Bangkok, Thailand

Bangkok is a fascinating place although I wasn't able to spend to much time there. When we arrived we made our way to an area of town that is known to Backpackers for affordable accommodations and fun times. It was night when we arrived but the full street was a inviting sign. We found a hotel called the D&D and put our bags down. Out on the street there where many interesting things places and people. First, there is a lot of dirt in this city, different than HK, and there was trash all over the street. Not only that but the smell of trash also was foul. After checking out the bars and restaurants we couldn't help but buy some food from the droves of food carts on the street. As a westerner this seemed like something my mother would be telling me not to do and also something that the FDA would questions but there was fire and I was willing to take my chances. I got what would be the first of many Padtai dishes. Fresh noddles and a few veggies and we were in business cooked in a wok and served with wooden sticks. Not chop sticks... pieces of wood. It was delicious, such a great change from the confusing menus of hong kong this was the first thing I had eaten and it was great. I couldn't wait for more. In the morning we got to do some cheap market shopping and saw a few non-descript sights of Bangkok. We also went to the train station on the busiest travel day of the year Chinese New Year to book our train south. The central station reminded me of what major American stations were first created. A grand ceiling like grand central, in dc not NYC, and the stones and statues of 30th street station. But there were people sitting on the ground and there were no real walls and trains pulled into the sides of the station on the ground level, it was a sight but really cool. After we bought the tickets we were off to the south.