Hello again from Bangkok!

So, we have been here in Bangkok for a few days now and had to write a little about our experience thus far b/c we've had some crazy ones. Bangkok is truly another world! And not much is shocking at this point.....read on to see why :)

This city has great energy! It is crazy busy at all times of the day and night. There are cars, motorcycles, buses, bikes, and/or people, in the streets and on the sidewalks at every second. It's very chaotic, but it all seems to work somehow. And it's ridiculously cheap here. I think it's common knowledge that we both love to spend money, so we are loving it for that alone! We get 40 Thai Bhat to every $1 USD. To give you an idea how cheap it is, large bottled waters are about 20 cents, large tubes of toothpaste are 50 cents, hour long massages are $11, and pediucres are $2.50.

So, since the massages are sooo cheap, we've treated ourselves to one just about every day so far. Shocking, right? :) We started out getting foot massages and then Rach ventured out last time and got a hot oil Thai massage to try to help her back - it's giving her problems again. The massage was great, and did help Rach's back, but the experience itself was a little more interesting than anticipated. Nothing embarrassing or inappropriate happened, but Thai massages are not for the modest. We found out that it's totally normal to shower off while the masseuse is in the room, to be completely naked in front of her, and for her to rub down your entire chest. At home this wouldn't fly, but here it's normal. When in Rome....., right?

On Friday, we encountered the biggest downpour we've ever seen. It rained for about an hour and by the time it was done the streets were full of water (at least a foot, if not more). We were at the gym, luckily, when it happened so we didn't get wet, but when we went out afterwards for lunch... the entire road was flooded. Everyone kept on going as if it were no biggie - even the guys on motorcycles drove thru the water without giving it a second thought. It was madness to us, but apparently normal for everyone else. At lunch we tried to sit outside....we quickly had to move inside though b/c there were cockroaches EVERYWHERE. The rain brought them out and they were literally running across the sidewalks and thru all of the puddles. YUCK! I think we counted 20 HUGE ones all at one time. We even saw one crawling on a guy...eeeewww... We HATE cockroaches!!

Yesterday was quite interesting as well. We recounted our day last night and couldn't stop laughing b/c it was so random. We started out our morning by buying fake Cartier watches in a back room in the middle of a Thai market. We were in a 6 x 6 room with a glass sliding door covered by a dark shower curtain (for privacy) and the watches were pulled out in metal brief cases that were kept in a locked cabinet. Think it's illegal for them to be selling them?We then rode in a Tuk Tuk, a motorized three-wheeled covered wagon that they use for taxis - there are as many Tuk Tuk's as there are normal taxies... they're everywhere! For dinner we ate tuna that we still aren't sure was tuna amd after dinner, on our way to try and find a bar that was recommended to us, we passed thru hookerville (literally there were women in evening gowns everywhere, some even wearing numbers). After Hookerville, we passed through the night market and got yelled at by a Thai woman selling pashminas because we offered too low of a price and then ended up at a bar watcheing an all male gay cabaret show. Oh yeah, and we got flowers bought for us by a random French guy.

Forgot to mention that our first day here, while sitting at dinner talking about what we wrote on the blog that day, we saw a full grown elephant and baby elephant being led down the sidewalk for tourists to take pictures of (in the middle of the city!!). Please note that this was AS Steph was saying what she wrote about the Elephants that day. Strange huh?

Have a feeling these will only be the first of many stories like this! Bangkok, ya gotta love it! We do so far!!

Ok, we're off to start another day, another adventure. Will write more again soon :)

xoxo,
Steph and Rach