Break Time
Bangkok, Thailand

It's been nice having Gunga write about our adventures for the last little while. I'm going to enjoy being lazy for the next two weeks both online and on the beach. We are off on the 5pm Express Train down to Trang. Our travel time is 14hours, and I am expecting a very full carriage as most seats are already sold out. We were lucky to be able to get these upper berths in the 2nd class Fan area. We were hoping for lower berths in AC but I guess we won't complain too much.

Bangkok is currently extremely hot and humid, and at the height of its tourist season. It is still as fun as before eating out on the street where food and drinks are cheap and delicious.

It's almost time to go now, so will write more next time.

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Small Things
Bangkok, Thailand

I’m sitting here in Bangkok, patiently waiting as I upload the Cambodia pictures on this slow connection. Gunga is sitting beside me, conscientiously blogging the events of the last few days in great detail. I was just idly thinking that we have seen some incredible things in the last few weeks as we looped around South East Asia, like ancient temples, great rivers, fishing villages, vibrant cities, and somber memorials.

But just as memorable as the sights and attractions that most tourists get to see are the ‘little’ events that have happened the last while as well. The minor incidental stories and encounters we have while traveling are cherished just as much; I suppose it could be said that that is typical for many travelers.

For instance, two days ago was full of amazing coincidences that made my head spin. First, on the bus from Siam Reap to the Cambodian/Thai border, we met a fellow from Seattle; no big deal, nice fellow, but the first Seattlite we have randomly encountered so far in the last seven months. Then, we met a fellow who happened to be a helicopter engineer in Nigeria. I said, “I have an uncle who flies helicopters in Nigeria, I call him Uncle Woo.” He replies, “Oh, you mean Simon Woo? Who lives in Kuala Lumpur? Of course I know him we’ve been working together for years.” The coincidence was absolutely astounding.

But the day’s surprises were not over yet. That evening, upon arriving in Bangkok, we met up with our friends Kev and Sian who we met in Mt. Abu, India. We had been planning this encounter for a few weeks, and were excitingly swapping travel stories all night. However, unbelievably, Jen pulled over someone who we’d never expect to see… our Israeli friend Shani, who ALSO met at the same guesthouse in Mt. Abu, on the exact same night we met Kev and Sian. The five of us had not seen each other for the last two months since our Indian encounter, and here we were, bumping into each other in Bangkok. The odds of seeing Shani again seemed small, let alone in a different country, let alone at the same time and place as the two other travelers we had met the same day! Calling this world small seems to be an understatement.

Yesterday, we never thought that such a small word would give us so much pleasure: sushi. We took Kev and Sian along with Gunga to Siam Center to satisfy our sushi craving, and to celebrate their recent engagement. Will we one day take sushi for granted again? Perhaps, but boy, we certainly weren’t thinking that last night, as we stuffed thick, delicious chunks of sushi into our mouths all night.

One unfortunate encounter was with the laundry folks we retained in Siam Reap. They mistakenly left an iron in one of the two travel shirts I have, and burned several holes through the quick-dry fabric. I was of course somewhat upset seeing as this was my favourite item of clothing, but was quickly pacified by the proprietor’s offer to “repair” the shirt and his additional offer to pay me $25 for the damage caused. I accepted his apology, but also was keenly aware that they would probably have to do 25 kilos of laundry in order to earn back this money.

Anyway, there seems to be a lot of material here now with the new pictures and Gunga’s massive blog. I’m going to check on the upload, and then it’s off to catch the train!

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