Bangkok

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The journey from Siem Reap was well... long. Plus the roads in Cambodia weren't of the highest quality which made the trip interesting and a little longer. When we finally made it to the border on the edge of Thailand we were confronted not by fighting Thai and Cambodian soldiers disputing border land which had been in the news but by a mid section of casinos between the two border lines... so this is where everyone comes to gamble, I was always wondering. Finally after crossing the border and exchanging the full small bus with a half full big coach on the Thai side we were off and eventually came into the city of Bangkok during the nights darkness I was confronted by the impressive skyline spanning what like seemed forever as we circled it. This was probably the highlight of my stay in Bangkok... it was truly magnificent.

So I was in good spirits, I've just arrived into this huge city and there was a lot of energy in the air. So with a guy I met on the bus we went quickly to find a place to stay (round the backpacker area of Khao San Road), and were just as quick back out and on the town to have a deserved drink after that 12 hour journey. I've heard a lot of things about Khao San Road and it was just as crazy... there were bars, clubs, restaurants, market stalls, bright lights and many many people trying to sell everything and anything... "you want ping pong show." So we had a few drinks and then a few more etc... it was a very touristy place to be but was cool for the first night, then later on in the night my flip flops broke and it was at a time that all but one of the market stalls that sell flip flops had closed, and unfortunately his prices were way too high for me (even though I hadn't fully grasped prices and the exchange rate as of yet), so I decided as I was a little drunk that I would just walk bare foot for the rest of the night... carrying my broken flip flops in my hand to show my situation to others. A couple of things did actually put me off of Bangkok that night, firstly it was one guy that we met at a bar who was very open as to his main reason of coming to Thailand... to have sex with many prostitutes... nice, and I knew there were many others like him, I'm sorry no comprende with people like you! Now I know I was in the most backerpacker orientated place you could ever possibly find in South East Asia but everyone was such a cliche... it didn't matter if you were black, white or asia, but all were sporting the dreadlocks, the first time I've seen them in Asia. I don't mind them but no so many... the stereotypical backpacker dreads were taking over.

So like I said before, I was kind of my fault to be staying in this notorious traveler area but I didn't enjoy this vibe at all. Bangkok on the whole reminded me of a western city, it was big and modern and if I wanted to go to a western city I would of. To make things worse I got ill when i was there and couldn't leave the vicinity of my toilet so I spent much of my time in my guesthouse watching movies and reading. This is one of the reasons I didn't venture out much and investigate other areas in Bangkok away from the tourist packed area I was in... but it was also for the fact that I thought that the people there, the locals but probably more so the other tourists, were not that friendly. Everyone seemed to be in their own little bubble and didn't want to open up to anyone which made me withdraw socially as well (not helped by my current condition). Bangkok however is the first point of call for many travelers in South East Asia so I can understand that a lot of people are getting used to be away from home and are in a new country with new culture which can be daunting. But I do still think that people weren't that nice there.

On one day that I was feeling a lot better I decided I needed to go out and see a few sights so I got a tuk tuk for the day and went to the Grand Palace which does definitely live up to its name... it was spectacular... the amount of detail and gold there was incredible. I also saw a few other little things like the Lucky Buddha and a huge tall standing Buddha. All was good but I still wasn't feeling 100% so I wasn't really feeling it so much. I just wanted to get up to Chiang Mai as soon as possible which is what I did.

I would however like to go back to Bangkok... staying away from Khao San Road completely... and stay in another area which is more local rather than backpacker orientated, meet some locals do Bangkok how they do it. And Now I've been there once and can get by with some local lingo I think I will have a much better experience.

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