At the end of each semester in Australia there is a one week “reading break” before exams get started. Since I don’t know how to read, I rallied 16 friends and we spent our week “reading” in Thailand. The first three days and nights were spent in Bangkok.

Bangkok is an amazing city, smells horrible, but it has a never-ending skyline and a never-ending list of things to do. Our first day we landed in the Bangkok airport around 10 a.m. and it hit me for the first time that I was on the other side of the world. Australia is very westernized, but Bangkok is a whole differnet world. We settled into our hotel - the Prince Palace - which was way too nice for a 21 year old to be staying in, but Thailand is very cheap so we decided to take advantage. The 50-story building with the rooftop pool was ornately decorated from top to bottom and we basically had an entire floor to ourselves.

The first night a few of the guys decided we would go check out a Muay Thai boxing match. Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand and it is taken very seriously there. It is basically kickboxing with elbows and knees thrown in there. We sat ringside for 11 bouts and quickly made friends with the beer girl. It was a good idea too, because later in the night she took us back to meet some of the boxer and congratulate them on their wins. The fights were great as was the atmosphere with people constantly screaming out bets in the middle of each round. We got into the action, but no one spoke enough Thai for us to throw some money around.

The next two days were spent touring the city. We went to the Grand Palace on day two and saw the biggest collection of gold and gems you could ever imagine. An entire complex full of huge buildings, all covered in priceless jewels. We also stopped off at a city that peaked in 3,000 B.E. (Since Christianity is basically non-existent in Thailand B.C. didn’t exist either) I’m guessing the E stood for era.

One of the most popular tourist activites in Bangkok is shopping. Mostly because nothing- not even a hotel damages charge - has a set price in Thailand, so bargaining is half the game. Also, there were a few very cool marketplaces that we took advantage of. Khao San Road was a popular stop where most of the guys I was there with picked up custom-tailored designer suits for about $150 each. I opted out because a) I’m hoping that I will only ever have to wear a suit to my wedding and my funeral and b) I think at that point I had about $140 dollars in the bank account. It was a good thing Thailand was cheap.

We also went to a place called the Floating Markets, which is another must-see stop. A whole village completely on the water - it was basically Thailand’s version of Venice. We would cruise down the canals in our traditional looking boat with stands selling souvenirs, food, and other items lining the sides. When you wanted to buy something you just hollered, then grabbed on to the side of the bank and started haggling. I picked up a bow and arrow due to some nice haggling for three dollars. It took me about 2 hours before I realized how completly pointless the purchase was.

I could go on until I filled up the entire internet talking about the things I saw and the stories we had while in Thailand, but I think I covered a good portion of the top places. Also, I think my mother might read this so I will leave out some of the stories from the bars we visited. But, this was definitely my favorite week of our whole semester and an experience I will never forget.