Bangkok

Three flights and 26 hours late and we finally arrive in Bangkok.  After taking a 45 min cab ride that cost all of $15, we arrived at We Bangkok, our hostel for the next few days.  The first thing you will notice when arriving in Bangkok is the heat, humidity, and pollution (90% at 95-100 degrees), I’d compare it to Texas in June or Late August… definitely not July weather though!  The second thing you notice is that Bangkok is absolutely massive.  There is not just one single area where there are skyscrapers but literally 50-story buildings randomly scattered throughout the city.  Our first day we wanted to see everything so that is what we did.  We took off to try some food from the infamous street vendors or “street meat” as Ryan calls it.  Chicken, Pork, Shrimp-on-a-stick in the norm… but wait is that a bug, what is in that ball of meat dough, is that a charred baby Parakeet!? 

After exchanging money and a few “street meat” attempts we headed to China town.  China town can best be described as where McDonald’s toys, scissors, and cheap clothes go to die.  Anything and everything you could ever imagine is there.  The paths are cramped, people are everywhere, and it is a literal explosion of the senses (bright colors, horrific smells next to sweet ones, strange objects, etc.). 

Our next adventure spot was Khaosan Road.  Not really knowing what to expect we were approached by a man selling us a “temple tour” for 10 Baht each ($0.30).  Sounded too good to be true but for that price we hopped on a rickshaw (Tuk Tuks as they are called in Thailand) and scooted away from temple to temple.  All in all the tour was ‘pretty neat’ aside from our driver taking us to suit tailoring shops and travel agencies in exchange for gas.  The temple pictures are pretty neat and watching Ryan freaking out deciding to buy a custom suit might be the highlight of my trip so far… what a metrosexual!

The last major trip/thing we saw the weekend market.  We took the Sky Train which impressively was not far off from the Light Rail in Denver and made it there just before noon.  I am not going to even attempt to butcher the name of the place but it was pretty amazing.  Just like the China Town market, it was massive.  This market was even more diverse though and sold everything from 90’s clothing to amazing artwork to puppies to children to jewelry (one of those may or may not be true).  It was absolutely sweltering this day and we didn’t last too long at the market and decided to head back to the hostel early so Kelli and Ryan could get a massage and I could pretend like I was, but then chicken out due to my fear of people and go back and take a nap.  I was battling a terrible cold my entire time in Bangkok so I felt like it was relatively low-key, but of course we met some fun people, experienced everything a proper first-time visit to Bangkok should include, saw some shows, and after a few murderously hot days were more than ready for the beach.

We’re now off to Koh Pha-ngan Island for Full Moon, sun, and a week of scooter riding!

Mucho Amor,
BP

Welcome to Tokyo?

 

China Town

Bowls of "Street Meat"

  

Ryan, Kelli, and I at one of the Temples

50 meters tall and the largest statue of Buddha in Thailand

Hotel where the rooftop scene for The Hangover 2 was filmed