but then said he wanted to take us to a store. We said no (Mai-ow-ka) several times, saying we were not interested, but he didn't listen so we walked away. Truthfully, riding in the tuk-tuks were fun and not expensive (less than $2 for all of the carting around), but if you go to Thailand, just look out for the tuk-tuks! We also found in Bangkok so many people would try to sell us things, and found ourselves having to use "Mai-ow-ka" so often!

We then spent the rest of the evening with Katie and Ed, eating and wandering around the city. I got to try some Pad Thai off the street, for the equivalent of $1. I really like Pad Thai and it's typically at least $9 in the US, so it was awesome to try it in Thailand!

On Tuesday we took a plane south to Phuket. The weather was absolutely beautiful, and we stayed at a really nice hotel resort that had its own private beach and six pools. We spent a lot of time in the water and just relaxing. On Wednesday, we were able to go on a little safari in which we rode on an elephant, went canoeing, saw an elephant and monkey show, saw some Thai boxing, and rode in a 4x4 through the jungle. It was definitely really cool.

On Thursday, we were able to go on a speedboat tour and snorkeling trip around the islands that are all around Phuket. I have never seen clearer or bluer water in my life. The snorkeling was really cool, and we got to see all kinds of coral and fish. I actually got stung by a jellyfish, but it was a very small one, and the sting was pretty much healed by the end of the day. (They had things on the boat to treat it) We also got to see a monkey beach, a beach where wild monkeys live, as well as the island that part of "The Beach" was filmed.

Then Thursday night we headed back to Bangkok. Friday morning we successfully went to the Grand Palace, did some shopping, got Thai massages (2 hour massage for $9) and ate some Thai barbecue.

We got up early Saturday morning to fly back to Seoul. We had a layover in Gwangzhou,China on the way there and on the way back. They took away our passports and boarding passes for awhile before returning them. They also did a full body search on us. Just to sit in their airport!

The trip was really excellent, and I definitely had a great travel partner. I started work again on Monday, and it's business as usual.

That's all for now. Happy Tuesday, Western World!