Sawad dee ka!

And we've finally landed in Bangkok. After a twenty-two-hour long day of travel, we landed in Bangkok late Thursday night. We stayed at a mediocre hotel close to the airport and fell promptly asleep. The next day there were amazingly no signs of jet lag and we jumped into a hot-pink cab (the cabs here are the most amazing colors...) to take us downtown to our next destination.

Some family friends of Phil's are working for the US State Department in Bangkok, and they were generous enough to offer us a place to stay while we figured out this enormous city. Their apartment is beautiful. It's on the 29th floor of a building downtown, and the views are amazing above the noise and dust of the city. It's especially awesome to watch the daily rain/thunderstorm come in over the city from this height.

So after being very comfortably accommodated, we've been touring around the city. We have gone to the nice shopping districts, the hectic Thai malls, the beautiful city park where there are three-four foot long water lizards (I kid you not), and then we went to get our first Thai massage. And, let me tell you, a Thai Massage is heaven on earth. Using their hands, elbows, feet and knees, we were massaged and stretched for an unbelievable two hours and -get this- the total cost was $14. But it felt like a million bahts. Other than that we've taken some spins around night markets, a quick walk through the red-light district (when in Bangkok...), and to the HUGE weekend market at Chatachuck.

Well, that's what's been going on so far. It seems like a lot! Over the next few days we'll be visiting the Grand Palace and some Wats and then it'll be off to the next yet-to-be-determined city! Pictures to come!