I have to admit that my time in Vietnam was a bit conflicted and by the time I left I was really looking forward to returning to Thailand. Although my first stop was Bangkok, a noisy, busy, anything but peaceful city, I felt a sense of calm as I entered kao San road and recognized the sights. It's the first time on these travels that I've been to a county twice and it gave me a certain sense of returning "home."

My flight to bagkok was great. Qatar airlines is amazing! Empty flight, free baggage check in, free food and drinks (on a 1.5 hr flight), movies, nice staff, and a USB to charge my iPod. The even had big, clean bathrooms with lotion, etc oh, and they let me change my flight date for free even with a restricted fare. Kudos Qatar airlines-much appreciated!

Instead of an over-priced taxi into town, I decided to be adventurous and try the sky tram to get downtown. Luckily, my new friends Charlotte and Chris gave me all the details I would neeed to do do and I pulled it off without a hitch. It was clean, efficient, cheap, and a nice way to meet locals doing "local things." I had to take a taxi for the last bit of the journey. Since I was alone, I debated between risking a more expensive Tuk Tuk ride where people could still see me should the driver try anything funny or a cheaper but enclosed cab. In the end, I chose a cab & went with the story that I lived in Chiang Mai and had friends waiting for me at the hotel (that part was true). the driver turned out to be a nice, honest man and I made it to greenhouse guesthouse on rambuttri road without problems.

That night and the next were spent downtown in the backpackers area which proved nice for getting massages, nails done, doing laundry, and bumping into THREE sets of friends unplanned! I decided to forego the crazy nights out on Khao San to try and regroup from so much travel.

I met back up with Peter in Bangkok as the plan was to head to Myanmar for a week or so. We attempted to get the visa (at 6am nonetheless) but the embassy was closed for holiday when we got there. With time running short, we decided to hold off on Burma for now and head to the islands in Thailand instead.

I was feeling really run down from so much travel and wanted a few days rest. The crowded, dingy, hot, dirty downtown area was not quite the relaxation I had hoped for so luckily Peter found an online deal to stay at a 4.5 star hotel for $30! It took us 1.5 hours and $10 in a cab to get there but it proved worth it!

I'm not a fussy girl and I don't mind backpacker digs but setting foot in the lobby instantly revived me. The room service, air conditioning, pool, and gym helped, along with the spacious, CLEAN room, bathTUB, fast wifi, tv, etc. did i mention how comfy the bed was?!??I know I could never afford a place this nice anywhere is the world so I tried to take full advantage of it, leaving the hotel only for 711 runs and a few trips to sort out my computer situation. I even got to wear my fancy new custom-made dress from hoi an for dinner, dancing, (a little singing), and wine-- it was nice to feel civilized and all grown up, even if just for a little while!