First Impressions of Bangkok

After 30 hours of flying and dramatically fainting on the plane, I stumbled through the Bangkok airport at about midnight. I was more than exhausted (although, sidebar, what WOULD "more than exhausted" be? Dead? There's not a whole lot more to go...). After successfully getting stamped into the country and retrieving my beautiful green backpack, I was ready to roll. And be scammed by the taxi driver coming into town, but whatever. Come on, Kristen! CONSTANT VIGILANCE! LACES OUT, DAN!

Despite my fatigue, I could only get three hours of sleep that night... which meant I was set to face my first day in Bangkok with about eight hours of sleep under my belt from the past three nights. This can't go wrong, right?!

I have to admit... my very first venture out into the city was a bit failed. I headed for the main road and was immediately confronted by intense pollution, insane heat and humidity, and cars going every which way. I wandered around for a while (and had my first awesome street cart meal - 30 baht, or about 90 cents), but eventually had to go back to my guesthouse to recoup.

On a whim, I decided to start walking the opposite direction, and stumbled into a wonderful collection of small, leafy, (mainly) pedestrian alleys filled with restaurants, bars, massage parlors, and shops. This is more like it.

After reaching a main road, I almost turned back but decided to keep pushing to a mysterious looking building in the distance (which, turns out, was a fort. Now you know!). Next to that fort? A delightful park next to the river, where you can almost believe cars and pollution don't exist.

Now, this is my Bangkok.