THAILAND, BANGKOK

When I stop and think about it there's nothing really special about the trip itself, with me there's thousands of other travelers, others that maybe can chose better and more wisely than me, the only special thing that I can offer you here is myself. Cold included, which has accompanied me ever since I got here, to this city of cities, Bangkok.

I've never quite seen a city like this one, the other big asian city I've been to is Tokyo and Bangkok is nothing like Tokyo. Bangkok is noisy but not overly so, despite the constant crowded traffic, where you can stay stuck for hours, not a lot of horns seem to go off. People, though, can be really loud, and the topic of the smile might not be applicable to bus drivers and other assorted official employees, but that's ok. It's also one of the places where I've seen more people living in the streets and while some might've been perfect models for a photograph it feels almost an insult... but that might be my stupid sensibilities at work. There's also lots and lots of people using this city as it should be used, in the streets, and lots of students wearing uniforms which can be an amazing sight.

Bangkok Day 01:

The multiple temples, buildings, nooks and museums at The Grand Palace are amazing, I've never felt more of a foreigner than in here, surrounded by other foreigners all seeing and watching the same thing.

And Wat Pho and the Reclining Buda. You'll see a lot of Budas in here, this one, I assure you, is special. Not  only because it's huge size but because the peace that you feel when you see it.

Thousands of stalls in front of the Buddhist University. Street living has a new meaning for me now, we have this myth were we belive we know how's it's done in Spain, but we are so so wrong.

Bangkok Day 02:

The Jim Thompson House is quite an obvious tourist attraction, but even in that case, I would recommend it just because it's an example of how a traditional Thai house would look, in other places than Bangkok unless you are extraordinarily rich I mean. It's an amazingly gorgeous house with  a fantastic collection of china and paintings and with really beautiful and lush gardens. Is not a mansion, and it's not really that big, but it gives quite a sense of luxury.

Siam Square as a place to spend time and money. Siam has fame of being a big mall, earned for sure because it's difficult to see malls that big in other places, but not if you walk around a bit you'll see unexpected and very welcome more streets, tons of street vendors, shops that spill out, people just sitting there, watching you pass by, not a lot of taxis or tuk-tuks trying to snatch you attention, and barely no english at all. 

That's how I spent the rest of my day before going back to the hostel to sneeze my life away. 

Bangkok Day 3: 

Today I decided to use the famous boats that taxi people around the canals, the khlongs, and while it's smelly it wasn't that terrible but there's a lot of garbage floating around and it make me think about how we live and how the amount of "things" we buy seem to define our existence, we drown in "things", most of them plastic.

And The Grand Palace from afar. It's been cloudy ever since I've arrived, with some sunny spells and some rain at night, which yes, does wonders for the humidity and the amount you can sweat in a single day.

Mother Earth Squeezing her Hair, a gorgeous statue stuck in the middle of a highway, which amazed me because the smell of exhaust and the rumble of cars was constant, and she was mother earth, but it also humbled me because there was a woman praying and even with all the fumes I caught the smell of some of her incense. What the hell do I know about anything? Nothing, that's what.

And here's the street to my hostel, Lub d, which I must admit that I loved because as I've been carrying this terrible cold with me and it's been a place to relax and sleep it off. They also have been amazingly helpful with directions and arrangements to move around and it's kind of thanks to them that tomorrow I'm trying a new thing: a night bus to Sukhothai.




NB: When I decided on this trip and even with all the saving and planning and talking around and about it, and because this was a time to figure what to do with my life and try my hand at what I've always wanted to do, write, my main concerns were to never be idle and take as much of it as I could. My way of learning as much as I can it's going to be to document it and photograph it and write about it. You all know me mostly by my analogue photography and while I take my camera with me everywhere and take care of the pictures I take with it, sometimes I want the instantaneous of the digital.