As you are very well aware after my last post, Bangkok and I were not friends for a while. In fact, I had been known to swear I would never, ever visit. But, like a lot of things I say (and even think I mean!) at the time, that turned out to be completely false, because when you're planning a four month jaunt to SE Asia, you certainly don't skip Thailand. That'd be like going to France and skipping the Eiffel Tower. It'd be like going to Arizona and ignoring that tiny little hole in the ground north of Flagstaff. It'd be like coming to NYC and not having a bagel. You get the point. When you got to SE Asia, you go to Thailand.
My first jaunt into the country was just going to be a quick one though. I was spending 2 days in Bangkok, then taking the sleeper train* up to Vientiane, Laos. And truthfully, I might not even have seen Bangkok at that time, and saved it for when I was making my way back south through the country, but the visa policy made me change my mind. Basically, the Thai visa policy for Americans and Western Europeans is a free 15 day visa if you cross through a land border. So I'm getting my two days in Bangkok out of the way now so that I have the full 15 days for Chiang Mai in the north and (of course!) the islands in the south later. Fifteen days still doesn't seem like much, but if I have to pay a few bucks to overstay my visa, at least I won't be paying for Bangkok.
*The sleeper train, btw, gets rave reviews from me! I booked a second class cabin, with AC in the upper berth. The fare was $22, and the service was spectacular! The bed was comfy, the restaurant car was a great time, and I think I might have gotten my best night sleep since I've been away! At the end of the trip, it's an easy transfer to another train that takes you just a few kms over the bridge and into Laos, with the quickest border crossing I've been to yet!
So, I hate to say I was trying to get Bangkok over with, but that's sort of how I felt. I did all the things I was supposed to do in the city: ate a bunch of street food, wandered from bar to bar on the hugely disappointing Khoa San Road**, stopped in at the palace and main temples in the historic district***, and grabbed more than a couple six cent ferries across the Chao Phraya river.
**Quick take on Khoa San Road: I've heard about the debaucheries that go down here for years. Anyone who travels can't help but be availed of the stories of the epic parties that last all night by some hippie with a guitar in a hostel. And more recently, The Hangover 2 has brought Khoa San Road even more fame. But I have to tell you, everything about it just seemed small to me: from the legnth of the street (just one block!) to the size of the bars (if you can only fit 50 people in your bar, how big can the night actually get?). And even at midnight, you were more likely to hear Jack Johnson or Bob Marley playing than music you can actually dance too. I'm beginning to think hippies don't know what a real party is!
***As for the temples, the football field length Recling Buddha (as half-pictured above) was very impressive, but after seeing the stone majesty of Angkor Wat, it was hard to get into this style of temple. While beautiful, and colorful, I think there is just so many in so close a space that they start to look a bit tacky.
My favorite of the temples, though was Wat Arun. On the opposite side of the river from everything else, it is much less gaudy, and has the added fun of getting to climb up the outside on the steepest set of stairs I've ever been on. Views are worth the breakneck climb though! AND they were happy to dress you up in some traditional Thai garb and let you prance around in your new outfit for a while, which entertained me for a half hour!
But my absolutely favorite thing about Bangkok was the best breakfast/lunch/dinner/snack/anytime-at-all-in-fact food ever: sticky rice with mango. Lovely street vendors will dice up a mango, toss it in some sticky rice, and pour coconut milk on top for a buck. And I learned very quickly there is no limit to the amount of sticky rice I can eat, which is not good if I ever want to be able to fit into some Asian-sized clothing! Ah well, that was never a realistic goal anyway, so excuse me while I go find myself some more sticky rice with mango!