From the mean streets of Bangkok…(where no one is mean)

I am now in Bangkok, and the place is bangin!

I anticipated staying in Bangkok about 3 days total. I have been here 9 days now. However I am hitting the road to Cambodia in the morning. I still have some more photos to upload, so stay tuned-more Bangkok is on its way!

Heres the Bangkok re-cap.

Upon arrival I quickly purchased that antibiotic medicine that I needed. I took it and I am finally back to my old self after about a month of tummy pains.

Bangkok is the metro center of Thailand, it is where everything passes through before going to the far off reaches of the Kingdom. There is soooo much to see and do here! I’m pretty sure if I came to Bangkok right from the US, I may have hated it here, but after coming from southern Thailand where we didn’t even have electricity and survived on generators, toilets were simply holes in the ground that we poured water into after using them, we slept in bamboo shacks where all kinds of creatures came to live with you, and not to mention being dirty all the time no matter how often you showered-you may understand why I really like Bangkok at this point!! The city itself is likeable for about a week, I mean it IS just a giant polluted city the same as anywhere, but what is within the city, is what is amazing! The culture, the monks, the wats/temples, the Buddha’s, and Grand Palace, the transportation system, the architecture, the markets, the parks-that is what is amazing about this place. It has been fully enriching being here.

The following are photos from Bangkok…Enjoy.

Karate-choppin China Town!

This is Wat Arun Ratcha Wararam also known as The Temple of the Dawn.

This is Wat Tri Mit which is famous for the giant Buddha located there.

I traveled around the Choa Phraya River by water taxi; it was much faster than taking a street taxi due to traffic congestion on many of the narrow roads and the loads of foot and motorbike traffic.

Snake farm where venomous snakes are milked and it is used to make anti-venom for hospitals to use on bite victims. Also in this science complex is the Collaborating Center for Research on Rabies Pathogenesis and Prevention. I spent an afternoon talking to the director about current research and it was fascinating.

Lumphini Park is a huge man made park similar to Central Park. At one area of the park they have an outdoor weight room. For 20 Baht (about $0.75) you can weight train there.

These are some local Thai men that were more than willing to let me take their photo.

The famous Khao San Road-tourist hub of Bangkok. Seriously...if you want to go to Bangkok and hardly ever see Thai people and only see annoying tourists...this is the place for you. Unfortunately, it’s super easy to arrange travel to other areas from here because there are so many travel agents and therefore access to transportation at descent prices. There are a lot of guest houses in this area, and mostly everyone speaks English, it’s also close to the city’s major sight-seeing attractions. So this is the area I stayed.

The ChatchuchakWeekend Market in Bangkok is the epicenter for trade throughout the Kingdom of Thailand. Almost all goods that will be later scattered throughout the country come through this market first. Handy-crafts from hill tribe villages, silks, clothing, decorative furniture, food, animals, odds and ends, trinkets, everything…you name it, its there.

When I went to the market, I was the only non-Asian person there. I didn’t see another westerner at all, and no one spoke much English. That aspect of things I really enjoyed.

However, as for my experience with the actual market…I didn’t have the best time.
In fact, I cried for hours... I walked around and some how got mixed up and lost in there...it’s the largest open air market in the world. I ended up getting so turned around and wound up in the live animal market. Out of all the places to wind up...it figures.

The majority of animals being sold were squirrels and rabbits. All babies and all drugged in order to keep them calm. The people placed strings around the squirrel’s necks to keep them leashed, and the f-ing Thai people buying them as novelty items were walking around with them on their fore-arms while the poor babies are bound by their necks. When they fall in their confused drugged-up state, the people would just grab the string and the squirrel would dangle there until they calmed down (by being strangled!). My entire experience was completely disheartening. I cried and cried and tried to get out of there as fast as I could, but it seemed that every corner I turned there were more squirrels. The babies would cry making that baby squirrel sound when calling to its mama then get quiet when the drugs kick in. I hated it so much. I kept trying to get away but the foot traffic was so slow because people were packed shoulder to shoulder and you couldn't walk quickly....only very very slowly. So slowly, that I cried even more. I hated it....and couldn’t wait to leave.

A canal within the city. Some canals have taxi services between popular points. In this photo a boy is doing laundry in the canal.

This Wat Phra Kaeo which houses the famous Emerald Buddha. It is the most highly cherished Buddha figure.

This is near the entrance of Wat Phra Kaeo and the Grand Palace.

The Grand Palace...

This is WatPho home to the massive reclining Buddha.

Also at Wat Pho.

Around wats, monks are responsible for renovations, up-keep and repairs. This is a photo of a monk carrying material where they are repairing a closed section of the wat.

Wat Pho also has is the national school for the art of Thai Massage. Oh man...it's so great!