First Stop Bangkok

Greetings from Thailand.  We're survived our first week here and between the 24 hours of air and land travel to get here and the dizzying pace of Bangkok once we arrived, it feels like it's been much longer.  Our flight landed in the middle of the night and we quickly discovered that Bangkok is the true city that never sleeps. 
We found our way into a taxi (w/ a wild-eyed Israeli/Swede?) from the airport and arrived at the hostel we would stay at over the next few days.  A simple, small room with a fan and a double bed with a shared bathroom down the hall.  As is Thai custom we removed our footwear before entering the living area which kept things clean and comfortable after a long day of traveling.  Bare feet in a foreign, semi-public restroom took a little more adjusting. 

We felt rested after our first night and woke up early enough to have our included breakfast: toast with butter and jam, fresh fruit, and coffee/tea.  Ever ambitious we fought through our jet lag and set out to explore the city. A short taxi ride dropped us off at a pier where we picked up a cheap and relatively fast medium sized boat down a canal to the Grand Palace - the former Royal Residence.  Bangkok is said to be the Venice of the East, but with its brown, sewage-scented water and overwhelming air pollution I think the comparison falls a little short.

We found that nothing stops here--the traffic is never ending, the buildings expand further than the eye can see, and while you are here you can't seem to stop either. It's all a bit overwheming. Any brief hesitation to take in our surroundings or catch our breath in the smoldering heat was an open invitation to be approached about a tuk-tuk ride to where ever we were (or weren't) heading for a much inflated price over the cost of a metered taxi. When we arrived at our destination pier outside the Grand Palace we found ourselves among an open air food market selling all kinds of identifyable and unidentifyable goods. It smelled of diesel and fried foods.  We bought some fresh watermelon and pineapple and began to assess our situation. 

We were on the opposite side of the street from the Grand Palace with about 4 lanes of never ending traffic between us.  Crossing the street is a particular challenge.  It flows from a different direction than we're used (look right!) and is filled not only with cars, but innumberable scooters and tuk-tuks. Real pros bravely step into traffic and cross little by little, one lane at a time.  Stopping and staring down the onslaught of motorscooters, trucks, buses, and cars and hoping that the timing works out in their favor.  This is still very daunting at this point so we chose to wait until someone else was venturing across and just kind of piggy-back along with them.  Eventually we reached the Grand Palace but not before ignoring several touts trying to convince us that the destination we were trying to see was currently closed for one reason or another and in the meantime we should take a ride in a tuk-tuk to see some other glorious sights the city has to offer.  All this despite the fact that hordes of 'farang' or foreigners, are entering a exiting the Palace right before our eyes.  We dodge them all and eventually get inside to explore the intricately designed temples and statues inside the Palace walls.

Our 4 days in Bangkok left us dizzy.  Literally.  Breating carbon monoxide all day from the overwhelming amount of vehicles and riding in small boats in canals getting misted with sewer water is not worth all the hype.  We did manage to make the best of it though and picked out some relaxing sights within a chaotic city.  We very much looked forward to the overstimulation of sound, sight and space letting up as we headed out of the city towards Kanachanburi.


What we've learned/done so far:

-  The inability to speak/read the language turns out to be a bit of a hindrance
-  Beware of the Crazy Bird Lady of Bangkok
-  Ladyboys are everywhere
-  Ping Pong shows really do exist
-  Thai food so far is not as spicy as I imagined
-  Geckos make the walls dance
-  We've been attacked by monkeys, nibbled by flesh eating fish, and pounded on by Thai massuers and taken many forms of very sketchy transportation...and it's only week 1.