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So Bangkok wasn't my favorite city, and I believe that is being nice. We flew into the city and since it is known throughout the globe, we felt it was our duty to stay for a bit. Three days was plenty. I was ready to run for the hills. Which is what we did by going to Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand, but i'll get to that in the next entry.
Anyways, Bangkok was interesting because of its great big mesh. Essentially it is the past, present, and future all garbled into one city. There are local traditional food stands everywhere selling creatures you only see in your nightmares. Don't get me wrong i'm usually gung ho about tasting anything, but I draw the line at being able to decipher whether or not it is from this planet. The city is crowded with tuk tuk's and taxis. Traffic is terrible. I did like the bright colors of all the cars (lime green, hot pink, blue, etc). With the colored cars and all the street bikes you sort of feel like you're in a scene straight out of Fast and the Furious. Minus Paul.
My number one dislike for Bangkok is the overwhelming feeling of distrust. We're foreigners and no matter how much we try to dress accordingly, we stick out like women in red dresses at a funeral. Therefore, we are prime targets for scam central. I'm almost positive we pay 25-50% more for everything, despite our barter abilities. Tuk Tuk drivers will try to take you on detours to see "high quality" shops. You finally get to the point where you'd rather walk 20 miles than have to deal with it.
Ok so enough complaining. WatPho (the huge reclining Buddha) was awesome. The Grand Palace was worth some polaroids. I give them kudos on the sky train...without which travel within the city would be impossible. If you like big cities with lots of tourists, then by all means go to Bangkok. Its worth seeing it once just to form your own opinion, but don't dedicate too much of your time to it. Go North or South! See the real Thailand.




previous travel blog entry
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