By: Ryan
We kicked off our three months in Southeast Asia with 4 days in Bangkok, and WOW, what a way to start. We had such a fun time. Bangkok is so many things... geographically huge, densely populated, easy to navigate, full of cheap and delicious food, frenetically paced, colorfully decorated, and much more.
We kicked off our three months in Southeast Asia with 4 days in Bangkok, and WOW, what a way to start. We had such a fun time. Bangkok is so many things... geographically huge, densely populated, easy to navigate, full of cheap and delicious food, frenetically paced, colorfully decorated, and much more.
We had a great time just walking about the city for hours on end, happening upon really interesting street art, seeing the city's lovely architecture, finding a food stall when we were hungry (and spending $2 for two large bowls of noodles), and having a beer on one of dozens of rooftop bars, etc.
Eating food (noodles especially) was one of the things were were both looking forward to the most during our time in SE Asia, and our expectations have only been exceeded. Wandering about Bangkok, you find street-side food stalls strewn about on just about every corner. We quickly nailed down our routine for eating when were were out and about town: (a) find a food cart that looked good when we were hungry, (b) order a dish by pointing at some noodles and saying "Jae" ("vegetarian"), and (c) have a delicious, piping hot bowl of food ready in under 2 minutes. And then (d) always feel astonished when we realized it cost $1-3 each.
In addition to the ubiquitous food carts, many streets are lined with fruit, vegetable, clothing and 'random schwag' vendors. The fruits and veggies are very fresh and also surprisingly inexpensive. The clothing is also super cheap and the random schwag is just fun to look at and peruse! The rooftop bars are also a great time, and there are many to choose from. While some of these were out of our price range, there were others like Skytrain Jazz Bar that had great views without the sky high prices or dress codes.
We came away from four days there wanting four weeks or more! The city has a lot going on - friendly people, cheap food, clothes and more, colorful buildings and an interesting skyline, efficient public transit, and much more. This was such a good omen for the next 11 weeks in SE Asia. We're out near Khao Yai National Park now, and heading to Ayutthaya tomorrow, so more on all that to come!
Eating food (noodles especially) was one of the things were were both looking forward to the most during our time in SE Asia, and our expectations have only been exceeded. Wandering about Bangkok, you find street-side food stalls strewn about on just about every corner. We quickly nailed down our routine for eating when were were out and about town: (a) find a food cart that looked good when we were hungry, (b) order a dish by pointing at some noodles and saying "Jae" ("vegetarian"), and (c) have a delicious, piping hot bowl of food ready in under 2 minutes. And then (d) always feel astonished when we realized it cost $1-3 each.
In addition to the ubiquitous food carts, many streets are lined with fruit, vegetable, clothing and 'random schwag' vendors. The fruits and veggies are very fresh and also surprisingly inexpensive. The clothing is also super cheap and the random schwag is just fun to look at and peruse! The rooftop bars are also a great time, and there are many to choose from. While some of these were out of our price range, there were others like Skytrain Jazz Bar that had great views without the sky high prices or dress codes.
We came away from four days there wanting four weeks or more! The city has a lot going on - friendly people, cheap food, clothes and more, colorful buildings and an interesting skyline, efficient public transit, and much more. This was such a good omen for the next 11 weeks in SE Asia. We're out near Khao Yai National Park now, and heading to Ayutthaya tomorrow, so more on all that to come!