North of Bangkok

After a day and a half in Bangkok, I started noticing many of the negative things that friends had warned me about. The car exhaust thickened, the crowds of pushy people started to get on my nerves a bit, and I grew weary from so many approaching me soliciting a sex show, wooden frog instrument, fake designer jeans etc. I spent 2 hours searching through Bangkok's China Town for the perfect buttons to complete my jacket. Wound up empty-handed but I am confident that with my Mom's help I will be able to find what I'm looking for back in the Bay Area. China Town was interesting. So many shops, carts, stands and people crammed into narrow alleyways. For some reason, a few Thai guys felt it was an iddeal place to ride their motorcycles. This only caused everyone to squueze together even tighter (keep in mind the temp has been near 100 with high humidity) and I could hear a few isolated squeals of the owners of crushed toes that didn't get move out of the bike's path. I don't want to paint Bangkok to be a horrible place but I am saying that its novelty wore off rather quickly. The food was still awesome and visited a few temples that were unlike anything I had seen before. I'm experiencing quite the culture shock coming from Europe but am beginning to settle in and just go with the flow. Everything is very chaotic and there doesn't seem to be any effort or emphasis put toward obtaining any. Furthermore, it's annoying that prices are so negotiable. Even at a restaurant they are willing to make "special price for you" even before I inquire. Don't get me wrong, I love a "special price" just as much as the next guy but can't help but feel like I am still getting ripped off. It's impossible to get any sense of what the actua value of anything is.

I took a train up north 2 hours but only covered about 100 km. I am giving my travel plans for the rest of the country a second glance with an eye towards the ease and speed of transport because less time in slow, bumpy, sweaty vehicles would be most iddeal. Rented a bike and rode around the ancient capital city of Thailand which has an impressive collection of ruins. Riding a bike around town was a chalenge and probably not one I will take again until I am further in the countryside. Trying to dodge cars, motor bikes, busses and stray dogs is not so fun, especialy while fighting to stay on the left side of the road (yes they drive on the left).

Something else to note. I don't think I wrote about this when it happened, but in Portugal there was a little incident with a small dog trying to attack me that has left me with a small phobia of dogs. I'm sure I will be able to overcome it once I return to the US, but right now it is a hinderance due to the large number of stray dogs roaming the Thai streets. I try to ignore them and continue walking at the same pace, but each time I can fee might heart start to race and my limbs stiffen. If anyone has any quick fixes for a problem of this nature please send them my way!