Lessons:

1) Everyone gets a SIM card
2) Everyone arrives at roughly the same time.

The delightful bunch of Paige, Aaron, Dan, Lindsay, Tiffany, Kristi, and Manish arrived in Thailand on 5 different days, which necessitated 4 trips to the airport. Ugh. Let's avoid that next time. I think the ARL ticket people began to recognize me.

The first 2 days was just Paige and myself, and we set out to Koh Si Chang. The closest island geographically to Bangkok, but not frequently visited since... well I'm not really sure. The boat leaves from some random dock in the middle of nowhere, maybe that's why. Anyway we arrived around dinner time, and set out to see a Chinese temple on the hill. Really pretty, with a great view of the island. They also had some stupid broken down cart they used to haul stuff up the hill, which apparently was the most fascinating thing there to Paige. The day was almost over then, so got dinner, rented a scooter, then searched for a place to sleep. We eventually found one on the other side of the island. It was quite fun, swerving through those dark roads, trying my hardest (not) to throw Paige off the back.

Our bungalow was amazing, despite the giant bathroom spider Paige wasn't too fond of. Now quite dark, we went out to the beach, outside our front door, to check it out. I made a flying leap for the water, and this time, no anchor! Yay! While we were sitting there, a stray dog walked up between us. I caught him in my perif and jerked. Paige turned to look and let out a scream, to my amusement.

After drying off we went out to the local bar, where a police chief and his deputy from some small nowhere town were doing karaoke. They were drinking some sort of smoothie out of pint glasses. We asked what it was, and he said "A Pun". What is in a pun? "Ice, Fruit, Spices, and Whiskeeeeeeey!" he said, holding a smile while pronouncing the E. I still don't know what's really in them, but it was one of the best drinks I've ever had, and got me pretty drunk. So, you'd better believe there was singing. During the nonsense the entire island's police force showed up, so I hope there wasn't any crime happening, cause that response would be delayed.

The next day we wanted to catch the boat at lunch, so we got up early to catch dawn at the beach. After swimming a bit, we hit up Rama V's palace on the shore. It was super quiet, peaceful, and we got drenched from the rain. It did have some interesting stuff, like the Gothic - themed stupa. After we checked out Wat Tham Yaai Prik, which has a cave - which was new for me. There were bats! Bat Buddha.

...

Bananananananana Bat Buddhaaaa!"

And finally, a trip up to the giant, "Remember me", Buddha on the mountainside. There was also a cave there. The monk blessed us before we went into the cave, which was nice of him. Not much of a cave, more like 3 living room sized chambers, but unique nonetheless. Rushing back to the pier, we hopped on the boat with minutes to spare. On the way back, Paige got a call from her SO.

"Hey good to hear from you! Everything is great! We went to this island, and they had a cart!"

No words.

Anyway, it was back to BKK, then off to the airport, to get Aaron and part two of our story.

With the party size now 3, we went to Chatuchak. Except on the way out, it expanded to include Heather and Damon. Now rocking a party of 5, we arrived at Damon disappeared instantly. After a call and agreeing to meet at the GIANT LANDMARK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE MARKET, he seemed confused, and apparently left after not showing up. Soon after, we also lost a Heather but gained an Ella. After getting lunch and deciding what to do, we headed to Terminal 21 and the Arab district. Of course, on the way we had to stop at a BTS station to buy BTS souvenirs. Which apparently exist? And Paige apparently wanted them?

Back to Terminal 21, we browsed for a little bit while I enjoyed those cush, cush toilets. Then to Nana for dinner, at an amazing streetside place. Then, I started getting emails from Kristi saying they would arrive that night? But that their flight was delayed? And now they're arriving later? Thoroughly confused, and Paige suffering from a slight case of heat stroke, we had to split up so I could run to the airport to get Dan and maybe Kristi and Manish. Kristi and Manish did not actually show up, 10 minutes after I arrived at the airport they said they will arrive at 5am. Thanks for that timely info. Anyway, the good news was Dan made it, though if it was just him I wouldn't have come to the airport. Not because I don't care about Dan. But because Dan is some sort of travel wizard, and can navigate to my front door from 2 cities away in China, so he's the last person needing of an escort.

Now with Dan in tow, it was back home to have Kristi and Manish wake everyone up at 5am. So after an early start, we set out to Lumphini Park to chill out and see some Monitor Lizards. Or to mess with them if you're Kristi. The next stop was the Snake Farm. I've written about that here, so go have a read if you're interested. This time was venom extraction. Exciting! Next on the list was Wat Hua Lamphong, where Mr. Tom told us how to do a good luck blessing. Following that was Hua Lamphong station, Wat Tramit (the big ole gold buddha), and the Jim Thompson house. Or is it Tim Jimpson. Tim Hortons? Jim Timson?  There's still not much to say about that place. It's a nice, historic house. An interesting diversion for a few hours on a hot day. By this time, everyone was pretty much winding down, and we headed back to the house. The girls all wanting to stay in, the guys headed out to hit up the night life in Sukhimvit. Of course, all details of that night will remain classified on a public platform.

The next morning, Aaron was out for the count. The rest of us went out to Koh Kret. I thought we'd for sure need 2 taxis, but we lucked out and found the coolest taxi ever! He put on DVDs of concerts, and invited everyone to sing along. So, been there, done that. Read more about Koh Kret here. After we went to Khao San, because you just have to. You know how Muslims are obligated to go to Mecca at least once in their life? I think Khao San is like that for any traveler under the age of 40. We had dinner at Magic Max's, who never fails to impress. Honestly, I have no idea how the card got on the inside of that tomato. Anyway, after, it was off to the airport for the (siiiiiiiiigh) 4th time.

Next morning, group finally complete, it was off to the Royal Dragon for their buffet. No shark fin soup this time, but still delicious. Then we went to Bang Nam Phun Floating Market, only to find out its not open on the weekend! After seeing Wat Dan on the BRT, we headed to Wat Saket and made it to Loha Prasat minutes after it closed. Found cats instead though, so a win all around.

The next morning was a trip to Ayutthaya, which I have covered extensively before, such as here and here. The evening concluded with yet another trip to Khao San, as the lot of them all got fitted for new suits. Plus drinking. Mostly drinking.

And then, the final day in BKK started out with the whole crew plus Ella. A mega group of 9 people, we started towards Loha Prasat, After that, we did Wat Praekow, Wat Pho, and the Queen's Throne Room. (All of here and here). We had to get back to catch our van to Cambodia, which I assumed would be easy. NOPE.

No buses. No taxis. No nothing. After walking forever, we got a bus, but then it ran smack into Bangkok's classic parking lot of traffic. The plan was to get boat noodles at Victory Monument, but now we were running quite late. After quickly shoving down waffles from a BTS food stand, we rushed back home to pack. I think we made it with minutes to spare! About 20 minutes outside of Bangkok, we got another call from my landlady saying that our van has arrived. This seemed a little odd, considering we were already in a van. Turns out Kristi had emailed two companies, but one never responded. Apparently that means send a van anyway? This hilarious situation was filed under "not our problem", because it's off to Cambodia!