Matt: In Thailand?

Yep, we're in Thailand. Yesterday we arrived in Bangkok after taking an all-night train from the Lao-Thai border and have had a taste of Thai already. You might be wondering if it's safe to be here now, and the answer is "Yes." The protests and "open fire" zones that had once paralyzed Bangkok and left security in doubt in the minds of many have been over for a couple of weeks now. We have met numerous travellers in Vietnam and Laos who had been in Thailand during and after the manifestations, and told us that the city is safe. We felt we had to finally make it back to see our first port of entry in a little more depth, though it would be in less the time that we had hoped to spend here.

Thailand is a country we have heard so much about. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, with amazing beaches, beautiful textiles and cheap tailored clothing, as well as an astounding sex-trade that we have heard accounts for a large portion of the country's economy. We have been solicited and harassed by men on the street trying to get us to go to the peep shows, hook us up with a nice Thai girl for a very special price, etc. It is openly, blatantly, out there. Walking down this very touristy road that we are staying on, one can see a tall western man escorted by a small Thai woman or girl at about every 20 feet. Also every 20 feet we see transvestites. There are transvestites everywhere, which should be alarming to the sex-tourists here who might worry about ending up with a HE instead of a SHE when the time comes for the solicited fun.

To get off of that topic, I will easily transition to the thing Nick and I are enjoying most, which is the food, of course. We have had a few banging-good plates of Pad Thai with Thai tea. Last night I had the most amazing green curry and rice I have eaten in my life, followed by fried spring rolls off the street. Here we are again blown away at the rich flavor of Southeast Asian food and can't wait to start looking for our local Thai and Vietnamese restaurants back home to keep the sensation alive.

I am personally getting tired. It has been a long trip and we've been on the road for many, many hours of our journey. As the end of our trip nears, I am feeling more and more anxious to get on my place home. Travelling the way we are can be tiring in all of the planning, finding hotels, cheap food, haggling, sweating, and communicating. I have loved it, but I am ready. I hope that our last few days in Thailand are very fun but relaxing. I can tell Nick is ready for some rest too.

Tonight we are meeting up with the sister of a good friend of mine from college, Gale, who was in Engineers Without Borders with me. Her sister, Gift, is going to tell us about the great things to do in Bangkok and what to see in our few days left here. One thing we are looking forward to is the kick-off of the World Cup with the USA playing against England. We hope to find an American ex-pat bar where we can go and support our boys, otherwise we will be the only two US boys wherever else we go to watch the game, as there are thousands of English in this city.