One Night in Bangkok

I can see why so many people travel to Thailand. Even though I have so far only seen the biggest, and probably the most touristed place in Thailand (Bangkok), I am already very pleasantly surprised by this country.

The language is unlike any I’ve ever heard: I would say Thai is not spoken, but sung. The people are so friendly to visitors its almost overwhelming, and even in the big city local culture is very strong. Buddhism is an everyday part of life and the places of worship are absolutely beautifully constructed.

I think it’s a shame that Bangkok is most famous for lady boys and ping pong shows because while they certainly exist, it is not what makes Bangkok a cool city.

It wasn’t until the third day here that I visited the Grand Palace (picture at top), because quite frankly I had never even heard of it before. It’s a palace and place of worship that was built about 250 years ago by the Thai royalty, and its entire exterior is covered in sheaths of gold. It’s a sensory treat with the smell of incense, rhythm of drums, and religious chanting of the locals praying in the surrounding temples.

The title of this post is not entirely accurate, it should say 3 (crazy consecutive) nights in Bangkok. The nightlife is a ton of fun: I spent 2 nights in the laid back street bars that are full of backpackers and Thais alike. Then I did a night at the luxurious rooftop nightclubs. I felt like a rock star smoking sheesha with some really awesome Arabs, and then partying hard at a second rooftop terrace bar with people from all over the world.

Naturally I tried my hand at some Muay Thai. The trainer made me work hard, so after 2 training sessions my body’s pretty sore and I’m glad I’m moving on to Burma tomorrow.

Apparently Bangkok is known as ‘Venice of the East’ because there are a lot of canals that wind around the city. Except for the main canal down the middle, they’re not used as much anymore for transport, but they are quite pretty. I took a tour with one of the boatmen that plies the canals.

After testing out the Muay Thai waters, I splurged on some ringside seats to see what a real fight looks like. You know you’re in Asia when the heaviest weight class of the evening is 130 pounds!

The atmosphere was awesome. The fighters warm up by doing little dances and praying. Musicians play tribal-style music, and as each fight progresses into the later rounds, the crowd gets louder and louder. Unlike North American boxing, the fighters always start out slow, with only distant kicks. Then they get more and more aggressive until the final round when the fighters are swinging and kicking at each other with all that they have.

It’s a pretty serious sport – a fighter from Hong Kong went down really hard when he got hit with a low blow kick. The main event was really bloody.  Since I had the ringside seats, they let me take my picture beside the night’s winner.

I’m really excited for Burma. I leave tomorrow afternoon, and should have my visa by then. If the Myanmar embassy is a preview for what the country is going to be like, things will be very interesting. The place to get the visas is only open 3 hours a day, and closed on weekends. But for a higher fee, you can pay travel agents to get the visa for you ‘under the table’.

I’m not sure how common internet will be in Burma, so the next post may be a while. Patience. Ah so.