back in bangkok!

**I accidentally hit 'save' rather than 'publish' so I wrote this blog a few days ago... You get double the info today!!**


Our northern exposure tour has quickly come to a close, and now we are preparing to embark on our journey down south... with white sand beaches and crystal-clear turquoise waters. I am SO ready for that. Relaxing and getting a tan. Especially because I've heard that it is snowing pretty heavily back in Utah.... hehehe. Can't say I'm sad about missing that!! :)

Our past few days here have been running at a more leisurely pace... I last wrote while we were sitting in an internet cafe in Chiang Rai, before heading out and exploring the market. It was a bit smaller than the Chiang Mai Night Bazaar, but the handicrafts for sale were quite similar. Julie and I like taking our time to wander through the marketplace... just taking in our surroundings and appreciating the fact that we are in THAILAND.... we just love it here.

Tuesday was a long travel day back to Bangkok... we stopped in Chiang Mai for a couple hours after our luxurious 3-hour coach bus ride (compared to the local buses we had been taking). I really do love Chiang Mai... it's a bustling city, but not nearly as overwhelming as Bangkok. Julie and I have decided that we like the smaller towns of Thailand MUCH more, and are excited to leave Bangkok behind when we hop on our train later today. In Chiang Mai, we had the opportunity to explore the local market again... there is a difference between the local market and the tourist market-- local markets offer Thais everything they might need, from fresh produce and raw meats to clothing and home appliances... so the sights and smells are a bit overpowering. Julie and I can only handle that for a little while... but we love exploring through the covered aisles. We enjoyed lunch at a family-run shop -- chicken and steamed rice for 25 baht (less than $1) and it was DELICIOUS. I love the cuisine here! And can't complain about the amazing prices either :) We've also fallen in love with the fruit shakes... you can get them anywhere for about B30, and I usually go for the banana, coconut, or pineapple. Unbelievably tasty. And don't get me started on the fresh fruit that is available everywhere on the streets... I've been spoiled! I don't know how I'm going to return home where having fresh pineapple is a special treat. Agh. But I still have 2.5 weeks, so I won't worry about that yet! Our overnight train back to Bangkok left Chiang Mai later that afternoon, and Julie and I enjoyed the comfortable 14-hour ride south. We had a lot of time to chat and catch up on journaling... just relishing our time in this amazing country.

Arriving in Bangkok yesterday morning around 7 am, we dropped our things off at the hotel and then went out into the city to tour the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew and Wat Arun -- 3 sights "not to be missed" in Bangkok. We took the boat taxi down the canal to the Palace Pier and hopped off, immediately bombarded by touts trying to get us to take their specialized tour for a cheaper price. SCAMS! We know better. We pushed our way through and found our way to the palace gates. The grounds are enclosed by a 20-ft wall, and once inside, the city sounds just disappear. We first walked to the palace temple, Wat Phra Kaew, which is home to the most revered buddha image -- the Emerald Buddha. There is a story behind the buddha, but I do now know all the details.. the important thing is that a monk found it near a temple in Chiang Rai, and thought that it was carved from emerald (it is, in fact, carved out of jade) and stories started circulating around the country about this holy image. The king at the time (I believe the 13th century) soon learned about it and had it brought to his palace. It has finally made its resting place on a golden shrine in this temple. The image itself is not too big (probably about 2 ft tall) but the shrine built around it is quite spectacular. We paid our respects and then made our way through the temple grounds... the attention to detail is exquisite. I can't adequately describe the beauty of the buildings, but we were in awe. After seeing the temple, we made our way to the palace buildings where royal proceedings take place. Again, stunning. It was a hot day, and we had many other sights to see, so we found our way out and back to the bustling streets of Bangkok.

Our next stop was Wat Arun, across the river from the Grand Palace. It has a tall, narrow chedi in the center of the grounds, and you are allowed to climb the steep stairs to view the Grand Palace and Wat Pho from across the river. The climb was a bit unnerving, as we felt like we were going to fall backwards, but the views were well worth the risk. We made our way back down and across the river to continue our trek through the city. Unfortunately, there were some unhappy Thais protesting the newly-appointed Prime Minister, so we were unable to get to some of the sights we wanted to see, but we were okay with that. We were a bit exhausted, so we found ourselves back on Khao San Road for some shopping. Why not, right?

Later last night, we met our new group for the south. It has expanded a bit -- now there are 12 of us. It is quite the mixture of people too.. James and Joe are still with us, and Ava and Tony have left on their own, but we have gained 8 more -- Chad from Australia; Fredericke from Germany; Catherine from Ireland; Helene, Annee, and Tina from Canada; and then Anna and Richard from England. It's a fun group. I look forward to our days ahead.

Today Julie and I decided that it would be nice to see the downtown Bangkok... the shopping mecca of the city. We got up early and made our way down the river on the boat shuttle to the skytrain, which took us right into the center of the 4 shopping malls. WOW. The first mall we walked through had any and every designer shop you could think of. It was a bit of a culture shock for us... we're used to the backpacking atmosphere! We felt a little like we had returned home, and we were not prepared for that. I will say, though, that I was ecstatic when I learned that there was a Red Mango (Pinkberry equivalent, and I'm addicted) in one of the shopping centers. Of course I had to have some. It was delicious. We walked through the malls... it was a bit overwhelming, and Julie and I were not exactly in the mood to deal with all that, so we left. It was such a relief to get out of there! We felt like we had been dragged back into our lives back home, where we feel the need to buy THINGS.... we live such consumer-driven lives. I'm enjoying the escape from that, and being removed from that mentality. So we came back to our guesthouse (amidst a sudden thunder/rainstorm) and now we are preparing to leave for the train station to head south! FINALLY... I am ready to lay out on the beach and get a tan! haha. We first head to the Khao Sok rainforest though, so I will probably get back on the internet when we are on the island of Koh Samui... until then, I hope all is well with you, wherever you may be!