The Traveling Martens

Stop #3: One night in Bangkok, and the world's your oyster....

After another great Cathay Pacific flight, we arrived in Bangkok, Thailand. It was sad to see the signs still up at the airport for tsunami relief workers and victims. There was a long line outside for taxis and we headed for the hotel.

While Hong Kong seemed easy and familiar to us, Thailand is different. This is hot, steamy raw Siam. Traffic is slow and there are smells of curry, fish sauce, jungle and trash. However, the city has lots of contrasts. There are roosters in the median of the highway, while brand new Mercedes are driving past 3-wheeled bicycles called "tuk tuks". The people are more laid back, seem to be smiling all the time and always greet us with a short bow. There is also a warm energy in the city. With the tropical environment, there are plants and flowers everywhere. We really enjoy the orchids, which were what we had at our wedding in Jamaica.

We check in to the 5 star Westin hotel here and feel like we are kings and queens. Thanks to Priceline.com, we are staying at 4 and 5 star hotels for $100 a night during our Asia trip. However, we can't get used to this, since the same $100 is only buying us a hostel for our Europe trip in a month.

After being on the go so much during our trip, we take a break and spend the whole afternoon in the spa here. It was wonderful, we may do this every day here...

After the massage and a 4 hour nap (our sleep schedules are completely off), we headed out for the night. Even at night, it is hot and steamy here (Stacy loves it!). Our first stop is a dinner of authentic Thai cuisine. The red curry and our garlic pork were several steps above any Thai we've had in the states, and only cost $2 a dish!

We jumped into a cab for a popular bar we had read about, but the cab driver took us to the latest popular club instead, with new, shiny black Mercedes and Range Rovers lined up outside. After our cheap cover fee that included two free drinks, we started to dance. The DJ was great and played some funky beats. The crowd appeared to be some wealthy young locals, along with some European and Australian tourists. Stacy is still pretty much the only blonde though.

It's the next morning now, and we are heading out to explore the city. Miss you all, more soon.

posted by Mel and Stacy Marten @ 11:08 PM