First thoughts from Thailand

Hello everyone! I should have set this up before I left, but I didn't even think of it! This will be the place to be if you want to keep up on what I'm doing in Thailand for the next couple weeks. If you didn't know already, I'm here with my friend John and we arrived four days ago. I'll be posting as often as possible with some daily highlights and such. I hope you'll keep checking back and leaving me some commentary, it will be a nice reminder of home. So far this country has been absolutely amazing and continues to be better each day.

For the past four days I've been travelling the streets of Bangkok via Tuk-Tuk (crazy 3 wheeled motorcyle w/two person cart attatched)at high speeds, weaving in and out of incredibly dense traffic. The roadways are chaotic from where I'm sitting, yet driving head-on into oncoming traffic and coming within inches of other vehicles doesn't some to phase the local drivers. Motorcyclists make their own mini-lanes which are barely wide enough for them to escape a nasty crash. It took a little getting used to, but I'm feeling pretty comfortable with it at this point. I also rode on the back of one of the above mentioned motorcycles yesterday which made the Tuk-Tuk ride pale in comparison.

Bangkok is a massive city with equal parts history and industry. The contrast between the areas is amazing. I visited historic temples one day and stood in a times square-esque intersection with MTV on jumbo TV's the next. I've met some incredible people who are more than willing to show me around and point me in the direction of their favorite restaurant.

I've enjoyed my time in the big city, but am looking forward to the more rural areas soon to come. I'll be heading north via sleeper-train this evening in preparation for a 3-4 day trek to some small villages. I'll be staying with the villagers and getting there via foot, elephant, and bamboo raft.

As I said before, I'll try to update this as often as possible, but given my plans for the next few days, I'm not sure how much access I will have to any type of technology.