Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok, Thailand...a little surreal and at times a complete sensory overload. It was full of beautiful temples, cheap food, and insane amounts of air and noise pollution.

Bangkok was what the guidebooks said, in that as tourists we were preyed upon for scams from taxi drivers to market vendors, and we also had to pay a premium price at attractions. The latter, I won't argue with though, as the 20 baht admission fees (less than $1) were definitely worth the gilded beauty of Bangkok's temples (Wat). Most of the temples were gleaming, mirrored mosaics accents with lots of gold leaf. They were peaceful oases in the noise, dirt, and pollution of Bangkok. This is a photo of the statues around one of the gold-leafed stupas at Wat Phra Kaew, which is part of the Grand Palace compound. This palace is no longer the King's residence but is still used for some State events.

These are statues in the garden at Wat Pho. The two people in the foreground are illustrating a traditional Thai massage. Wat Pho has a traditional Thai massage school attached to it. I indulged in a half-hour massage (for about $8), and it hurt so good! I still don't know how that little woman was able to have that much force. I definitely recommend it if you are ever in the neighborhood!

Many of the temples that we saw were being re-roofed and cleaned up. It wasn't too bad though, because it usually meant that most of the buildings looked all shiny and new, while one building in the compound was covered up. Here is a picture from Wat Arun for you Mom and Dad. I wonder if Buddha's moving days are as fun as moving me? Just a little something to prime you for when I return to the States in fall.

And as for the legendary Bangkok traffic jams, they were present but weren't as bad as everyone seemed to make them out to be. Maybe it was because I was usually sitting in the air-conditioned comfort of a taxi, or maybe it was because I have been stuck in worse traffic by O'hare airport going into Chicago on a Friday night. I tried riding in a legendary tuk-tuk (a kind of motorized pedicab found throughout Bangkok), but between the lung-clogging air pollution and the seedy touts, we opted for cabs to get around Bangkok. Also, after seeing the driving (lanes are painted on the streets but usually not used), I felt a bit more comfortable having a steel frame around me.