This Portion of Thailand Brought to You by Pepsi

Sawatdee dear friends and family, and Happy New Year! We love all the comments, we miss you guys and we are glad you are enjoying following along with us! By the way, Pepsi has a strong presence in much of Thailand, especially the wats:

When we last posted, we were on our way to explore Bangkok. It's a very interesting city. One of the first things you notice is that there are pictures of Thailand's king everywhere! There are shrines set up for him, he has statues in all the wats (temples), and huge depictions of him dwarf every intersection. Incidentally, he is actually a very short man, as many Thais tend to be. Katie is having a heck of a time being too tall for Thailand. She already ran into a few awnings when she wasn't paying attention.

Another thing you notice is that nobody in Bangkok walks. That goes for tourists and locals, but not for Katie and me! We hiked through the city for around 4 hours each day we were there. We saw several wats, a handful of government buildings, a rambunctious soccer game, one gorgeous museum, and the city zoo. It's always interesting to see how zoos are run in other countries. We were so close to the alligators, we could of reached out and touched them! Some of the other zoo patrons were feeding a black bear mangos and it seemed like everyone else was cool with it. We can't really see that being acceptable at the zoos back home, but it made for an entertaining zoo experience.

We did make it out to experience Bangkok night life. We had a blast! There are these drinks in Thailand called buckets and they are a disgusting and popular mix of alcohol and a caffeinated beverage of your choice. We met a bunch of travelers that night, from Denmark, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Brazil, and Canada. As you might imagine, we are building up quite a friend network on facebook.

We safely arrived in Koh Samui two days ago and we were pleasantly surprised with the accommodations.

Not only is everything extremely clean, but we also have a balcony with a beautiful view of the lush green mountains.

We celebrated. New Year's Eve on the neighboring island of Koh Phangan. We participated in the Full Moon Festival we had heard so much about. As you may have guessed, it is not so much a traditional Thai festival as it is a huge tourist attraction fueled by copious amounts of alcohol. We met some friendly Brits who helped us paint ourselves head to toe in bright neon colors, apparently a prerequisite for attending the party. We had a blast, but feel we are a little too old to ever do it again. Staying up all night partying is not as easy as it used to be!

One of the things we have enjoyed the most about Thailand is the food. It is absolutely amazing here! We eat pho at least once a day and we are slowly able to eat more and more spicy foods. However, I think the Thai can still out tolerate us when it comes to serious heat. At the restaurant of our hotel, we ordered curry that made both of us drip with sweat, but our chef told us she limited it to around 10% of the heat she would normally use.

We have a few nights left in Koh Samui before we head out to Krabi. We will try to get in another entry once we get there. Love to you all!