phuket or bust...

i arrived in bangkok late last night or what it early this morning? i was so nervous about cabbing it to the hotel that i struck up a conversation with my seat-mate on the flight from hk to bangkok. he told me that i could hire a car at the airport. this is considered to be for big spenders...i splurged the thirty bucks so i didn't have to figure out the cab situation. it was so nice that i hired the same car to take me back to the airport this morning.

i had precious few hours to explore the bustling city...so i woke up nice and early, grabbed my free breakfast and hit the road. my first priority was to get a sim card for the phone that m, my neighbor lent me...check...i then went walking. i strolled through lupini park and then i took the metro to a buddhist temple and then strolled some more. i stumbled upon the gay go-go street. this somehow does not surprise me in the least. i wandered a bit more and bought a few yards of silk. i'm pretty sure that i was ripped off...live and learn. i even bargained! the price just seemed too high after all was said and done.

i then popped in a cab and zoomed back to the hotel for check-out and headed to the airport for check-in. i am getting used to this traveling alone thing. there are a few things that are inconvenient...eating at the airport food court i wanted some additional chili vinegar sauce for my rice...i had to grab all of my belongings and haul them up to the counter for a tiny little condiment...i also had an (american) man come up to me and tell me that i was one person sitting at a table for four...or walking through the park and seeing these hilarious work-out machines and people exercizing on them...would have been a funny picture...but you can't take one when you are alone...but it's been rewarding too. i loved ordering my beet passion fruit juice from the little stand or hailing my own cab or figuring out the metro on my own...just problem solving. suddenly that trip to india isn't so daunting.

now i am in phuket with m and his family. a lovely christmas dinner with the swedish jews. the house is so beautiful. i am here for the next two days and then the real solo adventure begins. tomorrow will be an exploration day. more to come...