So where should I start? With how I finally started packing at about 2am the morning of our flight? The approximately 1 1/2 hours of sleep I got? Or maybe I should just skip ahead to the flight itself and the tedium of 18 hours in transit?? The problem I seem to have when I write my posts is that I'm never sure of just how much or how little I should include. I have in the past been accused of writing a short novel but seeing as how we are only on day 4 of our adventures I don't think there will be any real danger of that. So with that in mind I will try to get in the major details without running on and on.

The flights themselves? Great seats, horrible food. That about sums it up for me. We had tons of leg room behind the bulkhead which made the first leg of the trip much more enjoyable than usual but the food was bad enough that Dave ate all mine for me. There is something even about the smell of airplane food I just can't stand. The layover in Hong Kong was perfectly timed though. We got to our departure gate just as they were starting to board and then it was on to Thailand. After a quick two hours in the air we were met at the airport by Tommys buddy, James, who had recently moved to Bangkok. Great guy and he made it easy for us to make plans for the next week or so because Dave and I had wanted to head to Cambodia to see Ankor Wat and Tommy just wasn't interested. That of course meant they could catch up and hang out while we did our thing; more on that later. So we get to Bangkok and James is there to meet us and right away thing differ from how I usually go about things. First and foremost I would class myself as a budget backpacker. That means I try to stretch my dollars as far as I possibly can. Transport and accommodations on the cheap side so when something fun or exciting comes up it's a no brainer. All of this means that when I leave the airport I grab the cheapest transport and head for the cheapest part of town which is Kao San Rd. On this occasion we opted for limousine service (SUV) to the Sukumvit area of Bangkok. It's still a touristy part of Bankok but on the more upscale side. We dropped James and Tom off at James place with plans to meet up later and then the driver was "supposed" to take us to a nice affordable guest house. Apparently to him that meant gouge us another 700 baht ($21) on transport and drop us at a 2900 baht ($95) a night hotel. In context that 700 baht is usually what Dave and I spend on a room for two nights on Kao San Rd. Unfortunately it wasn't totally unexpected. Needless to to say we weren't impressed but too damn tired to venture out with our backpacks in search of something better. So we headed to the room for a quick shower before heading out for the night. Did I mention for 2900 baht we only got one bed? Yup, one bed. Oh well. Feeling a little fresher and with clean clothes we headed for an English pub called Strikers on Nana Rd. Cool little place and Tom and James were already waiting with beers in hand. We sat around till late and got quite a good buzz going before deciding we would move on to the next place. Not sure how much detail I should go into here for the sake of any ladies reading but please keep in mind that just because something sounds a little dirty doesn't necessarily mean anything dirty happened. Besides, 4 boys out on the town in Bangkok... With that in mind we headed off to a part of Nana Rd that I can't seem to remember the name of. I'll call it Nana Plaza. It's a short narrow alley that leads to a large U shaped building about 4 or 5 stories filled with bars sporting names such as Lollipops, Spankys, Girls Girls Girls... You get the gist. James wanted to take us to a place he likes called the Blow Job Bar but it was closed along with a few of the other bars. It was then that we realized how late it had gotten. In the Sukumvit area and I think Bankok in general most pubs and bars close at 2am. So without any luck we headed off in search of someplace late to close and found it at the Hillary Bar. Just in time to grab one more beer as they were closing up. This is where James and Tommy called it a night and with plans to meet back at Strikers at 5pm the next day they headed off. Probably a good idea but with minimal sleep in the last 24 hours Dave and I decided to go in search of a little more fun. All along the streets in Sukumvit, like in Kao San, there are venders and hawkers selling there wares during the day but in the evening these folks are replaced by people with portable bars on carts and little stools and tables. Dave and I picked one that looked like the folks were having fun and preceded to join in. We drank, puffed on a hookah and chatted with an old Irish dude for a while. These people with the little bars must love me because the more drunk I get the more friendly I am so I try to invite and involve any passing stranger that looks willing. So when I yelled at a couple of younger guys and got there