First Impressions of Thailand

The very first formattive impression is Thailand is amazing! I've never been to a place where there's so many amazing things to see and do, and I've barely even made it out of Bangkok! And on top of that, everything is ridiculously cheap!

The first actual impression of Thailand is born the moment you leave the airport - hey, did you know we're still a monarchy!? Granted, his majesty celebrate a birthday at the beginning of the month, but there is regalia commemorating and celebrating him absolutely everywhere, and I get the feeling it's not just here because of the birthday... Once you get past that... there's monks everywhere - saw one meditating in the park, and using his cell phone at the same time, I think. There was a group (50+) women doing a step-dancing class in an open public park! There are tuk-tuk's everywhere! And these are different in Bangkok from the ones in nearby Ayutthaya.. which are different from the ones I've seen pictures of in India! I wonder what the ones in Sri Lanka will be like? But the Thai ones do look fairly driveable! Thailand appears to have rather impressive roads! I hear the ones in India are notably worse... There's a log of tour buses here - they all appear to have been decorated by LA gang members, who were enjoying some psychedelic refreshments at the time! Thou shall never pay the price that a cab/tuk-tuk driver asks for! Half maybe! Red curry with chicken in Bangkok tastes surprisingly similar to red curry with chicken in Redmond... the place I had lunch this afternoon had just run out of pad thai, otherwise that's next on the list of things to check. I'm taking an astounding number of pictures simply because everywhere you look, you see something picturesque, unique, and beautiful! Fancy new camera not stolen so far!

Well, that's it for now... more later, probably... A little more sight-seeing in Bangkok tomorrow morning, then off to Sri Lanka in the evening!