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After overcoming jet lag our visit to Bangkok kicked off in full stride. We were fortunate to be given a full-on tour our first day exploring with a friend of mine who moved to Bangkok twelve years ago. As with days we had with other friends or friends we've made along the way, this just added to our experience. I can't thank Andy and his step-daughter Pon enough for showing us around and making our first day (and others to come) so much fun.
Bangkok is a 24x7 marketplace. Everything is for sale at anytime of day anywhere and for any price. We took a taxi to meet which for a 30 minute ride cost about $4 US dollars. So in Bangkok you get a lot of bang for the baht! That was weak, I know, please don't stop reading.
Andy brought along his step-daugther and as in Milan, we got a chance to meet the Thai version of Celeste - shy, quiet, and very nice. Once we met we then took tuk-tuks - little mini-scooter taxis - to a market in Pak Kret, a suburb of Bangkok. In Bangkok you're just bombarded at all angles with different smells, sites, and sounds. After being in proper ol' England for 20+ days it was like changing from Mozart and putting on Santana live in the Fillmore East in 1971 (they'll pop-up in a future blog so stay tuned).
In no time we were eating meat on a stick, drinking soda in a bag, chowing down fried flowers, and riding long boats up and down the klongs. Who doesn't love good BBQ and why not just put it on a stick so you can walk around and eat. Fried flowers are sumptious. Further proof that you can't screw up frying any food. A klong is a canal and we zipped in and out of them and would get off at various places to wander around. Our favorite scene was an abandoned aircraft in the backyard of some houses. How that plane got there I can only guess it crashed and it was never pulled out. However it truly did get there just was further proof of the contrasting scenes you get everywhere in this great and chaotic city.
We went to a smaller temple and while there we were treated to some outstanding local dancers and music. The dancers were all very exotic and had plenty of great moves that haven't hit the shores of the US. I took this time to get a free massage from some students offering them. There training is up to par as it was quite refreshing and I feel quite good when done.
After nibbling all day at various markets we had a great lunch for 6 which ran about $20. After choking on the prices of the UK and Europe these last few months I kicked back and ordered another Singha.
We wrapped up our day feeding some fish wish was insane. The girls were tearing up a loaf a bread and there were hundreds, no make that thousands, all vying for a piece. Of course others were doing this too so it was a feeding frenzy. In fact, when you're getting off a boat on the river you typically will see a sign to feed the fish for 10 baht, or 30 cents. I got some great video of it.
When you're out in Bangkok it's a must to have a piece of paper with your residence written in Thai so the taxis know how to get you home. After Andy put us in our cab, he speaks decent Thai, we gave our slip to the driver Mr. Damrong. We should've know we would get it all wrong based on his name. Fortunately there was no harm and no foul and we made it home after having to change cabs at the Shangri-La Hotel, a five star hotel, which he thought we were at.
Our apartment might be my favorite of our entire trip. Apart from it being a great location and on the 40th floor (oh and a jack on a Denon receiver where I can plug in my iPod and play music) we have access to three fantastic pools which is the perfect way to come down after the intensity of Bangkok. If our remaining days are like the first we're really going to have a great time here.
AG
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