attention they turned back and decided to join us. Turned out it was a couple of good ol' Canadian boys. I'll post a couple pictures at the bottom. *The ladies in the pictures are just there to keep us company while we drink for all yous guys thinking otherwise. Things get a little fuzzy here as I did something I don't usually do which is shots... lots of shots. We started with the easy stuff but it gradually got worse. For me at least. Side note: first time I ever got drunk was on Vodka, haven't touched it since. Vodka shots and lots more beers later we were having the times of our lives. This is in part why we're here of course. Doing things we wouldn't get a chance to do back home. Making the most of every minute we're here. Dave and Chris decided to call it a night though as the sun started coming up so off they headed for there respective hotels. I wasn't tired or excited about sharing a bed with Dave so me and the other kid Matt decided to look for something to do. I say kid but I'm not sure of his age, just that he was younger. We headed off a little (lot) drunk on the BTS Skytrain (Bangkok Transit System) to the giant 7 story mall called MBK. Not sure what our plan was but maybe because of the state we were in we failed to consider the time of day and the mall was closed. Whatcha gonna do? We headed back to a little place across from where Matt was staying and had breakfast and waited for Bangkok to wake up. Eventually we sobered and I booked Dave and I into the World Inn where Matt and Chris were staying. Only 800 baht ($27) and had hot water and a TV. Two things I'm not used to in a guest house here. By this time it was 11am and close to check out time. I parted ways with Matt and headed back to the hotel to get Dave. Unfortunately for Dave he was fucked. I didn't have to witness any puking but I heard there was a fair amount. Since we had a little time till checkout I grabbed my belongings and left Dave to sleep a bit longer with the name of the new guest house on the desk. Leaden with bags I headed back towards the World Inn. Only, I was fuzzy on where it was. There are lots of streets here called Soi which are just long dead end roads surrounded by buildings. They all look very similar and with no sleep, heavy bags and the hot noon sun it seemed like forever till I found the place. I passed the same cop 3 times while looking, sweating profussly walking slower and slower. Wonderfully, I eventually found the place, turns out it was at Soi 7-1. I dropped my bags by the closest bed and passed out. Not much later Dave showed up looking like death and passed out as well. I only had a few hours sleep before I had to get up to meet James and Tommy back at Strikers. This was when I had planned to arrange transport for Dave and I to go to Cambodia and get quotes on flights down to Krabi Town. Unfortunately Dave was convinced he couldn't find his wallet and passport. In the condition he was in it was up to me to head back to the old hotel and search the room we had. Nothing. I looked everywhere but I couldn't find either. Daves wallet actually holds his passport too, so I asked the lady at the front desk to keep and eye out and headed back to Nana. I met up with the boys at Strikers, told them about the situation and said I'd meet back with them in a bit. I headed to an internet cafe a little further down Nana Rd. and grabbed a little bit to eat but couldn't get much down and checked www.asiaair.com for flights to Krabi. Only 1580 baht ($53) which is a great deal. Until we could find Daves passport though we couldn't board any flights or cross any borders. I joined Tommy and James for a couple beer and then headed back to the World Inn at around 7pm. Luckily Dave was a little more coherent and had searched his backpack and found his wallet and Passport. Whew!! What a relief. With all plans for our early morning departure to Cambodia a go I left Dave to sleep a little longer and joined back up with Tom and James for some pool and more beers. They were refreshed from the sleep they had the night before but I was still a little rough. Around 11pm they headed off to look for some fun and I headed back to the room to check on Dave. He was feeling some what better so we went for a wander to grab Dave some food and check out the area a little more. We went to bed relatively early on our second night in Bangkok. All things concidered it had been a great beginning to the trip for me. I was lacking sleep, a little dehydrated and with very little food in me I was feeling surprisingly well. Dave of course was having a great time too with only a few sore stomach muscles from hurling but doing pretty good.

I think I'll stop it there. I'll pick up on the next post with our adventures in getting across the Cambodian border and our visit to Ankor Wat. So far the only pictures I have access too are the ones on my iPhone but I'll try to post more later when possible. Until then ciao for now...