I have survived another trip to Thailand. Bangkok is very very different from Phuket. Phuket is a more relaxed beach town while Bangkok is an incredibly busy city. If I were to choose, I'd definitely go to Phuket again and skip over Bangkok. If nothing else, I would never go to Bangkok with a family. While going to the red light district was our own choosing, it is impossible to avoid all of the sex in the city. The hotel that half the group stayed at had minibars stocked with fruit flavored condoms. One of the restraunts we ate at had pictures of naked women on the walls. During one of the taxi rides, a guy in our group made a reference to the song, "Boom, Boom, Pow." The taxi driver thought that meant the guy wanted to some "boom, boom, pow" and pulled out a handy flyer for a "real Thai massage" where you can get two girls!
By the way, Maria, since you found out the meaning of the ping pong shows, you are welcome to explain to Mom.
The other problem with the city is the traffic. Many of you have experienced Atlanta rush hour and probably think that is bad. I can tell you that traffic at 11 am on a Saturday in Bangkok is far worse than anything I have ever experienced in Atlanta. Now I understand how all of those people on the Amazing Race feel in traffic jams. The one good thing is that taxis are cheap and tuk tuks are even cheaper. I actually really enjoyed riding around in the tuk tuks. They definitely give you a sense of adventure. Also, both the taxis and tuk tuks have no limit for the number of people. We went on a 30 minute taxi ride with 6 passengers plus the driver.
The site seeing we did consisted of going to the floating market, the bridge over the River Kwai, and the grand palace. The floating market was very cool, though not how I would want to shop on any sort of regular basis. You rent a boat and driver and go around to other boats that are selling various goods. The best part is seeing all of the people trying to cook soup in a boat. You truly can see nothing like it in the US. As much as I enjoy history, the bridge was not as exciting as I had hoped. It really was just a railway bridge over the river. I was somewhat surprised that more people in our group had no idea what it was, but then I realized I only knew because I had seen the movie many many years ago. The Grand Palace was interesting. My biggest takeway was that it looks much better from far away than up close. Up close, you can see that everything is kind of falling apart and all the decor is fading. It was built in 1782 and I have a hard time imagining what condition it will be in after another 200 years.
By the way, I hope everyone's been cheering on the Cardinals now that they've taken sole possesion of 1st!
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ok, now I'm scarred for life, too!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I sent Mom the link about ping pong show.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're having a blast! I'd love to travel more but I don't have the money or time to do it. One day! Phuket sounds like my kind of place.
It's cool you remembered Bridge Over the River Kwai. I just recently saw the movie again. Does it have a plaque on it commemorating the builders?
ReplyDeleteI've known some grad students from Thailand and I have certainly heard a lot about Phuket - it sounds great. I'm glad you enjoy Thailand --- errr, at least certain aspects of it. I have no idea how it became the sex capital of the world. There seems to be a permissiveness about pedophilia. It's too bad, because my understanding is that the country itself is beautiful.
Joe and I have watched some of the Cardinal games --- he's been more loyal than I. I knew you would be keeping track of them. We watched part of the home run derby yesterday. We say Pujols bat and heard an interview with him. He comes across as very likable.
Hey, I'm having a terrible time trying to post this --- I'm going to try "anonymous". Dad