Bangkok

Yup, we are those people.

WOW. It has been said that a traveler has not been successful until he steps out of his comfort zone. Mission accomplished. 

Of all of the places that I have visited in my life I do not know that there are any that are more strikingly contrasting than Oia, Santorini and Bangkok, Thailand. At one point in Santorini, I observed that at that moment, all five of my senses were simultaneously pleased. We were walking, eating ice cream with breathtaking views, the soft ripple of the tide was the main soundtrack, the aromas from the surrounding cafes were mouth-watering and the weather was perfect. Within five minutes of walking the streets of Bangkok we had the exact opposite experience. We were surrounded by squalor, in agonizing heat, people yelling at the top of their lungs, while slamming into us, in an attempt to sell us pretty much everything, while the odors of day-old squid that wafted by were so potent that you could taste it. There was no question we were thousands of miles outside of our comfort zone. 

From this



To this



After the initial shock wore off, this eventually became one of the highlights of the trip.

Day 9-10 Thailand

(Due to technical dificulties of blogging in Thailand, I was unable to post until now, I'll try to get them all out ASAP)

Knowing that this portion of the trip was oddly partitioned, losing two days of activities due to Shavuot, we planned on spending the first day in Bangkok booking the trip with a Thai travel agent, spending the next 4 days doing activities in the northern city of Chang Mai, then heading south to the island of Koh Samui for the holiday, and then returning to Bangkok for the last couple days.

We got out of the airport and hailed a taxi cab. The driver, while walking us to the cab, punched another driver right in the crotch.  He probably should not have told him we were heading to Bangkok. Who knew that was a Thai tradition?

After getting settled in our hotel room and getting slightly acclimated to the intense heat, we decided to head over to the Chabad Restaurant to get a hot meal. Since our hotel was slightly out of the way, we needed to take a Tuk-Tuk to the main area, walk to the train station, take the sky train a couple stops then grab a cab the rest of the way. This was going to be interesting.

Ok. Imagine combining the safety of a motorcycle, the comfort of a wheel barrow, and Liz's concern for traffic law (and her ability to drive with her eyes open), and you have a Tuk-Tuk. In a city that is almost in a perpetual state of gridlock, Tuk-Tuk drivers need to do whatever they can to cut time off the trip. The driver zig zagged through  three lanes of traffic, ran  four reds (around cars) and drove into oncoming traffic, all while acting like it was no big deal. I am pretty sure there is no better way to travel.

Welcome to Thailand

Once we got out of the Tuk-Tuk, we quickly praised the lord for granting us safe passage and headed into Siam center. I have never seen anything like it. Every inch of the side walks were covered with vendors yelling at the top of their lungs trying to explain why you cannot live without whatever crap they were selling; no matter how many times I declined, they still felt that I needed those cullots. Every other vendor was selling whatever animal they could get their hands on, from squid to cockroaches to jelly fish. As bad as those things looked, it was nothing compared to how awful they smelled. The closest thing I can compare the smell to is someone throwing up in my nose. Later, Liz and I had a long conversation trying to decide if the smells originated from food or actual fecal matter. This is a very special place.


<>

Where are we?


The next day we headed over to the travel agent to plot out the rest of our Thailand stay. I am pretty sure that TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) offices are made of magic. We came in with absolutely nothing booked for the next two weeks and left an hour later with a complete itinerary, including flights, activities and hotels near Chabad restaurants, all much cheaper than when we had priced it on our own.

We left the office with our next two weeks planned and a feeling of being smarter than your average tourist. The feeling did not last long. Right outside of the TAT office was one of the thousands of tailor shops in Thailand promising custom made clothing at crazy low prices. I had always wanted a custom tailored suit, so I thought I would go in and hear what the guy had to say. The next few minutes were a blur and the next thing I knew I was signing the credit card receipt, after ordering  a suit and four new shirts. The sales guy could Fistel with the best of them. At one point he somehow turned me into a salesman pitching to other Americans who accidentally wandered into the shop. At best I restocked my wardrobe on the cheap, at worst I learned a $300 lesson.

Idiot

Afterwords, we headed to the airport to head out to Chaing Mai, where adventure awaited. 

Day 8

Understanding that this was the last time we would be in Athens for a while, we decided to try to take in the last must see attraction that we missed - the archeological museum. As modern and refreshing as the New Acropolis museum was, this was not. It was hot, it was stuffy, it was overcrowded with everything in Greece that they could not find another place for(except for everything Lord Elgin stole for England) , pretty much everything that I hate in a museum. The one redeeming quality was that it was protected by the incredible hulk, making sure that no one skipped out on paying the 6 Euro fee. I did not like him angry.  


Not pictured: Hulk ravaging the city

 As we were walking through the exhibit featuring the burial items of the ancient Mycenaeans, it dawned on me: archeologists are basically glorified grave robbers. The entire exhibit consisted of burial masks, burial swords, golden chalices, jewelry, dolls, and finally, a sarcophagus. Basically, they came across some poor guy’s grave, stole all of his toys, and tossed out the skeleton. A little bit off-putting when you think about it. After about 2 hours of Liz learning new things and me getting yelled at by the staff for posing in front of the statues, we left and made our way to the airport. 


On left: Mycenaean ancestor of the Loser Cup 


After clearing customs, we hopped on a bus and headed for our first          destination, Windsor Castle. Wait, WHAT? That's right, surprise London detour bitches. With the 6 hour layover in London, we decided to stretch our legs a bit and do a little site-seeing.  Unfortunately, by the time we got to the castle, it was already closed to tourists, so we spent our time walking around the area and ended up at a beautiful park. We made it back with plenty of time to spare for me to play one of the video poker machines that was set up in the airport, and for Liz to sit and stare. 

