MY LEGS FEEL LIKE JELLO

BANGKOK, THAILAND

Temperature: 32 degrees Celsius

Track of the day: "Have you ever seen the Rain", Rod Stewart

"This is our stop," I say to Alecs as the skytrain pulls into Mo Chit station - gateway to the Chatuckuck weekend market. It's 8:30 AM and the market just opened half and hour ago, but we've been up for several hours in anticipation of our next journey out into Bangkok. "Just

 follow the other farangs (foreigners)," Alecs says as we weave past two tuk-tuk's and a taxi on the road. Ahead, a few vendors line the road and I wonder if this is what all the hype was about. My questions are soon answered when we stumble 

on an intricate mass of vendors selling everything imaginable. The weekend market has become it's own entity, operating like a city unto itself, with maps and signs to help you find your way around. Our first stop was to get married, or at least to buy the rings to make us look married. Out bible (The Lonely Planet Southeast Asia on a Shoestring guidebook) suggested unwed couples wear mock wedding rings in Laos to prevent disapproving glares from guesthouse owners. "How about that one?," Alecs asks pointing to a plain silver band behind the glass. "Sure, but you have to promise to spend more than 130 Baht on a real one okay," I reply, fitting the ring to my finger. Alecs buys a plain silver band as well and we continue on our way. I talked to mom at work this morning and she warned against visiting the pet section - but alas, the magnetic draw to animals in my very soul had be stumbling upon it in no time. Huskies, beagles, golden retrieves - it took great restraint not to buy one. "It could fit in my backpack," I plead to Alecs, "who would even know it was there?" I add. Alecs shakes his head and leads me out of the area pointing out that it would be cruel to take a new puppy across southeast Asia smuggled in a backpack. We spend hours shopping and at some points we are so deep in the maze of vendors we forget it's daytime. Our last stop was to buy some grapes for tomorrow's train ride to Chiang Mai, but it took us nearly three hours to find our way there.

"Where to next?" Alecs asks as we casually hop on the skytrain, to which we've become quite well acquainted with. "We need to change trains at Siam to the Sukhumvit line and go to Saphan Taksin station to catch a

water taxi," I reply feeling like pro. Within no time we're standing at the pier boarding a boat to take us to the Grand Palace. "Stop number 9 - Tha Chang," Alecs says, pointing to our destination, a few meters ahead on the river. We hop off the boat and find our way to the entrance of the Grand Palace. The Palace walls are huge and seem to line the streets for blocks and as we head down the walkway towards the palace a guard stops us. "No short pants," she says pointing to a sign explaining the strict dress code. We both knew about the dress code in temples, but I was wearing Capri's and Alecs was wearing long

 short so we thought we were going to be okay. Nevertheless, we moved on and took the water taxi back one stop to Wat Arun - which

 was founded in the Ayutthaya period by King Taksin who arrived there at the end of the royal barge procession. The temple is massively tall and steep stairs make their way to the top. It's 1:00PM and the sun is a it's hottest acting quite unforgiving as we wipe the sweat off our foreheads. "Ready?" Alecs asks as we stare up at the steps leading to the top. I reluctantly nod my head and we begin our way up. The steps are very steep and the higher we go, the steeper they become. By the time we reach the top, we are both using the railing to pull ourselves up each stair. The temple is a tribute to Buddha and the steps are designed to be steep so that you will be crawling up to worship Him. We certainly felt like we were crawling, but a feeling of accomplishment came over us when we reached the top and we were rewarded with amazing views over the Chao Phraya River. From here, we could see the peaks of W

at Phra Kaew and the Grand Palace. We watched monks puttering around the temples and sought comfort in the shade - 

of which there was very little. "This is incredible,"Alecs says as he watches the boats winding along the river. "I know, and just think, a week ago we were at work," I remind him. We make our way to the stairs and butterflies build in my stomach as we start our decent. Going up

 may have seemed difficult, but going down the steep and very narrow steps was much harder. I clung to the railing for dear life with both hands every step of the way, as did Alecs, and after what seemed like forever we were at the bottom admiring the temple again. "My legs feel like Jello," Alecs says at the bottom as we pull a bottle of water out of our backpack. The smell of burning incense and toasting sesame seeds fill the air and our stomach start to grumble.

We make our way back to the hotel in search of a restaurant and to pick up our train tickets. 

We find a delicious place to eat in our own backyard (the hotel restaurant) and I order Pad Thai while Alecs orders a fried rice dish. "This is the best pad Thai I've ever had," I say to Alecs as I find my appetite for the first time on this trip. Alecs remains unaware that I'm even at the table as he slurps on his fresh watermelon shake. "You should try this," he finally says as if only now realizing I exist. I take a sip of his watermelon shake and am rewarded with delicious pieces of fresh watermelon dancing on my tongue - or at least it tastes that way. After lunch we pick up our train tickets for tomorrows 13 hour journey to Chiang Rai.

Before arriving in Bangkok, we though this large city would be our least favorite of the places we will be visiting. Although it is only our first stop, I can't see us finding anything negative to say about it. We love Bangkok, we love everything about it, and we are already looking forward to our next day here after Cambodia.

Goodbye for now! Thanks to everyone for reading and writing, we miss you all! Our next post will be the day after tomorrow as we are taking a 13 hr train ride to Chiang Mai tomorrow.

Love Meg and Alecs in Bangkok

(Can't seem to get the videos up, will try again later)