Bangkok has so many levels! You have to analyse it on all fronts!
The weather – tropical and city heat during the day, punctuated by rain in the avternoon/early evening.
The people – smart, friendly and busy, industriously going about their daily activities. Tourism service workers hang around everywhere, from corner to pillar to shop front.
The buildings – a mix of super modern, as well as shoddy shacks, temporary structures in vacant lots along with super mobile things that get carted to street corners at different times of the day. Urban landscape is ever changing.
The transport – walking, cycling, mottos, cars, tuk-tuks: hectic and busy, the place comes to a standstill at about 4.30pm……more cars than we have seen over the last few months. Cambodia and Vietnam have more bikes than cars on the road. Bangkok definitely more cars….and the BTS or skytrain, which is super for getting around.
The malls – Tadhg judges a place/city by the quality of their malls (Sad I know, as we are not the consumering mall type of people, but we have such a son!). Malls in Bangkok have all manner of opulence and luxury, most also have some precinct for kids, ranging from wild and wonderful Kids Zones, to 3-d art zones, to cinemas, to ocean world…..to whatever you can imagine to entertain kids, a mall somewhere in Bangkok surely has it!
The massages – every 5th establishment on the main drags are places for massages. We have enjoyed traditional Thai massage and foot massages. They are invigorating. I think Chiang Mai is still consistently better for Thai massage, but hey, I’m not complaining.
There are also the seedier massage joints……which brings me onto….Tourism
Tourism and tourists are clearly visible around the city (not sure if that is because I am just in touristy areas, but I think not). Having been a tourist/visitor now for 3 months, I have very mixed feelings about the tourism industry. Inadvertently for our last two nights in Bangkok we booked into a hotel in a notorious Soi off Sukhumvit. Eye opening.
The food – need I mention the food in Bangkok? (That’s rhetoric, in case you’re wondering!). I think I wrote about Thai food in Chiang Mai, and I am equally LOVING it here again, despite getting a bit of a belly bug when we arrived back into Thailand……we had a bit of bother exiting the Cambodian border, were rushed and hungry when finally getting through; we had missed lots of meals, so we picked up a burger in KFC (standing up to its name for “Kant Feckin’ Cook, ……..acknowledging that I can’t feckin’ spell) and I am sure it made me sick. I couldn’t finish it at the time as it tasted rotten, and I ended up ill. So firms my resolve that I can’t stand fast food joints! I shall dearly miss Thai food, out of all the countries we have been through it was my favourite!
These are are a few of the dizzinying levels that comprise Bangkok….a fascinating place! Now I am off to the tailor.
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