goodbye, Bangkok... hello Chiang Mai!

Today it's time to ship out of the bustling, noisy blur of Bangkok. Three days was enough for us... we explored a bunch of wats (Buddhist temples), peeped on praying monks, petted stray kitties seeking Buddhist nirvana (or just naps) within the decorated walls. It made for lots of great photos-- check out our album... Adrian was working hard at downloading some pics.

It's hot and sticky in Bangkok-- you blow your nose and it's black, and two showers a day are necessary! We're finally getting our way around the Khao San Road area (that hippie backpacker haven... it's a little bit Cancun, but full of Europeans). We stayed on a street nearby and it was much quieter. the five flights up and five down to our room everyday gave us quite the workout!

Things we've noticed lately:
-we've seen zero spiders so far (hallelujah!) and only two big red cockroaches. Most of the wildlife around here consists of stray cats and dogs (we see one orange kitty sleeping on top of stacks of CDs of a street vendor every night) and the odd rooster. There's a really annoying bird that wakes us up every day...
- There's definitely an invasive feel to this place-- esp. when you arrive, sweaty and jet-lagged. Every tuk-tuk driver (these little three-wheeled things with crazy drivers) wants to take you to see a "lucky Buddha" or a "tall Buddha". We got taken for a ride (sort of) once, for 20 baht (about 60 cents) and we had to turn down offers of cashmere suits and sketchy tours companies. On the bright side, we got whisked around the city in style and had a good chat with a local Thai man inside a temple. Basically, on our fourth day, we've learned to say "no thanks", firmly and walk away! We also know k\now that sometimes the locals just want to chat, and find out where we're from. We found out that golf is pretty big here in Thailand!
-We finally met someone who spoke English today (i'm talking travellers)... a lady named Linda who shared her Cambodia tales and tips on guesthouses. Before that was a night with a Belgan dude who only spoke French (my skills are bad! Adrian did a little better) who introduced us to street food... we had a rice porridge dinner with egg and ginger and green onions in it for about 50 cents! wow. No idea what it was called, but it was yummy....
-And the food! Plenty of yummy things to try... though the vegetarian thing is a little rough. Banana pancakes for breakfast and fresh pineapple off the street. It's good stuff. We're divided on the best beer though-- Adrian likes Chang and I prefer Leo. (Do they have this at the LCBO? maybe someone can tell us!)

We're learning some Thai vocab-- hello, thank you, some numbers, and the bill please! Street names are hard to remember, which doesn't help in this maze-like town. But the river taxi is loads of fun, and we've taken that a few times to head to the sights...

We hear Chiang Mai is amazing... full of temples and Northern culture. It's a 10 hour bus ride that we're taking overnight. The shopping is supposed to be great... I've been very good and bought one necklace today (had to practice bartering! Adrian was rolling his eyes). But we're gonna come back with some goodies from the north I think....

Miss you all! We'll try to respond the best we can, but let us know how life is in snowy Canada, while we're fending off mosquitoes and re-applying our deodorant.
Love Dayle and Adrian "?"