Thailand!

Hi everyone,

So this weekend I went to Bangkok, Thailand. It was my first trip ever to Southeast Asia, the region that I have been obsessed with since I starting caring about politics. It was also the first independent, international trip I have ever planned by myself. It was AMAZING.

I flew Emirates Air with my friend Spencer, who was traveling with me - I highly recommend this airline to anyone who has the option of flying it. The flight attendants were really friendly and I think they enjoyed our company - we were sitting in the very back row of the plane, so we could hear them talking about the stupid passengers who wouldn't sit down and stuff. We started talking to two of them and they were really nice - one was from Ireland, the other from Jordan. They gave us tips about where to go for food and bars and stuff. The flight was only about two and a half hours, so we landed in Bangkok around midnight on Friday.

On Friday we got up early, ate breakfast at the hotel, and took a tuk-tuk to some of the sights (Big Buddha and Gold Buddha) before we went to the Grand Palace. That place is incredible. I have never seen such beautiful, diverse architecture in one place. We spent about two hours there (despite some heavy showers) and got a lot of gorgeous pictures. After that we went to the hotel, showered, and took another tuk-tuk to a street with a bunch of restaurants. We found a streetside restaurant and got delicious curry seafood with rice - dinner and drinks for the two of us was $10 USD total :) Then we went out on the town.

The next day we got a little bit lost in Bangkok. Wandering around, we found some random temples that were definitely NOT tourist traps - one had a pen full of alligators (random), the other had a gorgeous temple with a huge golden Buddha inside. We sat there for a few minutes and then monks and nuns started coming in, and before we knew it they were all praying. It was one of the coolest experiences of my life. After staying there for about an hour, we walked around some more and found a night market, where we bought lucky amulets. I also stopped at a street hawker and bought a bag of snacks - giant grilled insects. Yum! After that we went to Khao San Road, the expat bar area, and bar-hopped a little before calling it a night.

On Sunday we got up and got Thai massages (soooo nice - half hour massage for $5 USD!) before hopping on our plane. When we got to the airport, the nice lady at Emirates Air informed us that we had been bumped up to business class. We got invitations to the lounge, where we waited for our plane in style while enjoying free snacks and drinks, and then got onto the plane where we had amazing, huge, reclining, massaging seats. I will never fly economy again!

Sooo Thailand is my favorite country that I've ever been to. Everyone should go. Pics are here!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2022993&id=1325940161&l=1c53ed93ee
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023064&id=1325940161&l=1ec960ffbb
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http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023128&id=1325940161&l=f1d612e08e
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023132&id=1325940161&l=bcd2524c98