Bangkok

Bangkok may be the largest city we've seen to date. It is crammed full of buildings, people, rivers, street vendors, and vehicles. It was hot when we arrived, blazing the next day and almost unbearable the day after (I'm sure Ashley would use the terms "nice, nicer, and nicest").

I was surprised at how quiet of a town it is all things considered. Other than the hustle and bustle of a city it didn't make that much noise; except at night, it was terribly loud at night. Our hostel was right next to a particularly loud bar. The music shook our beds until 2am and then empty bottles and dishes would clink for another hour or so after. Poor Ashley and I were so exhausted from jet lag and colds that we didn't even look for different accommodation. In fact we hardly left our room except to get pad-thai or as we called it, "breakfast, lunch, and dinner." We walked around for only a few hours and then found ourselves heading back to our room. We split our sleep times from 6-8pm and then 4-11am. Did you know that Michael Jackson songs are only played once the DJ has run out of over-basses nonsense songs? Did you also know that Mambo number five is used to clear the bars out before closing? I do now.

We are now in Chang Mai. We were bullied into coming here by a government tourist association rep. She told us that all other ways of getting here were too hard or were unavailable. Now we are here safely but I am holding a grudge. The bus ride was interesting. They woke everyone up at 1:30am to go inside for a meal then started playing music videos at 6am. Bizarre.

We are feeling drained and overwhelmed. We essentially have to start learning all over again. Neither of us knows any of the language and signs are rarely in English. We also don't know the scams to stay away from or the the lines in which to read between. All we know is that there are a lot of temples and that the food is delicious.