Thailand #1: Bangkok

Okay,

I'm sorry it's been so long since I'd made an addition to my blog. Aside from having little free time, Christy and I really haven't been doing much worth writing about. We go to school, climb, workout, and go to Korean lessons...that's about it. Our weekend trips have ceased for the winter season, and have been replaced by...Korean lessons. I'm happy to say that the dry spell has come to an end. Christy and I just returned from Thailand, and have some good stories and pictures to share. I'm going to try to use links to the pictures rather than include them in this blog, so please let me know if you cannot access them.

My Pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?page=5&aid=2674773&id=8632531#/album.php?aid=2851846&id=13909273

Christy's Pictures
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?page=5&aid=2674773&id=8632531#/album.php?aid=2674773&id=8632531


Bangkok:

We flew out of Seoul on January 9th, and were more than happy to leave behind the 15F weather, and still unmoved snow from the week before. A short 2hr flight landed us in Beijing around 3pm, and after making our way through their pretentious and redundant security areas, we got to enjoy a beautiful airport for the next 4hrs. For some reason it was REALLY quiet that day. After a late lunch we went to the end of one of the airport's terminals, and enjoyed a 270` panoramic view of runway and sunset whilst being completely undisturbed. There was nobody else around, and we even found reclining lounge chairs. Okay, enough about Chinese airports.

We made it to Bangkok at midnight. It was 75, the air was thick, and the heat/humidity hit us like a long overdue bath. We didn't want to leave the boarding gate. We hired a taxi to take us to our hostel, and an hour later we paid him an exorbitant 400Baht...$12 :) We knew instantly that we'd like Thailand. We stayed at the Sinnad Inn in the Kosan Road backpacker area, and found it to be clean, convenient, and cheap. One night set us back $5 each. We ate at a small outdoor Thai "restaraunt" and each ordered a generous plate of Thai Curry/rice, and two large Singha beers. I opted to be a gentleman and pick up the bill, $6...that's right, 2 meals, and 4 good beers = $6 ....heaven.

The next morning we went to the train station and bought unlimited 1st class rail passes for $90 each. Our total trip covered about 2,000miles, so it's a pretty good bargain. It also meant that we could take overnight sleeper trains, and save money on hostels (although it wasn't as easy as we'd hoped...I'm going to dedicate a blog post to train travel as a resource for any interested travelers).

We left the train station with our passes in hand, and a reservation for a sleeper train to the norther city of Chang Mai that night. Christy, being Christy, decided that we should try to walk back to our hostel (at least a few miles), and catch a cab or a tuk-tuk (I'll explain later) if we got lost. The weather was 85F and sunny, I couldn't say no. So we walked...and walked...and walked. Along the way we realized just how large and scatterbrained Bangkok actually is. It's organized like a toddler's Lego box...shit scattered everywhere. A shrine here, a 7/11 there, a highrise apartment complex next to a run down paper factory, next to a shimmering wat (a Buddhist temple). You never know what to expect on the next street. It was quite different from the touristy area in which we stayed the night before.

We walked through several wats, and began to realize how much Buddhism is ingrained in the Thai culture. Most are very similar, and their gold trim and detail sparkle wildly in the sun. The flared tips of their roofs are very distinct of the Khmer style. They look very different from those we see here in Korea. Each has several Buddhas in rooms around the wat, but typically there is a primary Buddha that is the focal point of the premises. Near one of the wats we found a produce stand, and sampled a few local fruits; one of which being the durian, a fruit that I've been wanting to try for a long time. On the outside it looks like the offspring of a porcupine and a hand-grenade. The inside looks like lemon pudding, and its consistency reminds me of the character, Slimer, from the movie Ghost Busters. I've also been told that its smell is horrid (to the extent that it's forbidden on public transport), though neither Christine nor I thought it was too bad. Despite its unappealing qualities, we ate some, and bought more. What it lacks in beauty and scent, it makes up for in taste. I don't really know how to describe it, other than strangely delicious. We also bought a bag of fresh cut jack fruit, which was a nice addition to our snack.

We then walked through the Chinatown Market. It was overwhelming. Not only was it gigantic and packed with people, it was even more disorganized than the city in which it is located. Fruit juice stands next to used electrical outlet covers, next to switchblades and Buddha trinkets (same stand), next to airsoft guns, next to Barby Dolls and cotton candy, next to sex toys and bootleg porn. No matter where you are in it, there's fun for the whole family. Maybe that's the appeal. Anyway, after an hour or so of pushing through crowded stalls selling everything from umbrella handles and baby doll parts to custom tailored suits and knock of XBoxes, we found a nice grassy park where we could sit and relax. It was the first grass we'd seen in months. There isn't much in Korea to begin with, and what little there was disappeared in November. It was great.

We continued to walk around the city, and eventually did end up back at our hostel. We grabbed another $4 dinner, a taxi to the train station, and were off to the jungles of Chang Mai.