This is a view from the balcony of my apartment at sunrise. I guess the only benefit of the mass pollution in bangkok is that it creates unbelievable sunrise a sunsets. I'm located on the 23rd floor of an apartment building on the West side of the Chao Phraya river. I bought a hammock and set it up on my balcony, and it is by far my favorite seat in Thailand. The skyline is incredible, and you're high enough up in the building where you escape the noise, chaos, and pollution down below.
Monks on the Ferry
Siam Paragon- nices mall i've ever seen |
rainbow and view of city from my balcony |
It's nearly impossible to describe Bangkok, let alone in one blog. I'll have to start giving some stories just to help explain the city. My best answer would be that it is a mix between the lowest and highest extremes of everything you can imagine- it's a city of the wealthiest and poorest people, the skeeziest and classiest areas. a city based on history and tradition, yet eager to be the most modern and developing city in the east. All I can say is you are never bored in Bangkok.
If you look in that picture with the rainbow, you can see towards the bottom right hand corner the Chao Phraya river. Directly across the river is where my University is located, called Thammasat. So, I have two options for going to school (only on monday, tuesday and wednesday!) The first is that I can walk about 20 minutes down the road to the ferry pier and take a ferry across the river to Thammasat. The walk is very entertaining: food stalls and street vendors lined up both sides of the street. It's almost impossible to walk the entire way without stopping for some sort of food- whether it be fresh cut pineapple, mango and sticky rice grilled in a banana leaf, or my favorite: koh tort, a fried egg battered oyster omelette over a bed of bean sprouts. The other option is to take a motorcyle taxi for about $1.50 through the traffic and over the river to school. Let me tell you -zooming in and out of cars, going down one way streets the wrong way, and holding on for dear life on the back of a motorcycle is a better wake-up than even the strongest cup of coffee.
Most of the city and sites are located on the opposite side of the river from where I live. A 2 minute walk next to Thammasat is the Grand Palace, National museaum, and many other historical sites. Most of the hotels, shopping plazas, business districts, etc lie on the opposite of the river as well. My side of the river is more of a resedential area and a little more removed from the touristy parts of bangkok, which I actually love. It is mostly all Thai's living around here, and it has more of a neighborhood feel to it. We have a great alley near our building with some cheap food and little restauraunts run by families. Nobody can really speak english, so i'm forced to work on my Thai and try to figure out things on my own. Ah - the food, it really is amazing!
Well there is much more to tell about Bangkok but i'll have to split it up into different posts. I hope this helps give a better understanding of where i'm living.
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