Surprisingly, not too many mosquitos here!

But there is this adorable little elephant on my bed!

Has it really been 4 days since I've posted? Well, unfortunately, there's not much to report. Half of the nights so far, after work, I've just gone back to my hotel and relaxed. Or gone to bed before 8:00. I have gotten out a bit though, and I'll try to write a bit about it soon.

Bangkok, from my hotel room.

Bangkok is not really what I expected, to be honest. It's more like New York, or any big city. Loud, lots of traffic, dirty, various different smells, lots of skyscrapers. I guess I was expecting some place more exotic, more tropical. Weather-wise, it's very tropical - hot and muggy, all day, usually some showers in the evening. Despite the amount of moisture in the air, I haven't felt too sticky. It's almost a dry heat, except that it isn't really.

One of the first things I noticed when I got here was the smell. It's not a bad smell, just different. I first noticed when we were driving to the hotel, on the highway, and the driver rolled down his window to go through a toll. It's a heady, spicy fragrance that just permeates the air. I don't notice it as much now, unless I'm walking by the food stands that seem to be everywhere. Those are interesting! There's a couple that we walk by on the way to work, it's like a cornucopia of smells, changing as we pass the different vendors. Some of the smells are definitely not appetizing!

Another thing about Bangkok is that there are a lot of stray cats and dogs hanging around, though you'd never know they're actually strays. Being that this is Asia, and there are a lot of Buddhists, people believe that feeding the animals is good for their karma. There are actually a large number of cats who pretty much live at the American Embassy, and are vaccinated and whatnot, but are still strays. Aside from one or two lap dogs, all the animals I've seen haven't had collars on or been on leashes, yet they look very well groomed and well fed.

The view from my bathroom...yes, there is a
curtain that pulls across the glass wall.

I'll leave you all with a nice shot of my bathroom, as it looks out to the rest of the room. Luxurious, is it not?