Two days. Five airports. 8,000 miles. A transfer in Seoul, Korea and an arrival in Bangkok at midnight yesterday. Everything went smoothly including successfully spotting my name scrawled on a piece of paper in a sea of other names and Asian faces. A mad dash from Suvarnabhumi Airport (hands down the coolest airport I’ve seen to date) to the hotel where I finally hit the pillow at 3 a.m. in a semi-delirious state.
This morning I had free breakfast at my hotel which overlooks the Chao Phraya River. Eat your heart out, Best Western. I hired a driver for the day and set out to see Bangkok. I’m not going to lie, I was somewhat prepared for utter chaos and the stress that comes with it, but Bangkok is surprisingly comfortable to me. I probably have India to thank for that. The traffic is congested yes, but organized and not nearly as noisy as I anticipated. The streets are not filthy, they do not reek of piss, and I do not see heaps of animal excrement everywhere.
I visited three of the more popular temples including Wat Phra Kaew (home to the Emerald Buddha), Wat Pho (home to a 46 meter long golden reclining Buddha, the likes of which I have never seen) and Wat Benchamabophit, aka the Marble Temple. I shot over 500 photos before noon so I consider that a good day.
I made a visit to a shopping mall in search of a cell phone and was met with neon lights, enough pastels to induce a seizure, and swarms of giggling children – turns out it’s a national holiday today – Children’s Day.
I passed the UNICEF office and would like to make a visit before I depart from Bangkok. I plan to also visit ECPAT, an organization working to eliminate child prostitution, pornography, and trafficking.
I have ample wifi right now so I will post updates and photos as much as I can via the blog and Facebook. What will tomorrow bring? Hopefully a Thai massage!
Leap & The Net Will Appear 
Noel…your photos are breathtaking, as is your outright courage. I’m glad your mom gave me your blog address! We’ll be having lunch next week. She’s sounding good, finally…be safe, take risks, have fun, dive deep. Be thinking of you! Much Love, Star and Brian
Thank you so much Star. I appreciate your compliments and words of encouragement. Thanks for checking out the blog and feel free to stop by periodically. I’m trying to get my mom to come visit for a month; I just need to make sure I can hang out with her enough to make it worth her while since I’ll be working from February to June. I’m taking risks and having fun. Being smart and watching my back. I honestly haven’t felt unsafe once. The Thais are gentle people. I’m sure there are some bad eggs but I’m bigger than most of them!!! Take care. N