Our final days in Bangkok consisted of doing last second shopping and escaping from the heat, pollution and noise of the city. We had to capitalize on the great deals we found in the markets, so it was inevitable to venture forth into the madness. But by the time our departure date arrived, we'd had enough of Bangkok.

That's not to say that the city isn't beautiful or fun or an awesome place to visit. It is. There are futuristic clubs, gleeming high rise buildings, massive shopping areas, and all the other luxuries of your typical big city. But it is such a contrast to the rest of Thailand, it's hard to associate Bangkok with Thailand. Even the other big cities in the country (like Chiang Mai) seem to reek of Thai culture, whereas Bangkok proudly shows its Western influences, for better or worse.

I'll try not to go into too many insignificant details about our shopping excursions in Bangkok. We've spent days going from stall to stall and market to market searching for gifts, home decorations, t-shirts and countless other goodies. Each day starts and ends the same: wake up, eat breakfast, take the skytrain (the best way to travel), shop, come back, eat dinner and fall asleep in an exhausted state.

Perhaps the most remarkable details are the markets themselves. There are the more famous tourist markets in Bangkok that rightfully deserve attention: Patpong, Banglamphu, and the Chattuchak Weekend market. Then there are the out of the way vendor stalls that seem to be set up in high traffic walkways, piers, or down dirty alleys that provide a shortcut between major roads.

We've done our best to conquer all the major attractions in Bangkok... and we're doing a terrific job. We read in the Lonely Planet that it is pointless to try and see everything in one visit. I can see why. Bangkok is so incredibly large and confusing, and the heat is so deadly; it is dangerous to push yourself to exhaustion in an effort to do it all. We're pretty damn close, though.

The next morning we hopped on another river boat and headed straight towards the Ratanokosin and Banglamphu parts of Bangkok. This part of the "old city" is a bit ironic. On the one hand there are massive museums and temples (like Wat Pho), but just a few blocks north is a giant area that caters to young tourists, hippies, and the cool bohemian travellers that are venturing out on a shoestring budget.

We scurried past taxis and tuk-tuks to the entrance of the National Museum. As usual, I was sweating like a beast and praying that the museum had good AC. It didn't. We paid our ticket and headed for the coolest part of the museum which houses a massive collection of models and artifacts from Thai history. We were totally intrigued by the Thai history prior to when Western countries started to exert influence in Asia. I marvelled at the countless wars Thailand had with the Burmese. Just when it seemed like a 20 year war was over, the Burmese would attack again. Amazing!

Our hotel is located on Surawong in the Silom district, which consists of high-rise office buildings, fancy restaurants, and long strips (like Patpong) filled with whorehouses, nightclubs, massage parlours, and swanky little pubs. It's an ironic mix of entertainment centers and professional accomodations which prove that trips to Bangkok involve mixing business with pleasure.

After conquering Wat Pho and the Grand Palace in one day, we decided to reward ourselves with some heavy drinking. We heard about a cool pub in the heart of the racey Patpong area, so we set out to find it. Smack in the middle of girly bars, topless cabarets and live sex shows we found The Barbican, a heady little pub that serves Guiness on tap and plays classic funk music (like The Meters, James Brown, and various underground funk jams from the early 70's). This joint attracts the hip 20-something nine-to-fivers that work just a few blocks away.

For our first full day in Bangkok, we decided to tackle the massive area that contains the Grand Palace, Wat Praw Kaew (the home of the Emerald Buddha), and Wat Pho (the home of the Reclining Buddha). We managed to sleep in this morning despite the sound of traffic roaring down below on the street outside of our room. You can hear motorbikes and tuk-tuks honking all night - an indication of the late hours that Bangkok holds.

Around 9:30am we headed down to the restaurant of La Residence and enjoyed a complimentary breakfast. So far, we have loved this guesthouse. We were skeptical when we first read about it. Our first choice was the upscale Swiss Lodge around the corner from here, but they were sold out of discount rooms. After some searching around (and reading some glowing reviews) we opted for this place. It's dirt cheap (1700 baht a night with free breakfast), and they charge 100 baht a day for unlimited internet usage.

I spent the entire evening with my leg sitting on a bag of ice. Every four hours I popped ibuprofen and massaged the swollen areas of my calf. Shaunna found an ace bandage in her bag, and I used it to support my pulled muscles. When I found the energy, I got up and gently stretched my legs. 36 hours of this treatment seemed to work. By this morning, I could walk, carry my bags, and even skip along quickly when needed.

We checked out of the Moonlight Bay Resort at 8am and hopped into a minubus heading to Krabi. These vans normally pick up guests all over the island and ferry them around to various spots along the coast. Fortunately for us, we were the only two headed to the airport... everyone else was coming from Krabi back to Koh Lanta.

After a couple of glorious days of chilling by the pool and zipping around Koh Lanta on a motorbike, we decided to take a guided tour of Ko Rok. This wondeful little island chain consists of two islands connected by a deep sand bar and gorgeous coral patches. We saw alot of pictures in brochures and recieved a glowing recommendation from an American couple (who were actually from Germany and Thailand). After doing some preparations, we made our reservation and headed out early to meet our driver at the gate of the resort.

As a continuation fo some of the thoughts included in my last entry, I have included a few more details of this trip that have stuck out, particularly with regard to cultural differences. I mentioned before that Shaunna and I have had some hearty laughs about the differences between the US and the rest of the world. Sometimes we laugh at how obstinate and odd America is, and sometimes we laugh at how strange and bizarre we find everyone else. It's nothing snotty, just merriment, but it's given us plenty to talk about.

As everyone knows, the US is very different than most countries. Despite the political events (and how plenty of countries have turned against our goverment's policies), most of the average people on the streets around the world still greet Americans with a friendly smile and helping hand.

Ever since we arrived in Thailand, we've wanted to take a cooking class. It's a pretty common excursion for tourists here, and there are classes in just about every city. We were going to take a class in Chiang Mai, but the time slipped by us before we could do it. We thought about Ao Nang, but it never happened. Once we got to Koh Lanta we decided we would wait until Bagkok. But then we found Time For Lime... check it www.timeforlime.net