Tham bien Vietnam, Sa wat dii kha Thailand!

Goodbye Vietnam, Hello Thailand!

Lily and I stay in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon) for one night on the 9th before we have our flights. We don't really see much of it, as we are wiped and ready to move on. After a sad goodbye at the airport, I'm off to Thailand!

I arrive in Bangkok on the 10th, and I have basically two days before I meet up with my tour group. I signed up to do the "Southern Thailand Sojourn" with GAP Adventures. You should check out the site. www.gapadventures.com There's several different types of tours, from involved activity ones to super laid back ones. It's kind of like backpacking with a local. Even if you're not interested in a tour, it's some real fun travel inspiration.

Once I'm in Bangkok, I stay at Trang Hotel, the meeting point for my tour. I need a little time on my own to readjust the brain to a different culture/language/money and also be on my own and without Lily, my travel buddy for the past two weeks.

WAT PHO AND TEMPLE ETIQUETTE AND MASSAGE!
I check out Wat Pho, which is a beautiful temple with a HUGE reclining buddha. Quite stunning and pretty. BTW, when visiting any sort of Wat or temple, you have to dress modestly (shoulders and knees covered) and you have to take off your shoes when you enter. I guess the feet are considered dirty/unholy, so when you sit in a temple, you have to sit on top of your feet with your knees facing the buddha. You can't point with your feet in that direction...that is considered disrespectful.

After the temple visit, I head to the Wat Pho Massage school and get a foot reflexology massage for an hour. It was fabulous and cost me about 360 baht (coversion rate is 34 baht to 1 USD), which is actually a little on the expensive side here. It was great though!!

KHAO SAN ROAD
I do some shopping on Khao San Road on the way back to the hotel. Aweseom shopping! You can haggle here (not as good haggling as in Vietnam), and they have really cute stuff! This street is also a party street, and lots of vendors and people. It's best in the evening/night. I think Thailand is big on the night markets.

I meet up with my GAP Adventure tour, and everyone is really cool! Most did a tour right before in the northern Thailand hill tribes, so most of them already know each other. My roommate, Tara, is a Canadian, and she is super nice and normal!