Bangkok

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Hello everyone.

First off, any one who ever tells you that Thailand is a backpackers paradise is absolutely telling the truth. I love it here. It is by far the friendliest place I have been on this trip, friendly for meeting other people I mean. I arrived about 9 am to the hostel and the first thing I notice is 3 guys sitting outside drinking beer, they hadn't been to bed yet. Crazy.

I met a Canadian guy within an hour, we headed to Khaosan Road to sort out a visa for me and to just look around. Khaosan Road is this area of Bangkok thats just full of guesthouses and hotels, bars and restaurants, travel and tour agents, vendors selling anything and everything, street vendors selling all kinds of food from spring rolls and pad thai to the fried grasshoppers.. its just a crazy area... lots and lots of bars.. Anyway, we ended up taking a boat trip through the canals. It was so cool. They houses were all up on stilts, some looked like shacks while others more like mansions. There were people on their decks, a woman in a tiny boat selling beverages on the canals, we just had to buy a beer. Then we went back to Khaosan Road, had a bucket of Thai whiskey with coke and red bull, they sell them everywhere.. its really quite good, and then we went to Pat Pong to just check out the 'red light district'.. It was so strange, we even actually went to a ping pong show.. anyone who is not sure what that is, I will have to fill you in when I get home.. really crazy and I still can't believe I went...

There are days here where I eat only from the street vendors , its so cheap and really really good. They sell Pad Thai, chicken and beef skewers, spring rolls, and yes, do not forget about the grasshoppers, scorpions and maggots. One night a group of us went out to Na Na for the night, I bought us a bag of fried grasshoppers. One poor Canadian girl lost her dinner when she saw me eating them, haha, but she was a trooper and managed to try a few herself. Really if you don't think about what you are eating, they aren't so bad.. a little spicy. Have not got up the nerve to try the maggots yet.. Haha.

Thanksgiving Sunday here was a blast... We went to some bars a few streets down from Khaosan Road. we were sitting outside across from some restuarants but at the street vendors "establishment". We bought a fish, they BBQ'd it right there, brought it to us on tin foil along with some plastic forks, and that was my Thanksgiving dinner.. It was really great. Around midnight they take away the tables and chairs and put down mats for you to sit on. They still serve, but I guess they are afraid that the tourists will fall off the chairs.. not too sure, but it was funny to be sitting on mats on the street and to have people come by every once in while asking if you need more coke, or more ice.. too funny...

My Visa for Vietnam is finally ready and so I am heading to Ko Samui to spend some time on the beach, and really Bangkok is great, but is small doses, haha.

Take Care

Tami

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