Bangkok, Thailand

The flight to Bangkok from Melbourne was easily the worst flight of our trip. It was a ten hour flight, tied with Boston-Hawaii as the longest leg so far, and they didn't serve us any food! Thank goodness we brought our own. The worst part, though, was the row of loud drunks just a few rows up from us. We were really glad to finally land!

We spent the first two nights in Bangkok staying at the Hilton and getting acclimated. It was HOT and busy! There were also a few rainstorms, and you could see heat lightning every night. Fortunately, the hotel room was air conditioned and had a beautiful view. We ventured out to a street market next door for lunch, which was a success, but also slightly terrifying- it was so crowded, loud, and confusing! I should note that when we went back to the same market on my last day in Bangkok, it seemed incredibly tame. Amazing how quickly you adjust to some things!

After leaving the Hilton, we went to stay with a friend of Adam's who is in Bangkok for two years for his job. Kyle and Robin were great hosts, and it was really helpful to get some tips from people who had been in Bangkok for a while! Their street seriously sketched me out at first, but after a few days I was used to the solicitors and lack of pedestrian right-of-way (it took us a full five minutes to cross one of the intersections the first time we walked the street!).

From Kyle & Robin's place, we finally did some sightseeing of Bangkok. We went to Wat Pho (Wat means Temple), which was a beautiful complex of buildings decorated incredibly ornately. We got scammed on our way there; although we somewhat knew it was happening, it was still a little frustrating when they took us to the wrong pier and told us the public shuttle boat wasn't running (it was). But the beauty of the temple made me forget about the frustration. Wat Pho is the home of the Reclining Buddha, a giant golden statue of the Buddha lying down. I had no idea how huge this statue was going to be! Inside the temple of the Reclining Buddha were several coin offering tins- there were so many tourists doing this that it made the temple sound like Vegas.

The next day, our sightseeing took us to the Grand Palace. The dress code at the Grand Palace was even more strict than it had been at the temple, and as a result I had to borrow a huge pink buttondown and wrap my scarf around my capris as a skirt. But the place was certainly gorgeous! The buildings were even more sparkly here than at Wat Pho, inlaid with mosaics of shiny metals that glittered in the sunlight.

Right across the river is Wat Arun, or "Temple of the Dawn". This temple is incredibly intricate, but unlike the other temples, instead of going into the temple, you climb the exterior! The stairs were fairly steep up to the first level, but going to the second level they were downright scary!

Other Bangkok highlights included the markets. The most interesting was the amulet market, where dozens of people, monks included!, perused the selections with loupes looking for their own lucky symbols. The transportation in the city was another source of amusement- we enjoyed a few rides in the ubiquitous "tuk tuks" (see the picture below, taken from our tuk tuk), so named because that's how the motor sounds. Between hanging on for dear life in the backseat precariously balanced over the wheels while the driver weaves between much larger vehicles, they're actually kind of fun. We also enjoyed that one of the main methods of transportation was the incredibly crowded river shuttle boat, where they herd you on board like dumb creatures and your fare is collected by a lady walking around clinking a cashbox.

An example of a VW Bus Bar

As far as food went, we learned the first night just how unaccustomed to spicy foods we are, but even though I was crying while I ate my dinner, it was still delicious! We began to learn after that to order food "not too spicy", a request that they would kindly oblige. We also discovered the beauty of street food, although in the interest of not getting sick we were only brave enough to eat vegetarian things that had been fried- dumplings and samoas were our most popular choices. The highlight, by far, was the night that Kyle & Robin took us to the VW Bus bar- it was just parked on the side of the road with black lights, disco balls, and neon signs, serving drinks for 100B ($3)!

Overall, Bangkok was a confusing mix of frustration, beauty, spice, and chaos. It was interesting to explore but tiring to understand! Check out the rest of our Bangkok pictures on the Pictures page!