Kel and Ian's Korean Chronicles: Bangkok, Thailand

Well, we are back in full force and are finally writing about our trip. I thought I would take some of what I wrote in my travel journal and add it into the blog when need be. So whenever I put something ins italics and quotes, it is from my travel journal!

* Note: "Th" is an abbreviated version of the word Thanon, which means street. *

We started in Thailand. We flew in to Bangkok after a brief stopover in the Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam airport. Soon, we arrived at Khoasan Road, Bangkok late at night on September 23rd. as late as it was, the night was just beginning for Thailand tourists and dwellers. It was like what I picture a mini-Las Vegas to look like. We were so tired, so it almost felt as though we were in the Twilight Zone! We ended up staying at one of the nicer Guesthouses that cost a bit more then the rest because it had a good reputation, free breakfast and was one of the first ones we saw. We just wanted to throw our bags down and go grab our first Thai meal! So that we did. We went to a restaurant called "O Hungry" (clever, eh?) and wolfed down on some awesome, pricey Thai food.

"Last night when we got in, we were both so tired and totally overwhelmed by Th Khoasan. The street is closed off at night and houses many backpackers, not to mention several bars and a full out night market. Girls are getting their hair braided in ever direction, stray dogs and cats are more than common, and Tuktuk drivers are harassing you to go for a ride. (Tonight they were trying to get us to go to a "Ping Pong Show," which is a Sex Show, yuck.)" - September 25th

The food was great however I saw something that disturbed me.

"We sat down and ordered two dishes; one which was an amazing spicy noodle dish. Luckily, for me, I watched an ugly rat scramble underneath a table a few feet away to the one closest to us.... " -September 25th

There were rats everywhere on the street, amongst the stray cats and dogs. I even joked that one rat was saw looked as big as the Toye family cat Joey!

I quickly became immune to the rats, knowing since this was my first backpacking trip, I would have to get used to things like that. I lived on a dirt floor in the Dominican--- I can handle a few rats!!!

Anyway, our first "real" day in Thailand was jam-packed and awesome! We saw so much and it was awesome to see Bangkok in the daylight- a lot less intimidating! We took a water taxi to the "Wat Pho" which is the Temple of the Reclining Buddha, rode around in a Tuktuk to a lookout point over Bangkok, went to the Temple of the Happy Buddha (which is apparently rarely open) and some markets. Ian was a bit skeptical because our Tuktuk driver wanted to take us to his 'friends' stores, and we were warned about Tutuk drivers doing that in our Lonely Planet book. But luckily the stores were decent and in the end, our Tuktuk driver didn't wait around for us, so we didn't even have to pay him! Ian and I decided to walk back to in the super hot heat, and explore.

We didn't really have any idea where we were going, but on our way we bought a cool Thai cookbook and stumbled upon the impressive Democracy Monument, on a island in the middle of a busy intersection.

First Link to pictures: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2115554&l=1d200&id=187905622

That night we went to an awesome restaurant called "Cabbages and Condoms" and also took the Sky train! The restaurant is located off of Th Sukhumvit, as classier district.

"It was hilarious. They give you condoms with your bill when you leave. Sounds trashy, eh? Well, it was quite the opposite, actually! Cabbages and Condoms is actually a resort and the restaurant is a beautiful mostly-outdoor Thai restaurant with "Bali curtains" hanging over a waterfall, long, droopy trees and branches, white Christmas lights everywhere, a Thai woman playing her Thai instrument and two floors of cleanliness and wood. We set upstairs on the top floor, overlooking the first floor and it was beautiful! A lot of the decorations were bright and colourful, all made tastefully out of condoms! There were also a few mannequins and statues made out of birth control packages and condoms.

"But there is a reason to the rhyme (or is it vice versa?) That is, a portion of what your bill comes to goes to Aids awareness and sexual education on Thailand. Pretty cool!" - September 25th

We took the Sky train back to the backpackers area. The Sky train is like an outdoor subway, overlooking parts of Bangkok. It is really neat to travel on, and everyone who goes to Bangkok should try to take a ride! It is alot smaller in size then the subway system in Korea, but it doesn't cover nearly as much area, or cater to nearly as much people. We ended up wandering around Chinatown and meeting some interesting characters.

In another post Ian or myself will write about our trip to Kanchanaburi, and visiting the elephants, Death Railway and tigers. When we arrived back from Kanchanaburi though, we were so tired, but still wanted to go out since it was our last night in Bangkok. We went to a really cool night market.After some shopping, we headed back to our lovely backpackers area. We decided on an awesome hot pink bus that was turned into a bar, serving as many drinks as you can imagine! Tables were set up beside the bar, and we quickly made friends with a group of girls and one guy who had rented a hookah from the pink bus, and were smoking strawberry tobacco. They group was made up of Thai people who all knew intermediate level English, and we ended up sharing some "bucket" (what cocktails are commonly served in in Southeast Asia) and some laughs with them. It was really cool to meet Thai people or age and converse with them! We had a blast that night!

Second Link to Pictures: http://wluca.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2115563&l=4832c&id=187905622

The next morning/early afternoon, we had our last hurrah in Bangkok because we flew to Siem Reap, Cambodia that night. We went to the Grand Palace, "Wat Phra Kaew" otherwise known as the Temple of the Emerald Buddha and shopped on Th Khoasan. The Grand Palace is still sued today for the King only on special occasions.

Before we knew it, we were off on a plane to Cambodia to see one of the seven Wonders of the World!