Bangkok / Phuket, Thailand (Days 71-73 & 78)

Glorious chaos is the perfect description for Thailand, especially Bangkok. What a fun, fun city to explore. It is huge and has something to do for everyone (i.e. shopping, massages, delicious food, people watching galore...). Due to tides, our girl was docked a solid two hours outside Bangkok, near Pattaya. A group of us opted to overnight in the city, which was great, but I really wish we had one more day to explore Pattaya. We heard the lady boy revue was awesome.

Our group hopped a shuttle into the city and then transferred to tuk tuk's for the ride to the hotel. Man o man, that was a crazy ride! Our destination was Khao San Road, a backpacker's haven on the west side of the city. Blocks and blocks of street food (pad thai to scorpions on a stick), shopping, cheap beer and thai massage. Our visit happened to coincide with the start of their elections, which meant alcohol sales stopped at 6:00 in the evening. Although the scene was buzzing, I would have loved to see it at full action. Even with limited cheap beer time, we managed to sip a few cold ones while enjoying foot massages along the street side. Bangkok definitely goes on the "must return" list.

Phuket was a repeat for me. I managed a weekend visit years ago, while working in Penang, Malaysia. It is a gorgeous island filled with gorgeous beaches and debauchery on every corner. Phuket is where I first understood the definition of "hedonism". Our stop was a short one and we again bounced into the elections and limited alcohol sales.... so this visit was quite a bit different... it is still just beautiful.

Glorious chaos: