On the road again....

Started out this most recent journey in a bit of a rush. I was writing a recap of the weeks with my Dad and my down week between their trip my trip to Bangkok, uploading pictures, and packing when I got on the phone with my Mom. So... in our mutual gregariousness I got half my photos uploaded, didn't finish the recap (will past that when I'm back in about a week and a half), and finished packing as my airport shuttle arrived.

Off to the airport for a 14 1/2 hour flight to Bangkok from Auckland to meet my sister Whitney. A stop in Brisbane, Australia for refueling and I slept about 2 hours. Two movies on the Thai airway flight that thankfully were in English, yet I'm nearly positive they never made it to US movie screens. Then arrival in Bangkok at 5 am.

So I only needed to wait a mere 6 hours for Whitney's flight to arrive; I passed the time trying to sleep and trying to make a phone call (never successful). Whitney on the other hand traveled for about 40 hours straight, on her first trip outside of the country, she would impress even the harshest critics. 16, first time out of the country and she had to change planes in Dallas, then into the international terminal at LAX, then again in Hong Kong, and finally arriving in Bangkok where she had to just hope I would be. Damn, I'm impressed.

So we leave the airport at about noon and the culture shock hit me like a brick wall, again. I can only imagine what Whitney was thinking. In one cab, then had to jump out because he wouldn't use the meter. Second cab and into the unimaginable Bangkok traffic. Arrive our hostel, and I think I'm more tired than Whitney despite the fact she is dealing with a 12 hour time difference and I only have 5. We go for our first walk to Koh San road to eat some food that isn't so scary and I hear "Hey Trey". This is my first time for the international travelers run in, and I'm thrilled it happened in front of my sister - but I run into a great British couple I met in Indonesia in Feburary. I love how small the world is and I really love showing my Whitney at 16 what I'm just now getting at 26.

Meekly we eat our western food (I'm just to damn tired to worry about Thai from a food stand at this point) and we take the express boat up and down the river. The express boat is basically and bus service and the best way to get out of the noise and smell of Bangkok that I have found. Head back to the hostel, eat dinner at the attached restaurant with 50 year old Thai men singing karioke, and crash as soon as it's dark as we try to push our bodies into GMT +7.

Up around 4 for whit and 6 for me we leave the hostel and head to "the tallest hotel in the world" for breakfast and a view of Bangkok from the 87th floor. Back on the street we stroll through clothing markets that are just waking up and see designer jeans for the equivalent of $5. We have to wait for things to open up so I recommend seeing a movie in MBK (a nine story mall) to get out of the noise and pass some time. As we get through MBK, which is empty as the doors only opened 15 minutes ago, I realize I'm having to yell for Whit to hear me over the sounds of advertisements and music. I'm not sure if I can express how loud Bangkok is, I've decided my one piece of advice for a tourist is earplugs. We see a movie, but half way through Whitney finds out she has gotten sick from something. She is unbelievably sweet about the hole thing, but end up spending the rest of the day recouping back at the hostel (probably not a bad idea anyways). That night I snuck away to catch up with a German friend of mine I met in Auckland for dinner, and really missed being able to introduce Whitney to Anita so that Whit could see how possible it is for a single female to travel on their own for 6 months to a year - despite what we hear back home.

Slept better, but Whit's still a bit shaky this morning, we are at the National Library using the free internet and waiting for a Thai Cooking class to start in about an hour back at the hostel. I'll be able to introduce Whitney to Tannie, a great Thai girl I met here in January. Then we're on a plane to Koh Samui for a week on a beach in a lovely resort.

Always an adventure and fantastic to be able to share it with my younger sister.