Right now though, I'm on the road again. I'm not in the office today, nor will I be for the entire week. I am in Thailand, and being here feels like an echo of last year - when I had the whole year off for care-free travels. I don't have quite as much time this trip, but it's pleasant not to have to think of work. I'm come here for a friend's wedding.
For those of you who don't know, I used to live in Bangkok, and I've been back as frequently as I've been able. I know the place well, it's really like another home for me. I am of course farang (the Thai word for foreigner), so there's plenty I don't know about the place or haven't discovered, and each time I come back there's lots for me to learn and lots of new food to try.
People have very different views on Bangkok - some love it, some hate it. I can sympathise with both views. Everyone, I'm sure, will agree that Bangkok is a sensory overload. Bangkok attacks you through every sensory channel - strong smells, either putrid or divine, force themselves in your face; loud sounds, pretty or coarse, are always at your ears; the tropical heat penetrates you from every direction, leaving you sweating much like the steam in your bathroom after you've had a very long, hot shower and your ventilation isn't working; the food, famously, is divine; visually, you will never be bored - there are endless arrays of street food vendors, sickly dogs, flower-stalls, khlongs (which are canals but also open sewers), everyday I walk past a chap doing welding work without gloves or glasses of any kind... etc.
Well, that's all I've got to say for now. Am attaching some photos. Bangkok: the place and it's food. ;p
A typical Bangkok lane
A hot, wet, sweaty day in Bangkok
Thais wearing the King's colour yellow on the King's day (Monday), as is their habit over recent years, to show solidarity & support for the King.
Lunch - Pad Thai noodles with prawns (& a section of a banana flower)
Lunch - the Thai take on a Chinese pork dish
9 comments:
nice story man! :)
FOOOOOODDDD!!!
Thanks for taking a look guys! Ah yes, Bangkok is a nice place and the food is great. Those noodles in the picture cost me about 80p - but really I should be able to find them for 60p. ;p
You suck.
I rule.
And big brown turds,
Are awfully like,
Mr Mike.
You suck.
I'm planning on a few days in Bangkok (in December), but I'm waiting to see if they do that jazz festival thing this year.
And of course Syd is quite tempting right now with the exchange rate!
Hey! Yeah the exchange rate for Australia at the moment is criminal! Ah~ Bangkok is a nice place to spend a few days~ =)
heard its v v v v v hot there in bkk
& local police protects the tourist there v well despite those riots
=)
Yeah it's hot there... but same like Malaysia. Ah, I miss the heat!
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