Bangkok with Emily

This weekend I flew down to Bangkok to meet up with one of my best SLU friends Emily. Emily has been studying abroad in Shang Hai, China for the semester and she and 5 friends have come to Thailand for spring break. I flew down Saturday morning and was at her hostel by 10:30am. It was so great reuniting with her. We hugged, laughed and cried for several minutes when we first saw each other. We spent the day exploring Bangkok, riding around the canals of the city on a longtail boat and visiting temples. After a long day in the hot sun we came back to our hotel to cool off in the pool. We watched the sun set from the poolside before heading out to dinner. After we are we visited a rooftop bar overlooking the entire city. It also just happened to be the hotel where a scene from the Hangover II was filmed. We were very undressed in our shorts and tshirts compared to the others wearing dresses and heels.

Sunday we woke up early and drove to al elephant camp outside of the city. We had hired a taxi driver that we met last night, named Green, who we quickly became very friendly with and called him Mr. Green for the day. He was very funny and helpful and we had a great time exploring for the day with him. After riding elephants we attempted to tour the Grand Palace, however it was closed for the day since today is the anniversary of the King's coronation. Before heading back to our hotel we briefly stopped by a running race taking place at a park. From their bibs we learned they were running a 9-hour marathon. We were shocked and impressed to see all different age groups participating in such a long race in the very hot weather in the middle of the day. We spent a few minutes cheering on the runners and giving them high fives. Now we are back at the hotel for some relaxing before heading out to find a Mexican restaurant to celebrate cinco de mayo!