After 14 hours on the plane we arrived in Bangkok, blurry eyed, jet lagged, hungry, yet excited to begin our journey. Now we had four full days in Bangkok to acclimatize to the time change and see some of the sights.
Bangkok is certainly busy and crowded, yet oddly orderly and efficient. The buildings are a weird mashup of dilapidated shacks mixed with uber- modern buildings like something out of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. The city smells a flowing mix of exhaust fumes, sewer gas, fish sauce (the worst of all smells, in my opinion) and some delicious aroma wafting out from the near ubiquitous street vendors cooking all manner of foods. Every winding street has houses fronting small restaurants selling cheap but honest food. In fact we had some of our best meals at the most unassuming little hole in the wall. Good food is everywhere in Bangkok.
We checked out some impressive temples with beautiful pagodas, but I (Shawn) found myself feeling increasingly “meh” with each consecutive one. There are only so many golden Buddhas you can see before it feels like you are stuck in some loop on endless repeat. We actually found some of the smaller and more unassuming temples in Northern Thailand to be more poignant with their impressive craftsmanship not covered in gold and glitz.
We caught a sleeper train to Chiang Mai. I use the word “sleep” very loosely. The A/C in the train was so powerful and so cold that we all put on every layer we had (ie. two layers of socks and shoes), raided the blanket closet for any extras we could find, and still we shivered through the night. Odd that one of the coldest night sleeps I’ve ever had occurred as we rumbling through the steaming jungle.
Chiang Mai, appealed to us more than Bangkok. It is so small in comparison and moves at a much slower pace. It is clearly a thriving tourist hub as European looking bohemian backpackers seem to dominate the old city. And there are temples everywhere. Seriously. My kids started saying “not another temple!”
Further north is Chiang Rai, more a giant truck stop than a city – definitely on the seedy side. “Massage” pallors are everywhere, with ladies soliciting quietly. The seedy underbelly of sex tourism is on full display in Northern Thailand. It is a tragic reality that men, women and even children are exploited for the gratification of tourists. It is a dark spot on this beautiful country.
In the next post, I’ll let my kids share some of their favourite experiences they have had so far in Thailand. Thanks for reading along!
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Barden Family Adventure 