First of all the most exciting update was that we got to spend 5 days in the capitol of Thailand, Bangkok!! I have to admit that I was actually really nervous about going to Bangkok. I'm not exactly sure why to be honest. I think I just felt overwhelmed about the thought of being in a huge city and wondering what it would be like.
We had quite the adventure getting to Bangkok! First of all we are living way up north in Thailand close to Burma and Bangkok is way south. So that required a 3 hour bus ride to Chiang Mai, Thailand on a bus with just fans for cool air. It was actually a really fun adventure! At one point during the drive they started playing music that was so fitting for our adventure! At one point I felt like I was in a scene to a movie! We were driving up this beautiful canyon and listening to this foreign music and it was so fitting. It was a perfect little moment :)
This isn't the best view of the bus, but it gives you and idea of what we rode in!
This is serious business!
We then hopped on to a train! What a fun experience! Like I said before Bangkok is across the country from where we are so it was a 12 hour + train ride to get there!
This isn't the best picture but it also give you an idea of what it looks like! Since it was so long we got to sleep on the train! That was quite the experience! We got on the train around 5:30 and around 7 or 8 that night the attendants came around and pulled down our beds! It was so fun!! It wasn't the most comfortable nights sleep that I have ever had. Truthfully while I was trying to sleep I felt like I was on a roller coaster the whole time. I had to go to the bathroom almost the whole night but I felt like if I got out of bed and tried to go to the bathroom on the squatters that the train had I would fall over! (Almost all bathrooms here in Thailand are squatters- that has been an adventure). I faced my fear in the morning and all was well :)
Several of us got off a few stops earlier then Bangkok for an additional adventure. Our destination was a city infested with Monkeys. Sounds fun right? :) I just felt like I needed to more adventurous in life so I decided I was get off and join in on the fun! We only had to walk a few hundred feet from the train station to begin to see monkeys everywhere. They were all over the power lines and on top of building! It was crazy! We stopped at spot and this one ruin was COVERED in monkeys! It was insane!! I personally didn't let any of them get on me, but everyone else that I was with did! After seeing that the monkeys kind of went crazy once they went on them I was so grateful I didn't let them on me at all! I was grateful to leave that city!!
Another stop along our way to Bangkok was at a Floating Market! We had lunch with some friends and had a spa treatment by fish! That was an adventure!! I am SUPER ticklish so that was a huge conquering of fears for me to be able to successfully keep my feet in the water for 20 min!
After this we were off for another adventure to see where the film "Mortal Combat" was filmed! We weren't able to go inside the ruins but we had a lot of fun exploring outside of the ruins!
After this we were FINALLY on our way to Bangkok! It had been a long day and we were all ready to finally be in Bangkok! We hadn't really slept and hadn't showered in almost two days to our hotel was a welcomed sight!
One thing that I love here in Thailand is that our American Dollar goes along way here! 30 Baht equals 1 American Dollar here! We always joke here that we feel so rich here in Thailand so it will feel like America is so expensive when we get back! We all stayed in this super nice hotel that was only $60 for three nights! It was soooo nice! We had AC, which we all loved since we only have these little fans here in our humble abode here in Thaton. There was HOT running water, nice beds, lots of room and it was close to everything! Can you tell that these are all luxuries that I am missing here? :) It was a wonderful little weekend get away! I left that city so sad! I wish that there was more time to explore and to just be in Bangkok! I wouldn't mind going back there someday to visit or even live temporally (did I really just admit that?)
We pretty much just did tourist things that weekend so I am just going to post a whole bunch of different things that we did!
Our sweet bathroom!! It was seriously so nice compared to what we have here in our village! It actually flushed!!
We rode on so many different kinds of transportation while in Bangkok! We were on Subways and Sky Trains, Taxi's and my favorite, which I nicknamed this, the Poo Boats! Sounds crazy huh!? There is no way that this would fly in the states. But these boats are quick, cheap and super efficient in getting you where you need to go in this big city! The canal runs through the middle of the city and it is just plain groose water! I'm not exactly sure what is in there, but it is rumored that the sewers go into it! So they are kind of smelly. They probably pack around 70 people into each boat! You have to be quick to get on and off those boats too! Once you are on you lift up this tarp on the side to protect you from the grose water! The workers are holding on to outside edge of the boat and walk on the side collecting your money while trying not to fall off the boat! I was quite impressed with them! It is a job that I would not enjoy to have though :)
I thought this was kind of fun to see right before we got onto the boats!
One of the boats about the pull in!
This is the first group that I went onto the boat with!
Bangkok is so busy all day every day!!
We went to this Temple that is on the back of the 10 baht coins here in Thailand! It is one place you need to make sure you go see if you are ever in Bangkok! It was BEUTIFUL!! We learned it was made during a time when Thailand had a lot of good interactions with China so it has some Chinese influences to it. It was one of my beautiful Temples that I have seen here. (Which is saying a lot because there are Temples EVERYWHERE here! Seriously! There are probably about 20 in a 5 min radius to us here!
This guy's name is Pete. AKA Brother Pete. He is friends with one of the guys we are here in Thailand with! He was a great guide to have as we were trying to get around Bangkok! In this picture we are doing a symbol for "beautiful" or "handsome". At least that is what I have been told :)
See how steep this thing is!? It took courage to make up it up the bottom level! I didn't make it up the second sadly, I realized I had an issue with heights after the first step :)
There were so many amazing details to this Temple!
Fat Buddha outside the Temple!!
One of my FAVORITE things about the weekend was this BBQ that we went to! Seriously I was obsessed!! It is an all you can eat buffet and you cook all your meet and boil your vegetables at your table with these little stoves they bring to your table! It was soooo fun!!! I surprised myself with how much I could eat that night! :) Actually I wasn't really all that surprised, I can eat too much very easily. It had been a long hot day and we hadn't really eaten or drank that much throughout the day, so it was a glorious evening!!
Part of the buffet!
The group that we went with!! They were great company!!
Our little stove!! It was blazing hot! It was such a fun way to cook though! I was slightly obsessed with it!!
I probably had three bowls of this fruit! I honestly don't know what it is called but it is like an apple and a pear combined! It was heavenly!!
Again I couldn't tell you what this ice cream flavor is but it is amazing with lots of little pieces of goodness in it! I wont tell you how many bowls I had of that :)
Our hotel was right next to the Church Office Buildings here! It was a happy sight to see this!!
Church in Bangkok!! I LOVE going to church over here! For starters it is a real treat because where we live is 3 to 4 hours away from church! So I try to just soak it all in while I am there! We went to an international ward last Sunday in Bangkok and that was amazing!! One thing that surprised me so much was that there were so many young American couples there! There were also people from all over the world in attendance too! I was loving my life during church!
It was during Sacrament meeting that day that a guy stood up to speak and I had the impression that I could live here someday! I guess we will see where the future leads me!!
It was during Sacrament meeting that day that a guy stood up to speak and I had the impression that I could live here someday! I guess we will see where the future leads me!!
All in all it was one of my favorite weekends that I have had so far here in Thailand!! I am so grateful that I was able to go and visit! I can't wait to come back some day!
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