Happy Thailand

I wanted to post a blog last night but when Nicole and I got into Bangkok it was almost midnight and we were exhausted so we just crashed. We thought there was wireless but we couldn't get it to work or something so I'm on one of the computers in the lobby of our hostel. Also, right now it's about 6:45pm here.

The two flights went well and there were no hitches. For anyone looking to fly to Southeast Asia from Korea I would recommended our airline, China Southern, which was cheap and totally fine.

Because our first flight was a little delayed, our layover was only about two hours but since we spent quite some time going through a security checkpoint, it was not long at all. I can now technically say that I have been to China. Even if it was only for that short time. I WAS outside (we took a shuttle bus from the landing strip) and I DID buy something (a Coke, for you Diana, if you're reading this) but I suppose it doesn't really count.

It was kind of nice to be somewhere where I can just entirely not understand the language instead of just half-not understand and then feel guilty about not understanding. No one expects me to know Chinese of Thai.

Nicole kept making fun of me one the flight for saying thank you in Korean to the Chinese flight attendants. They didn't seem to notice. I suppose at some point after working as a flight attendant you'd just tune it out.

During the second flight, which was in the evening and therefore mostly in the dark, we flew right through a storm cloud. I could see lightening moving from one cloud to another. I know it was certainly far enough away to be safe but it was still closer than I have ever seen lightening and was amazing.

Today was our day in Bangkok since tomorrow we'll be flying out to Chang Mai in Northern Thailand. We spent the entire day walking around following a walking tour map that Nicole had downloaded.

Bangkok reminds me somehow of New Orleans. I think because, like New Orleans, its always warm. The buildings and things around on the streets give you the feeling that someone just plopped them there at some point and then they've been there ever since. There's not too much to weather it like in colder cities. In New Orleans I remember Mardi Gras beads just adorning trees or weird graffiti/paintings on walls or tables in random places. Here its kind of the same. I found a cactus plant on the street with empty egg shells all over it decorating it. I don't know why. I get the feeling people just started doing it and then kept doing it and it just became a thing.

Things couldn't be much different from Korea. First, of course, its warm. Just more than pleasantly so but its okay. It's hard for me to fathom that just yesterday I was waiting for the airport bus in freezing spring rain. Now I can't even really remember what it feels like to be really cold.

People here are also so chill. They are friendly, but not frighteningly so. A lot of people are just sitting around, eating or talking or sleeping. We went to a couple parks and people are just hanging around. Korea is very coordinated sometimes. This place is not.

The currency of Thailand is the baht. One dollar is about 30 baht. I feel like I'm dealing with so much money all the time even though last week I was dealing with millions of won.

Anyway, on the walking tour we first saw a flower and vegetable market. Then we went to a Buddhist temple. Which was beautiful. We went to another one later in the day. There are golden Buddha statues everywhere and people burning incense and praying. In one temple there were huge murals all over every last inch of the walls all the way up to the (very) high ceiling. A guy was vacuuming the carpet and got mad when we stepped right where we had vacuumed. There are monks at all the temples all in bright orange clothing and with shaved heads. At the second temple I saw a bunch of them studying. Just sitting in long rows and studying as other monks oversaw them. There are some old monks but a lot of them seem to be young. Maybe in their twenties. In a open square in front of both a temple and the city hall building there was a young Thai guy with no shirt and a ponytail doing tricks on a bike for his friends as well as a couple of the bald, orange-clad monks. Maybe they were his friends too. For some reason watching him chat with them was somehow surreal. Bangkok seems to be many different places at once. I tried to think what those different places were but I couldn't put my finger on it.

I climbed up to the top of the Golden Mount. Over 300 steps to the top where a recording chanted and people prayed and walked circles around more Buddha statues and monks took videos with their digital cameras. I could see the whole city from up there and I stayed there a long time by myself as Nicole had gone back to the hostel to take a nap. You can see tall buildings here and there but they aren't grouped together like an American city nor are there the huge collections of apartment high-rises that dominate Seoul's skyline. There are also the brightly-colored, ornate roofs of the temples and the huge blocks of shops and homes in between it all.

There are also plants everywhere. On the streets in pots. Huge trees in random and awkward places that feel like they've been there for decades and you wonder how they've survived.

We ate lunch at this place on the street under a tent. The cook was so friendly and spoke good English and the food was so delicious. Everything for about $1. Food here is so cheap its insane.

That's all for now.