Thailand: Day 1

We arrived in Bangkok at seven am. We took a taxi into the city. Bangkok looks a bit like a Chinese Tel Aviv. We were dropped off by the backpacker's street, Khao San Road. After shopping around a little, we found a decent room at the Four Sons for 450 Baht (about $13!). After a 36 hour journey, we were glad to have a cold shower and some AC. It's actually not brutally hot here or that humid at all. It's pretty comfortable. So we got dressed and headed our for some breakfast.
Everything in Thailand costs a dollar-- a taxi ride, a meal, a beer, a coffee. A dollar. It's amazing. You can do whatever you want, eat five meals a day, and stay well within your budget. You actually have to eat five times a day because the portions are so small. Otherwise you would starve. No wonder people love it here.

Around lunchtime, we found our way to the street where the protesters are camped out (oops). It wasn't too rowdy, though. And we had our second meal of the day with some friendly and smiley police officers. We had this dish we have named 'the egg thing.' They scramble an egg with some scallion, soy, and a bit of spice and throw it into a wok with hot oil at the bottom. The egg expands and bubbles and browns into a delicious crispy egg cloud. It's like a deep fried omelette. They serve it over rice. At the recommendation of the policeman, we doused it with this hot chilly condiment-- basically vinegar with sliced fresh red and green chillies. It's an experience

After realizing that I bought different sized hiking sandals at Sports Authority (arg), we decided to check out the biggest mall in Thailand, MBK, and look for a three dollar replacement pair. It's seriously enormous and houses a Dunkin Donuts, KFC, McDonald's, Starbucks,among other Western delights. The place is like a giant indoor bazaar.You can buy anything, as long as it's crap.

In the late afternoon, we had our first Thai Massage. Even though we were wet and getting a little cold, it was a lovely experience.

Today, we fell in love with Thailand. It is the second day of the Songkran, Thai New Year celebrations, and the whole city turns into a giant water fight. We read about this tradition before we arrived, but we could never have imagined how awesome it is. Water guns shoot at you, buckets of ice water are thrown on your head, hoses spray water in your face. Even the fire department comes out and sprays the crowd. Everyone gets into it. So by three in the afternoon the whole city is drenched. The streets are packed with sopping wet teenagers who carry around bowls of slip (clay and water) which, smiling and saying happy new year, they gently slather on your face as you walk by. They do this for three days! This truly is the land of smiles.