As Seen by TV

Well, what can I say…?  Amazing trip.

The food, the people, the culture… the beaches, the bars, the nightlife.  Thailand has it all.

For our final night in Bangkok (and in Thailand), we took a dinner cruise down the Chao Phrava Riber.  A great night to celebrate an amazing trip.

Afterwards we hit up the final night market to do some last minute shopping (at the notorious Patpong market which is nestled in between go-go bars).  It seems only fitting then that this was the last image taken on Thai soil:

Slightly hungover but very much content, we took a van from Pattaya to Bangkok… what a crazy [good] city.

We were staying with a friend out in Lam Luk Ka, and the first night (01/01/12) we went into the city’s chaotic center… visiting the enormous Chatuchak Weekend Market (largest market in Thailand; 5000+ stalls; 200,000 daily visitors; covers 35 acres).  Where we also ate dinner at some dodgy-looking street vendor-type restaurant (pictured with the tuk-tuk’s), which, naturally, was delicious.  We then hopped on to the brand new Bangkok metro, more precisely the  BTS Skytrain Sukhumvit Line from Mo Chit to Victory Monument (which is exactly where the van from Pattaya had dropped us off earlier in the day). 

Chatuchak market & Mo Chit station

Victory Monument

To be honest, I found Bangkok a little dirty… but being a true city kid, I could live there no problem.  I like real cities… gritty cities… cities that have a soul and a feeling that you can just sense.  BKK totally had this (Shanghai for example, doesn’t really have this).  However, with all the litter and muck around, I could not, and would not, like to see what it was like during the flooding (only weeks before our visit).  Let’s just say I’m happy they caught all the loose crocodiles.