Thailand: Bangkok

Bangkok was as overwhelming as everyone promised. Overwhelming in the sense that everything was new, there were people, carts, and food everywhere, and the city did not seem to stop. There was so much to absorb, the first day we just walked around doing just that.



A typical street near our hotel

Chris buys dragon fruit from a street vendor

It's the red crazy-looking one in the middle. It was super tasty!

A typical street-food vendor

Sandbags piled up reminded us that we (and, really, more importantly, the people of Bangkok) narrowly avoided a flood the week before we were there.

Got my fix!



Did I mention how beautiful everything was?

Loved the juxtaposition of old and new in this one

Tasty (sweet) noodles that they serve in a syrupy rice-milk slush


The kids rode in the "pack-pack" quite a bit

Do you spy the man fixing the traffic light?

Lumpini Park (Bangkok's Central Park)




Dex managed to lay down in the one wet spot in the park. I had a hard time keeping clean clothes available for him with no washer/dryer readily accessible!

Sadly, we did not see any real elephants in Thailand, but saw evidence of their importance all around.

These wedding dresses in a shop we passed were so beautiful and surreal I had to take a picture of them.


Our first real Thai lunch. Delicious!

One of our favorite buildings there: we called it the banana building

These tricked-out pickups were everywhere:


A tuk-tuk (small taxi) loaded with goods


Can you imagine trying to fix something in this mess?

There were motorcycles everywhere. There are motorcycle taxis - I was offered a ride on one while I was waiting for a cab, and politely refused. Helmets seems hit or miss, and the most nerve-wracking sights for us were the toddlers, babies even, who were riding with their parents on them, going 35+ mph, with no helmets, and nothing holding them on to the bike or their parents.

If you look closely, you'll notice this man is smoking in front of a pile of containers holding gasoline. Safety first.

Bangkok has pigeons too!


Tuckered out at the end of a long day we take a taxi home.