Bangkok
We made it, as you may have heard from Traci. After a leisurely drive to the airport with Nicole down the east side of the Olympic penninsula, we had long but reasonable flight to Incheon, ROK. Months ago, when booking our ticket back we requested special meals thinking they would be special. Not so. We looked with envy as the other passengers were served chicken and beef dishes that looked only moderately bland while she got some eggplant sandwich and I a dish of rice with flecks of mushrooms on top. Now know not to say that we are devout muslims.
We stayed with Will at our future home, drank lots of Korean beer, the sweet nectar we dearly missed during our sojourn in the states. We received our expensive but already paid for last shot of Japanese encephalitis immunity. Nothing really was open do to it being Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving, but we managed to wrangle up a dinner of chicken galbi. Just before I called a friend's number hoping to get him to come along. Someone picked up and I said "I heard you been talking about my mom" in a somewhat threatening voice. He laughed a little uncomfortably and asked who it was. I said my name and he asked me how Busan was. This was my first clue that I did not know to whom I was speaking. It turned out to be Colin, one of the new Prime teachers who just got here. He was confused, but agreed that it was a good way to make each other's acqaintances.
We packed and left on the first bus of the day, at 230a. Still the highways had the most cars I've ever seen on a Korean highway. Half of Seoul was going home after the holiday in the country. The rest area was so packed that the lanes normally meant for driving were filled with parked vehicles. The exit ramp also looked like a parking lot. It took my special knowledge to realize the truth.
We discovered Thai airways to have the best service of any airlne we've been on. They forced beer down our throats for four hours before noon, a trick helped along by the fact we were passing receding time zones. They even tried to foist cognac on us before we politely put a stop to the madness. The bus ride from the airport to teh Khao San road to almost as long as the flight did. It was hot and sticky and endless. But here we are in the major tourist distract of Bangkok, "the decompression chamber" for tourists coming to or from Thailand according to a recent movie and book by Alex Garland. We didn't want to stay here long, nor did we want any hassle trying to figure anything out after so much travel and madness. It's what it is. We have food, a bed and a cold shower before our bus leaves for Ko Tao tonight at 8p.
Today we did the Tuk Tuk thing--getting ferried around to some of the major tourist sites as well as some of the major tourist shops selling jewelry and tailored clothing. Apparently the drivers have some great deal, because after going through three such shops and smiling a lot and politely saying we don't wear suits or jewelry, the guy dropped us off and wouldn't take our money. He'd originally asked only 10 baht, a little more than a quarter, but he took us to several other non-retail places and drove us around for nearly two hours.
Flowers in Buddhas hand
Look I can drive a Tuk Tuk
Here is our driver and Traci:
Meal at a street stall, notice the legs and shell still on the shrimp. The woman who cooked it had something large and hairy on her arm. Traci couldn't stop staring at it. It looked like a two and a half inch long hairy beetle was burrowed into her wrist, waiting to make it's next move whatever that is.
We stayed with Will at our future home, drank lots of Korean beer, the sweet nectar we dearly missed during our sojourn in the states. We received our expensive but already paid for last shot of Japanese encephalitis immunity. Nothing really was open do to it being Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving, but we managed to wrangle up a dinner of chicken galbi. Just before I called a friend's number hoping to get him to come along. Someone picked up and I said "I heard you been talking about my mom" in a somewhat threatening voice. He laughed a little uncomfortably and asked who it was. I said my name and he asked me how Busan was. This was my first clue that I did not know to whom I was speaking. It turned out to be Colin, one of the new Prime teachers who just got here. He was confused, but agreed that it was a good way to make each other's acqaintances.
We packed and left on the first bus of the day, at 230a. Still the highways had the most cars I've ever seen on a Korean highway. Half of Seoul was going home after the holiday in the country. The rest area was so packed that the lanes normally meant for driving were filled with parked vehicles. The exit ramp also looked like a parking lot. It took my special knowledge to realize the truth.
We discovered Thai airways to have the best service of any airlne we've been on. They forced beer down our throats for four hours before noon, a trick helped along by the fact we were passing receding time zones. They even tried to foist cognac on us before we politely put a stop to the madness. The bus ride from the airport to teh Khao San road to almost as long as the flight did. It was hot and sticky and endless. But here we are in the major tourist distract of Bangkok, "the decompression chamber" for tourists coming to or from Thailand according to a recent movie and book by Alex Garland. We didn't want to stay here long, nor did we want any hassle trying to figure anything out after so much travel and madness. It's what it is. We have food, a bed and a cold shower before our bus leaves for Ko Tao tonight at 8p.
Today we did the Tuk Tuk thing--getting ferried around to some of the major tourist sites as well as some of the major tourist shops selling jewelry and tailored clothing. Apparently the drivers have some great deal, because after going through three such shops and smiling a lot and politely saying we don't wear suits or jewelry, the guy dropped us off and wouldn't take our money. He'd originally asked only 10 baht, a little more than a quarter, but he took us to several other non-retail places and drove us around for nearly two hours.
Flowers in Buddhas hand
Look I can drive a Tuk Tuk
Here is our driver and Traci:
Meal at a street stall, notice the legs and shell still on the shrimp. The woman who cooked it had something large and hairy on her arm. Traci couldn't stop staring at it. It looked like a two and a half inch long hairy beetle was burrowed into her wrist, waiting to make it's next move whatever that is.
posted by The Principal at 4:42 PM
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