myrainasia

Just a quick hello to all to let you know I arrived safely in Bangkok.  Incredible culture shock coming from Australia.  I have previously mentioned how laid back Australia is.  I think that may be due, in part, to the fact that there are 24 million people spread out over a continent that is larger than the US.  Everything was so clean and orderly.  Rarely saw anyone who looked homeless, almost no litter in the street, clean free public bathrooms everywhere, and I didn’t even see anyone jaywalking until I got to Sydney (even I was pretty good about following traffic signals- jaywalking can be dangerous when you’re not sure which direction the cars are coming from).

Then Bangkok.  Official population around 10 million.  Unofficial supposedly larger.  Nothing looks particularly orderly and I’m suffering a severe case of sensory overload.  I’m not sure what is the most amazing- the crowds, the colors, the food, the smog….. Thai food, as most of you know, is excellent.  I sincerely regret spending most of my time in Thai restaurants eating pad thai since I have no idea what all of the other dishes are.  This is particularly regrettable inasmuch as the best food here is the street food.  Contrary to what we have all been taught about eating food from street vendors in foreign countries, in Thailand that is the way to go.  I could simply point and taste but I am sad to say that I am not that brave- not where my tummy is concerned.

I arrived yesterday afternoon and took a hotel near Khao San Road.  That’s backpacker haven.  I don’t know if the backpackers flocked because of Khao San Road or vice versa, but it is one very long street where people are selling everything and anything.  There are more things for sale in 1 square inch then I have ever seen.  Lining both sides of the street are the vendors selling all the things you might find at a street fair- with a lot more variety and significantly cheaper prices; I can’t vouch for quality.  The actual shops, restaurants, bars, hotels, etc. line the street behind the rows of vendors.  Then there are the side streets, or alleys also packed chock-a-block with sellers and services.  Then, of course, there are the roving vendors winding down the center pushing their wares.  All of this is exceedingly colorful- I tried to take pictures of this, not sure how successful it was.

Today I went to the Emerald Buddha Temple- one of the largest and most holy in Thailand (hope I got that right.)  I certainly have never seen anything like it and took over 150 pictures in about 3 hours.  (Have no fear, they will be downloaded shortly for your viewing- pleasure?)  One might wonder exactly what I’m going to do when I get to Angkor Wat.  The thought is scary.  But it was magnificent and leaves you utterly speechless.  And hot, by the way.

Still not clear where I am going from Bangkok- directly east and into Cambodia, or up through northern Thailand first.  Leaning toward the latter and will decide in the next day or two.  Either way, should be interesting. 

Tags: 1, Bangkok, Emerald Temple, Khao San Road, Thailand

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 2nd, 2008 at 10:35 am and is filed under 1. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.