Sa Wat Dee Bangkok!

Despite being taken for a ride by a Tuk Tuk driver and his cronies, we've done pretty well getting around Bangkok. For example, when we got off the plane, we took public transit (skytrain) the 30 kilometers to the neighborhood our hotel is in and managed to find it on foot. The hotel is a beautiful tropical sanctuary amid a district of sex tourism outlets and seedy, dirty alleyways. Chris's navigational skills got us here in no time, and less than 1 hour after getting off the plane, we were washing away the 26 hours of travel with a dip in the hotel pool (after a shower, of course).

After the Tuk-Tuk ride, we attempted to follow a walking tour in our Lonely Planet guide book. The streets are poorly marked, but the tour had tips like "make a left at the cat-laden news stand" which was easy to spot. So, we made it through the crowded market of amulets, herbal remedies, and stolen cell phone chargers, ending up at a little street stall that sold refreshing chow gooay, "grass jelly". This was like an iced soy milk with scoops of obsidian-like tapioca pudding. Cost: 15 Baht (48 cents).

Next, we wandered toward the water and found some delicious street food. Pad Thai with chicken 50 Baht ($1.60). We grabbed a couple beer changs from the 7-eleven and sat down on brightly colored plastic stools to grub on the best pad thai I've ever had.

Fueled up and ready to go, we boarded a ferry to cross the canal to Wat Arun, the ruins of one of Thailand's most ancient temples. I had to don pants and long-sleeve shirt to enter, (Men are allowed to wear shorts). We traversed the super-steep steps to gain an awesome view of the city below. The ornate tile-work of the temple was breathtaking.

The hike up the stairs in the heat had us ready to head back to the hotel. So, we took the ferry back across the canal and once again took the skytrain back, this time to ta different station. We dodged scooters and taxis as we walked the mile or so back to our awesome hotel where I enjoyed a fresh coconut by the pool and waited for the rain to start. And, at 4:30, like clockwork, it poured.