Aaah...here I go again...

Wow...I am so many days in already and it is hard to start from the start because too much happened in the last few days. I shall try...

On Monday (January 14th) I got a call from my friend (who lives in the city and who I would be traveling to Thailand with). She told me that the road from that city to the airport was so bad (snow and ice) that the busses were not driving and that we were going to try and take a train instead. I found out that the busses from my town to the city were not driving on Monday for the same reasons so I was preparing myself for a longer-than-expected trip - partly on a train.

On Tuesday (my planned departure date) I woke up and called the bus station first thing in the morning only to find out that no one was at the bus station. I figured I should get my garbage out before I left for a few weeks so I took my garbage and went down all 7 flights of stairs only to find out that there was a layer of ice on the ground - I nearly fell on my behind. It was clear to me why no one was answering the phone at the bus station. But...I HAD to get out of town asap to make it to the train station by 1pm - the last train that would go to the airport before my plane would depart (bus ride from my town to the city where I had to catch the train is about 2 hours). I started getting somewhat nervous at 10:30am (thankfully Karen had come early in the morning to keep me a little calm) and we decided that I should just take my packed suitcase and walk through town to wave down any driver going to the city. By exactly 11am we found a bus going to the city so I hopped on and we started our journey... Only 7 minutes into the trip the bus had to stop for 45 minutes because of an accident on the icy road. That defined the rest of the trip. I saw many, many cars and busses upside-down in ditches and ravines and also saw several dead bodies and body parts (half a skull) on the road. This bus ride that normally takes about 1.5 hours took 3.5 hours - I was very thankful to be alive and a little shaken up.

Obviously, by this time it was past 1pm (the expected train -departure time) but we were informed that another train would be coming through at 4pm and we were allowed to try and get on it. "Try and get on" was right - I had never seen anything like it...people were shoving each other, climbing over each other (stepping on heads), crushing babies, other babies were being passed through the train's window - it was unbelievable. However, we realized that we HAD to get onto this train so we did our fair share of pushing (that's the way it's done here - even at the grocery store or at the post office). The train was absolutely - COMPLETELY packed and most people (including myself) stood for the entire almost 4 hour train ride. We could hardly move, everybody seemed to be smoking and puffing in our faces, I had the pleasure of standing very close to the train's little squat pot bathroom so not only was it a 'lovely' stench but I constantly had people squeeze past me (I literally had to breathe in and hold my breath so they could pull themselves past me)...all in all it was a wonderful experience. We were so thankful we made it onto the train so that we would not have to miss our flights, as other friends had just 24 hours before.

On Wednesday morning we flew to Kunming, China (where we ate at KFC in the airport - it was glorious!). From Kunming we flew to Bangkok, Thailand. Words that describe Bangkok: clean air (compared to China anyway), amazing food (variety that is), WARM weather (swimming in lovely outdoor pools), fun (and cheap!) shopping, good company...all that you could want in a holiday! It is obvious that Bangkok is the capital of a 3rd world country - much poverty, many stray dogs...you can smell '3rd world country' in the air!

From Wednesday (16th) to Saturday (19th) we stayed in Bangkok. We did lots of shopping, I visited a Buddhist temple (The Grand Palace), ate great food, rode in tuk tuks (see picture), etc. All together it was very, very enjoyable and there's nothing like almost being stuck in a freeeeeezing country only to come to a place where wearing capris and tanktops are sufficient!

Just today we got to Pattaya...a very touristy city - although we are staying a little ways outside of the city at a more quiet resort that is located right by the ocean's beach. The resort has 5 swimming pools and our room looks right towards the ocean. Palm trees everywhere. Pineapple and watermelon stands everywhere. In short - it is a beautiful resort and I am so happy to spend 6 days here...then I will move on to Chiang Mai.