Our visit to Bangkok, Thailand

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On Nov 30, we flew from Xiamen, China to Bangkok, Thailand on a late evening flight using Air Asia.

The flight was late in schedule, but the flight itself was pleasant. We arrived in Bangkok at around midnight and took a taxi to the guest house that we have pre-booked, on Khao San road.

Khao San road is supposed to be the backpacker's ghetto. However, we found that there are more older travelers (like us) on Khao San road, and I guess that's why the prices for the guest houses have been pushed higher than last year.

We have 12 days to spend in Thailand before we go on our 1 month Burma trip.

On Dec 1, we took it easy and took the Chao Praya ferry (the ferry that takes passengers from the north end of Bangkok to the south end (and vice versa). We went to the last pier on the north end (Nonthaburi) and found that there are several streets lined with vendors.

Among the vendors, about half of them sell food. There is no shortage of cooked food in Thailand streets (except in the remote hill tribe areas). Since we landed in Thailand, we have been eating non-stop, going from one vendor to another.

It is pretty difficult to lose weight in Thailand. However, many Thai girls are very skinny. The Thais usually eat pretty sweet stuff. They even added sugar to sugar cane juice !!!

On Dec 2, it is again market day. We went to the Chatuchak weekend market. There is supposed to be at least 3000 vendors. We were especially interested in the "pet" section. We visited this market last year and enjoyed looking at the little dogs. We are not disappointed. There are some cute and many tiny dogs, some are just the size of my hand.

Tomorrow (Dec 3), we will go to Kanchanaburi , where the famous Bridge over River Kwai is situated.

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Photos

2006-12-01 15-06-49
Pier 13 near KhaoSan Road, about 10 minutes walk. Boat ride is a great way to travel in Bangkok. Cool, no traffic jam.

2006-12-01 15-07-22
This boat will take you to the end of the line for 13 Baht (~US$0.40) not bad for an hour of boat ride. Or you can get a day pass for 100 Baht and ride all you want.

2006-12-01 15-54-07
We were going North to pier 30. The scenery was quite nice along the way.

2006-12-01 16-49-35
We just stumbled upon a busy section of Bangkok right next to Pier 30. this photo is take from a foot bridge.

2006-12-01 17-03-24
We do what a tourist would do to help out the local economy. BBQ vendors are common sight in Bangkok streets. 10B for 5 BBQ chicken strips.

2006-12-01 17-37-21
This is actually a sidewalk evolved into a covered mini mall

2006-12-02 12-41-31
We are taking bus #3 from KhaoSan Road to the Weekend Market. We like to public transit to visit places as we can mingle with the locals.

2006-12-02 12-51-27
This kind of display of the Thai King is all over Thailand to celebrate his birthday. He probably is the most beloved king by his countrymen in the world.

2006-12-02 13-06-07
The street is already packed with vendors outside the ChatuChak Weekend Market. Here we have some sort of pancakes. Very sweet as the Thais like it.

2006-12-02 13-11-55
There are about 20 to 30 entrances into Chatuchak. Some entrances go through stalls of vendors and are usually packed with shoppers.

2006-12-02 14-29-56
The Market has different sections. Our favorite is the pet section. The puppies are so cute and there are so many of them. The one shown here will be trained to pick pockets.

2006-12-02 14-30-47
These Doberman puppies wobble around are probably just days old. All the puppies have some paper strips to keep the ears erected.

2006-12-02 14-58-25
Phyllis said this is the best Dong Yum Gung soup she had.

2006-12-02 15-56-12
The King is the most popular guy in Thailand. I am still not sure whether this is a paint job or not. And probably done on all four sides of this tall building.

2006-12-02 16-15-38
The Sky Rail rides like any other subways, except you get a nice view of Bangkok.

2006-12-02 16-24-35
A view from the Sky Rail. You can see new developments in a distance, older sections closer by and a section of river where floating market may have flourished many year ago.

Comments

[Bridget]

What about Thai Jewelry?
A fun trip! Wish that I could taste that Dong Yum Gung soup.: )

[Connie Tang]

Puppies
I'm hoping these puppies are not meant for the dinner table!!!

[pggo]

Puppies
No, not for dinner. Not enough meat. ;-)