More Photos!

Alright, so these aren't new photos, but hopefully I will get those uploaded soon too. I really should've brought my laptop with me, despite the weight of it and its ridiculously incapable battery. I believe I finished the last photo post with Suk 11. So let's continue.

On the roof of Suk 11 there are chairs, tables, plants (of course) and old bicycle rickshaws. Thailand has a mad love affair with the engine, so now you never see bicycle rickshaws on the streets. They are all retired on the roof of Suk 11. You see motorcycle taxis, tuk-tuks, regular taxis, air-con and fan buses, subway trains, and trains, but never a bicycle driver to hire.

Self-portrait on Suk 11 roof, with bicycle rickshaw. There's a shower stall behind me. Why? I don't know.

Lemon soda. Mmm.

My first weekend in Bangkok I decided to take the skytrain and the boat to the backpacker side of town, Banglampu, home of the (in)famous Kao San Road. The boat is a nice way to get around Bangkok. The Chao Praya river runs through the west side of Bangkok. Everything west of the river is much more "Thai" than everything on the east side. When I ride the bus from Salaya to Bangkok it is strikingly obvious when we've crossed the river. The population becomes instantly spectled with non-Thais.

On the boat with my fellow farang.

I don't remember this bridge being here when I was in Bangkok in 2002-2003. But I didn't spend any time on the river then.

A view from the boat.

Another view from the boat.

The beginning of Banglampu. Tuk-tuk, sad dog, and street vendor. With the smells to match.

Som Tam and meat vendor, with farang. Som Tam is so tasty. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Som_tam.

In Banglampu everything is in English. This fruit shake is a hefty 60 baht ($1.80). I'm not being sarcastic, either. That's a pretty high cost for street vendor food. Normally it's closer to 15-35 baht.

Ah, farang! Kao San road in its mild, daytime manifestation. Cheap clothes, cheap Buddha images (imported from Nepal, oddly enough), internet access, fake ID stands, booze, Western food (McDonalds, Starbucks, Burger King, AND Subway!), and anything else a Western/Australian traveler might desire while traveling in Asia.

The same day I went to Banglampu I went to the huge weekend market on the north side of town, called Chatuchak or Jatujak, depending on how you transliterate Thai into English. This market is incredible. I wrote about it in an earlier blog.

Alright, I think that's going to do it for now. I have all these photos and more uploaded on flickr. From now on I think I will just give those photos captions and let you all look at them there. Here's a link to this first set of photos. http://www.flickr.com/photos/25403345@N03/sets/72157606153612284/show/ If you put your mouse over the photo, an "i" appears. Click on the i and it will show descriptions of the photos.