Crazy Bangkok
Trip Start
Aug 20, 2006
1
5
Trip End
Ongoing
Bangkok, Thailand
Thursday, October 19, 2006
BANGKOK
Wow, talk about extremes. from the tranquility of Khao Sok National Park to the frantic city of Bangkok. The city is alive with the relentless beep of horns; aromas wafting from the street side food stalls; and the very present thick city smog. As for the coup, I've never travelled to Bangkok before, but it seems not much has been effected. Of course there is one very obvious addition....military personnel and armed tanks on the streets.
Ok, here's my checklist for Bangkok:-
- Avoid Khoa San Rd. (this is the street where the tourists flock; where the copious street side vendors selling cheesy tourist gifts hope to make a buck from a freshly arrived 'Farang' that hasn't yet fine tuned their bartering skills.)
- Visit as many of the hundreds of gold laden buddhist temples as is humanly possible.
- Ride in a tuk tuk. (Yay, this is great fun....for the first half hour, then you start to question how long it will take to get out all of the carbon dioxide that you've been sucking into your lungs.)
- Go shopping at the huge 'Chatachak' weekend market. (This thing is the size of a small town, well deserving of at least it's own post office, school and obligatory small town pub. It's too big to tackle all in one day, although this is all my shopping feet will allow. There is t-shirt stall after t-shirt stall, all selling the same design of 'Singha beer' or 'same same but different' printed on them. There are handmade crafts, clothes, clothes, clothes, plants, shoes, clothes, clothes, clothes, bags, drawings and more clothes, clothes, clothes. Aaaargh, I'm thoroughly exhausted.)
- Rise at 5.30am to see the monks perform their daily rite of Bintabaht(alms giving). (Each morning at dawn, saffron robed barefoot monks pour out of the numerous Wats(temples) onto the streets where the faithful are waiting to place rice, fruit, curries or sweets in the monk`s alms bowls. This rite gives the monks their only food source for the day, and the people offering the food gain brownie points to ensure a better incarnation in the next life. This is quite a sight to see, with the city still light deprived at this time of morning, the bright saffron robes are a burst of colour.)
- Sample some noodles from a street side diner. (Little ladies set up on the sidewalk with a portable kitchen (a gas bottle and a wok), and cook up scrumptious 2 minute thai meals. As soon as you taste this simple but delicious cuisine, it's no time before it become your staple food source..yum yum.)
- Take a day boat trip along the Chao Phraya River. (The river runs through the city and is quite often the quicker option to the roads for getting around. Not to mention a great way to check out the city.)
Bangkok checklist complete, there was only one thing left to do....catch up with the crazy French boys, Laurent and Sebastien. We all meet up and enjoy some of those yummy street side noodles, have a few beers and lots of laughs. Looks like I've found some friends. We all decide to head up North to Chaing Mai together.
Comments
Bangkok Rocks!
So great to hear about your travels! Dee has just started as our nurse and we've been sussing out your blog. Bit tricky to sort out a login, kept getting distracted and forgetting how? Anyway, have figured it out now ;)
... Bangkok was the first overseas airport I ever arrived in - I really loved it - quite overwhelming at first, but the colours, sights and smells are intoxicating. Once you leave Bangkok, and get out in the countryside be brave and rent a motorbike, you'll love the feeling of freedom when you don't have to haggle with the tuktuk man everytime you want to go somewhere - God! I'm so jealous!
...3 more months to go on this job and I'll be ready to head off for desintations unknown. Sounds pretty easy to hook up with people and have adventures once you get there eh?
...One of my friends says he will come with me, but I think he'll pull the plug as we get nearer to d-day
...I have purchased a laptop, iPod, digicam & backpack, so I'm all set. Have a mate who will store my car & precious bits for free while I'm away -it's starting to get pretty exciting.
...Looking forward to your next entry & hearing all about the tribespeople up north, enjoy your journey!
Love from Kaz