Southeast Asia: 7-10 June, 2007 One night in Bangkok… (Part Two)

... continued from last wednesday!

Bangkok has a Chinatown (who doesn’t, it seems)! I sampled a few of the “delicacies”, only fruits and baked goods, because I absolutely was not going to sample any of these…

No refrigerator, no ice, and everything makes me want to gag! Are you shocked I passed?

I also did not eat these...

I strongly believe certain "things" were never meant for human consumption. And it seems someone thought they'd gather all those "things" in one place, dry them out (do they really taste better that way?), and try to trick tourists into eating them! Well, I'm not falling for it! Oh,and the stench! Ugh, you have no idea! I'm getting naseous just thinking about it. I hope you didn't just eat. Moving on...

We also went to Kosan Road which is where all the tourists (mostly Europeans) hang out at night & you can definitely get your fill of souvenirs. My cousin got a henna tattoo. One of the girls put her hair in dreadlocks (and then cut them out after 2 days because she didn’t want it to ruin her gorgeous hair).

Another amazing place we went was Bang-Pa-In (your guess is as good as mine on the pronunciation and/or meaning).

It is one of the king’s seasonal homes, and the picture (left) is only a very small part of the area. It’s the most immaculately kept area I saw in Asia. I can imagine it being the venue for many grand parties.

It also makes me realize just how pathetic my own lawn looks right now. It would be described as anything BUT immaculate, but it's getting close, I'll give you an update soon!


The grounds were covered with various amazing topiaries. There were elephants, deer, snakes, rabbits and lions, just to name a few. (And no, they're not fake, they're real, live, very well groomed plants!)

But now for my favorite sight in Bangkok…

The ruins of Ayutthaya, the former capital of Siam (14th century). I love imagining the amazing things that went on here. What was everyday life like? Or, come to think of it, I guess there could’ve been really horrible things happening here, too. What a downer that thought is.

But still, they’re unbelievable!











And the detailed work is amazing. I don’t know how they did it all without power tools!

Absolutely fantastic (even though it was 98°F with 85% humidity, but I'm not complaining... anymore)!

I wish you could’ve been there! And if you had been there, I wish you would've brought me a battery-powered fan!

Coming soon… Vietnam! (You'll definitely wish you'd been there!)