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Thailand:
Bangkok
May 5-7, 2006

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Thailand is known as the “land of
smiles” and everyone lauds the friendliness of the people there. With
such high expectations, we were bound to be disappointed. After spending
one day in the capital, Bangkok, we decided we hated it.
Zac and I are pretty good at
navigating new cities by now, but in Bangkok, we were so lost at one
point that we literally walked in a big circle and found ourselves right
back where we started. It didn’t help that neither of the maps we were
equipped with corresponded to reality as far as street names were
concerned.
Bangkok, which Zac soon dubbed,
“the crotch of Thailand” has bad air pollution, no character, and it’s
crawling with con artists preying on tourists. There’s nothing to do
there but look at Wats (Buddhist temples/monasteries) and pictures of
the King, which adorned every street corner. To be fair, there is
a lot to do in Bangkok, it’s just that getting drunk and high and
hooking up with “ladyboys” isn’t our cup of tea. Apparently, in
addition to smiles, Thailand is famous for its men that have
transgendered themselves into beautiful women. |

totally lost

one of many buddhist Wats |

"Land of Smiles" |

a picture of the royal couple |

an ornate stupa in a wat |

lots of stupas |

a Wat |

another Wat |
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The Great Pigeon Scam |
Watch out for this scam in Bangkok! You are walking
along the sidewalk minding your own business when a woman thrusts some
corn into your hands. She doesn't speak English and when you try
to give it back to her, she doesn't accept it. Then she opens the
packet of corn and pours it into your hand, gesturing at the pigeons.
"Well," you think to yourself, "maybe she's part of a friends of pigeons
organization or something." There's nothing to do but throw the food to
the birds. When you're finished, or after she has dumped a few
more bags of corn into your hands, she will use the one English words
she knows, "Money!" and demands, "Money!" Being the cruel tourist
you are, you don't pay her because you don't appreciate being scammed
and you know that by paying her you are just encouraging the scam. |

a street market where we didn't buy anything |

one of our few enjoyments was taking a river taxi |

to be fair, Bangkok did have awesome grilled chicken |

cars with no emission standards |

Khao San Road |

Bangkok's sky train |
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