The Animals

This is a constantly updated page with all of the animals we have encountered on our trip.

See if you can pick out the donkey's ass from the Horse's ass. ZING!

Liz's Worst Nightmare (ask her why, trust me)

Holy Crap Holy Crap Holy Crap
(You will get it when you see it)

I think we have this backwards

Great Liz, now they have a taste for human flesh

Ewwwwwwwwww

What the hell is wrong with my wife?

Seriously

Yeah, that happened

This too

Hey Tony, they are not that Grrrrrrrrreat

Santorini Part 1

Day one was pretty much consumed by travel. We were told that the  Santorini experience was not complete if you did not arrive by ferry, due to the scenic islands that lined the way. So we grabbed a 7am ferry and took in the ride. Liz and I had two distinct ways of appreciating the journey: Liz parked herself in her seat, with her eyes glued on the window, taking in every bit of the scenery. I found my own way to enjoy the trip; I passed out across 3 chairs and slept through the entire thing (otherwise known as enjoying it Rozmaryn style).

Like this, just on a ferry

Once we got in and rented our car (25€ a day, thanks negotiation class), we were off to Oia. We will be discussing the beauty of the island in a different post, so I will jump right to the hotel, Oia's Sunset. It was exactly what we were looking for. It was located in the heart of Oia, and for $85 a night we got a one bedroom apartment with a kitchen, living room, and a cute outdoor sitting area. The hotel property was completely enclosed and our windows  opened up to the adorable courtyard. There was a bar, a pool, and a Stavros. Stavros is the man. He and Paros make up the entire day staff at the hotel. Anything you want they will get you, and refuse your money. They got us water, beer, directions, tickets, and even ran to the store (even though we told them not to) to get us a book of matches. Stavros knows all the ins and outs of the island and happily told us where to go and when. He is just the man.

The Hotel

The Hotel

The Man

After getting situated, we watched the gorgeous sunset from the hotel balcony, and then headed off to Fira, the capital of Santorini. We got to Fira at 8 pm, and the town was bustling. All of the shops were still selling the local art and tourist crap. Walking around Fira was a cool experience because the shops line both sides of the tiny walkways that can't be more than 5 feet across. So even though you are outside, it still has the feeling of being indoors.

Oia's actual sunset

We stopped for a quick drink at the Highlander pub, a Scottish bar that was staffed with Greeks wearing kilts. From there we went to Franco's bar, one of the top 3 experiences of our trip so far. The bar was built into the side of the mountain and was basically empty, so Liz and I lounged on couches, staring at the breathtaking views of the Caldera (coast), listening to classical music, sipping on our tea, just soaking in the  atmosphere. It was one of the few perfect places that I have ever visited.

The view from Franco's

The next day, we decided to tour the island's black and red beaches. It turns out that this plan was much more complicated than we had originally imagined based on one small issue: the roads on the island don't have names. I have to say that navigation becomes much more difficult when your directions consist of "Ok, take the squiggly one until you see that diagonal one then go three more roads, then make a left at the straight one - if you go up the mountain you went to far. Long story short, we went too far. Note to self: when you are on a one lane, two-way road, on top of a mountain, dodging goats, alongside a cliff, you have gone too far. On the one hand, we had amazing views of the island, on the other, we had to add two pairs of pants to our laundry pile.

Not the black beach

Following two hours and approximately ten miles of actual distance, we arrived at Perissa, the black sand beach. The atmosphere of the area was very laid back, with bars lining the boardwalk and beautiful views of the sea. Each of these bars had a path to the beach leading to lounge chairs under straw umbrellas. The problem was that the "black sand" turned out to be black pebbles, and it was just not that comfortable.

What? It's black enough

After laying out for a little while we decided to give the Red beach a whirl. As was the case with the trip to the black sand beach, what should have been a ten minute drive stretched into an hour and a half. Once we arrived we had our first encounter with an unwritten rule of Santorini, the surprise exercise.  It turns out that the good people of Santorini were not happy unless you preface every activity with soul crushing exercise. Want to go to the beach? Scale a mountain. Want to see the Amoudi pier? Climb 223 steps. Want to take a dip in the hot springs? Swim a mile through the rough seas. Lord I hate these people.

With only 3 miles left until we reach the beach

Once we finished our mountain climbing adventure we got to to the beach and realized that just like the black version, the red sand consisted solely of rocks. Since there were no chairs around, it took us about five minutes before our asses went completely numb and we were headed back up the mountain. Shabbat was closing in so we packed up and headed back to our hotel.

We spent the majority of Shabbat walking around the city of Oia and the beautiful, and physically draining Amoudi pier. On Sunday we took a boat trip from the pier to the volcano in the middle of the cove, the hot springs, the island of Thirasia, and finally back to the pier. The trip was fantastic, if uneventful. The next day we got back on the ferry and headed back to Athens.

Its ok, I got in her picture too

Santorini Intro

Our time spent in Santorini was, so far, the best experience of our young trip, but since most of our time there was spent enjoying the atmosphere and views, it is not very conducive to blogging. So we decided to consolidate our time spent on Santorini into two posts: one attempting to describe Santorini to anyone not fortunate enough to have spent time there, and the second talking about some of the things that we did. These posts will probably be a bit dryer, do to the laid back nature of our time on Santorini.

Santorini

Yes.

Santorini

Yes.