Varanasi, from Bangkok

Tonight we take an 18 hr. bus from Bangkok to Phuket, arriving sometime in the afternoon of the 9th. But here's a picture of us that was taken by our friend Sonya while we dined at the good Kasheri restaurant in Varanasi (there's two of them):

Arrived in Bangkok

We made it and all is calm. All is bright. After a rainy two weeks in Singapore, it is downright tropically warm and sunny here. We are staying just around the corner from Khao San Road, the renowned "tourist ghetto" street, on another tourist ghetto street, in a tourist ghetto neighborhood with a lot of ghetto tourists. It was a strange experience to relocate from Singapore, which we had grown quite comfortable in, to start again in zee hustle and zee bustle (if my brother-in-law Joe doesn't get that quote, nobody will!) of a big city in a developing Asian country. Actually, compared to China, Nepal, and India, this ain't so bad. We were oh-so-happy to see and hear the Bangkok tuk tuk, and have our first touts chase us down, and glare from behind our beer bottles at winter-breaking college kids flashing as much over-tanned flesh as possible under their dreadlocks. Oh wait, that sounded more snobby than I intended. We are a bit worn out from finding the same streets in every country we go to -- doesn't matter if you're in Kathmandu, New Delhi, Pokharra, Kolkatta, Bangkok. I think 3rd Street in Santa Monica may be our American equivalent. Lotsa tourist chotskes (SP?), reggae music, fake label clothes, bong stores, bars, etc. There is certainly a comfortable allure to it, since it is easy to operate here, and one can find convenient internet cafes, edible food, phone cards, chocolate, and cheap clothes. We will make a concerted effort to take this place for what it is, enjoy it while we are here, and make our plans to move onward. We will be here until the evening of the 8th, when we'll get on an overnight bus to Phuket, where Lisa will be waiting for us with her 5-star accomodation. Yay!

There seems to be no evidence of the recent bombings here, with the exception of a few extra police on the streets. Things are operating normally and it appears that only government sites were targeted, perhaps in response to the King's coup. However we will be careful and try to keep up on the news, and if anyone back home hears of anything of interest, please send us an email!

Justine