One Night in Bangkok. (actually three)

Friday, we taught three classes before quickly rushing off to the airport. Of course, Ari's mom lost her phone (which had a data plan), so there wasn't a way to contact her before we left for Bangkok. When we got to the airport, I checked in, but Ari got a random security check where they wanted to see her credit card to prove that it was her. Well, Ari's parents paid for her ticket and she obviously did not have it with her. They then had her buy a new ticket and they said they would refund the other account within 13 days ... how dumb. After getting that squared away, we went and sat in the airport. The Udon Thani airport is HUGE!!! Just kidding, there are two gates. We sat for about 45 minutes until we were able to board. Once upon the plane, they provided us with a meal (it was a one hour flight ..) in typical Thai fashion.

Once arriving in Bangkok, We headed to The Thongta Resort (Same Hotel that We stayed in last time). After getting all of our Stuff Put away, We headed off to Khaosan Road. We took the sky train and the tuk-tuk. I'm pretty sure Ari's parents LOVED their first tuk tuk experience .. haha! 

Khaosan Road is A Short Street Phra Nakhon district in Bangkok in The. It's wonderful. There are tons of tourists, which makes it fun, from all over the world. We heard probably around 20 different languages ​​while we were there and everyone is just simply happy to be there, as were we. We bought A few Things (because why Not?) And at ATE A Middle Eastern Restaurant (wonderful Pizza). After We were done eating, We wandered up and Down The Street People Watching. 

There are seriously no rules at this place because people are from all over. Are you of age? Doesn't matter, have a drink. 

There was A MAN Selling fake IDs. People Wear whatever they want because they do not know Where You are from Anyway, so it does Not Matter. It's such a strange and special place. It was also nice to see some younger people as well. We got home around 12:30, which means bed around 1:30.

Saturday Morning, We MET Ari's Parents for Breakfast before our Special VIP van picked U.S. up to Drive U.S. around all Day. Ari's Host Uncle (Not A thing really, but He's her Host Dad's Brother), Folk, MET U.S. at The Hotel to Come. up with us as well. This was super sweet of him because it made ​​it much easier to translate things between the driver and us, as well as other Thai people.

Our first stop was the elephants. A huge disappointment this was. They were beautiful, but did not You Sit directly on them, but on A seat, You did not get to PET them or anything, and they walked through The City, which is horrible for them. It did not Look like they were being treated Horribly, but You never know. Ari and I decided We did Not want to support this Activity, so We decided that was A no-Go. We did, however, find a huge ancient temple near the elephants, and that was very cool to explore. Ari's parents really seemed to enjoy it as well. 

After The Ancient Temple Ruins, We went to another Temple. There are SO MANY Temples in Thailand. This One had A Chicken / Rooster Temple next to it, which was easily The strangest thing I Saw that Day ... apparently there was a giant chicken war and one of the kings really liked the chickens, so he made ​​a temple for them .. How strange. The Other Temple was HUGE, and We climbed to Look A Million Steps to get out of The Top. After that, We were Templed out and Ready to Go back to The Hotel. Bangkok is stressful and we were wiped out. When we got home, we were SUPER SWEATY. Bangkok is HOT. It was like 100 degrees that day, so we decided to shower and meet up to go out to eat. We went to a bar across the street, ordered some appetizers, and Ari and I tried a cocktail as her parents had a Thai beer. It was a great day.

Sunday morning, we were up and ready to go early as well. We hopped in our VIP van and headed off to the Floating market. This wasn't exactly how we pictured it, but it was still very cool and we enjoyed it. We had lunch on the river, went for a boat ride, shopped, and got Thai foot massages. The massages were only 100 baht, which is three dollars in the US ... whatta steal. No wonder I keep buying things-everything is ridiculously cheap. Discount obsessed Mackenzie is going crazy! We even got Ari's dad, Dennis, to try one as well. I'm not sure he was a fan. Folk refused to get one-annoying! Haha! After spending the day there, we headed back to our hotel. We arrived there around seven pm and made plans to meet up with Folk at eight to go back to Khaosan Road. We were craving some "people our age" time. We went there, had a drink, and watched people. We also tried to set Folk up with some girls, but he refused! I told him if he came to visit us in MN, I'd find him someone!

Monday morning, we were up and ready to go back to the hotel at 5 am ... that alarm came much too soon. After flying back, Arunrat picked us up from the airport. She brought us back to Sirilak's house (and Ari's parents to their hotel) to change for school. We then went out to lunch and introduced Cindy and Dennis to Thai ice cream, as well as some teachers at our school.

Finally, it was time to teach. Week six of teaching has officially began.