Bangkok Impressions - 8th to 11th Nov.

In Nepal, we were advised that the safe play for the course was to eat the local dish 'Dal Bhat'; it was always prepared fresh. and logically speaking, the locals weren't going to poison themselves. 'Dal' means a lentil broth and 'bhat' is plain rice. This was served with pickled veg., a curry and when blessed by Buddha, a poddadom as well. In playing safe, I managed to consume (including 2nds) around 28 servings of Dal Bhat during the 3 week say in Nepal. After this extensive training period, I felt my stomach was ready to tackle anything so in true traveller style, I decided to go away from the tourist area for our last night and sample some genuine Newari (one of the many casts of Nepal) cuisine at 'Newa Bhanchha' restaurant and bar. The food was described as including the parts of the animals which most other dishes leave out. Fearing that we were missing out on the 'creme de la creme' we sampled a mixed starter (no full identification can be provided), and just before our main course, we dined on fried buffalo brain. The 'meat' was soft and lacking any strong flavour but ultimately nice and I would recommend it to anyone. You may ask why I am starting a post in Bangkok about my dining habits in Nepal. Well, the answer is simple. Considering what I had eaten in Nepal, I felt I would be pretty safe enjoying a traditional 'Thai Green Curry' on my first night in Bangkok. Unfortunately, my stomach disagreed with me and forced my into a religious situation first thing the next morning when I pointed towards porcelain and prayed for salvation.

First impressions count and mine wasn't great of Bangkok. Not just because I was quickly becoming an International Man of Dysentry, but from the culture shock of this place. People had talked about it before hand and I've heard many talking about it since being here. However, the shock for me wasn't that is was so different, but that it was so similar to the western world. The roads are full of American cars, and Th Kao San road has more western faces on it that Oxford Street. I felt let down. This wasn't travelling. This was a Magaluf set in SE Asia where a load of Western people came to get pissed cheap. True, we are staying in backpacker central but I expected something completely different from this. I hope that things change drastically from this as we get away from Bangkok.

One other annoying point is that despite 85% of the population claiming to be Buddhist, I see absolutely no evidence of them following the ideals of living a good life as set out by the fat man himself. Every local that we have enountered who can speak English, has acted helpful and then attempted to persuade us to come with him to a 'great deal' of some description - usually a gem, suit, etc., scam where they take you somewhere in the city to make you pay for something you don't want. The taxi and tuk tuk drivers constantly hassle you at any given opportunity. I mean 'come on!, if i wanted a damn taxi, I would call you. Leave me alone before you experience the flying fist of Juddah!!'

Today I broke free of my porcelain handcuffs and ventured out into the city to explore. I went to the zoo and saw a wonderful array of...... yeah, awesome. A black bear which was obvious captured due to it being inept, a couple of giraffes, a few zebras, and a group of Meer cats. Most other sections were closed or not worth mentioning. Next!


We also checked out the famous 'Reclining Buddha' or Wat Phra Chetuphon as it's known to the Thais. It is a breathtaking gold plated statue, 46 metres long and 15 metres high. I felt the same sensation as when standing in the greatness of Vatigan city in Rome - what an absolute waste of money that could have been spent on healing the sick, education, or helping the poor. The fact that so much money is spent around the world on relgious symbolism rather than putting it towards good things is a paradox beyond my comprehension.

To finalise this momentous day of enlightnment, we avoided contributing to both rush hour traffic and air pollution on our journey home, by jumping on a river taxi with the locals. This was the first time since arriving in Bangkok that I felt I was doing something a little different and has made me feel like giving the place another chance.