Battered Suitcase “Our battered suitcases were piled on the sidewalk again; we had longer ways to go. But no matter, the road is life.” Jack Kerouac

From Seoul we had a flight of a measly five hours down to Bangkok.  Contrary to the nightmares I kept having on the way down, our bags made it intact.  We caught a taxi with the cutest 70 year-old driver in the world, who, despite his limited English, gave us a running commentary of the sights through Bangkok.  We saw the football stadium, many hospitals that look like resorts (home to the famed "medical tourism" of Thailand), and the sprawling expanse that makes up the city.  I know I should have seen this coming, but Bangkok is HOT.  Like, turn the fan on full blast, walk at a slower pace, lethargy-inducing hot.  My delicious papaya smoothie with breakfast certainly helped, but I expect that life will move at a slower pace down here.  And that's just fine with me, escape from the ear to the grindstone and all that.  Christopher and I are planning on just hanging out and walking around today, then taking an overnight train to Chiang Mai, the biggest city in North Thailand.  It's really amazing just sitting around and seeing the street vendors, monks in saffron robes, and tuk tuk drivers cruising around. I can't believe we're really here!