If our first night in Bangkok was any preview of what is to come... We are going to love SE Asia. Our flight landed at BKK just hours after the US Presidential Election results had been announced, and our driver met us at the gate with a celebratory "Obamanos!" sign. Amazing! We drove out to our apartment, miraculously missing Bangkok's infamous traffic. Awesome! And then between the hours of 10pm and midnight, we ate delicious street food and each had our first Thai massage, all for a grand total of less than $10USD. Incredible! To make things even more exciting, our friends from the States were scheduled to start arriving the next two days!

We spent the majority of our first day in Bangkok eating (shocking, I know) and getting a feel for the city. Being from Austin, the black hole for public transportation, we LOVE cities with easy infrastructure. Bangkok has the metro (subway) and the BTS (sky train) and thousands of taxis, long tail boats and tuk tuks. We ended up staying a bit outside of the action in River Side, but there was a BTS stop a few blocks away to take us into town and long tails were always available to head upriver to many of the historical / cultural sights. Not a bad neighborhood if you want a little peace and quiet or a fancy hotel (the river is where many of the the five-stars are located). But, we suggest Sukhumvit, Ekkamai, or Ari for a little more "energy" and in hindsight, would have stayed in one of those areas. We ended day one with a friend of a friend from Austin who showed up wearing a Longhorn hat and took us for an amazing dinner at Pla Dip in Ari.

Completely by chance, our second full day in Bangkok coincided with a Royal Barge Procession on the Chao Praya River to honor the King's 85th birthday coming up in December and to mark the end of Buddhist Lent when the monks return from walk-abouts in far-flung places around SE Asia. The ceremony has only happened 16 times in the last 50 years years and probably won't again for the next decade, so we jumped at the chance to check it out. The royal fleet of 53 traditional long tail barges and their crew of 2,300 men, all decked out in traditional garb, rowed down the river to Wat Arun, one of Bangkok's most well-known and treasured temples. It sounds somewhat boring, but it was beautiful and impressive with the sleek long tails gliding silently through the water at the hands of their crew, also silent, in front of a temple as the sun set slowly behind it all. And, the mostly Thai crowd was so into it that it was contagious - they love their King! Afterwards, we hustled back to the apartment to meet up with the first of our state-side friends, Rick and Gillian, and hopped on the BTS to a music festival we had heard about the day before.

In Bangkok, looking at live kittens isn't quite enough. They must be accompanied by cute pictures on the iPad...of kittens.

Apparently music festival in Bangkok means something different than in Austin, because it was actually a multi-stage rave. B and I were wiped out and Rick and Gillian were jet lagged, so it wasn't exactly the kind of night we had planned. But, we made the most of it and did our best to hang before admitting we are all old and retiring to the night market outside. That part was pretty great. This specific night market (at the old train station across from Chatuchuk) is where the Bangkok hipster set goes, so there were tons of vintage and artisan crafts along with the regular random wares. And, in true Bangkok style, the was plenty of street food to sample. We wondered through the stalls, grabbing bites and beers until midnight when we had to head back to the apartment to greet the second arrival... Our roommate from Austin, Stephanie.

Day three was long, but one of the greats. Rick and Gillian had to work, so Steph, B and I hopped in a long tail and headed to the floating market up river. On the way there, we went through neighborhoods built on a canal system, somewhat tired and run down, but with the occasion glimpse at the simple Thai lifestyle - women cooking, men fishing, kids jumping into the water (not sure if we would do the same, it's pretty polluted). The floating market turned out to be one big food fest, so we gladly pulled up a chair and chowed on some amazing fish and noodles.

Back on tierra firma, it was off to China Town for some exploration and a visit to Wat Mahathat, a lesser-known Bangkok where the monks are especially open to questions from curious Westerners. We almost gave up when we couldn't find it, but Brendan saved the day with his iPhone and we escaped the hot, crowded streets in the quiet walls of the temple. The highlight of the day came next. We were sitting on the steps of the temple, planning our next move (mostly, how to get home) and this woman walked up and sat with us. She (Marisa) grabbed our map and started showing us all the "to-dos" in the area, complete with times, distances and prices. A tuk tuk driver would stop, show us where to go, wait for us and then take us to the next spot and eventually home. All for 60 baht ($2). As much as we hate to admit, we were immediately skeptical that she was trying to sell us on something else or just straight up scamming us. But, before we knew it we were on our own private tuk tuk being shuttled around the city to the Marble Temple and other sites we never would have seen otherwise. And, at the end of the day, the driver dropped us off at the apartment, collected his 60 baht and left us safe and smiling at what had just happened. We didn't get scammed. We didn't get robbed. We weren't in a ditch. And we got exactly what was promised. It was an unbelievable act of kindness from a local and just one example of how amazingly warm the Thai people are.

From strangers to friends twice-removed, we headed to the BTS to catch a ride into town for a dinner with Debbie and her daughter Leila, who we had been put in contact with through a friend and work colleague back in Austin. What a meal! Debbie and Leila took charge with the ordering after a few questions about our preferences and dietary restrictions (haha) and in moments, plate after plate of amazing food and a two-liter water cooler of beer showed up at the table. Pla Duk Fu was a highlight for us - shredded and then deep fried catfish with a spicy mango salad on top. Yum! If the meal wasn't already memorable enough, we piled into Debbie's car and headed to their favorite Bangkok street food area (Soi 38 on Sukumvit or the Thong Lo stop on BTS) for dessert. We had what we'll call "Ice Soup" that was pieced together from picking any of dozens of "toppings" with a choice of "base liquid". It was definitely something we never would or could have attempted on our own, but luckily Debbie and Leila expertly pieced together a palatable bowl. It wasn't our favorite, but it was interesting and full of surprises. Down the road, we stopped for some Roti, a delicious crepe stuffed with fruit and topped with sugar and condensed milk. The Roti vendor saw us watching in amazement as he expertly flipped the paper thin dough and offered to teach us how to do it ourselves! Leila said she had never seen that happen in Bangkok, so we gladly took advantage. It was much harder than it looked and after some failed attempts, we gave our respect to the vendor and left the flipping to him. The banana roti was delicious and perfectly prepared.

Full and exhausted, we dragged ourselves back to the apartment to meet the third and final installment of our Thailand crew... Jimmy and Megan. It was only midnight, which in Bangkok is equivalent to 8pm, so we did the only logical thing and went right back out for food and drinks. The night ended at 3am, we passed out at the apartment for a few hours and regrouped with the crew at 9am for a day of serious sightseeing.

The crew fully assembled on the other side of the world. Let the party begin!