Bangkok!

Bangkok…. What a place! I can honestly say that so far, I haven’t ever been to any city even close to Bangkok. I’ve developed a love/hate relationship with this city. I love being here, the weather (except for all the humidity - curly hair people unite!), the people and the food. Oh the food! I can write for hours on the variety here. I should have been a food critic. But I have also grown to dislike how quickly this place is changing with the huge amount of tourists coming here. It changes every year and some streets don’t even look the same from year to year. And the amount of pollution in this city is horrible. Manila is the only place I can say is worse. What can one expect from a city of 6 million people and how many thousands of tourists??














Lyle and Sandy have turned out to be fantastic travel companions. They are so easy going and willing to try anything that it has made this trip a lot of fun for me. They are seeing Thailand for their first time and reminding me greatly of how it was my first time. They are making me stop and appreciate it at a slower pace and I have even tried a few foods that I hadn’t tried before. They are also keen on trying all the hawker stalls so I have been eating my way through Bangkok. Sandy has been laughing about how she couldn’t understand last year why I always talked about the food here, but now she sees why. Not only is the food tasty and cheap ($1 for pad Thai and a spring roll), but you can’t turn your head anywhere without seeing something yummy. Honestly, I think Lyle and I have eaten our weight in fresh fruit. The pineapple here can’t be beat and at 25 cents for half of one, what else would I eat?













So far, in Bangkok we’ve had some weird weather. It rained the first 2 days we were here which is really unusual for Bangkok in January. The rainy season is normally April – June. So there is a lot of talk everywhere about Global Warming and how it is affecting everyone in the world. I have to agree. Since then, it has been really sunny and warm. I know, a little rain? But there is no such thing as a little rain in Thailand. When it starts to drizzle you run for cover because in a few minutes, you get dumped on. You might as well be in a shower. We are heading to Chiang Mai later tonight where the locals here warn us is cold (14 C). Lyle and Sandy had a little chuckle as it was freezing in Vic when we left.

The last few days we’ve spent a lot of time shopping. It is a shopping haven here and since it is their first time I gotta just let them get it out of their system. It helps that I speak a little Thai as the bargaining can sometimes get fierce. But really, I think bargaining is my favorite thing about the shopping. I found myself last night bargaining for stuff I didn’t even want! Too fun! We went to Pat Pong Road last night. It is a night market where on either side of the market is all the sex shows. It’s a weird experience trying to shop for shoes with ladies in bikinis trying to get you to watch a pussy show. There are some things in Thailand that maybe need to stay behind closed doors and not be discussed. The things these women do with their bits is just not natural. I’ll leave that up to all of you to find out for yourself.

Lyle and Sandy have been venturing out to some of Bangkok’s tourist attractions as well. They checked out the Grand Palace yesterday. They got scammed for their first time and then got smart to avoid a second close call. Right when they got out of their cab, a person approached them and put bird seed in their hand. Then they gestured for them to throw it to feed the birds. Not knowing what to do, they just threw it like they were told. Then the Thai person said, “300 Baht!” What! Now, what I would have done was just walked away, and I guess Lyle tried to, but the person started to create a scene. And like any good Canadian he just paid up to avoid it. These Thai people sometimes can read the good people soooo well. The good thing is that they won’t ever fall for it again. Welcome to Thailand!














We also took the ferry system down the river to get to Wat Po today. It’s a crazy system where you have these little open boats and they stop at jetty’s and pick people up. It’s like a bus, only on the river. It is the fastest and easiest way to get around Bangkok. The weird thing is that it stops only for a moment and then takes off so if you aren’t quick you can miss your boat or worse, fall into the water as it pulls away. It is so different from what we would ever do in Canada (unless you take a BC Ferry from Gabriola Island).

Anyways, I am getting ready to head to the train station and travel North. I have a few other things I am planning, so you will have to just follow along to find out what I am up to.