Out of Bangkok

Khaosan Road. The place for backpackers...shopping, food, bars, everything.

So I woke up incredibly early this morning and couldn't sleep, so I made my way on down to an internet cafe at 5 a.m. So many backpackers still flooding in, lots of people still out drinking. lots of farangs picking up Thai girls...this is the scene here in Baglamphu. I think I've seen enough and it's definitely time to move on. It's a shame because I wanted to see so much more, but there's just too many people and too much pollution. So I'm heading up north to Chiang Mai tonight, which will be an adventure as I'm going by overnight bus. But if all goes well, 12 hours later I will be in a much cooler and cleaner city.

But on to some photos of the trip so far...

What can $10 get you in Bangkok? A clean and tiny room with air-conditioning. I could have gone cheaper if I wanted only a fan or to share a bathroom...but for what the few dollars extra gets you I deem worthwhile.

Besides making my way around Baglamphu, I took a trek on over to the Grand Palace. Let me tell you that they understand the meaning of Grand...the place is huge! I must have spent a good four hours walking around and seeing everything. Oh, and if you plan to go then wear long pants otherwise you have to rent some nice purple ones...





I also managed to make my way on over to the Golden Mount, another temple in the heart of the city. This was by tuk-tuk, which was not nearly as life threatening as you might think. The damage was done by the pollution though...sitting in an open air cart in the middle of traffic and 95+ degree weather is not very pleasant in my book. The driver was good though, and it only cost $1 to hire him for about 3 hours. Only catch was of course that we had to stop at one of those suit stores on the way back home. If you don't know about this, it's a common scam here where the drivers will take you to jewelry stores or such as the shop owners pay them (often in gas) if they do so. But to be honest the 2 minutes I spent in the suit shop was a nice break as it was air-conditioned. But they wanted 5,000 Baht ($140) for a Cashmere suit. Not bad I suppose, but not something I need for trekking in Chiang Mai either!

The temple definitely wasn't as decorated as the Palace. But it had an incredible view of downtown Bangkok, which is way more enormous than I thought. I mean, I've seen L.A. and Chicago, but this crazy. I have no idea what the population is, but man...

So what to do in Chiang Mai? The plan is to explore a day or two, and then go on a 3 day trek into the hill tribe villages. Yes, that's right. A small group with two guides, lots of hiking, some bamboo rafting, and an elephant ride or two thrown in. Incredible I say.