After dropping off our passports to have our visas taken care of, we wandered around Chinatown (does every city in the world have a Chinatown?) wasting time until our bus arrived. It was Sunday, so most of Chinatown was closed. We ended up getting a taxi back to Banglamphoo and drinking beer and playing dice in a sidewalk cafe for most of the afternoon.

After dinner, we headed back to the place where the bus was supposed to pick us up. Around 7pm, we were told the bus was a two minute walk away and that we would have to walk to it. The bus had two-stories and air conditioning, with a big screen TV and reclining seats bus. We thought we had it made.

Within five minutes of leaving, however, a movie started blasting through the speakers. United 93. Lauren and I looked at each other. They had to be kidding.

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Lauren and I arrived in Bangkok at 2am. Most of the bus services were closed, so we hung out in the airport until 6 a.m. waiting for the sun to rise.

We started playing dice and waiting. One of us would absentmindedly prop our feet up on a chair and the other would knock them down. Showing someone the bottom of your feet in Thailand is very offensive — the equivalent of flipping someone off.

It became a running joke. Whenever someone would get far ahead in the game, the other person would flip the bottom of her foot and make a face.

At 6 a.m., we headed outside. The airport bus took us straight to Banglamphoo, the backpacker neighborhood of Bangkok, where we would be staying.

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We’ve made it to Bangkok! Had a bit of a crazy departure from LA — said good bye to ma barker and sis, took off to the airport in our rental, got to the airport and found mom’s car keys in the front seat! Luckily, we were able to find a cab to wisk the keys away back to Pasadena and still manage to make it to the gate on time.

After 22 hours of travel, we landed in Thailand at 2am. We waited in the airport until the sun rose - passing the time with 12 games of yahtzee and zilch - headed into the city and found a cheap place to stay in a central neighborhood. We’ve taken care of 3 visas, bought thai silk, toodled around the river on a water taxi, tried the yellow curry and pad thai, taken a tuk-tuk, and booked tickets to the south where we will be hitting up the beaches on islands off the eastern coast. Currently, we are struggling to stay awake until 10pm to push off jet lag. Have not yet tried the beer… that might be next.