(side note before I begin: we still have plenty of New Zealand stuff coming, and now that we have better and free internet again, they’ll be interspersed with our Thailand posts)
Southeast Asia. The backbone of the trip since its inception. The one place we knew we were coming from the get-go. The one place that we were most intrigued, excited, and nervous about. Well, it’s finally here.
We left New Zealand early Monday morning and arrived here in Bangkok, Thailand in the middle of Monday night. It’s only been a day, but the energy and culture of Asia has punched us square in the face, and we love it.
The people (with my crazy new appearance with the hair and beard, I didn’t really stick out that much in S. America, in fact, I was mistaken for an Argentine several times, but here, well, we get plenty of looks and stares, but in a good way), the buildings ( Buddhist wats everywhere instead of Christian churches), and the food (oh, the food the food–markets and food stalls everywhere with firey hot noodle, rice, meat?, seafood, and organ-oh yeah, I said organ-dishes) all make for a completely different atmosphere that what we’ve experienced.
While New Zealand was incredible, beautiful, relaxing, and easy, we are very excited to back in the mix of chaos and confusion. That’s really what makes traveling great and exciting, and that’s what made us want to take this trip to begin with. We wanted to experience completely different cultures, customs, and people and just learn more about the world we live in, and we’ll be getting plenty of that and more during our time here in SE Asia.
We’ll have much more to come as we have two more days to explore Bangkok before my mom and sister arrive Thursday night. I can’t begin to say how excited we are to share our adventures with them. We’ll be heading straight for the famous beaches of Thailand where we’ll unwind and let them get over their jetlag. After that, like with everything so far, it’s up in the air.
So stay tuned because there will be plenty more to come…
We are glad to hear from you again! I talked to your Mom this evening to wish her and Andrea Bon Voyage, and they are excited and nervous. Can’t wait to hear what they will have to say, too.
Love,
Aunt Jo Ann