Land of Smiles
Tuesday, January 31st, 2006Hello Everybody…….we are currently enjoying lovely Thailand (90 deg and humid, quite a change from China) and the people of their largest city, Bangkok. By the looks of all the food and shoe vendors I can’t believe anyone ever starves or wears unattractive shoes. The people of Thailand (especially Bangkok) have us completely enamored. So much so, that we are booking a flight ($40/each) to Chiang Mai and heading north to experience the hill towns and cultural communities of Northern Thailand. With Air Asia (Yes…they are safe, Dad) it is ridiculous to ride in a sweaty bus for 8 hours opposed to a comfortable 1 hour plane flight.
Our initial impressions of Bangkok are diverse. The food is delicious, locals endearing, yet fellow travellers a little meaty (tattoos and heavy drinkers), if you know what we mean. We did meet a fabulous world traveller like ourselves from California. Vicky, you are an inspiration to all solo-travellers and thank you for your advice and conversation. We are headed to Northern Thailand as you can see and hope to see you there!!!
We are also attempting to secure our Indian and Pakistani Visas while in Bangkok. As you can all imagine the Pakistani embassy doesn’t have a line at the door so it looks like we can get that one pretty easy. The Indian Visa is a bit more time-consuming. You have to submit an application on Day 1 with a copy of your passport, drop off your real passport in the AM on Day 5 and pick up your passport and Visa in the PM on Day 5. We might wait for Beijing on this one since we won’t be in BKK for that length of time.
We will keep in touch as we plan our adventures through SE Asia and anticipate a picture download in the near future. As a STAY TUNED…..we anticipate a cooking class in Chiang Rai, a float down the Mekong in Laos, and a beach bungalow some where in Vietnam……Thanks again for all your attention and your continued posts.
MOMS – we love your posts. It’s so nice to see the Internet having a positive affect on your lives!!!!
Jeff and Becca
