okay, it's been a week on the road so far, and i'm ready to share it with you, dear readers. i landed in bangkok, found a room at a hostel that was relatively cheap although not bottom rung as i was unwilling to sacrifice AC. i set off walking around town, where i quickly got lost, then found myself rejected from entrance to the Grand Palace due to inappropriate attire. not one to be discouraged, i hopped on an express boat down the river, which apparently you're supposed to pay for, but no one told me. i ended up in siam square, the ultramodern new shopping area. i walked around the food court for about an hour, feeling pretty stupid cuz i thought they'd have less stuff than Beijing but they've even got an au bon pain! that brought a tear to my eye, as the only sandwich chain we've got is subway. then i went to see a 3D movie about africa. random, i know, but i didn't have much else to do, and it was worth it because i got to see the 2 minute clip proceeding all movies in thailand, which shows footage of their king from 40 years ago, with an extremely cheesy song sung by young thai children in the background. we all had to stand up for it. the next day i flew to chiangmai, where i met up with heidi, a good friend of my friend annie. she had a friend living there, so we got to ride all over town on his motorbike, and saw some cool temples and drank coffee brewed on their mountain. then we rode an un-air-conditioned bus to the town of pai, not a bad ride although we came close to being hit by a girl's projectile vomit. pai was an awesome place, i'd recommend it to anyone travelling in the area. it was small and chill, and you could rent motorbikes and drive out to see waterfalls and stuff. we met some cool travellers there, with whom we shared a nice night at a bar during a torrential downpour that threatened to leave us without electricity. we then headed back to chiangmai for more temples and some excellent mango, and then i took an overnight train back to bangkok. oh my god thai food is sooo good. although i must say, everyone was quite enthusiastic about the pad thai you can buy off the street, but the first time i got it there was a huge black hair in it. my hair is not black. um, since i've been back i've been using my time efficiently, i think. yesterday i went to the national museum, and then watched a competition of some game that looks like hackey sack but they are trying to get it into a net in the middle. at night i went to a bangkok lesbian bar, which was pretty fun although there was not a western face in sight. and the drinks were crazy expensive. today i visited the grand palace and wat pho and wat arun (wat means temple, so you hear it a lot over here). i'm trying to decide what book i should buy for the rest of the trip, as the one i'm currently reading is going faster than i had expected, so let me know if you've got any suggestions. i've got one more day in bangkok, and then i fly to kunming, yunnan for the second leg of my trip. i'll update again at some point. sorry, i know i've got lots of interesting thoughts to share about things i've seen and done on this trip, but i can't think of them. maybe in time.