Bangkok

So this entry is not going to be nearly as cool as the next, so I'm not going to really try too hard. I was burned out after Egypt and snapped some pictures of the 3 biggest monuments in Bangkok and that's about it. It is cool to be in Asia and see some really cool temples and architecture that I've only seen in movies, plus the people are the exact opposite of Egypt. We went from a place where rules are strictly followed to the point where you can't even drink or see some women's faces, to a place where women are sometimes actually men and instead of trying to sell local crafts they instead just sell their body. At every corner the women want to give you a "Thai massage" and the men want you to ride on their Tuk Tuk... Ok, that probably sounds bad so I better explain... A Tuk Tuk is a cross between a motorcycle and a golf cart. As you can imagine they don't go that fast and are probably more expensive than taking a taxi.

We ended up spending 2 nights in Bangkok before heading to Phuket and one of the days it rained the entire day, which was fine because I was pretty sick from Egypt (that's why I don't look too excited in the pictures). Maybe it’s because we just came from Egypt, but Bangkok was much nicer than everyone made it out to be. Everyone made it sound really dirty but I thought it was actually a nice city... not nearly as dirty as Lima or Cairo. In some ways, I think it might actually be nicer than LA. Its airport is much better, the taxis have leather seats (although no seatbelts), and all the places we ate at were really good and cheap.

My favorite temple was Wat Arun, or the Temple of the Dawn. It was cool mainly because it was fun to climb. It had really small, steep stairs that made you feel like one wrong step and you would slide all the way down the thing. It also had really great views of the city, the river and the Grand Palace. The temples are constructed mainly of ceramic and stucco, so not nearly as impressive as Egypt or Machu Picchu, but it did have little statues of soldiers and animals making crazy, sometimes scary faces. I'm not sure if these statues were intended to protect the temples or what, but it added to the character of each of the temples.

The stop in Bangkok was short because we are headed to the beach, FINALLY! We are headed to Phuket, but are also planning on checking out some of the smaller surrounding Islands in southern Thailand.

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