track our trek

in bangkok, of all places, we've managed to find a bit of rest and relaxation we've learned to cherish on this trip...the coup doesn't seem to have disrupted the daily goings on so far as we can tell...we arrived at our guest house around 8am & upgraded from a room w/ a fan to one w/ ac so we could check in right away. we dropped our stuff and collapsed for a proper few hours' sleep...we slept in the airport, but i wouldn't call it restful! jokes...we woke up & showered, then came downstairs to sit poolside (yes, this guesthouse has a pool like uncle keith's and a comfy patio for lounging.) it is steamy hot here & HUMID! makes you not feel like doing much besides lounge around under a ceiling fan...and for a change we're not rushing off to the next city in 3 or 4 days...we'll be here in thailand for almost a month & we're saving a bunch of the fun stuff around bangkok for when ryan gets here, so we can afford to be lazy for a few days... we ventured out for a 30 minute walk that first afternoon...15 mins to find the train station and 15 mins back...after a quick load of laundry and a nap on a swing in the courtyard, i proceeded to whip daryll's tail at spit...anybody remember that card game? i was a champ when i was 12!...actually, he beat me 2 games to one, but who's counting? we finally mustered enough energy to go off in search of some yummy thai food, so we took the train into a more bustling area of the city & discovered we'd landed smack in the middle of the red light district! wow!! the sex industry is alive and well here in bkk & it is a trip! we walked around a huge market for a couple of hours, all the while keeping an eye out for pickpockets and turning down no fewer than 40 offers for "dvd...sex, dvd..sex" and ping pong shows...anybody seen the movie "priscilla, queen of the desert?"...there are young beautiful thai women escorts (and sometimes men) on the arm of foreign men almost everywhere you turn. it's really quite sad to see how they are so exploited... day two we walked around khoa sahn road...the backpackers/touristy market strip and took the river boat to see a temple...back at the guesthouse we played some pool and watched a movie...ah...at $12/night our budget is firmly back on track, & i could get used to this life!