A sweaty mess

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Thailand is hot! And muggy! Which means I'm always sweating! In Bangkok it's especially bad because of all the cars, street vendors cooking, and all the cement and people. Thank goodness for their air conditioned metro system. It is a very welcome relief from the intense heat walking around. Most hostels offer rooms with either a fan or air conditioning and you pay quite a bit more for air conditioning but it is worth it because otherwise you cannot sleep its so hot! I feel like I always look like I just got out of an intense work out in all my pictures. My two daily cold showers have been like heaven in order to cool down and get clean of all the sweat.



Bangkok also gives the senses a real work out when walking around. There is a ton to see that make you awe (temples for example) but also a ton of things that make you cringe (mangy dogs everywhere, weird looking food). The smells are crazy too, with street vendors cooking stuff everywhere, exhaust from tuk tuks and cars, and nasty sewage in places along side rivers. You also have to be constantly alert trying to avoid traffic ( they drive on the opposite side) and dealing with annoying tuk tuk drivers that all want to take me on a city tour. Overall though, the city is pretty clean, safe, and enjoyable. And most Thai people are really friendly that I have met and vey helpful which makes getting around pretty easy too.



Interesting observation: the Thai people are very patient. I was amazed to see how they waited in orderly lines for the metro and didn't squeeze on when there wasn't enough room. The just wait for the next one. This is vastly different from my daily metro rides in Spain where there is no such thing as a line and there is always more room. The only time I was squeezed on the metro in Bangkok was riding with Bret (from my other post) and he said when that happens it is usually the Chinese squeezing on... Which it was.

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Photos

Thai movie experience
Seeing a movie in Thailand is supposed to be quite the experience so we decided to try it out to beat the heat. We were told they have big reclining seats, you can order food from your seats, and etc. I think we picked the wrong type of movie theater but still enjoyed the spiderman movie and were intrigued by the national anthem they that everyone rose for before the movie.

The river ferry
A convenient and inexpensive way to move about. This guy had to jump and secure the boat and pull it back to the dock as it went speeding past and the driver throws it in reverse.

A flower ritual thing
Outside of all the temples a these flowers tht people "bless" others with. I have no idea exactly what the significance is but it is interesting to observe

Fruit stand
These are everywhere and I love to grab a quick snack. Really good

Chatuchak market
One of the largest markets in the world it covers acres upon acres. It's feels endless. And they have everything there! Anything you would need or want. Literally

Comments

[Gram &Grandpa Lane]

Bangkok
As usual pictures and text are great. Very interesting and colorful. Glad to see you had a nice visit with your friends. looking forward yo next stop.