They got here before the tourists

There is a slogan in Bangladesh. "Get here before the tourists come." It has been the slogan for a while. My parents did just that last month followed by a week in Thailand. I met them at the airport after their multi-day journey half-way around the world. As I identified my parents from my dad's red Ohio State polo shirt through the glass 50 yards away in the visa line (way before they saw me) a wave of gratefulness came over me. Grateful and thankful that they spent their energy, limited vacation time, Mariott reward points, and simply weeks of their lives to get a glimpse of my life here - a country where few travel. As the slogan implies, there are not that many tourists in Bangladesh. Now the trendsetter Poling's can say they were here before the tourists came.

Streets of Dhaka.

You never know what is going to strike people the first time they visit. My parents were taken by the traffic. Buses that look as if they have been through roller derby with people riding on top, cars, CNGs, and rickshaws all going their own speeds and in their own directions. There is no such thing as 'staying in your lane.'

Cliff and Katie on a Rickshaw! Don't they look so excited?

In a market in Gulshan 2.

They arrived early afternoon and we took a walk around my neighborhood. This market is about a 5 to 8 minute walk from my apartment.

Thailand!

We all spent about 9 days in Thailand. First at Samui then Phuket. It was a glorious break from Dhaka for me to spend time relaxing. My days consisted of a morning run, huge and delicious brunch, hour long massage on the beach, reading/napping on the beach, and buy-one-get-one free happy hour cocktails. In Samui we decided to take a tour consisting of an elephant ride (pictured below), waterfall hike, a mummified monk, and some temples. We skipped the monkey show. All in all it was a great trip.

We took many more photos but there are the only ones that I took off my dad's camera before they left. If you want to see more, you'll have to give him a 'lesson' on sending photos via e-mail :)