"Relaxing in Bangkok"

Arrived Wednesday at 11pm after a 30 hour trip. Had a 5 hour stop in Chicago & a 3 hour stop in Tokyo, where I managed to get a little sleep on an airport bench. Spent Wednesday night at a non-descript hotel near the airport, then bussed over to Khao San Road (the main drag for foreigners), first thing Thursday morning. Met a german girl on the bus (Anna), and ended up hanging out with her for the entire day. She's spent the past 5 months here - 3 of those months were spent teaching English in a small town a couple hours away, so she's fairly familiar with the city.

Haven't done much thus far. It's been so insanely hot that I haven't really had much desire to do anything other than sit & watch the world go by. What a world it is! It's amazing all the different characters that Thailand attracts :)

Have two more hours to kill before catching the train up to Chang Mai. Will be spending the next 13 hours in relative luxury - splurged & bought myself an air-conditionned bunk on the over-night train. At $15, I guess I can afford it....

Not really sure what to expect at the elephant camp. From the sounds of it, they've had a rather rough rainy season... http://www.elephantnaturepark.org/news/0509c.htm After 3 floods & a landslide in the past couple months, I'm guessing I'll be kept rather busy! Luckily rainy season should be over in the next week or so....