BKK

After a long bus ride back from Khon Kaen, in the north east of the country; Matty D and I headed back into Bangkok in order for me to catch my flight. We were limited on time and enthusiasm while in Bangkok and thus were unable to see much of the city. After spending the majority of our time in Koh Chang (island) and Khon Kaen, Bangkok just seemed a little too much for us......but from what we were able to see, I took a few snapshots. Here they are:

The backpacker's area in Bangkok is located around Kao Sarn Road. At first, I hated the location. It is filled with loud, boisterous, intoxicated, and second-hand-embarrassing travelers. There are also a large number of prostitutes that come to feed the demand. However, after exploring the neighborhood a bit more and discovering a few nooks and crannies, it does have it's charm in some places. Definitely go there if you are looking for an easy starting point and a cheap stay. But be sure to get out quick. Thailand has a lot more to offer. Below is a view of Kao Sarn Road itself:




This European dude was definitely rolling hard. He stood in front of this bar and danced to the house music that was blaring from it all day. No joke; like 6 hours. By the way.....Thailand is the tourism destination for Europe so expect to hear a ridiculous amount of redundant sounding house and trance music. I'm usually all for it but it just got to be too much.



Matty D and I lucked out on our timing back into Bangkok. It happened to be the Buddha's birthday so we were allowed to enter all temples and monasteries, and take photographs. This opportunity, apparently only occurs once each year.






Bangkok, I believe is built on an river estuary (don't quote me) and thus they have built several canals into and around the city. Here are a couple shots:



I was really astounded by Bangkok's "highway" system and to this day I don't know what to quite make of it....good planning or bad planning. In the photo below, to the right of Matty D, you can see a large overpass that runs parallel to road below it. These series of overpass' are referred to as the "highway" (or at least that is what taxi drivers called it) and they cost an extra toll to drive on. The "highway" system covers the entire city of Bangkok! So you can either suck it up and take the toll charge to drive relatively traffic-free or sit for what could be minutes to hours more on the standard roads.






In one of the nooks and crannies off of Kao Sarn Rd. that I was speaking of earlier, we were able to find a pretty good spot where we could relax with a pint. It was just what we needed after a long day of doing nothing and looking at stuff.