Bangkok, Thailand

Our first stop in Thailand was Bangkok. Bangkok is known to be the largest city in the world with over 8 million people. However the whole area is very flat and spread out such that it was not as dense as hong kong felt. We spentmost of our time checking out the royal palaces and the Buddha temples as we were only in Bangkok for one night. The culture is most definitely different here. Most of the thai people are very friendly and outgoing but like in most areas with lots of tourists, there are people out to make some money off of stupid tourists. It hasbeen very hard to figure out the difference between those trying to help you and those trying to scam you. Overall we have gotten by just fine but wehave definitely heard our fair share of stories and offers that are too good to be true or cost way more than they should. You definitely have to watch out for the tuk tuk drivers who want to take you to all their favorite shops. Once again the language barrier can be quite a hamper to negotiating deals.

We got away from the bustle of big cities though and headed for the beach at hua hin where Gabe just so happens to have an uncle hanging out there. Got to love local knowledge!