Arrival in Thailand. First Stop: Bangkok

Atticus and I reunited in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, after long 2-day journeys. We were warmly welcomed into the home of my sister-in-law's parents who have treated us like one of their own. They worked for the embassy and lived here for 5 years from 2013-2017 and are back again for 3 more years. Their son, Antonio, was home from college for winter break, so he was here too! They live in the center of the city and gave us the best possible welcome to Thailand. It feels so good to have family in this part of the world throughout this journey. I feel so grateful for them and their hospitality. Rosanna, Carlos, and Antonio: you rock! 

We spent 3 nights and 2.5 days with them and will be back again at the end of the month before we move on to Cambodia. Our first full day was a slow, recovery day. We slept in late... Poor Atticus had pretty much gone 2 nights without sleep since he had an 8-hour layover in Turkey and stayed at the airport. After we got moving, Antonio took us to a food market across the street where we had dumplings, smoothies, and fried pork. It was the perfect first food experience. Then Carlos took us to the mall to get our phones set up with Thai SIM cards. 

For dinner, we went to their favorite local restaurant and had some of the best food I've ever had! Then we went to a rooftop bar and saw the city skyline at night for the first time. Last time I was in Thailand, this was on my to do list and I never got around to it, but it was worth the wait! 

The next day we went on what Atticus calls an "urban hike," which means a long walk wandering around a city. Our first landmark was a Buddhist temple, but on the way, we came across a traditional Thai dance taking place at another Buddhist temple. By the way, Buddhism is practiced by 90% of the population! Then we found ourselves at an outdoor food market and got some dragonfruit - I cannot get enough of all the tropical fruit here. Then we went into a mall, which felt very similar to malls back home. Then we had our first dispensary experience! When I was here in 2018, marijuana possession was still punishable by death, so it's quite bizarre to see dispensaries on literally every corner. 

The next day I woke up feeling really nauseous, so I had a slow morning. I think my body was struggling to recover from all the travel and jet lag. Eventually, we went out for another urban hike. This time, we went to Lumphini Park, a huge park home to giant water monitor lizards! Then we went to a memorial for the king and wandered around some random back streets that had a lot of vendors and action. Aimlessly wandering in cities is so entertaining to me! We had dinner with Rosanna, Carlos, and Antonio before heading to the airport. I cannot tell you what exactly our dinner was but it was something delicious prepared by their personal chef/maid. Her name is Gita and she is amazing! When we get back to Bangkok, we are going to have a cooking lesson with her :) 

Then we said our goodbyes (for now) and headed to the airport to fly to Phuket to begin our 2 weeks of island hopping! 

My incredible extended family

Magical city skyline

Motorbikes outnumber cars here (Atticus photography)

Stunning Buddhist temple (Atticus photography)

Market exploring (Atticus photography)

Lumphini Park (Atticus photography)

Asian water monitor lizard (Atticus photography)

I want to give Atticus a shoutout for capturing our travels so beautifully! Thank you for reading! 

More coming soon about our the first half of our island hopping journey, but we are currently recovering from being the sickest we've ever been. We don't know if it's food poisoning or norovirus, but we no longer feel like we're going to die, so that's an improvement!