firsy day in bangkok

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our first day in Bangkok was a lot more inviting than the night before, however, the heat was the same. we woke to eat, shower and adventure outside. having absolutely no idea wat was going on or where we were going we just walked down the road which was already littered with taxis, tuk-tuks and some early morning stalls.

we headed for an information centre that was ambiguously doted on a map that in no way did bangkok's size or madness any justice. we stood like stunned mullets looking at this map when a tuk-tuk driver named "chi" introduced himself and said he would take us to the govt travel agency and take us around all day for only 20Baht! he was great, excited and genuinely intrested in talking to us. at only 25 he had done a variety of jobs but loved tuk-tuk driving passionatey, in a country were poverty is oppressing, he said it gave him freedom.

we booked pretty much all our travel, accomodation and a couple of activites 4 the rest of the trip at 12,000 baht. which sees us criss-crossing the country and doing a 3 day trek in chaing mai.

after seeing some major temples and central aspects of bangkok i begun to notice certain nuances on thai culture and society. The city is dotted with elaborated and breathtakingly beautiful temples and religuous sites which tower above the shanty's and rundown buildings that surround them. The other major thing to note are the behemoth govt buildings that stand like fortresses with high fences adn armed guards taking that take up a vast amount of land. it seems that Bangkok is divided an extreme rich and poor dichotomy but also the twin power of the state of religuous instutes. much like the leviaton thought up by thomas hobbes. the royal palace and palace grounds look absolutely absurd in comparrision to the poverty around them.

later that day once we did the whirlwind tour of bangkok we showered and meet our driver who took us to his place to have some drinks. after flying through the city we arrived down this alley we he lived with his family, 15 people in a 5 b/rm apartment. this alley was initself a symbol of this intense city. on one side were the backends of modern city bungalows and on the other these squashed and cramped human warehouses. in many of the other houses we could see people sewing and working over sewing machines churning out the garments that would be seen in many of the high-end stores.

after all of this we ended back on Khao San and had some drinks at a pub. later as we headed back home we were hounded by prostitutes and tuk-tuk drivers promising more of the same and always asking if we want to see ping-pong show.

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