One word for Bangkok, Bustling!

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I'm on my fifth day in Bangkok and already I feel very anxious to head more North into Thailand. I definitely over extended my stay in Bangkok but needed to in order too catch up on some much needed sleep that I had lost in the time change from home.

My experience in Chinatown today solidified my decision to move North. I actually had to pull out of Chinatown a little earlier than expected due to my lungs feeling down right awful. And if you show any signs of being claustrophobic I highly recommend staying away from Chinatown because it is extremely congested with people, along with tight narrow alleys, and traffic that is non-stop. Even the streets, alleys, stores, Restaurants, you name it all gave me a choking feeling, this coming from someone who considers himself not be claustrophobic. Also the exhaust fumes from a combination of cars, buses, motos, and Tuk tuks was pure overkill on my lungs and head. This was all a disappointment too because I very much wanted to take in all the great food. Although I was able to get some of the tastiest Cha Shuu buns right by the dock, almost worth the pollution intake on my lungs. Granted many people speak highly of Bangkok's Chinatown unfortunately I happened to have a bad first experience.

if you love shopping than Bangkok is the city for you!

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I'd  say overall Bangkok is a city not for me. Don't get me wrong I've embraced a lot of the city but it's just too bustling and fast for my personality. The one thing that stands out the most is people love too shop here. Almost in every different district you'll find a market loaded with street vendors for as far as the eye can see selling everything you could possibly imagine. So I suppose if you love shopping than Bangkok is for you!

Now please don't get me wrong there are some great sights too see in Bangkok and one of them is the Royal Grand Palace. The Palace consecrated in 1782-the first year of Bangkok rule-is a architectural sight of beauty. With mosaic style pillars and enormous statues of the characters in Thailand history the Palace never got sore on the eyes. The most memorable experience was being able too witness 40 or so young monks in training chant in the main temple (the most sacred temple on the grounds).

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Also the food is absolutely divine and super reasonable. For the most part this has been my most precious time of the day. I'm so glad food vendors serve you smaller portions as compared to the States because I've been able to eat 4-5 times a day. This as you could imagine makes eating quite fun as I've been able to try all sorts of Thai dishes that makes is so unique.

The other cool thing about Bangkok is the river ferries that make it very easy to cross the river to different districts and neighborhoods. This was a excellent form of transportation as I was getting quite tired of playing a non stop game of Frogger. Come to think of it that is exactly what walking Bangkoks streets is like, a game of Frogger. Thanks to all those games of Frogger or else I would be road kill on some busy Bangkok Soi. I almost forgot to  mention how intense it is to cross a street here. It's down right dangerous especially if you're not paying attention to your surroundings. Tomorrow I head NE by train to the city Nakhon Ratchasima, where I'll start a NE trek into Isan territory.