| Brad and Jen's journal entry for: September 10, 2001 |
| Greetings, Even though we have been in Bangkok for several days, we had our "official" Bangkok welcome yesterday. We decided since we are going to be in an out of Bangkok several times we needed to learn the bus system. It is the cheapest form of transport and Brad is working hard at spending less everyday..and Jennifer is now the bus route guru. We met some friends on the bus who showed us where the train station was. Jorge (from Germany) and his Thai friend (we never did figure out how to say his name). They bought Jennifer Thai coffee and sat and talked with us for quite a while. They taught us Thai words for "thank you" and "hello", and gave us other information about the city. We left the train station and caught the now infamous "25" bus to the temple of dawn or "Wat Arun" it is a very beautiful temple and it is better to see it at night so we will catch it again later on. After getting off the bus you walk through the water side market, pay 2baht (3 cents) for the ferry ride across the canal to the temple Wat Arun. It is amazing to see corporate America wherever you go. Next comes the business... We found the bus stop at about noon. We figured we would eat when we got back to our hotel. We had some water, we should have been fine. We waited for the "25", and waited, and waited, and Brad got antsy. Jen was calm. The bus arrived and we jumped on. We paid our 7baht (10cents) and hung on to the bars as there was no place to sit. The bus drove several blocks...into the traffic jam...in China town. It was Sunday and the markets were teeming and it is possible to buy anything you want, alive or dead or inanimate. Bangkok is notorious for its pollution, and it hit us hard. As we stood in the bus on the 90 plus degree day with humidity high Jen started feeling woosey. We must have been in the traffic jam for an hour. Cars, motorcycle, tuks-tuks, buses, all gunning their engines, emitting fumes and it was miserable. The coin lady started moving people from their seats for Jen to sitl since she was crouching by the floor, drinking the last of water and looking more pale than a western white tourist. Brad was anticipating escape routes off the bus if Jen passed out. Mind you, we are not real sure where we are at this point. All we know is we are on the "25" and it runs past our street where the hotel is located. Finally a lady gave Jen her seat and Hall's cough drop (they use the cough drops to decrease the smog affect). We finally made it back to Soi 2 (street 2) the coin lady buzzed the buzzer (she was looking out for us) and we got off. The lady smiled and told Jennifer she was beautiful. The people are so nice. After we got off the bus, Brad could see we were not going to make it to the hotel, so we sought out a cool place. The nearest spot was McDonald's. We had talked big about staying "local" and on the third day we were drinking a Sprite and having ice cream cone at McDonald's. Have we left home? Jen made a come back, we walked to the hotel, took a shower, and power napped for 3 hours. All was well! We capped the night off with a dinner in our hotel. It is awsome. We talked with several friends. Luke, from France, had just come from Maynmar where he was for 30 days. Thomas and his brother Bill are preparing for a 3 month trip including Nepal and various other parts. They are from the U.S. and in their late 30's. While at the train station, we booked an overnight train to Krabi. We leave Tuesday evening, (Tuesday morning in the U.S.) and needless to say, are looking forward to being out of Bangkok. Bangkok is exotic, smelly, hot, humid, fast,congested, and full of street vendors and prostitution. It is interesting to experience, but we are looking forward to the beaches and a slower pace. We are settling into traveling (we did our laundry in our sink this morning) and enjoying every moment. We are truly blessed and hope everyone is well. We are not sure when we will communicate next, but by that time we will have been rock climbing and hanging out on the beaches! Be safe and be happy, Brad and Jennifer |