Dalama Adventures Tale of two corporate types ditching their jobs and traveling the world for 14 months... check out all photos, blogs & interesting tid bits at http://www.dalama.net

The majority of Thais are practicing Theravada Buddhists.   Everywhere you go in Bangkok, you see the yellow flags of Buddhism flying proudly.  There are sections of neighborhoods and street dedicated to vendors selling Buddhist paraphernalia.  My personal favorite, however, is the big circular encasings displaying either a Buddha, or a deity of choice, mostly hanging from young teenager/male beaded necklaces.  As you peruse the Buddha carvings for sale (carved in stone or ceramic), vendors provide magnifying glasses for you to ensure the right level of detail and authenticity exists in the stone of your choice.  You can even have yours painted if you so choose - it's all about personal choice and preference for the purchase experience.  Our friend Scott wasn't able to find the right Buddha bling for himself, but he did purchase a bit of Bangkok bling for his wrist, which he was wearing for the rest of his trip with us.

We are trilled to say that we have added a second friend to our "hall of fame visitors" during our journey.  As you'll remember, our Australian friends Karla and Paul flew from Sydney to Perth to hang out with us for a fun long weekend in Perth back in March.  Scott, our friend from San Diego, swung through Bangkok on his way back from a business trip in Malaysia, to spend 30 hours with us, tearing up the town.  It was the first night we've stayed awake past 11:00 p.m. since our return from Nepal...  we indulged in the fine food and beverages in the Khao San district last night, and early this morning headed out on the canals of Bangkok, viewing the strikingly juxtaposed hotels and dilapidated wooden stilt houses peacefully coexisting together along the river.  We then took Scott deep into the bowels of the fish, produce and flower markets, where we got back stage to sample the smells and sights.  We ended up at a very local hole in the wall food joint, where all types of parts of animals and fish were being cooked up in savory broth with a sharp kick from the chilly and ginger seasonings.  We were clearly in a local market eatery, as all the locals were staring at us, smiling and pointing as we wolfed down the yummy meals.  We explored the ancient wats of Arun, and then made our way to the Grand Palace.  Darrin and Scott, both showing an inappropriate amount of skin below the short line for a Buddhist monument, were handed silk pajama bottoms by the etiquette police at the door, to wear during our tour of the Grand Palace.  It was stinking hot, and they were not so happy in their silk jammies, so after a couple hours in the sweltering heat and humidity, we ventured out to seek some relief.  Darrin and I opted for some cool drinks, while Scott wrapped up his long day of walking with a Thai massage, and he left the massage parlor feeling like he'd been worked over by a  tiny 80 lb., 5 ft. Thai woman.  He wondered what it would be like if he were thrown into prison here, if a small woman could do so much damage all in the name of a massage.  

We topped off the evening at the Suan Lum Night Bazaar- we braved the roads on a Tuk Tuk, probably not the smartest move with three of us weighting down the back of the three wheeler, and hitting the super highways here, vehicle tipping with every swerve in and out of cars.  Our choice of dining - the food & beer garden at the Bazaar was not the posh city dining experience Scott has grown accustomed to with his high class corporate dinners... the food stalls tonight were not so nice as the ones in the Khao San district last night... here at the Night Bazaar we spotted rats and cockroaches crawling near the stalls...  the food was not as good as our local streets we'd been eating from.  That said, the shopping, combined with the entertainment, young aspiring Thai singers/dancers ready to hit the streets in the US to try out for American Idol, were doing their thing up on stage.  It was all quite entertaining, and cool beers kept us going until midnight, and we made our way back to the hotel, packed our bags in preparation for our 4:00 am wake up call for the taxi to the airport.  Thanks to Scott, and his extra empty suitcase, we were able to offload 15 kilos of gear and souvenirs we would have had to ship back by post...  hopefully he clears customs tomorrow and our stuff makes it back.