Some photos!!! Bangkok

Wat Arun as the Sun was going down!

Khao San Road - tourist time

Police Mantra?

Carved Elephant Tusks

Wat Arun + Monk

Venturing North

And I am back!! Our last day in Bangkok we walked around Th Khao San, which is the main tourist strip, visited the Tourism Authority of Thailand to book some things, and visited some museums and temples. One in particular was so cool, it was called Wat Arun or 'Temple of Dawn' and it had little colourful pieces of ceramic incorporated in the whole structure. Also monks being everywhere make the temple visits feel more authentic :) We are not in Bangkok anymore (which is a relief - waay too busy for my liking!). We have begun our trek to Northern Thailand, having stopped in a town called Sukothai for 2 days/nights. It is about halfway between Bangkok and our next stop, Chiang Mai, so it was a great stop place! We bussed here yesterday on a lovely air-conditioned bus (on which we were the only non-Thai people) which included a 20-minute food stop on the side on the highway which we used our 'meal cards' included with the bus tickets! Pretty luxury for here. Got here around 230 yesterday and walked around the town, had some dinner and tucked in early. Woke up today and took a 'bus' )more like a pickup truck with two wooden bench rows as seats along the side)to the Old Sukothai, which is where the Historical Park is! Met a very nice Dutch girl who was traveling by herself; we rented some bikes to get around (ALSO to create a much needed breeze..holy) and biked around the ruins!!! Very cool to see, they were super crumbly in spots where they weren't reinforced, but that's ok because those are the REAL 'ruins'. Apparently Sukothai was one of the first 'kingdoms' (?) in Thailand so that was very cool to see! Sooo many Buddhas. I need to figure out what the different Buddha hand positions mean. After our very warm day biking around the historical site, we sought out a local pool to hit up - BEST THING EVER. Except it was the local pool so all the children a the pool were waaay more interested in us 'farang' (foreigners) than in swimming. Swimming and book-reading was exactly what the doctor ordered though. Yay for preventing heat stroke! Tonight is our last night here, tomorrow on to Chiang Mai!! We are planning to possibly do an overnight 'trek' there which includes hiking, elephant riding, and staying in a hillside tribe's village! Also a possibility to avoid supporting the use of elephants so much in the tourist industry is to visit a rescued tour elephant park and to help clean / feed the animals. Maybe both. Conflict of interest?? Here in Sukothai it is LOVELY weather wise, well let's be honest I am still melting during the day, but it is not so humid so it actually cools off at night! It is supposed to cool off even more as we go North, which I fully support. Our guest house does have pillows that weigh 18 pounds and feel like bricks though so maybe we'll avoid that next time? Keep you posted, as always!!!!

Continued...

OK sorry I thought I was a faster typer than that. Ahaha. Did not even have time to log out so I had to get 15 more mins. Ohhh well. Anyways after much-needed nap, we headed across the street for dinner and then came back to our hotel to use the internet / try to get ahold of Sarah's friends brother to whom which we are delivering baby clothes for a 2 week old tiny one! Plan for this evening is to ATTEMPT to stay up till 10 so we can wake up at a normal time. Probably plan tonight some more but looking like we are heading North probably Jan 6 or 7 toward Chiang Mai, stopping in a town about halfway between here and there (starts with an S... cannot remember what it is called). Will keep you posted as plans evolve!!! Hope everyone is well and I'll try to update soon :)

Touchdown

We have arrived!!!! It is just as hot and humid and happening as I'd expected it to be. OK maybe a little hotter. Like I could do hot yoga anywhere. We arrived in Bangkok at noon here time (about 10pm on Jan 3 Calgary time) after 24 hours of travel and 17 hours of flying. We got a cab into town and almost T-boned someone right in front of our hotel, luckily with no seatbelts. We checked in to our hotel and put our bags down / brushed my teeth 3 times, then we headed out for a walk around. NOT real. It looks like a postcard. We are literally in the middle of a market and of course I eyed some goods today but didn't buy anything like SLOW down it has been 3 hours so far I need to pace myself. Went back to the room to plan / ended up having a GIANT nap which was THE best! AAH time is up gotta run!! more later!!

Counting Down

Next adventure is now just around the corner - time to get this up and running again!! Next trip begins Jan 3 2012 - returning to the Southern Hemisphere. Excited to get back on the blogging, it is a great way to jot down things not only for you to read, but for me to go back and look at to remember my times :) Just glanced over my Peru entries, and am missing those kids. All in good time...

NASA finds new life on Earth

Check out the story at the link below. Pretty big news!!

NASA finds new life on Earth

Check this out

Can't wait till exams are over so I can actually watch this.


http://www.troublethewaterfilm.com/