Bangkok, Thailand

Being in Bangkok is like playing a non-stop game of Frogger. You dodge tuk-tuks, taxis, cars, buses, people, motorcycles, offers for tuk-tuk rides, offers for taxi rides, offers for suits, etc. It only gets worse in the tourist areas of town, like where we stayed, in the Khao San Road area.


Khao San is legendary for being a backpacker island in Southeast Asia, and as such, packed with foreigners and street vendors, day and night. The street food is an amazing selection of Thai pancakes, padthai, springrolls, curries, and fruit shakes, and is the best part of Bangkok, especially with the $.50-1.50 price tag on all the meals. With so many people, there is an energetic crowd enjoying the many bars and clubs every night. On our second night there, we joined them by going on a pub crawl down the road, which took us to some brilliant places with all sorts of fun people. The sights in Bangkok aren't numerous, but the places they do have are definitely worth seeing. We saw the big three, The Grand Palace (bottom), Wat Pra Kaeo (top row), which are in adjacent complexes,


and Wat Pho (below). They are Buddhist religious buildings and although they all have similar styles, they are each unique enough that you don't feel like you are seeing the same thing. While we were there, it was the Thai Labor Day, so many Thai people had come to pray and burn incense.


On our third day in Bangkok, we stopped in at some markets, checked out one of the famous malls, and I said goodbye to Jessica, who is now heading back to Seattle, while I keep going to Laos.

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Details:
Bangkok is a major transport hub, so you are almost certain to go through here if you come in this part of the world. We came from Ko Phangan, leaving at 11:00 from Hat Rin and arriving at 5:30 the following morning ($23/850B). Spend a few days here. It is easy to get comfortable with the good food, massages, fun scene, etc. Avoid tuk-tuk drivers. The prices sound good, but they stop at their friend's stores 4-5 times in a journey and pressure you to buy things. Also avoid taxi drivers who give you a fixed price for a journey (often lying about there being traffic on the way), make them use the meter. The main three temples are in walking distance from the Khao San Road area, but to get to the big Weekend Market (though it wasn't anything special), we took a taxi ($3/100B). To get from Khao San Rd. to MBK, the big mall with tons of electronics, clothes, etc. is ($2/80B). For the best deal on accommodation, find Rambuttri Street (or Soi Ram Buttri), which is just parallel to Khao San Road (but head to the part toward where Khao San dead ends at the wat). The whole area basically a strip, with little on the side streets, so stick to Khao San, then when that dead ends, walk one block over to Ram Buttri and follow that. There is a post office at the end of Khao San road furthest from the wat. We paid $10/350B for a room and I paid $4.50/150B for a room the night I was on my own. To get to the airport, there are hourly shuttle transfers bookable just about everywhere ($4/130B), taking 1 hour.