Bangkok: Wats, Sticky Rice, Massages.

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Hello from Bangkok, Thailand!

Night 1 in Bangkok: I got here earlier this week from Kunming. I happened to re-connect with another traveler who I went biking with in Lijiang. We were on the same flight to Bangkok, which was nice since I had some company transiting from BKK airport to the city center. We took the bus to Khao San area, and looked for hotels and had dinner together.

Day 1: I was in Bangkok by myself one day while I waited from my friend to come from SF. Since I had a slight cold, I just spent the day getting my laundry done, reading, eating Thai food, etc. It was nice to have some down time and I felt much better after a day of rest.

Day 2 in Bangkok: My friend J met up with me at our hotel. Her college friend recently moved to Thailand, so he picked her up from the airport and together we all went to lunch. It was so great that J's friend drove us and had time to play tour guide. We headed to lunch at Siam Square (Paragon Mall?). I like how the King's photos are plastered around Bangkok. We had a nice Thai meal at the super ritzy mall. J and I walked around a bit and then her friend drove us to the night market, where we shopped and ate mango sticky rice. :) I love the smells on the streets - there's food everywhere. Smells delicious! Surprisingly, J was not jet-lagged, and we headed back to the hotel at night.

Day 3 in Bangkok: The next morning we went to visit the Grand Palace. The temples were so interesting and so beautiful! Very different from the temples in China. The detailed, mosaic-like mirror pieces were sparkly, pretty and just really unique and intricate. The pictures don't do justice! We visited Phro Wat too, beautiful as well.

It was pretty darn hot and humid. The air quality is very poor too; traffice is pretty bad. The humidity makes it worse. Yes, I know, I always have to complain about the weather in every blog! :) We grabbed lunch, cooled down, and had mango sticky rice for dessert.

Bangkok is very touristy - taxi drivers, tuk-tuk (motorcycle-cart taxi) drivers, and even tourist police don't seem too trustworthy. One tourist police guy told us that the temple was closed for a ceremony and that we should go to some other temples and sights via tuk-tuk. We didn't listen to him and found out the temple wasn't closed at all! We are staying on Khao San road - there are tons of bars and vendors. It's festive, but a little overwhelming with foreigners. Lots of stands selling pad-thai noodles, tropical fruit, skewers, etc. Buddy Lodge - 2000B, cute, boutique hotel, clean. Great breakfast with tropical fruit and yogurt included. ;)

I knew that Bangkok had a red-light district, but I didn't realize how prostitution is still a problem in tourist areas. Ugh. Pretty sad. There are a lot of foreign men with local women walking around and eating in restaurants - to each their own, I guess. My first night in Bangkok, I was at a restaurant and I was a bit disturbed that there were so many older/middle-aged men with young local Thai women. I wasn't with an old man, but all of a sudden, I was a little uncomfortable because I was with a white male! I didn't want to be classified in my own classification! haha. Anyway, the scene is a bit disturbing and I wish tourists would stop perpetuating this industry.

J's friend brought us to a nice spa for massages (Healthland). Really nice place - a massage at a spa like that in SF would cost $180 USD. We got aromatherapy massages for 800B. The relaxation massage is a little too wimpy for me - very nice, but not enough to get out all my knots. J and I went for massages again the next day, and I got a back/neck Thai massage. The lady was stood on a stool to put her weight into it. Now that's more like it! ;) hahah. It was great.

Day 4 in Bangkok, J and I went to tour the canals - "old Venice" in Bangkok. We had a fun boat ride. The boat tour was not what I expected, but we had fun. We were supposed to see a "boat market" where the vendors are all on fishing boats, but it turned out to be "lady on boat with souvenirs". Really horrible, but I got a chuckle out of it. We saw a "fish farm" also, where we saw schools of icky catfish. J and I had fun making the fish fight over the bread we threw into the water. The boat sped through the waterways, splashing gross canal water everywhere. haha, it was all very charming.

Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs for dinner - curry, papaya salad, tom yum soup, and pan fried noodles. Yum! :)

Pictures later. Off to Northern Thailand tomorrow! Wish you were here.

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