Arrival

Just a quick note. Kara and I arrived safe and sound, with as little difficulty as can be expected when one flies for over 20 hours. We actually found one another at the baggage claim before going through customs, more or less stumbling into one another. It was handy, and a great way to start the journey.

Kara and I have spent the last day and a half wandering around Bangkok... a city we enjoy (great shopping, it's insane) but feel ready to leave. I had been told by several people that Bangkok is dirty and scummy, but we have both marveled at how clean it is here. The people are friendly and this has been the perfect place to transition into travel mode. Nonetheless, it dawned on both of us that we don't feel that the city life is what we're after, so we are taking the night train to Laos this evening. After we cross the border in the morning, we'll most likely spend a day or so in the capital (Vientiane) and then head up to the surrounding villages for the days following.

That means, probably, no internet. But we may be able to stop in the northern town of Luang Prabang, where we think we'll spend Saturday.

We slept (poorly) in our first guesthouse. Our verdict: don't take the guesthouses next to blasting rap music, and we're going to need our own bed sheets. Still, we've both managed to recover from our excessive jet lag in one evening. We're thankful that we're young and can bounce back so quickly... we managed to stay up until 10:00 last night (even though neither of us slept on the plane) and, although we both spent two hours in the middle of the night wide awake (not the same two hours, unfortunately), we slept from 4-10 am without any difficulty.

We're feeling good today and are looking forward to what tomorrow brings.