Chumphon to Bangkok

As I sit here writing this blog, I find it continually difficult to realize that we are in Thailand. People are friendly and travel is easy. The overnight train ride to Bangkok was smooth with no hiccups. Our day here in the city was a little hot and hectic trying to find the hostel with 2 subway lines and a switch between them. The subway here is really clean, and navigating to our hostel was not a problem at all with last year's Europe trip under our belt. We have some travel skills. Some parts are tricky, but the unknown is what keeps me coming back for more.

The old middle school joke about this nations capital keeps running through my head. If you don't know what I mean, just know that it involves hitting your recipient in the "parts" after you ask what the capital of Thailand is. 5th graders at my school would mumble the joke as I told them were I was going this summer. Yeah, real funny guys! You wanna call home and tell your mom the joke? Huh?

I find it interesting that as an American I have known nothing about this beautiful country and it's history. Previously, I just knew that Thailand is a country close to other countries where a lot of soldiers died before I was even born. History books that were required readings in school did not hit much on this place at all. Today, after visiting the Siam Square shopping district, I realize that it is a lot different than I had originally thought. The shopping malls are larger than any American malls and there are 4 of them within 5 minutes walking distance of where we are staying! One was as big as Crystal City in Virginia. We did not buy anything at the malls since prices were high and all the things I saw I could get cheaper on the internet. The people watching was the bet part. (as I review the blog, wait for blog tomorrow, we hit the gold mine of malls)

Michael leaves in the morning and it will conclude his 2 weeks with us. He has been a great travel partner and we all got along very well. Even though he was new to diving, he picked up on things extrememly quickly and was a blast to have with us. Michael, you are welcome to come along on any insane trip we plan!