I'm here, I've arrived. For those of you who heard about my slight visa issue, it all turned out fine.

I arrived Wednesday night, and made it to my guest house fine. The first night was ok, but my room smelled a bit like sewer. I think it got worse as the night went on, as I didn't notice it much upon entering, but was horrified upon reentering the next morning.

I've since moved. Taking Alonzo and Grace's advice, I'm staying quite close to where I was originally, in the Atlanta Hotel. I opted for the budget no a/c sketchy shower (aka cheap) option, and am very happy here. The pool is nice, and the past two mornings I've indulged in a solitary 6 am swim (my clock is not quite on track yet).

In foreign lands, housing and food are the biggest hurdles for me - once I've solved those, I'm ready to take on the city, and I'm pleased to report that the food is also quite solved. All but one meal has been care of the street vendors, and it's all so so good. Friday morning I hiked down Si Ayutthaya to the Thewet market (~4 miles), and was very pleasantly surprised with my breakfast choice. Some sort of eggy fried doughy thing with lime-sugar sauce inside. I had (and usually have) no idea what I was getting into, and I spent the rest of the day regretting only getting one. Then there is the tangerine juice - pricy (ok, like 50 cents a bottle), but delicious. And the nuggets of pork and vegetables wrapped in rice noodle with fresh lettuce and basil, and all the meat on a stick you could ever want, and... The only disappointment was when the vendor correctly assessed my farang (tourist) status, and removed the salt and chili mixture from the fresh pineapple before giving it to me.

The sights: My favorites have been wat pho - especially the reclining buddha, the royal palace and wat of the emerald buddha, china town in the rain (like almost any china town in the rain), and jakujat market. Jakujat market was today, and I think I'm going back tomorrow. I only worked up the nerve to buy one thing (bargaining is scary!), and its only open on the weekends, so, I'll have to go back tomorrow. It's a huge huge huge market, ranging from hardware to miles of fish in plastic baggies, to hipster stalls blaring Outcast.

Transportation: Convenient so far, mostly just the river taxi and sky train. I discovered a secret subway today that is super nice. None of the guidebooks I've read have mentioned it, which I find very strange, but it's convenient and air-conditioned and much cheaper than the skytrain. I still haven't ventured into a tuk-tuk or the back of a motorcycle. I think the latter will never happen (don't worry, Mom!), but I'm working on the tuk-tuk.

Other thoughts: It's hot, but not as bad as I'd feared. My trip to the east coast before coming over was a good plan - the humidity would have really been a shocker straight from Palo Alto. As soon as I leave the hotel in the morning (usually ~6:30) I start to sweat through my tshirt, and continue to all day. But I'm reminded whenever I touch my skin how well that whole sweating to make you cooler thing works.I think I brought a good amount of stuff - not too much, but my bag is much too big (it's about half empty at the moment). I'm heavily contemplating buying a smaller one and shipping the big one home. I might wait until after next week's trip to the islands, and see how much of a pain the bag is to schlepp on train/bus/ferry. Or I might switch tomorrow.

There's still much to see in Bangkok, and perhaps some places to revisit. I'm greatly missing my digital camera (it's being repaired... don't get me started) -- while I know I'm getting some great shots on my 35 mm, it's big, it's heavy, and I lost my first roll (I think I'll have to go back to the royal palace) because I'd forgotten how to rewind the film.